About Compass Box Hedonism Quindecimus Scotch Whisky
Since its inception in 2000, Compass Box Whisky Company has been stewarded by John Glaser, one of the most progressive and innovative whisky blenders of his generation. "Like a winemaker blending grape varieties, we can create layers of complexity by blending whisky," says Glaser, who was named "Innovator of the Year"four times by
Whisky Magazine and "Pioneer of the Year"twice by
Malt Advocate. While Glaser initially began his career in the industry as a marketing agent, he quickly realized that by blending quality whiskies, he was able to create a product that was greater than the sum of its rare parts.
The first ever release from Compass Box was its Hedonism Whisky, a unique blend of grain Scotch whisky. Nearly a century ago, grain whiskies were common across Europe, but were overtaken in terms of popularity when the larger distilleries in Scotland began focusing on single malt whisky. "When good Scotch grain whisky is aged in good quality American oak casks, the results can be stunning," says Glaser.
To celebrate the company’s fifteenth anniversary, Compass Box is paying homage to its inaugural release with the new, limited edition Compass Box Hedonism Quindecimus Blended Grain Whisky. Compass Box Hedonism Quindecimus uses grain whiskies of varying ages from five distilleries — Dumbarton (28 years old), Port Dundas (25 years old and 20 years old), North British (20 years old) and Loch Lomond (32 years old) — to create a “riotous, intergenerational celebration” born out of the interplay between grain spirits and American oak (each whisky used in the blend was rested in American oak barrels).
As a result, Compass Box Hedonism Quindecimus. has a nose of cake icing, salted caramel, wood spices and tropical fruits. The palate is bold and spicy, with notes of pepper and milk chocolate intermingling with cardamom, clove and coconut, all of which lead to an elegant finish accented by toffee, ginger and peach.
“Hedonism was where it all started for us as a business,” says Glaser. “That product was about doing something different – something that nobody else in the world of Scotch would have even considered. [Today] we’re 15 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.”
Only 5,689 bottles of Compass Box Hedonism Quindecimus will ever be released — pick up a bottle today!
About Scotch
Scotch is the most popular whisky in the world and is considered the king of them all! There are five whisky regions in Scotland (six if you count the not officially recognized Islands), and each of them produces spirits with unique properties and distinct tasting notes. (The type of grain used determents the type of the scotch.)
Malt whisky is made of malted barley, and grain whisky uses other grains like corn or wheat. Most of the time, a whisky is blended from different distilleries hence the name blended scotch, but if a malt whisky is produced in a single distillery, we get something extraordinary called a single malt.
Check out our impressive selection of scotch whiskies, find your new favorite in the Top 10 scotch whiskies, or explore our treasury of rare & hard to find scotch whiskies.