Batch 193

Big and richly resinous – the smell of a violinist, bow rosined, trapped inside a heavy oak wardrobe. Add in melting chocolate, black cherry, then a whiff of (slightly old) pot pourri. As things develop so you get old waxed leather mixed with jelly babies, blackcurrant cordial, deep spices and mixed nuts. With water added it takes on a more classically mature cast: beeswax, toffee apple and orange Pekoe tea. Water mellows things without diminishing the richness, while adding in a little overripe banana and a more honeyed element.

Medium-bodied with a very gentle flow – the grain is particularly elegant – allowing it to skim the palate. You do need to pay attention to find the dried fig fruit, sugared plums, and then caramel, before things deepen into liquorice and dark chocolate, all bound together with this toffee-like grain. Be careful with the water. A splash allows it to expand in the mouth.

Lightly drying with fine-grained tannin. Long.

Lovely blending here. Take your time, relax and concentrate.

Just Drink and Glide.

Fresh, yet mature with subtle depths of linseed oil, chimichurri, birch sap and apple. A delicate, woody aroma. In time there’s a light dustiness reminiscent of dry autumn leaves, and with water a floral and slightly fruity element emerges alongside a gentle maltiness.

Much more expressive. It starts sweet and the silkiness from the lovely old grain begins to come through more clearly alongside crème brûlée, a mix of black and red fruits, toffee and cinnamon. The grain works hard to add texture while balancing the malty elements. That said, overall it remains light and bright. Water adds a little weight with some vanilla, but does not diminish its punchiness.

Gentle, then crisps up.

Light but with lovely balance. Take with water or an ice ball.

A reminder that it’s the Little Things (That Keep Us Together).

The most restrained in the Perspective Series, and also the most distinctly waxy: snuffed candle, old Barbour jacket, dried banana peel, a hint of roast chestnut and just the tiniest whiff of solvent. Elegant and gently refined. Water brings out rich, ripe fruits, light coffee, what seems to be a small aroma of smoke rising from moist pipe tobacco, walnut cake and rancio. Complex and mature.

A remarkably fresh start of plums and berries to this, before the rancio accents come through: wax polish, dried apricot and unctuous malt. It’s beautifully layered and soft with this slight fragility which makes you tiptoe into its mid-palate mixture of fruits, Brazil nut, hard toffee, treacle and dark chocolate. Somehow it manages to be rich, yet ethereal. Water adds in more mature qualities alongside tropical fruit and tutti frutti.

Bittersweet and then long-lasting, ripe black fruits.

The most complex of the quartet. The delicacy adds an almost wistful quality to the sense of time passed.

Gather around for The Parting Glass.

A real surprise after the previous trio as the nose is full of smoky and seashore aromas: sel gris, drying seaweed, wild herbs on wet rocks, peat, then green notes of shiso, geranium and tomato leaf before graphite comes through. Intense and mezcal-like. Water accentuates the salinity but also calms things by adding in a touch of vanilla pod, light and sweet yellow fruit, and bone broth. Finally it seems to relax.

More varied than the nose. Although the smoke and salinity still comes through, there’s more gentle grain to calm the waters. There’s a light dip in the mid-palate where things wobble slightly and the firm dry oak shows its hand, before stone fruits come into play. Water adds nutty sweetness and a slight oiliness.

Dry. Smoky.

Amazing freshness for its age, but there’s a slight hollowness to things here.

A blast of Hot Salt.

Fresh mineral elements along with Creamola Foam powder, currant leaf and some heat. There’s then a slightly odd melange of anise, intense green apricot, envelope glue, preserved lemon and fresh ginger before everything is dominated by estery pineapple. Water gives things a cool pastry base, plus pear drops.

Comes across in three distinct parts: the first, bright and estery (all pineapple, sour apple and pear drops); the middle has Scapa’s bouncy, juicy fruit quality, then the back palate is taken over by a real tingling gingery spice. Water pulls out more sweetness and some floral notes, before the esters return.

Red fruit, strawberry chews and dolly mixture.

Absurdly estery and as such may not be to everyone’s taste. For me though it's a delicious afternoon dram best served chilled, or with soda.

This will keep you on your Tippi-Toes.

Super-ripe, rich and sweet. Cherry cola, chocolate ganache, Seville orange and sweet ginger develop into muscovado sugar, plump raisin and a hint of clove. Things dry ever so slightly in time but continue to head toward a hot, buttered, Demerara rum. Water adds sweetened coffee and a slightly more savoury quality, but ‘slightly’ is the operative word.

As you might expect, a very soft delivery, with a thick, plush texture: old roses, red velvet cake and a jam-like sweetness (damson, mulberry and sloe). Although things remain sweet when it’s diluted, there’s also some black cherry, cassis and finally a little (and much-needed) grip.

Lush.

Completely the opposite of the Scapa expression – and equally some might not go for this heart-on-the-sleeve richness. It might not have massive complexity, but by goodness it’s a good glass.

One sip and you think that All Will Be Well.