Wow. WhiskyParty got hacked.  The hackers used us like Dewar’s White Label at a wedding.  It wasn’t pretty.   It took us offline for a while (about 5 days), and whenever we (or you) visited our website we (you) got notified that our site was malware and vicious.  That’s all fixed now.  The internet is full of some nasty people, though.  Again, wow.

Thanks to all the well-wishers out there while we were figuring this stuff out. Big thanks to Michael VanDerMar for really helping us get rid of the virus, all the compromised pages and believe it or not, backdoor entry code that the hackers created to take advantage of our site (third time: Wow.).  Most of all, thanks to Michael V. and Mike C. for helping us to get our site back up.

We’re dealing with a backlog of content to start putting up while we also pay attention to our regular jobs that we disregarded while we were figuring out the hacking issue.   Thanks for your patience.  We’ll be raising our glasses to all of you this week.

- Mike C., Mike F., and Dan D.

Isle of Jura is that Orwellian neighbor of Islay that has neither the fame nor the number of distilleries of the latter— it has just the single eponymous facility, situated along the island’s only road.  Though it celebrated it’s 200th anniversary just last year, the most recent period of ownership began in the 1950’s and saw the addition of some tall stills that help define the light, flavourful Island style of Jura.  They produce both peated and unpeated expressions, and this 10 year old is in the latter style.  Thank you to Laura Baddish and The Baddish Group for providing this free sample.

Isle of Jura “Origin” 10 years old

Retail: about $43.

Abv: 43% Color: honey-gold.

Legs: big but slow and viscous; all akimbo.

Nose: boat fumes, bread pudding, orange blossom, touch of honeysuckle, subtle white chocolate, wet diapers.  Another go had sultanas and other fruit coming up big.

Palate: I really like this, and moreso than on the nose.  Light and delicate vanilla and honey at first, with a cocoa-and-butter mixture following; then faint notes of toasted oak as it gets closer to the sea.

Finish: sea-salt, white pepper, and a hint of mead.

Overall: a very enjoyable basic Island whisky, with more distinction than is generally noted.  The nose occaisonally had some odd notes, but if you go with open-form glassware, or add some water, you’ll probably dodge them.  There is some oak, yes, but it doesn’t overwhelm the rest of the dram.  Overall, I like the combination of light honey, sherry-seasoned wood, and ocean saltiness as an alternative for everyday dramming at a reasonable price.

Other Opinions: depending on the bottling (the newer releases have been better, it seems), folks either find it to be “okay,” or quite good.

• Two of the great whisky writers for Whisky Mag, MJ and JM, were all over the place, but gave indentical scores of 75, and covered some of the basics: maltiness, sweetness, some oakiness, spices, and saltiness.
• All Things Whisky neither loved it nor hated it, and gave it an 82.5, citing the Bunnahabhain-like nose and the overly oaky taste.
• This Connosr also found something odd on the nose that didn’t translate to the palate, but didn’t love it either way.
• Whisky Distilleries likes the price/quality ratio, finding various combinations of fruity, floral, sweet, and woody notes (but again there is a suggestion of an odd soapyness on the nose).
• Serge does a vertical of Jura 10’s, giving the 2006 an 86 rating; he likes the additional sherry casks that he figures they must have added into the mix, with honey, oranges, liquorice, honey, spices, orange marmelade, and… honey.
• Fellow Knight of the Whisky Round Table, Joshua at JSMWS, gets a good bit of soap but we’re in agreement as to the soft entry, toasted-oak notes, and peppery finish.

It’s really great that the famous Gordon & Macphail shop and indie bottler has revived their Macphail’s Collection range of generally younger, cheaper, but high-quality single malts.  Their Highland Park 8 year old was excellent (for the price; good either way), and I was excited to see this Islay malt for under $40.

Macphail’s Collection Bunnahabhain 8 years old

Price: $35.

Abv: 43%

Color: Chardonnay.

Legs: medium in speed and size.

Nose: underripe pears, overripe honeydew, a sharp floral sweetness that might need some time in the cask to chillout.

Palate: tobacco leaves and a bit of that underripe pear from the nose give way to a burnt malt flavour; there may also be a note of honeydew here.

Finish: as various girlfriends have described some very decent whiskies—“burn-ey and sting-ey.”  Has an interesting baked cinnamon-and-apple flavour to it, but it’s a little overpowered by a prickly mouthfeel that lingers.

Overall: It honestly took a few pours and some time left out to turn from a highly metallic style toward something reasonable to drink; the burnt-malt note was consistent, however.  And while this doesn’t resemble the more developed fruits, vanilla, and smoke of the distillery-released 12 year old, to a certain degree it has its own charm.  I’d get it if you really like Bunnys and want another angle for a lowish price.  Or if you’ve got every other 40/40 bottle on our list and are keeping your own notes on the best bargain Scotches.  But for a cheap, smokier Islay, I’d go with Finlaggan every time.  I don’t really think it’s great as a light, subtle whisky, either.

Other Opinions: um, not many.  In fact, there’s none that I could find.  Just this DUNY blurb:

• DUNY gets some of the tobacco and burnt (okay, “roasted”) malt, but finds a softer side to it.