Summer is just around the corner and things are warming up nicely here on Jura. I’m not talking about the weather of course – that’s as unpredictable as ever with yesterday’s gale force winds and today’s volcanic ash cloud!– but preparations for our annual whisky festival, taking place later this week, are well underway!

In fact this year looks to be one of our biggest celebrations yet, and tickets have sold out already. But don’t worry, there are plenty of ways to get involved and enjoy a dram of your favourite tipple without having to visit us in person. Just visit our website – it’s just a wee bit easier to get to than the island itself!

Our website is all set up to capture the mood of the festivities perfectly. You can share your thoughts in our festival guestbook, upload images of Jura – past and present in our gallery and enter an exclusive competition to win one of several Jura Tasting Kits.

Regardless of whether you’re one of our lucky winners or not you’ll still be able to enjoy our special online (and exclusive to Diurachs) tasting session. I’ll be hosting this with Willie Tait and it will be available on the website for you to enjoy shortly after we’ve had time to recover from the festivities on the island.

You can take a sneak preview at this year’s programme here. Festivities include the release of a special bottling and a distillery tour taking in views from the island’s newest standing stone – and much more besides! We’ll also be filming all the best bits of the festival and putting them online so you can take part virtually anywhere.

So whether you’re coming in person or just in spirit, we look forward to welcoming you to the celebrations. Look out for our newly refurbished Distillery Visitor Centre – it’s bound to make an appearance in some of the footage.

And remember I love hearing from you so stay in touch.

Slainte

Willie Cochrane
Jura Distillery Manager

P.S. If you have friends or family who also share your passion for Jura whisky and might like to become Diurachs send them to www.isleofjura.com where they’ll discover more about our mystical isle.