It would seem this blog has fallen foul of powerful factions. Right from the start we had readers from China mainly via one of the main Chinese search engines. Suddenly however our Chinese readers have all disappeared. I fear we have been blocked from search engines. It would seem we have offended Authority. Obviously the power of this blog was deemed to be a danger! Watch this space.

Talking of censorship my mind went back to various expeditions in the 1980’s to a far flung part of Scotland, a bar in Oban to be precise. Whilst sitting quietly mid afternoon (Scottish bars in those days rarely closed) a weary looking, obviously southern Englishman entered and demanded a malt whisky. The barman merely pointed to a shelf behind him where there was a fine array of malt whisky bottles. “That one, said the thirsty one pointing to a bottle of Scapa Single Malt and make it a double”. Looking a little dubious the barman poured the required order which the weary one downed in two gulps. “Another”, he demanded. “No” said the barman, “one is all you get”. “Why?” “You’ll see”. The customer started to protest and then suddenly grasped his throat with one hand and his head with the other and tottered to a chair into which he sank. The barman watched and nodded “One is enough” he confirmed.

The Scapa distillery was on Orkney. There were two distilleries on the island, the well known and well marketed Highland Park and the “other one” the small but long established Scapa. How shall I describe the Scapa malt of that era. It was strong with a very distinctive taste all its own. Best approached with caution and sipped carefully it could indeed have been a very efficient paint stripper, but reached to all parts as it went down the throat leaving a fine afterburn. Subtle it was not, but very addictive with a small band of discerning supporters. It was unobtainable outside Scotland so I tended to return with a bottle.

After the visitor recovered his senses somewhat and staggered off I caught the eye of the barman and asked for a single Scapa, which he poured. “A drop of water with it?” he enquired. “Aye”. “Aye so” as he dribbled a little into it. I sipped appreciatively. “You’ll know this one?”. “Oh yes”. After a pause, “Foolish man, wasted on him”.

Sadly the Scapa distillery closed down somewhere in the 1990’s and the building remained empty for many years. Recently however it has been bought by one of the big companies and reopened. The new offering gets good reports but described as smooth with a honey taste says it must be very different to the previous incarnation. As a postscript, I just checked and if I had kept unopened the last bottle I bought I could have sold it today for £550. If I still had the bottle today, should I drink it or take the money? All opinions welcome.