Scapa 14 impressions?

I had some Scapa 14 a year or three back and I would imagine what you have found is a similar product.. Was just a little darker (because of the bourbon casks they use) and a little better than the 12. But I wouldn't pay a lot more for 14yo than I would for 12. Worth a little more, but only a little more.

Roger

Well, they only want $45.00 for the bottle, so sounds like a winner. I'll report my impressions, although my tasting notes are nowhere near sophisticated.

Dave Hinz

Go for it then. That's about GBP 26 and a good price here. Don't worry about tasting inexperience. Just put down what you find. They'll still be of interest

Roger

Allied took over Scapa recently and they are currently shining up the destillery, and theres supposed to be a new visitor centre and all

Allied have chosen to bottle Scapa as a 14y and I suppose its the one you have. I havent tried it yet but it should be similar to the old 12y version

MacDeffe

Is Allied a good development for Scapa, would you feel? I'd hate to have a nice malt wrecked...

It's hard to say. Scapa wasnt really in production before, so getting it to full production and for certain releasing more bottlings will give us consumers a wider variety of Scapa

But big companies like Diageo and Allied etc doesnt run destilleries for people like you and me, but for a greater market. Destilleries run by suits and ties (big companies) doesnt make as good whisky as smaller independent destilleries IMHO

MacDEFFE

What do you mean "Scapa wasn't really in production before". It's been available for the whole of my whisky drinking life. Most of the present distillery was (re-)built around 1959, and I've drunk both distillery and independent bottled version.

Roger

The crew came down from Highland Park and produced whisky at Scapa for like

MacDeffe

Correct... it has been run on almost a care and maintenance basis for quite some time now. Highland Park is very close to Scapa, in fact you can see one from the other.

I can confirm that it is not in production at the moment but is being given a major clean and tidy up with a lot of building work going which is great to see (I was there 2 weeks ago). I have visited the distillery (outside only, no visit ever possible) several times since 1988 and I think the future looks good for it now.

It is in a very nice location right on Scapa Flow by a pretty beach. My 10yo son was even kayaking with the distillery in the background !

Scapa IMHO is much under rated and definitely over shadowed by its more famous neighbour.

All the best,

Edi