Jura

Jura Scotch, aged 10 years in American oak barrels that were used for Spanish sherry. More on the little shot glass below.

When I was in Scotland last fall, there was a pub downstairs in the little hotel I stayed in in East Linton. With advice from the bartenders and the people sitting at the bar, I sampled a good many Scotches. By far, my favorite was from the Isle of Jura. It’s impossibly smooth and incredibly complicated, with just the right amount of smoke. At about $50 a bottle in the U.S. for the Scotch in the photo, it’s not even on the high side of what good Scotches cost.

“Single malt” just means that the Scotch comes from one distillery. That’s as opposed to blended Scotches, which buy (I assume) less distinguished Scotches from multiple distilleries and blend them into something as pleasing as possible. But Scotch is to Scotland as wine is to France (or California). It’s all about what part of Scotland the Scotch came from and the choices and skills of the distilleries’ operators. I don’t have enough experience with Scotches to judge how the aging matters. Some Scotches are aged (in barrels) for more than 20 years. I stick with 10- or 12-year old Scotches to avoid bankruptcy.

I hope I remain healthy enough to visit many more islands on future trips to Scotland. I’ll probably make another trip this fall. I have been to Lewis & Harris, Skye, Ulva, Gometra, and Mull. I have not been to Jura, but Jura and Islay probably are next on my list. There’s a woolen mill still in operation on Islay that I’d like to visit. I have a jacket made from Islay tweed.

I bought the little shot glass on eBay. It’s made from uranium glass. It’s not very radioactive. My Geiger counter measures the glass’s radioactivity as around double the background radiation here, a perfectly safe level. Uranium glass is a distinctive green color that glows under ultraviolet light. The glass is tiny. It holds only an ounce if filled to the brim.