Compass Box Announces Their First Limited Edition Release Of 2022

Compass Box Scotch Whiskymakers are thrilled to announce their first LimitedEdition of 2022, Vellichor (RRP £400, ABV: 44.6%). This new expression will only have 3,246 bottles available worldwide.

Each year Compass Box produces a number of Limited Editions, from very rare releases of a few hundred bottles, to more accessible launches of several thousand bottles. Each one boasts a different identity and expresses deliciousness in Scotch whisky in its own way.

‘Vellichor’ itself is a new word and embodies the fragrance and nostalgia of old books found within second-hand bookshops. This sentiment flows through all elements of the bottle. It is shown in the artwork with the aesthetic of aged, well-used paper. The shades of brown and yellow convey the accumulated age of the whisky components they have used to create such a special whisky.

Compass Box have combined rare, Sherry-matured blends with malt whiskies from the sought-after Highland Park and Macallan distilleries, together with a small amount of very old whisky from the Caol Ila Distillery. Each component is a character in the story of Vellichor. The complex, transportive aroma of old books is a favourite of Compass Box whiskymaker and founder, John Glaser and Compass Box whiskymaker, James Saxon. They both studied literature and spent many hours in densely packed libraries; creating a whisky that embodies this atmosphere and unique fragrance has been a great adventure for them both.

Not many blends feature 23-year-old whisky from the Macallan Distillery; fewer still are built around even older
whisky from the Highland Park Distillery. It was the dustily smoky and tropically fruity nature of this set of casks from the famous Orkney Distillery that inspired the idea in the first place.

Whiskymaker, James Saxon says, “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. 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 favourite whiskies to work with and we have capitalised 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.”

Vellichor is available to purchase in the UK from 1st February and can be found here: compassboxwhisky.com.