Celestial - The Extinct Blends Quartet - Compass Box

Profile: The Celestial - The Extinct Blends Quartet - Compass Box

• Limited luxury blend: Compass Box Celestial is inspired by a whisky from the 1960s
• The Extinct Blends Quartet: Celestial is the last of the four bottlings in the series
• The big advantage of blended Whisky? The best characteristics from different distilleries combined

Portrait: What makes the Celestial - The Extinct Blends Quartet - Compass Box special

After exploring vibrant metropolises with Metropolis, Compass Box now takes off with Celestial, the final release from the Extinct Blends Quartet. off into the sky. With the luxurious bottling series, Compass Box reinterprets four of the most popular blended Scotches from bygone times and draws on some of its rarest and most original whisky stocks.
 
Celestial shows what heights you can take with you the best combinations of Scottish malt and grain whiskies. It is inspired by a whiskey from the 1960s that is characterized by both an extravagant profile and a horse theme and that rises to taste heaven like Pegasus. Founded by one of the original “Whisky Barons” and with strong historical links to a distillery on Islay and one on Speyside, bottlings of the brand from the 1950s and 1960s are highly sought after.
 
The Blended Scotch Celestial is the peatiest and most complex whisky of the quartet, with a depth of flavor and maturity that has become the hallmark of the series. Heavy campfire and coastal smoke from Ardbeg and Caol Ila meet a ginger-like richness, vanilla, grilled apples and cooked tropical fruits, including from the Glen Elgin distilleries , Pulteney and Port Dundas.

The whiskies used in detail:
Ardbeg Single Malt 16.9%, Recharred American Oak Barrel
Port Dundas Single Grain 15.5%, First-Fill Bourbon Barrel
Cameronbridge Single Grain 13.2%, Recharred American Oak Hogshead
Pulteney Single Malt 14.8%, Recharred American Oak Barrel
Caol Ila Single Malt 11.5%, Refill Bourbon Barrel
Blended Scotch Parcel (Amici Ad Vitam) 9.7%, Primarily First-Fill Bourbon Barrel
Blended Scotch Parcel 6.2%, Refill Sherry Butt
Highland Malt Blend 4.5%, Custom French Oak Cask - Heavy Toast
Glen Elgin Single Malt 3.3%, Recharred American Oak Barrel
Blended Scotch Parcel (Ultramarine) 2.3%, Primarily Refill Bourbon Barrel
Blended Malt Parcel (Tobias & The Angel) 2.1%, Refill American Oak Hogshead

Bottled: November 2023
Outturn: 5,532 bottles

Tasting Notes: This is what the Celestial - The Extinct Blends Quartet - Compass Box tastes like

• Nose: intense peat smoke and the scent of a campfire on the beach, behind it clearly spicy ginger, vanilla and grilled apples
• Palate: dry in taste with a pronounced spiciness of fresh oak and smoked meat - above all tropical fruits
• Finish: long in the finish - the smoke comes back, accompanied by spicy ginger and ripe tropical fruits