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Day 3 - KWM 2025 This Is Still Not An Advent Calendar

Posted on December 3, 2025

by Evan

Day 3 is here for our KWM 2025 Still Not An Advent Calendar tasting series. For this very special Day 3, we are breaking new ground. Brace yourselves, for this marks the first time in this year’s Advent tastings where we will NOT be tasting whisky from a distillery whose name starts with Glen. That’s right, folks, we are changing things up! Today’s whisky comes from independent bottler Gordon & MacPhail. Say hello to the G&M Connoisseurs Choice Scapa 2000 Canada Cask.

If my records are correct, this Is the first time that Scapa Distillery has been featured in a KWM Whisky Advent Calendar. A bit surprising that it hasn’t been used in any of our 12 calendars before this one, but there are not exactly a bunch of Scapa bottlings around. There are a few official bottles, but indie bottlings of Scapa are about as rare as hen’s teeth. Gordon & MacPhail is the only bottler to put out Scapa that comes to mind.

Scapa is not a large distillery, and sadly, it does not get the focus and attention it perhaps should by its parent company. Whisky from Scapa is well respected and sought after by many whisky geeks. There just isn’t a lot of it around.

The Distillery was founded in 1885. Production from opening remained fairly consistent until around 1919, when it was damaged in a fire. Sounds like just about every other centuries-old distillery so far, right?

Lack of money forced the ownership of Scapa into liquidation in 1934 and production was halted until it was purchased in 1936 by the Bloch Brothers. That is the Bloch Brothers company that resided at 138 Renfield Street in Glasgow, which also owned the Glen Scotia and Glengyle distilleries in Campbeltown at the time. Not to be confused with the Bloch Brothers in Ohio who were famous for their chewing tobacco at around the same time. Those Bloch Brothers would be discussed in an entirely different type of Advent Calendar.

Also, the Glengyle Distillery referred to is the old Glengyle distillery, which shut down permanently in 2014. The current Glengyle Distillery came to being in 2004 and produces the Kilkerran Single Malt Scotch. But I digress.

Back to Scapa. Thanks to the 20+ year whisky downturn that started in the 1980s, Scapa ended up at a point was barely limping along operationally. By 1994, the distillery was only used occasionally for spirit runs, and that was only thanks to staff from the nearby Highland Park distillery being contracted to do so. The Scapa 14 Year was released in 2004 – marking the first time a distillery bottling was given a marketing push. A sizeable renovation of the distillery took place the same year. In 2005, Chivas Brothers/Pernod Ricard became the owners of Scapa when they acquired Allied Domecq. A visitor’s centre was opened in 2015.

Although it is not a large-scale production distillery, and we haven’t seen plans to make it one, Pernod Ricard does seem to view the distillery as an important asset. There was a rumour going around that Billy Walker (mentioned yesterday) targeted Scapa Distillery and hoped to purchase it from Pernod Ricard, before his group was offered and then purchased GlenAllachie Distillery from that same company in 2018.

One of the reasons for Scapa’s relative obscurity is its location, and because it toils away within in the large footprint and shadow of the distillery nearest to it. Scapa resides in the Orkney isles to the north of the Scottish mainland, not to far from the town of Kirkwall. Scapa is one of two commercial whisky distilleries in the Orkneys. The one that it is overshadowed by also resides in Kirkwall. That is Highland Park. There are apparently two other distilleries on the Orkney Islands on the newer, craft side of things. One is Kimbland Distillery and the other is Deerness Distillery. Both have already or are near bottling some of their young whisky, but neither have made it to Canada yet.

This specific Scapa Single Malt Scotch comes to us from indie bottler Gordon & MacPhail. It was selected as a single cask exclusive for Canada by the importing company Authentic Wine & Spirits. We at KWM actually looked at possibly selecting it for our shop, but at the time we just couldn’t make the numbers work. Happily, it ended up coming to Canada regardless! Let’s give it a taste.

G&M Connoisseurs Choice Scapa 2000 Canada Cask – 59.9%

Evan’s Tasting Note

Nose: Waxy honeycomb and fresh kelp on first nose, then opens up into marmalade on warm buttered biscuits, apple jelly, fresh strawberries, salted toffee, and laundry fresh out of the dryer.

Palate: Honey and more salted toffee, plus apple strudel, watermelon, wedges, plus angel food cake with sliced strawberries blueberries in whipped cream.

Finish: Salty, creamy and fresh and berry driven with a warming spice and soft dunnage notes on the finale.

Comment: So, this is some of what Scapa is capable of. I have heard plenty of whisky lovers tell me about their fondness for this distillery but have never paid much attention to it. If this G&M cask offers a glimpse into what Scapa is capable of, I will have to keep my out for more in the future.

It was difficult to save the rest of my sample for the five-day recap virtual tasting with this dram. I forgot how darn good it is. It would have made a great KWM cask, but it was not to be. At least all of it still came to Canada. Grab a bottle while you can!

Cheers,
Evan

evan@kensingtonwinemarket.com

This entry was posted in Whisky, Tastings, Whisky Calendars, Tastings - In-Store Tasting, KWM 2025 Still Not An Advent Calendar Tastings

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