A very interesting spirit produced by Compass Box in honour of their long term collaborators, design company Stranger and Stranger.

This bottling is technically not a whisky, as it contains 1% “sacrificial spirit”: wheat and barley distillate from Girvan distillery that had been used to season experimental new American oak barrels for a year, before a brief period in refill hogsheads. As it is under 3 years old, it cannot be considered a whisky. Compass Box state that the spirit had an intensely woody character with plenty of vanilla flavour.

The remaining 99% of the blend is taken from Glenlossie, Glen Elgin and Linkwood, with the whisky aged between 17 and 22 years old. Glenlossie provides 80%, drawn from a re-charred Hogshead. 14% is taken from re-charred barrels from Glen Elgin, whilst Linkwood provides just 5%, from a sherry butt.

The whisky is fruity and floral, with powerful notes of honeysuckle, orange blossom, alongside juicy citrus and apples, with some slight cut grass, a hint of mint, burnt sugar, vanilla custard, a touch of sweet wine and sultana, with a faint bright oak sweetness.

Bottled at 46% ABV, and without out chill filtration or colouration, this blend enjoys a full body.

The label is based upon Stranger & Stranger’s logo, altered with their trademark creativity.

Less than 5,000 bottles were released.