Scapa comes of age – again.

For the second time in under five years Scapa Distillery willbe changing the age of their standard malt. In 2004 (when the distillery was refurbished) the age went from 12 to 14 years old. Now a 16 year old is making it’s way onto the market, replacing the 14 year old.

The age changes have all been accompanied by a design change as well:

The new edition is being made available as I write this, and some stores already have it in stock. It’s still unpeated, ex-bourbon matured and bottled at 40%. In additon a price hike is added to the change this time, a £20 price hike none the less (Arkwrights Whisky and Wines has the 14yo at £31.20 and the 16yo at £52.99). Scapa’s getting pushed into the premium segemnt now, maybe not the bt thing to do – but if stocks are running low it might be better to be on the market than disappear completely.

Hopefully a more reasonably priced expression will come in a few years time, maybe a 8 year old again?

Glenmorangie Signet

When the Glenmorangie range was revamped the new logo, The Glenmorangie Signet (below left), was a very promient feature on the bottle and boxes. It is also the basis for the caleidoscopic design on the webpage. The logo is derived from the bottom panel (below right) of a Pictish stone found in Hilton of Cadboll, near Tain (where Glenmorangie is produced). The stone itself is today at the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, while a copy has been erected on the original site – more on the stone at Wikipedia.