Delos from Compass Box Whisky Company
Compass Box Whisky Company was founded in 2000 by John Glaser, formerly associated with Diageo and the Johnnie Walker brand. Employed by a multinational conglomerate, an American who specializes in Scotch whisky decides to strike out on his own and sets up a company in... London. This is how to briefly summarize the genesis of the company, which quite quickly gained a reputation as one of the biggest innovators in the field of Scotch whisky.
After all, what else can you say about a Scotch whisky specialist who puts the success of his new company in the hands of a bizarre genre, hitherto almost completely unknown, namely blended grain Scotch whisky. Yes, the first whisky released by Compass Box, Hedonism, was a blend of two grain whiskies. Whisky, which in the common mind of amateurs of the national drink of the Scots, is only suitable for use as a filler for despised blends. What's more, Hedonism Blended Grain Scotch Whisky didn't even have an age declaration, which in the late 20th century qualified as a grave sin. Meanwhile, John Glaser boldly put together a cask of Caledonian 20yo and a cask of Cambus 10yo, both from now-defunct distilleries, and bottled 690 bottles of pure grain delight.
The second whisky in the Compass Box range was Asyla, a blended Scotch whisky. Another rather universally despised genre, associated primarily with budget... getting drunk with Scotch "ore on mice." In this case, too, John Glaser's proposal has surprised whisky lovers immeasurably. And then there were no more surprises. Whatever appeared on the market under the Compass Box banner was treated with due respect and won the appreciation of wide crowds of whisky lovers. And so it is to this day.
The release of the whisky for which Asyla (unavailable as of 2018) was the inspiration has just been announced. Compass Box Delos, as it is referred to, is a blended Scotch whisky, which is the second installment of the Extinct Blends Quartet series, launched last year by Compass Box Ultramarine. The other two are scheduled to be released in 2023 and 2024.
Compass Box Delos (49% vol.) is a whisky with no age declaration, although the producer makes it clear that it is a beverage that is "older in character," which could mean the use of distillates that are at least justly aged. It is known that the blend included Cameronbridge grain whisky and malt whiskies from Glen Elgin, Miltonduff and Imperial distilleries, all matured in American bourbon barrels. The latter distillery has been out of business since 2002, so at least part of the new Delos is at least 20 years old. If the words of the creator of this blend, James Saxon, are to be believed, clearly older distillates were used in the blend than was the case with the original Asyla, resulting in a deeper, rounder profile with a richer character. Compass Box, however, has always shied away from echoing the age of its whiskeys, on the otherwise correct assumption that quality will defend itself.
Aroma and flavor profile Delos offers accents of ripe pear, pineapple, orange, vanilla, guava, heather honey and chai spices. Naturally, this whisky was not cold-filtered and not colored with caramel. The edition is limited to 5,520 bottles, each of which costs £265 at retail.
At the time of preparing this material, the House of Whisky Online offered the following more than a dozen editions of whiskies under the Compass Box banner, including Asyla, which is the inspiration for the new Delos. We invite you to visit.
[10.02.2023 / photo: Compass Box]