Scapa

The Orkney Islands, an archipelago off Scotland, would seem to be a bleak place – windswept, barren, cold, storms, isolated and rugged – but humans have lived here for over 5,000 years. The islands may not have produced their iconic whiskies for that long, but no doubt the early inhabitants would have appreciated them. SCAPA DISTILLERY

Scapa is one of two distilleries on the largest of their islands, Mainland, located in the town of Kirkwall. It is the second most northerly distillery in Scotland, pipped only by the nearby Highland Park. They are well worth the journey, and this island should be on the bucketlist for every whisky lover. Technically, they are described as Highland whiskies.

Scapa was founded back in 1885, by Macfarlane & Townsend, before eventually joining what would become part of the Chivas Regal/Pernod Ricard empire in the 1950s. John Townsend was General Manager of the operation from opening through until just after World War One, in 1919, when it became the Scapa Distillery Company Ltd. There were some problems along the way, with the operation going into voluntary liquidation in 1934, but it was revived in 1936 by the Bloch Brothers. Despite its valued contribution to blends, as well as its own distinctive malts, most notably the popular 12-Year-Old, it was sidelined in 1994. Eternal closure looked certain to be its fate. A reprieve came in 1997, when production recommenced, though slowly.

Resurrection came in 2004 and the distillery was rebuilt and fully reopened. A year later, further refurbishment took place and Chivas Brothers took over the site.

The style of Scapa malts is described as being from the subtle end of the spectrum, heather and honey with sea spray. A 14-Year-Old replaced the 12 as the standard and, in 2009, a 16-Year-Old, which sees an extra two years in first fill American oak, was added to the range, later becoming their ‘standard’. There are various vintage bottlings and age statement releases, up to 25 years, though bottlings can come and go. Aficionados know to keep an eye out for independent releases, which are not infrequent, of single malts from this distillery. Douglas Laing and Gordon & MacPhail have been especially active. There is a wide range of ages made available by these releases, ranging from 11-Year-Old to 25-Years.

The distillery uses one wash still and one spirit still. Scapa is distinctive as, despite using ‘peaty’ water from the Orquil Springs and the Lingro Burn, it has a much less distinctive peat character than most. Other water sources are accessed as well. Care is taken to transport the water through pipelines to avoid any further contact with peat and the malt is not dried over peat smoke. They believe that this allows for unique sweet, tropical notes to emerge. There are eight 44,000 litre fermenters and a mash tun of four tonnes.

After distillation, the new make spirit is racked into first fill American oak casks, sourced from Tennessee and Kentucky. These contribute to the vanillin nuances seen in Scapa malts. Production capacity is one million litres per annum.

One advantage of such an extreme climate is that evaporation, the angels’ share, is lower than that encountered at most distilleries.

A small team of five, in addition to the master distiller, operate Scapa on a 24-hour basis. It is one of the last remaining manually operated distilleries, with the crew working successive shifts. It is, for this team, far more than a job. The master distiller grew up on the island and both his father and grandfather worked at the distillery.

There was a time when visiting Scapa meant knocking on the door and hoping that someone had the time to show you around. They usually did, but no guarantees. Now, they offer various organised tours. The ‘Scapa Tour’ (£10.00, duration: 45 minutes) takes guests through the process and allows them to see one of the industry’s last remaining Lomond Stills in action. This barrel-shaped wash still was installed in 1959 and has a wider and taller neck than is usual, the sole survivor of its style used for making whisky. The team use this still as they like the richer, fruitier spirit it delivers. Visitors will also see the famous Scapa Flow natural anchorage site. And, of course, finish with a glass of Scapa Skiren. There is the option to extend the tasting to include the Glansa.

The ‘Scapa Experience’ (£20.00, duration: 1.5 hours) is a more extensive tour and includes the bonded warehouses and maturing whisky casks. It is followed by a tasting session of three spirits and also a whisky dram drawn from one of the casks in the warehouse. Pre-booking these tours is recommended.

ADDRESS: St. Ola, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1SE E: info@scapamalt.com W: www.scapamalt.com