Scapa 1965-1990 - 24 Year Old - Cadenheads Miniature

Scapa is an unusual distillery, and sadly little-seen these days. Scapa is one of the overlooked gems in Pernod Ricard’s portfolio, but its small size and remote location on Orkney - where Scapa has long been in the shadow of its more famous neighbour, Highland Park - have historically worked against the distillery. These factors, along with sporadic production due to mothballing and refurbishment closures in the past led to gaps in the maturing stock inventory and a history of well-regarded but often short-lived or overpriced official bottlings.

Independent bottlings of Scapa are rare, with only Gordon & MacPhail (who were licensed bottlers for the distillery) bottling more than a handful of casks in the last decade. At auction, older bottlings by G&M, the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and the Italian bottler Moon Import are highly sought after, while more recent examples of aged Scapa for G&M’s Connoisseurs Choice Cask Strength series probably offer the best value.

In 1842 George Duncan established a wine merchant and distillery agency business in Aberdeen. Duncan was joined in the early 1850s by his brother-in-law William Cadenhead, who took over the business after Duncan’s death in 1858, changing the company’s name to Wm. Cadenhead. When Cadenhead died in 1904 the company passed to his nephew Robert Duthie, who developed the spirits side of the business.

Duthie died suddenly in 1931, and employee Ann Oliver was put in charge of Cadenhead’s. Sadly, Oliver’s tenure ended in financial difficulty and on her retirement in 1972 the business was forced to sell its entire inventory. Cadenhead’s was acquired soon afterwards by J & A Mitchell, proprietors of Springbank distillery, who relocated the business to Campbeltown. Cadenhead’s has flourished under Mitchell’s stewardship, releasing many legendary single malt bottlings in the 1980s and 1990s and now has outlets in Edinburgh and London as well as Campbeltown.