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Scapa distillery is a
The distillery has one Lomond style wash still and one spirit still producing a single malt whisky. It produces an especially honey flavoured whisky, and less peaty than most Island Whiskies. This is because, though the water at the source is peaty, it gets transported to the distillery through pipelines to avoid more contact with the peat. Furthermore, the malt is not dried over peat smoke. The water source is the Lingro Burn, which flows into Scapa Flow.
During the period of limited production, the most commonly available edition was the Scapa 12 years old, which was and still is a most distinctive island whisky for its subtle heathery honey plus sea taste. Because of the time-gap, to full production again, it was decided to stop the 12 years and introduce the 14 years, which was quite different from its predecessor. Both products have now all but disappeared and are only available on the secondary market. The 14-year expression of the Scapa offering was given fair-to-good reviews at international spirit ratings competitions. It won gold and double gold medals at the 2005 and 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competitions, but received a more modest score of 85 (on a 100-point scale) in 2005 from the Beverage Testing Institute.
In November 2009, a 16 years old Scapa whisky was released, with an extra two years in first fill American oak casks. The 16-year-old was discontinued in 2016.
The core products of the distillery are currently Skapa Skiren (matured in American first fill oak casks) and Skapa Glansa (a lightly smoked peat whisky). Skapa Glansa was launched in 2016 and is a no age statement whisky.
Scapa website
{{coord, 58, 57, 49, N, 2, 59, 6, W, region:GB, display=title 1885 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in Orkney Companies based in Orkney Pernod Ricard brands Scottish malt whisky Mainland, Orkney
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland.
All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...
distillery
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...
on The Mainland of Orkney
Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
, Scotland on the shore of Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009
Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
near the town of Kirkwall. Scapa is the second-northernmost whisky distillery in Scotland, south of the Highland Park Distillery.
History
The distillery was founded in 1885 by Macfarlane & Townsend, a Glasgow blender. The distillery was almost destroyed by fire in 1919 but was saved by nearby sailors of the remaining Grand Fleet forming a human chain carrying buckets of sea water to extinguish the fire. In 1954, the distillery was acquired by Hiram Walker & Sons Ltd (now part ofPernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or ''Ricard''). The world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...
) and rebuilt. The distillery was again refurbished in 1978.
In 1994 the distillery was mothballed, with limited production being occasionally carried out from 1997 by nearby staff from Highland Park distillery. Ownership of the distillery had passed to Allied distillers when they bought Hiram Walker in 1987 and in 2004, when facing definitive closure, the company decided to rebuild and restore the distillery at a cost of £2.1 million. In 2005, ownership passed to Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or ''Ricard''). The world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...
and full production recommenced in October 2005.
In 2015, a visitor centre opened at the distillery.
Production and products
The distillery has one Lomond style wash still and one spirit still producing a single malt whisky. It produces an especially honey flavoured whisky, and less peaty than most Island Whiskies. This is because, though the water at the source is peaty, it gets transported to the distillery through pipelines to avoid more contact with the peat. Furthermore, the malt is not dried over peat smoke. The water source is the Lingro Burn, which flows into Scapa Flow.
During the period of limited production, the most commonly available edition was the Scapa 12 years old, which was and still is a most distinctive island whisky for its subtle heathery honey plus sea taste. Because of the time-gap, to full production again, it was decided to stop the 12 years and introduce the 14 years, which was quite different from its predecessor. Both products have now all but disappeared and are only available on the secondary market. The 14-year expression of the Scapa offering was given fair-to-good reviews at international spirit ratings competitions. It won gold and double gold medals at the 2005 and 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competitions, but received a more modest score of 85 (on a 100-point scale) in 2005 from the Beverage Testing Institute.
In November 2009, a 16 years old Scapa whisky was released, with an extra two years in first fill American oak casks. The 16-year-old was discontinued in 2016.
The core products of the distillery are currently Skapa Skiren (matured in American first fill oak casks) and Skapa Glansa (a lightly smoked peat whisky). Skapa Glansa was launched in 2016 and is a no age statement whisky.
See also
* Whisky *Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland.
All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...
* List of whisky brands
This is a list of whisky brands arranged by country of origin and style. Whisky (or whiskey) is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted ...
* List of distilleries in Scotland
References
External links
Scapa website
{{coord, 58, 57, 49, N, 2, 59, 6, W, region:GB, display=title 1885 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in Orkney Companies based in Orkney Pernod Ricard brands Scottish malt whisky Mainland, Orkney