Delos emerges from Compass Box

Award-winning Scotch whisky maker Compass Box has introduced a new, limited-edition expression with Delos; a delicate and soothing Scotch inspired by flavours of the past. Priced at RRP of £265, it is bottled at an ABV of 49 percent.

Delos is a re-imagined study of Compass Box’s much admired extinct blend, Asyla. Delos focuses on capturing Asyla’s vibrancy and soothing sweetness, turning to older stocks to achieve this. First created in 2001, Asyla was the ethereally beautiful cornerstone of the core range until its retirement in 2018.

Delos is the second release from the whisky maker’s Extinct Blends Quartet series and is spread across only 5,520 bottles worldwide. The Extinct Blend Quartet celebrates discontinued characters and flavours, reappraising four very different expressions of blended Scotch. The remaining two from the series will be introduced in late 2023 and early 2024.

With an interplay of grain and malt, Delos balances some of Compass Box’s rarest and most idiosyncratic stocks of whisky to create an elegant and refined flavour. Malt whiskies from the much sought-after Glen Elgin, Imperial and Miltonduff distilleries – all aged in American oak barrels – bring a sweet yet mellow medley of ripe pear, pineapple, orange, and vanilla notes, while the maturity of the grain whisky gradually builds to reveal guava, heather honey, and chai spices.

Named after a Greek island which is said to be the birthplace of the god Apollo that is blessed with mosaics and ruined ancient temples, Delos signifies Asyla’s beauty and serenity as a whisky. Blended to entice the senses, the sumptuous and meditative flavours of Delos can give one a feel of the rare escape to sun-kissed paradise of great antiquity.