Collection
Compass Box
This collection brings together Compass Box whisky: three blended malts from the Scottish whisky house founded in 2000 by John Glaser. Compass Box has no distillery of its own, but selects malt whisky from various distilleries and casks and blends it into a style of its own. Here you can choose between the fruity Orchard House, the smoky The Peat Monster and the exclusive Amici ad Vitam.
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Orchard House is the approachable starting point, with apple and stone fruit. The Peat Monster builds sweet smoke from Islay malts, and the Amici ad Vitam is a rich, layered anniversary bottling. All three are bottled without added colouring and without chill filtration.
Want to know how such a blend is put together? Read What is a blended malt whisky or the story of Compass Box.
What is a blended malt and why does Compass Box make them?
A blended malt is a mix of single malts from two or more distilleries, without any grain whisky. Compass Box uses this approach to combine flavours that a single distillery cannot create on its own, and to set different cask types side by side. The result is a style of its own, independent of any one producer's house style. All three bottles in this collection are blended malt Scotch whisky.
How smoky is Compass Box The Peat Monster?
Clearly smoky, but sweet and layered rather than sharply medicinal. For The Peat Monster, Compass Box combines Islay single malts with different levels of peat: sweet smoke leads, with heavier medicinal peat underneath. It is bottled at 46% ABV, with natural colour and without chill filtration. In our Flavour Compass it sits under Smoky & Powerful.
What makes the Compass Box Amici ad Vitam special?
It is a one-off bottling that Compass Box created for the 30th anniversary of the Dutch importer Bresser & Timmer. Only 630 bottles were produced. The blend is rich and layered thanks to sherry casks and was bottled at cask strength, without colouring or chill filtration. That makes it a bottle for a special occasion rather than an everyday dram.
Why does Compass Box campaign for more transparency on labels?
Because Compass Box believes you have a right to know what is in your bottle. In 2015 the company was told that, under the rules, it could not list the ages of all the whiskies in a blend, only that of the youngest. Compass Box then launched a campaign for greater openness. You can read the full story in our article.
How do you best enjoy Compass Box Orchard House?
Neat in a tulip glass to appreciate the fruit, or long with ice and soda water as a highball. Orchard House is fresh and fruity with apple and stone fruit and holds up well when diluted. Taste it neat first, then add a few drops of water with a pipette and see what changes. According to Compass Box, The Peat Monster also works as a smoky float on a Penicillin cocktail.