Compass Box Scotch recently announced its first limited edition whisky of 2022 … the Vellichor.
A press release from the brand states that this new expression is inspired by the experience, emotion, and aroma of old bookshops. And collectors should know that this whisky edition will only have 3,246 bottles available worldwide.
Vellichor clocks in at 44.6% ABV and comes with a suggested retail price of $450. It will be available from select specialist retailers.
“To us, Vellichor starts with a word and an emotion: the experience of being in a second-hand bookshop and being enveloped by its aroma,” said Compass Box whiskymaker, James Saxon, in a prepared statement. “We scoured Scotland for the volumes we needed to express this, eventually discovering two parcels of Scotch whisky from a distiller and bottler in Speyside. Both were blends that had been aged further in Sherry casks and were more than two decades old.”
“These are some of our favorite whiskies to work with and we have capitalized on such discoveries before with previous limited editions, including The General and The Circus. Refining the very specific aromas of old books with whisky has been a moving process for us,” he added.
Vellichor is a described as word that describes and embodies the fragrance and nostalgia of old books found at second-hand and antique book stores. Compass Box carries this theme through the bottle with the aesthetic of aged, well-used paper, and the shades of brown and yellow that convey what’s said to be the accumulated age of the whisky components they used to create the whisky.
The transportive aroma of old books is a favorite of Compass Box whiskymaker and founder, John Glaser, along with Saxon. They both studied literature and spent a lot of time in packed libraries. Creating a whisky that embodies this atmosphere and unique fragrance was part of the adventure for them both, they said.
In this whiskey, Compass Box combined rare, Sherry-matured blends with malt whiskies from the Highland Park and Macallan distilleries, together with a small amount of very old whisky from the Caol Ila Distillery.
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Rare are the blends that feature 23-year-old whisky from the Macallan Distillery, and even more scarce are blends built around older whisky from the Highland Park Distillery. The smoky and tropical fruit nature of this set of casks from the renowned Orkney distillery is said to have helped inspired the idea.
For more information on this limited edition, check out www.compassboxwhisky.com.
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