🥃 Corporal Ciapek
“The Dog Who Flew With the RAF”
Inaugural Release of the Corporal Ciapek Series
We proudly present the first release in our new Corporal Series — a collection dedicated to remarkable animals whose stories became part of World War II history.
Introducing:
Corporal Ciapek — “The Dog Who Flew With the RAF”
✈️ The Story of Ciapek
Ciapek was a loyal dog and mascot of No. 305 Polish Bomber Squadron of the RAF.
He lived alongside Polish airmen on British airfields, sharing their routines, their risks, and their camaraderie. More than just a companion, Ciapek reportedly flew on nine operational combat missions, earning the honorary rank of Corporal.
Polish squadrons played a vital role in the Allied air campaign. Units such as 303 and 302 Squadrons became legendary, with No. 303 Squadron achieving the highest number of enemy aircraft shot down in the entire RAF.
Ciapek’s story captures both the everyday life and the extraordinary spirit of these airmen — resilience, loyalty, and quiet bravery.
🥃 The Whisky
This release reflects that same spirit — refined, distinctive, and full of character.
Corporal Ciapek — Single Grain Scotch Whisky
- Distillery: Girvan
- Vintage: 2007
- Age: 18 Years Old
- Category: Single Grain Scotch Whisky
- Cask Type: Ex-Belize Rum Cask (Travellers Distillery)
- Cask Number: #1
- ABV: 51%
- Outturn: 284 bottles (prototype label states 250)
- Bottling: Single Cask
- Filtration: Non-chill filtered
- Colour: Natural colour
🧾 Maturation & Profile
Aged for 18 years, this whisky matured in a single ex-rum cask from Travellers Distillery, Belize, allowing the tropical influence to shape its final character.
Nose:
- ripe banana, pineapple, and mango
- vanilla custard and caramel
- light coconut and soft oak
Palate:
- silky, rounded texture
- toffee, honey, and brown sugar
- rum-soaked dried fruits
- gentle spice with toasted oak
Finish:
- medium-long and warming
- lingering sweetness balanced by dry oak and subtle spice
This is a whisky where the elegance of grain spirit meets the richness of an exotic rum cask.
🏭 About Girvan Distillery
Founded in 1963 on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland, Girvan Distillery is known for producing high-quality grain whisky using continuous distillation.
Girvan spirit is:
- clean and refined
- subtly sweet
- ideal for long maturation and cask-driven expressions
In single cask releases like this, Girvan reveals a depth and complexity often overlooked in grain whisky.
🥃 Single Malt vs Single Grain
Single Malt:
- made from 100% malted barley
- distilled in pot stills
- typically richer and more robust
Single Grain:
- can include multiple grains (wheat, corn, barley)
- distilled in column stills
- lighter, smoother, and highly influenced by cask maturation
This bottling showcases how single grain whisky can achieve remarkable depth when paired with a distinctive cask.
🐾 A Story in Every Bottle
The Corporal Series is more than whisky — it is a tribute.
Ciapek was not just a dog.
He was part of the crew.
A quiet symbol of loyalty, courage, and companionship in uncertain times.
Raise a glass to Ciapek —
and to the stories that still fly with us.