A Tale of Two Islands
Introducing Jura Brooklyn, the world’s first single malt scotch whisky made by and for the people of Kings County.
Jura is a tiny island off the coast of Scotland. Brooklyn is an important region of a rather long island off the coast of New York. Jura is gifted with a temperate tropical climate thanks to the Gulf Stream, and graced with one street and a single pub. Brooklyn has a significantly more capricious climate, many more streets, and innumerable pubs.
While it may seem as though these two places couldn’t possibly have any less in common, it is sometimes within these vast differences that the most striking similarities appear. One very important commonality they do share: a rebellious spirit and a taste for doing things a bit differently.
Diurachs (that would be the inhabitants of Jura—all 187 of them) had long been fascinated by Brooklyn and its love of rule breaking. In 2013 Jura master distiller Mr. Willie Tait traveled across the Atlantic to learn more about the place and craft a world-class single malt scotch whisky dedicated to it.
Simply making something inspired by Brooklyn wouldn’t do, though. So Tait brought along six whisky cask samples and enlisted some of Kings County’s most influential and visionary denizens to offer up their palettes and opinions. With their assistance, Tait was able to create a wholly unique expression aged in American White Oak Bourbon, Amoroso Sherry, and Pinot Noir casks with notes of smoke (a nod to the borough’s dive bars), roasted coffee beans, lush berries, and honey.
In June, New York’s finest ladies and gents gathered to toast the official debut of the whisky. The fete was held in an old warehouse in Williamsburg that had been transformed for the evening to resemble the elegant yet rustic Jura Lodge (complete with plenty of faux taxidermy and cushy chairs). From guided tasting sessions hosted by Tait to the giant graffitied stag, it was an evening to remember to be sure.
The creation of Jura Brooklyn would not have been possible without the guidance of their esteemed collaborators: Buttermilk Channel, Bedford Cheese Shop, Brooklyn Brewery, Fine & Raw, Brooklyn Winery, Vimbly, The Richardson, Post Office, OTB, Noorman’s Kil, New York City Food Truck Association, Brooklyn Magazine.
While Jura Brooklyn is currently available at the city’s finer whisky purveyors and a select group of bars, it will launch nationally this fall just in time for the holidays. Follow @JuraWhiskyUS to keep up with all the latest announcements. Sláinte.
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