Secrets Whiskey Experts Can’t Tell: Interview with Compass Box Whiskey
When you drink a drink, have you noticed that the label on the back of the bottle is full of dense information, telling you what the ingredients in the bottle are made of? However, when drinking whiskey, the wine label will only write the name of the whiskey or distillery, plus a number.
If you know something about whiskey, you know that the number represents the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle, but what kind of whiskey is in the bottle? Why didn’t anyone tell me? You may or may not know, but the formula is the top secret in the whiskey industry. …
It is said that this is a regulation of the Scotch Whiskey Association (SWA), which requires manufacturers not to publish the formula, but in fact this regulation originated from the European Union, and SWA is just a gatekeeper to keep everyone from crossing the line. However, for decades, no wine merchant wanted to publish the recipe, after all, it is always better to work in a black box.
Unexpectedly, in 2016, a wine merchant challenged Tiantiao, published its recipe on the Internet by itself, and launched the Transparency Campaign, asking consumers to support their right to know. Who is so bold and so rebellious in the traditional and conservative Scotch whiskey industry? It turns out to be Compass Box whiskey!
After dealing with SWA and consulting with lawyers, Compass Box knew that it was impossible to change the EU regulations, and they found a way to play around the edges. Only publish the circle diagram of the recipe on the website to let everyone know which wineries and proportions are used, but the year is not announced. However, if consumers take the initiative to ask for the year, they will inform them. The Transparency Campaign that caused an uproar that year came to an end. It is worth watching closely whether it will come back after the UK leaves the EU and does not need to comply with EU regulations.
photo Credit: Compass Box Website
Perhaps many people know Compass Box because of Transparency Campaign, but I am not. When I drank their classic masterpiece Hedonism in London more than ten years ago, there was an indescribable balance and elegance in my mouth, which I have never felt in other whiskeys. I have always only drank a single malt, but later I learned that it is a blended grain whiskey (Blended Grain), and Hedonism, a word I can’t pronounce at all, is hedonism.
Photo Credit: Compass Box Website
I met John, the owner of Compass Box whiskey, on a sunny autumn afternoon. London has been locked down for several months. Every day, I just sit at the table by the windowsill and do bank work. I feel bored day after day. Slowly devour me. That day at noon, I finally went out, and walked to his office with the bright red and golden fallen leaves creaking.
I thought it would be a spotless and tidy office that made people stressful, but I didn’t expect that the walls were covered with Compass Box wine label posters, and there were large and small whiskeys in the cabinet on the table. It was more like a wine merchant It's an advertising company, such casualness makes people feel relieved.
Photo Credit: Comppass Box Website
Although the owner John is an American, Compass Box is an authentic British wine merchant.
Without asking the questions prepared in advance, John and I chatted about whiskey like friends who met for the first time but fell in love at first sight. He talked about his memories of when he was the marketing director of Johnnie Walker Blue on a business trip to Taiwan more than 20 years ago, and he could feel his affection for Taiwan from his words.
Ask him why he is particularly interested in blended whiskey? He smiled and said, except for single cask whiskey (Single Cask), isn’t all whiskey blended? Isn’t the so-called single malt blended from the same distillery? Barrels? And blending is the real art. If I was in my twenties, I would definitely not take this seriously. I have already had a little life experience, and I smiled knowingly after listening to it.
Photo Credit: Compass Box Website
The wine label of the 20th anniversary limited edition Rogues Banquet Whiskey is the cover of the Rolling Stone Beggars Banquet vinyl record that John bought from the second-hand market.
Photo Credit: Compass Box Website
This obviously very Luxury whiskey (recipes include 30-year-old Coal Ila, 40-year-old Girvan and Strathclyde), is simply named This is not a luxury whiskey, fully showing the attitude of Compass Box.
This famous quote from Picasso hangs on the wall of John's office, and it is his left and right inscription. Anyone who is engaged in creation will understand the mystery of this sentence.
Photo Credit: Compass Box Website
Penicillin sounds like a drink that existed in the 19th century. In fact, it was created in 2005 by Sam Ross, a well-known bartender at the Milk and Honey bar in New York, based on Compass Box Great King Street Artist's Blend and The Peat Monster. from.
Photo Credit: Compass Box
On the way home after chatting with John that day, I felt a sense of contentment and abundance in my heart that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I was touched by his enthusiasm and original intention that persisted for 20 years, and this joy should nourish me again. Survive the lonely life of a few months and a half in the closed city.
Lisa Huang's book "Slightly Drunken, London: Drinking Culture and Wine Stories, Overturning Your Imaginary Britons" fully reconcile travel, British culture, and wine knowledge with emotional brushstrokes, and share a glass of fragrant and charming wine with you . Book details, blog to order online
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