Scapa 8 Years Old (G&M)

Gordon & MacPhail bottled this Scapa single malt, aged 8 year old and bottled at 57%. Scapa was opened in 1885 by two Glasgow blenders on Orkney's Mainland by Scapa Flow; Pernod Ricard has run it since 2005. It overlooks Scapa Flow, the anchorage where the German fleet was scuttled in 1919.

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 youthful age the fruit is lively and the make creamy. The unpeated make lets the cask and the fruit speak without smoke. Mothballed in 1994, Scapa was restored and revived by Pernod Ricard in 2005. The malt long fed the Ballantine's and Teacher's blends before its own fame grew. It is one of the few distilleries still worked largely by hand. Founded in 1885, it is the second oldest distillery on Orkney after Highland Park.

At its natural 57% it is concentrated and honeyed. A creamy, honeyed sweetness sit alongside soft vanilla and cream from the cask. It is soft and rounded, the honeyed spirit shining through. Pear, honey and oak draw out the close. This is Scapa's soft, maritime Orkney style.