Isle of Jura Distillery

Life can be challenging on a rural Scottish island, but with every challenge comes a reward, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. On Jura, you will find one single track road, one pub and one whisky distillery, all powered by our tiny island community of just around 212 people (at last count).

Our distillery was founded in 1810, when the island was home to more than a thousand people. However, from 1901, fortunes changed on Jura, compounded by two World Wars, the roof came off the distillery, and it fell into disrepair, taking many jobs from the island. However, seeing an opportunity to bring life back to the island, local landowners Robin Fletcher and Tony Riley-Smith enlisted some help from blender Charles MacKinlay & Co and the famous distillery designer William Delme-Evans to start work rebuilding the distillery. In 1963, the Jura distillery opened its doors again, and new jobs for the island came with it.