TRANSFORMATIVE SHERRY CASKS

The pinnacle of our collection, Crimson Casks delivers on the rich promise of sherry and red wine casks with intense chocolate, plum jam and redcurrant character.

Powerful, rich whiskies matured in American Oak sherry butts, precisely seasoned for a very particular wood interaction that creates a spiciness and generous intensity from the oloroso influence.

Our Celebration of the Deliciousness of Grain Whisky

In 2000, John Glaser created the first ever Blended Grain Whisky released to the market. He called it Hedonism. The Scotch whisky landscape was changed forever.

Over the past 23 years, Hedonism has remained a core part of the Compass Box brand, winning numerous awards and becoming a staple in many whisky fans’ cabinets. The calibre of whiskies we need for Hedonism have grown ever harder to find, which is why our first ever expression will become a Limited Annual Release going forward. For the first batch we have turned to more mature whiskies aged almost entirely in first-fill Bourbon barrels.

Hedonism 2024 contains the last of our stocks of grain whiskies distilled in the 1990s, a period when some of the distilleries featured used maize in their mashes. This brings an enhanced buttery weight to the overall composition.

You can expect a complex array of patisserie aromas, with exotic vanilla and clove-infused caramel. Layers of creamy custard arrive on the palate, with accents of honey and mascarpone. At the finish, a delicate citrus accent appears.

Maker Notes

Oscar Wilde wrote that “we live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities”. The age in question was the late nineteenth century, when the Aesthetic Movement gave rise to the Decadent Movement, where more was always more. Art was made for the sake of art; there were no ulterior motives. Similarly, a whisky like Art & Decadence may not be strictly a necessity – and that is the whole, glorious point.

Art & Decadence is built on malt whisky from the Balmenach Distillery, finished separately for almost a year in not one but three different ex-wine casks. Madeira, Sauternes and Marsala are all at home with dessert, and they bring succulence, preserved fruit notes and honeyed character to the underlying meaty sweetness of Balmenach.

To this, we have layered in malt whisky from the Linkwood Distillery, aged in Palo Cortado sherry-seasoned butts, and malt whisky from the Glen Moray Distillery, finished in Oloroso sherry-seasoned butts. Grain whisky from the now-closed Port Dundas Distillery adds silk and gloss.

Scottish Ancestry - Born in the USA

To mark its 20th birthday, and to celebrate America's influence on Scotch whisky more broadly, we have brought The Peat Monster back to where it all began. We originally created a peaty whisky called Monster for the Goldstein family at Park Avenue Liquor Shop in New York City, in 2003. It turned out to be so popular that we created a new batch, renamed it The Peat Monster and it joined our core range. The Peat Monster - like most Scotch whiskies – owes its maturation vessels to the US whisk(e)y industry and its practice of using casks only once.

Bottled at 56.7% ABV Not Chill-Filtered Natural Colour Lead Whiskymakers: James Saxon & Alex Driver

To highlight the art of American coopering even further, we have finished part of the whisky used for this special Limited Edition in seasoned virgin American oak barrels, made for us in Missouri. You will notice an increased presence of vanilla and cinnamon notes compared to The Peat Monster you may be familiar with.

Wherever you enjoy your whisky, join us in toasting two decades of The Peat Monster and the close whiskymaking ties linking Scotland with America.

Lead Whiskymaker: James Saxon

Littered with mosaics and ruined ancient temples, the island of Delos embodies the ideal of a beautiful, classical sanctuary. It is the perfect name for a whisky that reimagines Asyla using antique, rarefied components. Malt whiskies from the Glen Elgin, Imperial and Miltonduff distilleries – all from American oak barrels – bring enticing exotic fruit and vanilla notes while lush and fragrant grain whisky preserves the delicate mouthfeel that was Asyla's hallmark.

Reimagining Asyla – our own Extinct Blend

Our Extinct Blends Quartet takes inspiration from vanished characters and flavours, reappraising four very different expressions of blended Scotch, using some of our most precious parcels of whisky.

First created in 2001, Asyla was the ethereally beautiful cornerstone of our core range until its retirement in 2018. With Delos, we have focused on capturing Asyla's vibrancy and soothing sweetness, turning to older stocks to achieve this.

Weeks of tweaking led us to this combination of tropically fruity malt whiskies from the Glen Elgin and Speyburn distilleries, together with whiskies influenced by Oloroso Sherry casks. Single malt from the Ardmore Distillery lends a herbal Highland peat note.

This is sure to delight fans of warm and vibrant whiskies, whether synaesthetic or not. Though 2019 feels a very long time ago, we are delighted to finally share Mannie’s vision of delicious whisky with the world.

What does a colour taste like?

The Circle is our international bartender competition; it serves as a kind of symposium in which the bar world and whiskymakers can come together to share ideas. ‘Is it possible to make a whisky that evokes the colour of coral?’ was the idea Mannie Monaghan, 2019’s winner, posed to us.

It wasn’t until after Mannie Monaghan won our international bartender programme The Circle in 2019, and we began working on a whisky together, that we learned he is synaesthetic. Mannie wanted his whisky to evoke a particular colour – coral – and so began a unique whisky-making project.

Affecting roughly 4% of the population, those with synaesthesia often experience a blending of their senses – for Mannie, aromas and flavours reveal a spectrum of colour. Not being synaesthetic ourselves, Mannie spent two lengthy sessions in the Blending Rooms, scouring sample boxes for whiskies that matched the warmth and powerful positivity of Living Coral.

FLAVOUR PROFILE (FOR NON-SYNAESTHETES)

We love the bright pineapple and stewed peach aromas that leap out of the glass. The flavour is of vanilla, honey and sultanas soaked in Cognac.

Maker Notes

Our latest and last in the Extinct Blends Quartet Celestial takes to the sky through billowing clouds and glittering constellations, inspired by a whisky from the 1960s with both an extravagant flavour profile and an equine theme. The peatiest of the Extinct Blends Quartet, and our most expansive, Celestial offers a depth of flavour and maturity that has become the series’ hallmark.

‘Vellichor’ is a new word and refers to the aromatic atmosphere within second-hand bookshops. For this project, we have combined complex and impressively mature whiskies from renowned distilleries, as well as parcels of blends that have been aged for many years in ex-Sherry butts, to encapsulate this unique fragrance.

Two ingredients, limitless adventure

In this exclusive gift set, discover three delicious ways in which we combine malt whiskies and grain whiskies. Scotland’s two styles of whisky allow for endless experimentation. Blended malts are long established; blended Scotch emerged in the 19th century, while blended grain started with us in 2000. This one-of-a-kind sampler collection celebrates the compelling possibilities of malt whisky and grain whisky by introducing Orchard House alongside two of our established whiskies, Glasgow Blend and Hedonism.

Three families of blends

Orchard House combines exclusively single malt whiskies, making it a blended malt Scotch whisky, whilst Hedonism draws only on mature single grain whiskies and is that seldom-seen creature, a blended grain Scotch whisky. Then Glasgow Blend completes the picture by bringing together both single grain and single malt whiskies in one bottle as a blended Scotch whisky.

With this pack, you can experience the contrasting styles of whisky Scotland creates. Share & Enjoy!

Ultramarine is inspired by an iconic deluxe blended Scotch, in particular the first bottlings of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Harnessing old school Sherry
casks and ethereal peatiness, Ultramarine highlights the enchanting possibilities, and the breadth of flavours and textures, afforded by combinations of aged malt and grain whiskies.

Powerfully flavoursome and impressively textural, the first release in the Extinct Blends Quartet relies on mature malts from the Caol Ila and Glendullan distilleries; aged grains from the Cameronbridge and Girvan distilleries, as well as a medley of pre-blended stocks.

Welcome to our flavour time machine

Bottles of Scotch whisky are time capsules. Even more than single malts, blends can reflect the production methods and philosophies that prevailed in Scotland during specific eras. Scotch is constantly evolving, and blends aggregate these trends and adaptations.

Fashions change, and formulae follow suit. Blended whiskies of the 1970s, '80s and '90s are very different to today’s versions, even when the brand name remains the same. The Extinct Blends Quartet reimagines four of our favourite blended Scotches from yesteryear, using some of our rarest and most idiosyncratic stocks of whisky.

FLAVOUR PROFILE

Toffee, antique polished oak and complex peatiness are primary aromas, with a palate of roasted pecan, raisins and smoke.

Fruit-forward & spirit-driven

What is more universally delicious than ripe fruit? Even the greatest chefs have been known to serve a simple dish of strawberries or a single, perfect peach as a dessert.

Orchard House gathers together some of the fruitiest malts Scotland has to offer, including whiskies from the Linkwood and Clynelish distilleries; what’s more, we have sourced many of these whiskies as new spirit and laid them down in our own oak casks. This, our monument to fresh fruitiness in Scotch whisky, has been many years in the making.

Bottled at 46% ABV
Not chill-filtered
Natural colour
Lead whiskymaker: James Saxon

When neat or poured over a large ice cube, Orchard House makes for an outstanding pre-dinner malt. It will ably partner amber and pale ales, as well as swathes of soft cheeses. Welcome to our home among the fruit trees – the door is unlocked.

Make Notes

First released in 2006, Flaming Heart was the first whisky to combine the rich, complex spice of Scotch aged in new French oak with the evocative peat-reek smoke of Islay malt whisky. It created a genre-defying style that was smouldering, spicy, complex - and so popular that we’ve re-released it five more times in the years that followed.

This is our seventh edition of Flaming Heart, the whisky that revels in the harmonies between heavy peat and toasted French oak. Imagine Metallica with a backing orchestra, and you’re getting close.

With the best bands, each album is an opportunity to explore and experiment; every record is an evolution from the one before. For fans of Flaming Heart, we always seek to evolve the ‘sound’ and have introduced a deep fruitiness to the arrangement for the 2022 version.

FLAVOUR PROFILE
A high-energy nose with smouldering peat embers, cigar wrapper and candied ginger. The palate is oily, smoky, rich and savoury.

Based around malt whiskies aged in Spanish Sherry and Spanish red wine casks. A full, sumptuous style.

FLAVOUR PROFILE

Notes of citrus peel, red wine and spices. A long finish, with hints of vanilla panna cotta, berries and cherries.

At their best, aged in good quality American oak casks, brimming with vanilla and echoing rich pastry cream on the finish, grain whiskies are amongst the most delicious whiskies in the world.  They are the perfect whiskies to name...Hedonism.

Hedonism will always be lush, soft and creamy but each year we use different whiskies, in different combinations, to achieve this. To learn what exactly is in your bottle of Hedonism, click the RECIPE & FACTSHEET download link below and check the code on the back label.

The inspiration behind our whisky HEDONISM is just that – pleasure, enjoyment, a celebration of that ideal marriage between distilled spirit and high quality oak maturation.

The aromas and flavours hint of vanilla, caramel, a delicate fruitiness, accented by flashes of coconut in the finish.

This is a whisky that will appeal to both the ardent whisky enthusiast and newcomers to whisky alike.

FLAVOUR PROFILE

Notes of vanilla cream, toffee and coconut on a supple frame

AWARDS
2009/2008 - World's Best Grain Whisky - World Whiskies Awards

For those who love big, rich, smoky-peaty whiskies, this is for you. Peat Monster combines smoky and peaty single malts from the island of Islay and the Isle of Mull with rich, medium-peated Highland whisky. The result is a balanced, highly drinkable peaty blended malt Scotch whisky.
Peaty, smoky malt with hints of fruitiness; a balanced whisky with great depth and complexity. A fantastic late-night digestif whisky. Excellent with blue vein cheeses.

AWARDS
2017 - 94 Points / Jim Murray's Whisky Bible

The richness comes from finishing much of the whisky in custom-made new French oak casks, which impart deep spice-like flavours.

FLAVOUR PROFILE

Baking spice notes such as clove and ginger surround a core of fruity maltiness.

Compass Box Oak Cross Scotch Whisky is a rich, medium-bodied malt that masterfully combines the best of American and French oak aging. The whisky draws smooth vanilla notes from American oak and light, clove-like spice from French oak, creating a balanced complexity. On the palate, flavors of sweet malt, clove, vanilla, and subtle fruit shine through. Perfect as a winter aperitif served with chilled water or as a summertime digestif, Oak Cross also pairs exceptionally well with a variety of cheeses. Available from Royal Batch, it's an excellent choice for any whisky connoisseur.

AWARDS
2017 - 92.5 Points / Jim Murray's Whisky Bible

Drawing on historical references that Glaswegians have long preferred bigger, smokier whiskies, the high malt content (approx. 65%) is inspired by 100-year-old recipes.

FLAVOUR PROFILE

Full, bold and smoky on the palate, Glasgow Blend unites the rich spice and fruitcake-like notes of Sherry cask ageing with the maritime punch of Islay malt whisky.

AWARDS
2014 - 92 Points / Mark Gillespie's Whiskycast