Trailblazing Scotch whiskymaker celebrates fifteenth anniversary with Commemorative Limited Edition Release: Hedonism Quindecimus.

Scotland’s leading independent whiskymaker and five-time Whisky Magazine Innovator of the Year, Compass Box has turned fifteen in typically creative style with the launch of the highly collectible Hedonism Quindecimus – a Limited Edition, Blended Grain Scotch Whisky.

Created specifically to commemorate their fifteenth anniversary, Quindecimus (meaning ‘fifteenth’) pays homage to the renowned whiskymaker’s first ever product, Hedonism – the blended grain whisky that has been widely credited with starting the resurgence in popularity of this once-neglected style of Scotch.

‘Hedonism was where it all started for us as a business.  That product was about doing something different – something that nobody else in the world of Scotch would have even considered. For our fifteenth anniversary we wanted to go back to that style of whisky but we also wanted to update it to say something about where Compass Box is today.  We’re fifteen years older – maybe even a little wiser – but we still have that restless energy we had back in 2000. The juxtaposition of flavours and weights in Quindecimus is a representation of that.’

A blend of five separate parcels of aged grain whisky, Compass Box has taken the highly unusual step of revealing the precise age and sourcing of every cask that went into Quindecimus.  Commenting on this decision, founder, John Glaser stated:

‘Since I launched Compass Box back in 2000, we’ve expressed our belief in the need to be transparent regarding how we make our whiskies.  With the recent increase in the number of Non Age Statement whiskies at the lower end of the market, we feel it’s important to share with people the details on the ages of all the whiskies in a product such as this.  We have always held that age isn’t everything in whisky, but in this case we want people to be aware of age and the rarity that goes along with aged grain whiskies of this quality level.  We believe our customers have the right to know what it is they’re drinking.’

Compass Box’s detailed sourcing information reveals that five parcels of whisky from four distilleries were used to create Hedonism Quindecimus: Parcels of 20yo and 25yo grain whisky distilled at Port Dundas were combined with 32yo whisky from Dumbarton, 20yo whisky from North British and a 32yo parcel of ‘mystery’ pre-blended grain whisky sourced from Loch Lomond distillery, for which the exact provenance is unknown.  Describing the flavour profile this blend creates, John Glaser commented:

‘Blending grain whiskies of varying ages can create compelling juxtapositions of flavour.  The truly old grain adds unctuousness and weight, while the younger whiskies bring with them an energy, a drinkability and the irrepressible joie de vivre of youth.  The result is surprising and complex. Deep, sweet caramel coconut succulence combines with bright tropical fruit to create a profusion of flavours that demonstrate the layered complexity you can get from the interplay between grain spirit and American oak over the course of time.’  

A history of innovation

Quindecimus is the latest in a long line of innovations Compass Box has delivered over the course of its fifteen year history:

• Their first product – the original Hedonism – was the world’s first ever Blended Grain Scotch Whisky and has been widely credited with starting the resurgence of interest in grain whisky that last year culminated in the launch of Haig Club, (spearheaded by David Beckham). Find out more about the original Hedonism here: http://www.compassboxwhisky.com/pdf/Hedonism.pdf
• In 2006, Compass Box’s award-winning whisky Spice Tree was temporarily banned by the Scotch Whisky Association for the innovative cask ageing techniques used to develop a flavour profile that had never before been seen in the world of Scotch. Find out more about Compass Box’s ‘illegal’ whisky Spice Tree here: http://www.compassboxwhisky.com/pdf/TheSpiceTreeStory.pdf
• With Peat Monster, Compass Box pioneered a subtle, more balanced approach to peaty whiskies. Using a blend of heavily peated Islay and Highland malts, this rich, complex Blended Malt Scotch Whisky provided a more complex alternative to the world of peated single malts. Find out more about Peat Monster here: http://www.compassboxwhisky.com/pdf/PeatMonster.pdf
• Most recently, with their Great King Street range, Compass Box set out to revive a style of Blended Scotch pioneered by the early whiskymakers of the 19^th Century but lost during whisky’s period of mass-scale commercialisation in the 20^th Century. Using high malt contents and drawing on historical recipes, they created a lost style of whisky that nobody else was even trying to make today. Find out more about Great King Street here: http://www.compassboxwhisky.com/greatkingstreet/greatkingstreet.php

What is Compass Box?

We felt there were simply too many people trying to make the same type of Scotch whisky.  We wanted to do something different – so we set up a completely different type of whisky company.

As whiskymakers, we’re here to ask the questions that nobody else wants to consider.  To explore everything that Scotch could be rather than settling for what it already is.  To make the joys of great Scotch whisky more relevant to more people around the world.

Above all else we are dedicated to making cool, contemporary and delicious whiskies that showcase the full spectrum of flavour that can be created through spirit, time, hard work and oak.

No more boring whisky.    http://www.compassboxwhisky.com/

Who is John Glaser?

Back in 2000, John Glaser quit the corporate world of Johnnie Walker to set up Compass Box from his kitchen. The idea was to explore where others wouldn’t, to create flavours that others weren’t. To push Scotch forward rather than maintaining the status quo.    

Fifteen years later, he’s still here, he’s still doing the same thing.  He has no plans to change.  

NOTES

Hedonism Quindecimus is available from May 1^st 2015 in the US and 15^th April in the UK through our wide network of independent retailers worldwide and our UK-based on-line shop.  For media downloads or for more information on Hedonism Quindecimus or Compass’s Box’s fifteen years of innovation, please contact Debbie Burke in the US or Jonathan Gibson directly in Compass Box’s London studio.

whisky.auction is now live and you can start bidding on items!

Highlights include:

– SMWS 98.1 Lomond 1972

– Karuizawa 1967 Cask #6426 42 Years Old

– Johnnie Walker Blue Label Striding Man Set

– Highland Park 1957 BBR

– Macallan 30 Years Old We also have a large number of whisky miniatures, including some from David Maund’s collection.

This auction will finish on Tuesday 21 April, so take a look at the selection of bottles and bid on any you like the look of. We are still accepting bottles for subsequent auctions – if you have something to sell, email info@whisky.auction or call +44 (0)20 8838 9381.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need more information.

CLICK TO SEE OUR CURRENT AUCTION

Regards

The whisky.auction team

Whisky Intelligence is pleased to announce that they have passed the 10,000 article mark making the site one of the largest whisky news archives available.

This week Joe Ellis reviews Arran 18 Year Old.

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Alberta® Rye Dark Batch™ Whisky Launches In The U.S. Market

Deerfield, Ill. (April 2, 2015) – Alberta® Rye Dark Batch™ Whisky, from the renowned Alberta Distillers Ltd., launches today in the U.S. market. This critically acclaimed super-premium rye whisky features an incomparable rich color and complex flavor paired with remarkable smoothness and character.

Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky boasts flavors of honey and oak and imparts hints of vanilla, smoke, sweet oak and savory dried fruit, such as plum and blackcurrant, on the palate. Bottled at 90 proof and best enjoyed in a variety of whisky cocktails, Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky is challenging bartenders and consumers to rethink their rye and give cocktails a new interpretation.

“As the rye whisky category continues to grow, we’re thrilled to be able to introduce a new product to U.S. whisky lovers,” said Dan Tullio, Canadian Whisky Master Ambassador at Beam Suntory. “With Alberta Distillers’ rich heritage producing superior rye whisky, Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky combines contemporary flavor trends with classic notes of premium rye whisky, offering mixologists, spirits connoisseurs and whisky enthusiasts a one-of-a-kind whisky with a robust, sophisticated flavor.”

Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky features a blend of 91% rye whisky, 8% bourbon and 1% sherry to add layers of complexity in each bottle. The distinct rich color of the liquid comes from a combination of factors, including the aging process, which incorporates both new charred American white oak and once-used American bourbon barrels. Other contributing factors include the addition of a touch of sherry and Alberta, Canada’s high altitude, desert-like humidity levels and extreme seasonal and daily temperature changes, which promote maturation.

“Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky truly embodies the distinguished flavor whisky aficionados seek,” said Davin de Kergommeaux, award-winning author and whisky industry influencer. “The unique distillation process and grain bill of the rye sets it apart from other rye whiskies, in terms of flavor and quality.”

Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky is at its best in cocktails that highlight its distinctive flavor, such as the Rye Squeeze below, and can also be enjoyed neat.

Rye Squeeze 

• 1½ parts Alberta® Rye Dark Batch™ Whisky
• 4-5 parts ginger beer
• 2 dashes Angostura® bitters
• 1 orange wedge pressed

METHOD: Add all ingredients to a lowball glass. Fill with ice, top with ginger beer and stir. Garnish with an orange wedge.

Prior to hitting shelves in the U.S., Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky quickly became an award-winning whisky with accolades from top international spirits competitions, including Chairman’s Trophy at the 2014 Ultimate Spirits Challenge, Double Gold at the 2014 New York World Wine & Spirits Competition and Gold & Best of Class – Canadian Whisky from Spirits of the Americas 2014.

Alberta Distillers Ltd., North America’s largest producer of 100% rye, carefully crafts Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky with glacial-borne water. The distillery, which has been in operation since 1946, was built in southern Alberta because the area’s dry climate and high altitude are ideal for rye crop growth.

For additional cocktail recipes and more information on Alberta Rye Dark Batch Whisky, which sells at a suggested retail price of $29.99 for a 750ml bottle, please visit www.AlbertaRye.com.

About Alberta Distillers Ltd.

Alberta Distillers Ltd., based in Calgary, Alberta, is the largest producer of 100% rye whisky in North America. Owned by Beam Suntory Inc. since 1988, the distillery has produced quality whisky for nearly 70 years. The Alberta Premium brand, which has a strong focus on heritage and western rural values, has won numerous prestigious awards for its excellent quality.

About Beam Suntory Inc.

As the world’s third largest premium spirits company, Beam Suntory is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World.  Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company’s brands, including the flagship Jim Beam bourbon and Yamazaki Japanese whisky, as well as world renowned premium brands including Maker’s Mark and Knob Creek bourbons, Hakushu and Hibiki Japanese whiskies, Teacher’s, Laphroaig, and Bowmore Scotch whiskies, Canadian Club whisky, Courvoisier cognac, Sauza tequila, Pinnacle vodka, and Midori liqueur.  The company generates annual worldwide sales exceeding $4 billion excluding excise taxes.

Beam Suntory was created in 2014 by combining the world leader in bourbon and the pioneer in Japanese whisky to form a new company with a deep heritage, passion for quality, innovative spirit and entrepreneurial culture.  Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Beam Suntory is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings Limited of Japan.  For more information on Beam Suntory, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.beamsuntory.com and www.drinksmart.com

It doesn’t take great detective skills to sleuth out the best in single cask bottlings!  Look no further than the April Outturn.  For full tasting notes please visit http://www.smws.ca/ but for now be tempted by the bottle notes below.

Happy sleuthing!

Cask No. 48.43  Pepper crop-dusted over orchards

12 years old; 1st fill barrel; 55.5%; Spicy & sweet

The nose starts with tickling pepper and sawdust; then come blackcurrant chews, tinned pineapple, orange jelly and sun-kissed orchard fruits. The palate’s pepper, nutmeg and chili tingle balances honey, toffee, fruit pastilles, ice lolly sticks and hints of leather and tea.

Cask No. 26.100  Galactic root canal treatment

9 years old; 1st fill barrel; 56.5%; Young & spritely

The nose shifts from white pepper, pine and varnish to lemon candles, liquorice, sherbet and old-fashioned rucksacks; milk bottle sweets and laundry later. The neat palate is hot and fierce, but sweetens with water to Haribos gummies, lemon barley water and popcorn.

Cask No. 9.84  Playing ‘Sea Battle’ in the garden

25 years old; refill sherry butt; 55.6%; Juicy, oak & vanilla

You find yourself either on a gun deck of an old wood-hulled warship with gunpowder, spent cartridge and ash or peacefully tending your herb garden and then taking a break on a cedar deck to enjoy waffles with runny vanilla custard playing ‘Sea Battle’.

Cask No. 132.6  Nite Nurse nipped by piranhas

12 years old; refill sherry butt; 63%; Deep, rich & dried fruits

The complex nose combines salted caramel, barley sugars and ginger snaps with laurel hedges, lacquered wood, hazelnuts, cherries and cigarette packets (more herbal with water). The palate mingles dark chocolate and fig rolls with orange peel, perfume and warm nipping spices.

Cask No. 3.217  A delicatessen shopping basket

16 years old; refill butt; 55.6%; Lightly peated

A feast of prosciutto ham, sundried tomatoes, sushi and brown sauce. Leather jackets in canvas bags with tobacco. German peppered ham? A delicious foodie dram in a warm plastic box. A blast of tar, sea spray, and wet burlap rope.

Cask No. 53.190  A fishing village up whisky cove

17 years old; refill hogshead; 56.8%; Peated

The nose evokes fishing villages – boat sheds, smoke houses, tarry ropes, lobster pots and sea-food barbecues; swimming pools, new tires and oysters later. The palate is masculine and tongue-roasting – citric smoke, driftwood, brine, treacle, leather, vanilla, honey-roast pork and chili.

Cask No. 29.140  Juicy, salty and sooty

18 years old; refill barrel; 60.2%; Heavily peated

Carbolic and Coal Tar soap, then Brazil, Monkey and pine nuts in a garden shed with a lawnmower. The taste very sweet, salty and sooty, with a savoury edge. More medicinal with water but still full on.

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SOCIETY EVENTS 

Game of Pairs Tasting > The Vaults, Leith – Tue 14 Apr

Match Society and proprietary drams in this exciting game of tasting pairs

Free Live Music > The Vaults, Leith – Wed 15 Apr

Featuring Reece Hillis, a very talented, young Folk/Blues musician from central Scotland

Browse All Tastings >

Laphroaig 14 Year Old Feis Ile

2001 vintage single sherry butt bottled by Douglas Laing & Co. for the Islay Festival 2015. Islay in a bottle!

Laphroaig 14 Year Old $110.26

This week Joe Ellis reviews Arran 17 Year Old.

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Amrut Distilleries, India, known for their popular range of Single Malt whiskies, which include Amrut Fusion, Amrut Portonova & Amrut Peated, have launched 

​Amrut Naarangi, the first ever whisky in the world with Orange notes.​ 

​Bangalore, India.

Amrut Distilleries, based in Bangalore, India is a boutique distillery known for their award winning single malt whiskies. Amrut recently concluded 10 years of presence in the international markets and have launched the Amrut Naa​rangi Single Malt Whisky. The distillery had launched their malts in 2004 in Glasgow, Scotland by N.R. Jagdale, the Managing Director through his son Rakshit & his friend Ashok and now bears unmistakable shelf presence across 40 countries. The brand peaked in the limelight in 2010 when acclaimed whisky writer, Jim Murray rated the Amrut Fusion with 97/100 points voting it the ‘3rd finest whisky in the world’ putting behind over 4000 whiskies from brands across the world. Amrut is also the only Indian whisky to feature in Ian Buxton’s ‘101 whiskies to have before you die’.

The latest offering from Amrut, the ‘Naarangi’ derives its name from the Hindi word,

​ ​Naarangi which means Orange. It is the only single malt whisky ever produced in the world to have expressions of Orange, which brings forth a new level of experimentation to the malt world.

EU regulations for malt whiskies state that adding anything to a whisky disqualifies it from being called a whisky, however, Amrut who had been contemplating adding Orange notes to whisky have developed a novel solution to create Naarangi which meets all EU guidelines. To produce this whisky, Amrut procured Olorosso Sherry from Spain and matured wine along with Orange peel in it for a period of three years. The oranges for this were sourced from the tourist haven, Madikeri located in the picturesque Western Ghats of India. The wine and orange peel concoction was let to mature for 3 years in Bangalore, lending the barrel a unique Orange essence.

The wine and peels were then spilled and the barrels were filled with 3-year-old matured single malt whisky and allowed to mature for 3 more years. In this period the barrels have lent the Orange characteristics to the whisky creating pioneering single malt.

“The whisky is not dominated by the Orange but remarkably balanced out”, notes Ashok Chokalingam, GM – International Markets, Amrut. “The finish is of subtle orange notes while in the middle ground you can find the traditional Amrut signature.”

900 bottles have been shipped in the first release to Europe, Asia Pacific and Canada with all bottles at 50% ABV. Reviewers and connoisseurs are waiting keenly to get their hands on this whisky. Single malt whiskies, which were for long the domain of the Scots, are now seeing increasing innovative work from boutique brands such as Amrut amongst others.

About Amrut Single Malt

​A​mrut Single Malt was launched in 2004 as an experiment by Amrut Distilleries, a Bangalore based conglomerate that started operations in 1948. Amrut was the first ever-Indian single malt and was launched in Glasgow, right in the heart of Scotland. The whiskies were received well across the world owing to their quality and have grown aggressively. Amrut now bottles around 18 expressions of single malts, which are sold in 40 countries and growing.