Scapa 16 Year Old Isle of Orkney Single Malt Scotch Whisky (700ml)

Scapa has long been one of those secrets of Scotland that only the very into it Scotch people had heard of. They had an extremely delicious and affordable 14 year old for many years before going NAS only for the longest time. Now they're seemingly back with one of the most incredible deals in the Scotch world. To be perfectly honest I'm still not 100% sure that someone hasn't messed up the prices on these, but for now we're forging ahead. This Scapa in other markets seems to be twice the price, but I've asked the supplier many times if the product is priced correctly and they've confirmed that we haven't been bamboozled. To have a high quality 16 year old malt from an old rare distillery like this hit the market at $60 is truly astonishing in the current environment. The only more shocking question is how the old 21 year is only $100 more. They're neighbors down the road are asking nearly double for their 21. Of course the low price doesn't matter if it doesn't taste good, so let's do it! Bottled at a lovely 96 proof the color is deep copper (1.0). The nose is gorgeous and very full offering salted dried plum, peach skin, almond skins, old furniture, hints of salt and limestone. The palate is gorgeous with lots of fruit up front and a big rich oak spice and deep dark roasted malt moving toward the middle. This is meant to be all ex-American oak, but there's an opulence that makes me think sherry influence here, although it's extremely well integrated. On the finish the ocean-y Orkney character kicks up although there's no discernable smoke/peat to my palate. This is just very very good whisky in a lovely bottle at a ridiculous price. I'm still waiting for the call to tell me they've wildly mispriced this, but for now we're forging ahead. Please don't be left behind.