Innovative whisky maker Compass Box introduced its latest limited edition, titled Secrets of Smoke, to guests at TFWA World Exhibition this month. Two editions have been created, one for a global audience across channels, while another comprising 300 cases is only available in travel retail.
It follows the launch earlier this year of its initial travel retail-exclusive limited edition titled The Travelling Circus. Compass Box partners with Duty Free Global to bring its products to life in the travel retail channel.
The blend, bottled at 52% ABV, is inspired by the flavours of Peat Monster, one of Compass Box’ best sellers, a parcel of which is finished in second-fill Spanish red wine casks. Using Palo Cortado sherry-seasoned casks, second-fill Spanish red wine casks, and first-fill Marsala casks, Secrets of Smoke allows wood to temper the peat, revealing the characteristics inherent to this peated malt.
Key whiskies in the blend include Caol Ila 12 Year Old single malt, which contributes 62.2%, alongside Caol Ila 20 Year Old single malt at 24%. These are complemented by Compass Box Peat Monster single malt, Laphroaig 18 Year Old single malt, Bowmore 22 Year Old single malt, Ardmore 14 year Old single malt and a parcel of blended malt.
Compass Box said that Lead Whiskymaker James Saxon was beguiled by the parcel of Caol Ila that had been resting in Palo Cortado Sherry butts, and wanted to see what would happen if he increased the proportion of this whisky in the blend.
The result, said Compass Box, is a “beautifully savoury dram with persistent notes of sea salt and butterscotch. An additional parcel of older Caol Ila rounds out the blend and delivers a lasting flavour of date-enriched barbecue sauce.”
The company added: “This whisky is a perfect partner to the global release of Secrets of Smoke. With a completely different profile, but the same complexity, it retains and highlights the surprising sweetness inherent, yet sometimes hidden, in peated whiskies.”
Each year Compass Box create four to five limited editions, from rare releases of a few hundred bottles to runs of several thousand. Each typically uses smaller parcels of whisky at greater ages, and are differentiated from one another not only in style but also in their variety of bottling strengths and specially commissioned labels.
Since its founding in 2000, London-based blended Scotch whisky maker Compass Box has become known for its creative approach to liquid, its artful design and the collectability of many of its expressions.
At a media briefing in Cannes, Compass Box International Commercial Director Kerrin Egalka said: “Compass Box has become known for limited editions throughout our history.
“From early on, when our Founder John Glaser had access to special casks, he made a very small run of blends, but these were not going to be available for everybody. They tended to be special, a little more expensive and maybe something the whisky connoisseur would understand. And these have become very collectable and popular over the years.
“Until recently these editions were for domestic markets only. When we moved into travel retail, it was very important that we created whiskies for the travel retail sector as well. That began with The Travelling Circus, as a permanent SKU, and continues now with Secrets of Smoke as a limited edition.
“And we are encouraging our loyal customers to go out and hunt down one of the bottles from these 300 cases that are available very selectively in travel retail.
“We are democratising that hunt as often with just a limited release you would distribute it via one customer, and that makes it difficult for enthusiasts from other parts of the world to find. So airports are the best way to get this in front of many people.”
Compass Box CEO Maurice Doyle added: “There are many in the travelling public looking for something different, something interesting, in a whisky category that looks broadly the same as it did ten to 20 years ago. We believe we can help add more interest, more excitement and more creativity in the world of whisky with editions such as this one.
“What we have seen with The Travelling Circus is the importance of engaging people and creating disruption in the airport retail environment, but also doing it with fun. And our aim is to bring some more fun to the experience of discovering whisky in that space.”
The design features a dark background, with a holographic foil representing the sweeter characteristics of the blend, aiming to catch the eye with their shifting colours. The central idea for the brief of Secrets of Smoke was ‘explosive revelation’.
On the gift box the brand owner shows the specific sweet characteristics one can find in the whisky, with a UV ink revealing grapes, cherries, an apple and a pineapple.
The global release will be priced at £135, with travel retail pricing comparable (depending on location), said the company.
*Click here for a special feature on Compass Box from earlier this year.
