Scapa 30 Years Old 1988 Cask #10585 (Connoisseurs Choice)

Gordon & MacPhail selected this Scapa, aged 30 year old from 1988, drawn from cask 10585 and bottled at 53.8%. The outturn was 148 bottles. Set on Orkney's Mainland by Scapa Flow, Scapa has distilled since 1885. Unusually for an island malt, Scapa is wholly unpeated, soft and honeyed where its neighbours are smoky.

The spirit was run through the only Lomond still left in Scotch and a traditional spirit still, to build a soft, unpeated island character. It rested in ex-Bourbon oak, the wood adding a creamy honeyed sweetness. At a quarter century and more it is rich and oily, tropical fruit, beeswax and honey over a faint brine. Heavy copper contact in the Lomond still strips harsher notes, leaving a clean, oily and fruity spirit. Scapa Flow saw the German High Seas Fleet scuttled in the summer of 1919. Scapa sits a mile from Highland Park, yet makes a wholly unpeated, honeyed malt. Its rare Lomond wash still, plates removed, gives a creamy, oily spirit through heavy copper contact.

At cask strength 53.8% it is full bodied. Honey, melon and a maritime lift meet soft vanilla and cream from the cask. Beneath it run honey, pear and a soft spice. The close is gentle, honey over soft oak. This is the honeyed island malt of Orkney.