Glansa followed Skiren into the Scapa range as a second no-age-statement expression, this time finished in casks that had previously held peated whisky. The name, again drawn from Old Norse, refers to stormy skies — an apt complement to Skiren's bright weather, and a signal that this bottling introduces something moodier to Scapa's usually sunny profile.
Scapa itself does not make peated whisky. The distillery's character is built on unpeated, fruit-rich spirit run through a Lomond-style wash still, a combination that gives the new make its distinctive oily weight. Glansa therefore borrows its smoke rather than creating it, the peated cask influence sitting on top of the house style rather than being woven through it.
On the nose the familiar Scapa orchard fruit is present — pear, honey, soft vanilla — but now with a drift of woodsmoke and warm spice threading through. The palate begins soft and sweet, honeyed and fruited, before a gentle swell of peat arrives in the midpalate. It is not Islay smoke; it is more like a memory of a fire recently extinguished, enough to change the whisky's mood without dominating it.
The finish is medium in length, with the smoke tailing off and the fruit returning for a sweet farewell. At 40% the overall impression is again gentle, and Glansa sits comfortably as a weekday pour rather than a headline act. For those who enjoyed Skiren and wanted a little more shadow in the glass, this delivers without ever becoming another peated malt scrabbling for attention. It is Scapa still being Scapa, with the sky gone grey.
