Whisky: Scapa 14 Year

Country/Region: Scotland/Islands

ABV: 40%

Cask: Oak

Age: 14 Year (Bottled 2007)

Nose: Crisp green apples, apple cider, hints of turpentine, dried macerated coconut, buttery pastry dough, apple cider donut, hint of chalk.

Palate: Medium to light body, strawberry and banana pastry, chocolate, sponge cake, hints of driftwood and salt, Yoohoo soda.

Finish: Brief with hints of malt and chocolate.

Score: 4-5

Mental Image: Orchard Wedding Cake Tasting

Narrative & Notes: The aroma was straight from the apple orchard with crisp green apple, freshly crushed apple cider, sawdust, hints of turpentine, and apple cider donuts. Occasionally tropical with hints of dried macerated coconut, fruit candies, chalk, and butter pastry dough cut through. Medium to light-bodied, the flavor profile was subtle and readily subsumed beneath the influence of food or other drams. Light creamy pastries arrived with strawberry, banana, chocolate sponge cake, hints of salt and driftwood, and the malty fuzzy chocolate of Yoo-hoo. The finish was brief and subtle, with hints of malt and chocolate.

At a recent* tasting hosted by our local whisky club focused on older distillery single malts, this Scapa was voted hands down the weakest of the evening. No one proposed catapulting it off the roof of the building, but it won over few fans. I thought it was perhaps a tad delicate and, even placed third in the evening lineup, it was too soft to stand out.

I felt slightly vindicated as the flavors we mapped that evening came through much more clearly when I retasted a few weeks later at home. The finish was still a tad short, and I can only imagine this would have been really nice if the overall intensity were notched up a level or two. A few other club members relayed that they also found the malt a bit nicer when they tasted it again; one even remarked that it paired wonderfully with sushi as the light flavors did not overpower the fish.

* Sometimes reviews fall through the cracks; apparently, this little review has been sitting in my drafts folder for nine months. I could have sworn I had posted it, but considering my lack of Scapa reviews, it was pretty easy to check and realize I had not.