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Next Auction starts Friday 29 March. Bottle Deadline: 18 March.

Balblair Compass Box Myths and Legends I

Lot: 323834

Balblair Compass Box Myths and Legends I

Winning Bid: £220

Currency Estimate

Important: Currency exchange rates are constantly changing; this feature is to be used as a guide price only. All final transactions occur in British Pounds (£).
Lot:
Distillery: 
Balblair
Age: 
N/A
Vintage: 
N/A
Region: 
Highland
Bottler: 
Compass Box
Cask Type: 
See Lot Description
Bottled Strength: 
46%
Bottle Size: 
70cl
Distillery Status: 
Operational
product Details

Balblair Compass Box Myths and Legends I

Despite brands like Ballantine’s, Johnnie Walker and Chivas Regal remaining the best-selling Scotch whisky brands in the world, the blended Scotch category played second fiddle to the more fashionable single malt market in the second half of the 20th century. This remains largely true today, however in recent decades the perception of the blend has improved. The company at the forefront of this is Compass Box, founded in 2000 by John Glaser, a former marketing director for the Johnnie Walker brand. Their core range consists of The Spice Tree, The Peat Monster, Story of the Spaniard, Oak Cross and Hedonism blends, and they regularly produce limited editions as well. The company prides itself on its boundary-pushing approach to its creations, and on occasion, boundary-crossing creations, such as the original Spice Tree in 2005 which was banned by the Scotch Whisky Association for its use of suspended staves in casks. Despite investment from Bacardi in 2015, the company continues to push the envelope and rebel against tradition, most notably in its Scotch Whisky Transparency campaign, launched in 2016 following another disagreement with the SWA, this time about their detailed revealing of the recipes of their whiskies.

This is a rare and interesting single malt release from Compass Box, the first in a series of three bottlings in their 2019 limited edition Myths & Legends series. 

The whisky is a blend of casks all distilled at Balblair. Bottled in July 2019, this is one of 4394 bottles. 

Balblair distillery in situated in the northern Highland region, currently under the ownership of Inver House Distillers and previously part of the Hiram Walker empire before it became Allied Distillers. Allied sold it to Inver House in 1996, who introduced the much-loved vintage-dated core range in 2007. Distillery bottlings were also produced in the 1980s but in the intervening years, independent releases like this were the most commonly available way to sample this lesser-known Highland single malt.

Transparency:

  • 57.9% first-fill bourbon barrels
  • 42.1% re-charred American oak barrels

This bottle is being sold from the Pat's Whisk(e)y private collection which, numbering in excess of 9,000 bottles and over 2,000 miniatures, is the single largest collection of whisky ever to be brought to auction. Pat's Whisk(e)y is the result of over fifteen years of passion and dedication to the goal of creating one of the most complete libraries of whisky and whiskey ever amassed by an individual collector. It contains bottles from over 150 different Scottish distilleries, as well as bourbon, rare Scotch releases from sought-after independent bottlers in Europe, and whisky from other distilleries across the globe. Whisky Auctioneer is delighted to have partnered with Pat's Whisk(e)y to offer this collection across a number of exclusive and spotlight auctions. For more information, please click here.

Important Notice

We would recommend viewing/close inspection prior to placing any bids. If this is not an option and you have questions beyond the offered description and images, please contact us for a more in-depth condition report. Otherwise lots will be sold as seen in the images.

Please note: Due to the various ages of bottles and their seals, condition of liquid is at the buyer's discretion and no claim can be lodged against failure/leakage in transit.