Scapa Skiren

Subtle, sweetness grows with each sip, caramel nose

Acidic, vomit like, nutty finish

Vanilková aróma, mierne sladká, sladová chuť.

Smooth and round but a sharper first taste

This sample is from the other distillery on the island of Orkney: Scapa. These guys are less than a half mile from the superstars named Highland Park, but their whisky is miles apart. Scapa uses water for their malts that is piped in and doesn’t flow through the natural peat beds covering the island. Therefore, they aren’t a peated whisky. Scapa’s offerings are closer to Speyside and Lowland style malts and are more honeyed. This distillery was founded in 1885 and is currently owned by Pernod Ricard. They make around a million liters per year and currently only offer a 14, 16 and 25 year old, official distillery bottle. The rest is NAS, like the Skiren, or shipped off for use in blends. This NAS Skiren is 40% ABV and is light gold with oily and watery legs running down the taster. I’m pretty sure it is chill filtered and has added color, but I don’t have the bottle in front of me, as this sample was provided by my friend @Scott_E, from Long Island, NY. The nose is a wonderful fruit basket of flavors: apples, pears and melons along with some nice vanilla sweetness. There are ripe berries in here as well. I do get a nice backbone of ex-bourbon wood, too. It has an excellent nose, for sure. The palate has similar fruit notes from the nosing, but there’s serious mouthfeel issues here: it’s harsh and dry and doesn’t coat anything. My opinion is that it’s just too light. It needs a bit more well-aged juice in the mix along with a hearty bump in ABV. But then again, they probably aren’t going for that here so it’s just wishful thinking on my part. The finish is medium with a dry and salty, island-style feel. The fruits still linger a bit, but the dryness is just too powerful to make it very satisfying. Overall, this is a serviceable dram but the fact the age statement bottles are so much more expensive than not only their Orkney counterparts, but most Speyside and Highland distilleries, it’s hard to justify spending the big bucks to find out if they’re worth it. I like the fruity aspects, but I can find those elsewhere for a much better price. Why gamble? That said, this is a 2.75-3 star dram tops. It’s cool to be able to try this distillery, but I doubt I’ll be back for something else unless a great deal happens to fall into my lap. Cheers.

This one is courtesy of @Scott_E as part of our final sampling round. I don’t know about this one...it has potential, but just too young and rough around the edges. Nose Is slightly briny, slightly oaky, a bit of fruit. But, non-assertive. Palette is similar. Fruity, salty...but, it quite doesnt’ assert itself like it’s other brethren Islanders. If I compare to the other Islanders of equal price: a Talisker 10 and HP 12 have more complexity, assertiveness, and flavor than this one. A Jura has as well, but personally I always found Juras to be the schizophrenic dysfunctional child in that Island group. I always imagined an Islander Christmas office party where Talisker is the brand that’s making printouts of her arse in the copier machine while smoking under a “do not smoke” sign, while HP is the pretty one dressed up as a Viking, Jura is the drunk crazy guy, Arran is trying to be like Talisker but gets chewed out by Human Resources instead, while Tobermory and Scapa are the two wall flowers. Anyway...This is about $45 or so. A Talisker 10 is about $50. If you really want the salty-briny sea air taste of an Islander, this ain’t it...go for the Talisker 10 for a bit of pocket change more. So... I ask the basic question again...why does this particular one exist? Market forces should dictate it be wiped away since better Islanders are there for similar pricing. What do I know...just my two cents.