Jura 18 Year
The island of Jura may only have one pub and one road, but it also has one distillery. Founded in 1810, Jura has held on amidst the tides of time to survive into the present, indelibly stamped on the island landscape and community. While the island is difficult to reach even today, the distillery continues to take the waters from Market Loch and feed it into some of the tallest stills in Scotland. The height and width enable greater contact with copper during distillation. The core range relaunched in 2018 and now composes a 12, 14 and this 18 year scotch. The Jura 18 is matured in American ex-bourbon casks before being finished in Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux red wine barriques from Southern France.
Ballechin 10 Year
Ballechin is a heavily peated scotch from Edradour, differentiated by brand much in the same way Springbank and Bruichladdich do with their peated offerings. It first appeared in 2003 and has seen a few limited releases before this 10 year old appeared on the market. The Ballechin 10 year takes its name from a nearby Perthshire farm distillery that closed in 1927. According to the 19th century travel writer Alfred Barnard, that distillery made a peated malt. This whisky is peated to at least 50ppm.