Scapa 19 yo 2003/2022 (56.7%, OB, exclusive to The Whisky Exchange, 1st fill barrels)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: resinous woods, dried exotic fruit chunks such as papaya and pineapple, then more clear notes of heather flower and crystallised honey. There's also an underlying medicinal quality that gives the impression of wormwood and tiger balm. With water: becomes fresher and greenery, with crushed nettles, rubbed lime skin, green apple and gooseberry. It also feels more coastal now too. Mouth: rather creamy with the first fill American oak being quite obvious without being excessive, so lots of coconut milk, gorse flower, crushed nettles, eucalyptus and various subtle herbal sweetnesses and mead. With water: a little more mentholic and herbal, with impressions of mint tea and chamomile. Also dried yellow flowers, wintergreen, lovage and a wee earthy turmeric note. Finish: medium in length, on pithy citrus rinds, sandalwood, chamomile tea sweetened with honey and some green pepper. Comments: there are clearly some benefits to being bought over by Pernod Ricard, I would count this bottling as one of them. Do they have some humble refill hoggies full of the same distillate though?
SGP: 651 - 88 points.

Scapa 1980/1995 (55.7%, Scotch Malt Whisky Society #17.15)
Picture of the previous bottling of the same batch. Colour: straw. Nose: there's that Scapa heather honey and freshness straight away and in abundance. Sea air, sandalwood, linens, beach driftwood, honeycomb, heather ales and even some nice hints of sourdough starter and other assorted beers. Rich and characterful but without anything too assertive or dominant - a touch balancing act to pull off. With water: cereals, chalk, linens, citrons and lighter notes of waxes and tiger balm. Mouth: nice sharpness of citrus rinds and fruit teas, followed by salted honeys, wood resins, nectars, pollens and more mineral impressions of clay, soot and some very light medicinal touches. With water: gets more textural and rather emphatically oilier and fatter in the mouth. Pretty superb now with water, some juicy minerality (what!) and more of these softer medicinal tones. Finish: medium, peppery, lightly minty, some bandages and citrus teas. Comments: I am 100% charmed by this humble wee Scapa. Character and power, but without leaning on any one key component to delivery that profile. Watch these old Scapas, they are very clever and fascinating wee whiskies.
SGP: 462 - 89 points.

Scapa 17 yo 1970/1987 (56.2%, Gordon & MacPhail for Intertrade)
Colour: pale gold. Nose: power without peat, is how I often feel about older Scapas, and this is no exception. A lot of mechanical oils, grass, stuck flints, soft hints of seawater and also some crystallised honey notes - which also feel very typically Scapa. A rather detailed and tautly structured nose that speaks to a pretty chunky and complicated style of distillate. With water: eucalyptus, wormwood, old style ales and also roots, stocks, embrocations and things like ink and oily toolboxes. Hugely charismatic, but also in some ways rather evasive and hard to pin down. I love it - needless to say. Mouth: heather honey, waxes, medicines, soft coastal touches and also this nicely leathery, mouth-coating texture. Fat, full-bodied, old style malt whisky, of a very Orcadian in my view. I love these rather elegant mineral and mechanical intrusions that start to emerge with time. Also some notes of citrus teas and bandages. With water: more accessible now, also broader and fatter! A big, oily, mouth-filling dram that's dominated by dried out heather honey, medical ointments, dried herbs, roots and gentle coastal impressions. Finish: long, slightly mentholated, ever so slightly tarry and peppery, more ink, soot, wormwood and camphor. Comments: these old Scapas really are beasts that require time to tame. The epitome of characterful but also quite challenging and difficult old style whiskies. Not for the faint of heart, but it's a style I'm an utter sucker for. The kind of bottling that you could easily spend 3-5 years trying to dissect via micro-dramming and endless tinkering with a pipette.
SGP: 462 - 91 points.