Compass Box has released a blended malt called This is a 10-Year-Old Whisky, with added emphasis on the 10.
Behind the blunt marketing sits a message that has driven Compass Box’s blended Scotch whiskies from the start. Labeling law only allows whiskymakers to state the age of the youngest whisky in a blend.
Say a blend is almost entirely 50-year-old whisky, and a small amount of three-year-old goes in. The label can now only say three years, and the 50-year-old can’t be mentioned.
The rules exist to protect consumers from the reverse: a drop of old liquid in a young blend, sold as something older. That risk remains, but times have changed. Brands like Compass Box focus on flavor and texture rather than age, and argue that drinkers should be told exactly what is in their glass.
“This is a 10-Year-Old Whisky is not a statement about the industry; it’s a statement about us: full transparency, no compromises.”
Nishat Gupte
That argument goes back to 2015. Compass Box published full recipes for two of its blends, Flaming Heart and This Is Not a Luxury Whisky. The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) told the company that doing so broke the law, and the details came down. In 2016, Compass Box launched its Scotch Whisky Transparency campaign. Despite years of talks, nothing official has changed, and this release marks 10 years of that ongoing fight.
This is a 10-Year-Old Whisky is made from three single malts, each aged 10 years in first-fill bourbon casks: 66.5% Clynelish, 20.2% peated Ardnamurchan, and 13.3% unpeated Ardnamurchan. It is bottled at 50.5% ABV with no added color and no chill-filtration.
“At Compass Box, we have always believed that whisky lovers deserve better. We go further: every component, its age, and its origin, disclosed in full, every time,” says CEO Nishat Gupte. He adds: “Every whisky in this bottle is exactly 10 years old. So, we call it what it is. This is a 10-Year-Old Whisky is not a statement about the industry; it’s a statement about us: full transparency, no compromises.”
Because every component is 10 years old, the age statement is true of the whole blend, so the recipe can be shown in full without breaking the rules.
Only 3,610 individually numbered 700ml bottles will be made. It costs £64 (approx. $85) from The Whisky Exchange, which has it exclusively.
