Jura Distillery: History, Owner, Range and Visitor Guide
Updated: 24 hours ago
Jura is the whisky of an island with one road, one village and a distillery on the beach at Craighouse. Its story runs from a small 1810 licence to a 1960s rebuild designed to stop the island emptying.
In this guide
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Jura at a glance
Distillery fact | Verified detail |
|---|---|
Location | Craighouse, Isle of Jura |
Region | Islands, Scotland |
Founded / established | original 1810; reopened 1963 |
Owner | Whyte & Mackay / Emperador |
Bottles documented | 4 named expressions in Whisky Clan's bottle database |
Visiting | See visitor information in the original research below. Check official opening and booking details before travelling. |
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Jura history, people and production
Where is Jura distillery?
Jura Distillery is in Craighouse, the island's only settlement, on the Isle of Jura in the Inner Hebrides. Whiskypedia lists the region as Islands. The island is about 30 miles long and 7 miles wide, with roughly 250 residents and around 5,000 red deer. Most visitors reach it by ferry from Kennacraig to Islay, then the small ferry from Port Askaig.
Jura history
Whiskypedia says islanders once made spirit from rowan berries. A legal distillery was licensed in Craighouse in 1810, to the island's owner Archibald Campbell. Richard Campbell leased it to Norman Buchanan in 1853, J&K Orr took over in 1867 and James Ferguson & Sons held the licence from 1876.
The distillery closed in 1901 during the first great slump in whisky sales. Remote island running costs and the lack of a direct ferry to the mainland counted against it.
In 1963 two landowners, Robin Fletcher and Tony Riley-Smith, decided to start again, largely to slow the decline of the island's population. With backing from the Leith blender Charles Mackinlay & Co, the designer William Delme-Evans built a large modern distillery, which was extended in 1978.
Whiskypedia places Mackinlay's rebuild at 1960 in its timeline and the restart at 1963, so sources differ slightly on the start of the project.
Jura was first sold as a single malt in 1974. Invergordon Distillers bought Mackinlay in 1985, and the business later became part of Whyte & Mackay. Peated malt began to be run for a short period each year from the late 1990s. Superstition launched in 2002 and the fully peated Prophecy in 2009.
In 2018 the range was relaunched with a lightly smoky character from a small share of peated spirit in the vattings.
Who owns Jura?
Whiskypedia lists Whyte & Mackay Group as the current owner, within Emperador Distillers since 2014, when Whyte & Mackay was sold for £430 million. The earlier draft named Alliance Global as the ultimate owner.
How Jura is made
Stills: 4, very tall lantern-shaped stills of more than 20,000 litres
Malt: unpeated, from Bairds, with some peated runs each year
Mash tun: semi-lauter
Washbacks: 6
Fermentation: 54 hours
Water: Market Loch
Capacity: 2.2 million litres of pure alcohol a year
The Jura range
The official site groups the whisky into three sets:
Core range: 12, 14 and 18 Year Old island malts
Cask Editions, including Bourbon Cask and Rum Cask
Travel Retail exclusives, including American White Oak and a 16 Year Old
Whiskypedia also mentions Seven Wood, Time and Tide among the range. The official home page says the labels are changing while the whisky is unchanged. ABV figures were not on the pages that loaded.
Visiting Jura
Whiskypedia lists weekday hours from 10am (11am from October to March) to 4pm (2pm from October to March), Saturdays 10am to 2pm from April to September, and closed Sundays. Confirm before the ferry journey. The phone number is +44 1496 820385.
Official website
Jura whisky bottle range and cask comparison
Here are named expressions documented from producer or specialist sources, including the available age and ABV. A missing strength is deliberately left as 'Check bottle' rather than estimated.
Bottle / expression | Age | ABV | Cask maturation / notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Jura 10 Year Old | 10 years | 40% | Bourbon barrels with sherry finishing influence |
Jura 12 Year Old | 12 years | 40% | Bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry casks |
Jura 18 Year Old | 18 years | 44% | Ex-bourbon and red wine cask finishing |
Jura Seven Wood | NAS | 42% | Seven oak cask types; non-age-statement |
Featured bottle: Jura 10 Year Old
Regular and rare releases are distinguished in the Whisky Bottles database; a historical catalogue listing does not prove current availability.
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Frequently asked questions about Jura
Where is Jura made?
In Craighouse on the Isle of Jura, Inner Hebrides.
Who owns Jura?
Whyte & Mackay, part of Emperador, according to Whiskypedia.
When did Jura start distilling?
A distillery was licensed in 1810, closed in 1901 and was rebuilt in the 1960s.
Is Jura peated?
Mostly unpeated malt is used, with some peated runs. Since 2018 the core range has a light smoky character.
What is in the core range?
12, 14 and 18 Year Old, per the official site.
Sources and photographic credits
Official website: jurawhisky.com (home page loaded 20 October 2026).
ScotchWhisky.com Whiskypedia: Jura distillery entry (loaded 20 October 2026).
Wikipedia: Jura distillery, used in the earlier draft for the island facts. Whisky Advocate, Whiskybase and Whisky Magazine were not loaded for this post.
Cover image: Wikimedia Commons.
Featured photograph: original credited image from the Whisky Clan distillery media library. If you own this image and would like the attribution updated, please contact Whisky Clan.
About the author
 | Filip Janczak Storyteller, drinker and explorer of all things whisky. Read more about the person behind Whisky Clan and explore additional reviews and distillery guides. |
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