Scapa

Type: Distillery

When fire struck Scapa in 1919, sailors helped fight it with seawater, passing water along a human chain.[3][4] The sea was already central to this distillery’s story. Founded in 1885 on the shore of Scapa Flow, south of Kirkwall in Orkney, Scapa makes whisky from unpeated malt. Its most distinctive piece of equipment is a former Lomond wash still: the shape survives, but the adjustable plates that made it a Lomond have been removed.[4]

Fact box

What Scapa is known for

Scapa’s clearest distinction from nearby Highland Park begins with the malt. Both distilleries stand on the same stretch of coast, but Scapa uses unpeated malt, kept apart from its neighbour’s peated supply.[4]

Inside the stillhouse, the tall, straight-sided wash still gives Scapa another distinction. It retains the form of its Lomond predecessor, though the internal plates that once allowed its operation to be adjusted are gone. It is a former Lomond, not an intact example of the original adjustable system.[2][4]

The bottles tell a third story. Scapa released individual age-stated whiskies before 2024, but Chivas Brothers described the Signature Range launched that October as its first collection of aged single malts. The significant change was a permanent aged range, rather than the first appearance of an age statement on a Scapa bottle.[1][3][4]

A distillery built beside the water

The Lingro Burn supplied water; the harbour offered a route for casks and coal. Those practical advantages brought Glasgow blenders Macfarlane & Townsend to the shore of Scapa Flow, where they founded Scapa in 1885.[4]

Distilling here has an earlier historical reference. Whiskipedia records that the Reverend John Brand noted it on the site in 1701, nearly two centuries before Macfarlane & Townsend established the present distillery. That reference belongs to the site’s earlier history, rather than Scapa’s founding date.[3][4]

The original partnership was short-lived. It dissolved in 1887, and J.T. Townsend & Co carried on. Scapa later passed to the Scapa Distillery Co in 1919, the same year that fire badly damaged the premises.[3][4]

Story box: Seawater against the fire

Verdict badge

• Claim: Sailors helped fight Scapa’s 1919 fire by carrying seawater.
• Verdict: Documented.
• What the record shows: The supplied trade histories describe naval assistance, with Whiskipedia giving the human-chain account.[3][4]
• Evidence against or gap: The supplied material does not identify a contemporary fire report.
• Earliest known source: Not established from the supplied record.
• Sources: Whiskipedia, undated; The Single Cask, undated.
• Last checked: 7 November 2026, according to the supplied editorial record.

The former Lomond still

Movable copper baffle plates once made Scapa’s wash still adjustable. Installed in 1959, it belonged to a 1950s attempt to produce different spirit styles from a single still. Moving the plates in its neck varied reflux: vapour condensing and returning towards the still instead of continuing onwards.[2][4]

The Lomond operated as intended until 1979. Its plates have been removed, leaving the tall, straight-sided vessel described in the production record.[2][4] The outline remains distinctive, but the mechanism that gave the design its flexibility does not.

“Working Lomond still” suggests that the original adjustable arrangement remains in service. Scapa’s equipment carries the history and shape of a Lomond, rather than its complete operating system.[4]

The recorded still arrangement is compact: one wash still and one spirit still. The trade record, checked in November 2026, puts installed capacity at around 1,000,000 litres of pure alcohol a year. This is a capacity figure, not a measured annual production total.[4]

Scapa’s own maltings remained in use until 1966.[3] Together, the maltings and the altered Lomond show a distillery whose production equipment has changed over time, from the preparation of its raw material to the way its spirit is distilled.

Ownership, interruption and return

Liquidation, rebuilding and periods of silence punctuate Scapa’s history. Following liquidation in 1934, Bloch Bros bought the distillery in 1936. Hiram Walker followed in 1954 and rebuilt much of the plant.[3][4]

Scapa passed to Allied Distillers in 1987 and was mothballed in 1994. Highland Park staff ran short production spells until 2004.[3][4]

Trade histories give two dates for the return to full production: November 2004 and October 2005. The ownership change is clearer. In 2005, Scapa became part of Pernod Ricard with the rest of Allied’s Scotch business, a separate event from the disputed production restart.[3][4]

Production timeline

From individual releases to a permanent aged range

A Scapa 1992, bottled as a 14 Year Old, appeared in 2006; Scapa 16 followed in 2008.[3]

Skiren and Glansa kept Scapa represented through the 2010s. Introduced in 2016, Glansa was its first bottling with peat influence.[3][4] That peat influence belongs to the release’s character; Scapa’s malt remains unpeated.

The permanent Signature Range arrived in October 2024, bringing together 10, 16 and 21 Year Old expressions. The supplied record describes maturation in first-fill American oak, with the 10 and 16 bottled at 48% ABV and the 21 at cask strength.[4]

Independent bottlings offer another route through the distillery’s history. The trade record names Gordon & MacPhail’s Connoisseurs Choice, Cadenhead’s and Signatory Vintage among bottlers that have released Scapa. Those releases sit outside the distillery’s own range.[4]

Common misunderstandings

In short

• Scapa’s former Lomond wash still retains its distinctive shape, but no longer has the plates that made the original system adjustable.[4]
• Its malt is unpeated, despite its proximity to Highland Park and that neighbour’s peated supply.[4]
• Its permanent aged range dates from 2024; earlier age-stated releases are documented.[1][3][4]

Visiting Scapa

The visitor centre opened in April 2015, 130 years after Scapa’s foundation. The trade account describes tours taking in the stillhouse, a traditional Orcadian warehouse and a tasting.[4]

Before travelling, check current arrangements with the distillery, including booking requirements, accessibility and age restrictions. The historical opening date and a published tour description do not establish present access or availability.

Where to go next

• Highland Park: meet Scapa’s nearby Orcadian neighbour.
• Talisker: continue exploring island distilleries.
• Tobermory: Ledaig: follow another island distillery’s story.

Sources

1. Chivas Brothers. Scapa Unveils New Signature Range And A Fresh New Look. October 2024, producer’s account. https://www.chivasbrothers.com/2024/10/scapa-unveils-new-signature-range-and-a-fresh-new-look/
2. ScotchWhisky.com. Scapa. Undated trade reference, supplied record checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/1889/scapa/
3. Whiskipedia. Scapa Whisky Distillery. Undated trade reference, supplied record checked November 2026. https://whiskipedia.com/distilleries/scapa/
4. The Single Cask. Scapa Distillery: Orkney’s Other Whisky, Now With Something to Say. Undated trade article, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.thesinglecask.co.uk/blogs/distilleries/scapa

This desk-researched article uses the supplied Scapa fact sheet and its listed source extracts, distinguishing producer statements from trade histories.

Last checked: November 2026