Compass Box This is not a luxury whisky Makes Statement

The folks behind the independent Scotch whisky bottler called Compass Box, in celebration of their 15th anniversary of putting out great releases, are bringing to market two new offerings. One of these is a rather fun little bottling challenging “people’s perceptions about what represents a ‘luxury’ whisky” that’s aptly named This is not a luxury whisky.

I kid you not – the new Compass Box This is not a luxury whisky, in encouraging people to consider “what it is that makes a luxury whisky a luxury,” is inspired by by Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte’s 1929 concept piece: “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”, a surrealist painting which challenges people’s perceptions of reality. According to Compass Box founder John Glaser,

“similar to what Magritte did with his painting of a pipe that claimed it was not a pipe, we wanted to see what would happen if we put a rare, old, expensive liquid in an explicitly ‘non-luxury’ container. Would it diminish the whisky in any way? Would the liquid inside be seen as less desirable simply because of what was written on the front label? Or would the true measure of the whisky prove to be the amber liquid inside? That’s what we hope to get people thinking about with this release.”

As for what’s in the bottle, it is a blended Scotch whisky made from Glen Ord 19 Year Old and Caol Ila 30 Year Old single malts and Girvan 40 Year Old and Strathclyde 40 Year Old grain whiskies. It was bottled at 53.1% ABV and will be limited in release, numbering just 4,992 bottles. Each will price at £150, or around $230 USD.

Official tasting notes for the Compass Box This is not a luxury whisky release are below for your consideration.