Scapa 12 yo 40% ~2000 vs Scapa 8 yo Gordon & Macphail 57% ~ late 80s
Scapa 12 yo 40% ~2000
Fresh and very light, surprisingly really. Cold margarine, malt, green apples and a lemony eau de vie. Not bad whisky just a tad simple and removed from what I imagined older Scapa should be. On the tongue again it’s just light with touches of oil and bean paste. Absolutely drinkable but far from great. 83 pts
Scapa 8 yo Gordon & Macphail 57% ~ late 80s
Hard to believe this is the same distillery. Scapa here is thick, muscular and much more phenolic. We have hardened crystallised sour fruit, white smoke, thick engine oil, a compost made from waste grasses instead of bark or wood, empty cans of resinous polish, lots and lots of industrial greases and solvents, marmalade with lots of rind. Also a burnt roast aspect that says sherry but missing the dry richness. Clove tea. Some batches of these were noticeably darker than others, but this one deserves 91 pts
Whiskyrific RSS
- Millburn 36 yo 1969 / 2005 Douglas Laing #DL2152 50% vs Glenburgie 40 yo 1963 / 2003 Signatory #4751 56.4%
- Ben Nevis 23 yo 1996 / 2019 Single Malts of Scotland for the Nectar #536 51.3% vs A Speyside Distillery 32 yo 1989 / 2022 Thompson Bros 51.4%
- Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 61.1% vs Brora 22 yo 1972 / 1995 Rare Malts 58.7%
- Talimburg 19 yo 1986 / 2005 The Whisky Fair #1485 45.9% vs Talisker 20 yo 1981 / 2002 62%
- Caol Ila 12 yo Bulloch Lade for Zenith 43% vs Caol Ila 30 yo 1979 / 2010 Berry Bros #4604/5 55.6%
- Clynelish 29 yo 1965 Whyte & Whyte 52.1%
- Brora 21 yo 1982 / 2003 Signatory #416 58.4% vs Clynelish 27 yo 1982 / 2009 Synch Eli Daily Dram 46%
- Dornoch 5 yo 2017 / 2023 #46 ‘Jasper Broers’ 57.9% vs Shizuoka ‘private cask’ 2017 / 2022 #2017-108 61%
- Clynelish 26 yo 1993 / 2020 Carn Mor #11215 52.7% vs Bowmore 17 yo 2004 /2021 SMWS 3.327 ‘Siren’s Song’ 57.1%
- Talisker 25 yo ‘Bottle TA25 3987’ 45.8% ~ bottle code L0296CM004 bottled 2020 vs Ledaig 11 yo 2008 / 2019 The Swan Song & 1BRD #700104 58.7%
whiskyrific 