Review #688 - Compass Box Transatlanticism Bespoke Release
In collaboration with Jay West (well-known whisky reviewer 'T8ke') and William Schragis (of WellSpun Consulting, and previously at Barrell Craft Spirits and the Culinary Institute of America), Compass Box created this bespoke blend titled 'Transatlanticism' in 2024. This is a blended malt Scotch whisky, and while (in classic Compass Box style) it doesn't carry an age statement, we do know the components in the bottle:
35.2% 9 year old Linkwood aged in first fill Moscatel casks
23.3% 13 year old Spice Tree blended malt (largely Glen Moray, Balmenach, and Tomatin, aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and new French oak casks)
16.9% 13 year old Clynelish aged in first fill ex-bourbon barrels
15.2% 25 year old Miltonduff aged in first fill ex-bourbon barrels
9.4% 9 year old Clynelish aged in first fill Vin Santo casks
So, there's a wide range of ages in the components, from 9 years to 25 years old; we can derive the average age of the blend, too, which is just over 13 years old. There's a decent amount of ex-bourbon maturation involved, but also a sizeable representation from dessert wines with the combination of Vin Santo and Moscatel casks.
After blending, the strength was set to 51.1% ABV; a total of 1,032 bottles were produced, most of which (999) went to the United States.
Compass Box Transatlanticism Bespoke Release
Scotland - Blend
Price: USD 200 (2025)
Age Statement: 9 Years
Strength: 51.1% ABV
Cask Makeup: Ex-bourbon, new French oak, Moscatel, and Vin Santo casks
Details: Not chill filtered, no color added; bottled 2024; 1,032 bottles
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 3 months; bottles at 100%, 90%, and 80% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes
Nose: Lots of fruit: orange, grapefruit, apple, a bit of strawberry bubblegum. It's malty, with additions of brown sugar and a creamy creme brulee; oak builds later, bringing notes like wood spice and sawdust. Pears, orange creamsicle dessert, and soft, estery floral notes also popped up in various tasting sessions.
Palate: The mouthfeel is medium-thick; it's warming, with decent texture. Sweet malt, hay, and demerara sugar start us out, it's quite barley-forward. The fruits build again behind that: cranberry, orange, strawberry, even creamy guava and stone fruit like nectarine or peach. Honeycomb and brown sugar add more sweetness, and there's a spice from cinnamon; oak is quite mild, and we get an accent of Milk Duds candy.
Finish: Still warming and cozy, with notes of almond, cinnamon, nutmeg, and creamy grain. It grows more mellow, and the fruits are now grapefruit and orange. Oak influence is still soft, and the finish has a medium length.
Final Note: This bespoke release from Compass Box is... good. We were hoping for a little bit more, if we're honest, for two main reasons: first, the price tag, which sat at a hefty $200 upon release; and second, the components involved in the blend.
Clynelish, a quarter of the blend, is one of our favorite distilleries; we also love Linkwood, and that's more than 35% of the blend. Even Miltonduff, a rarely-seen distillery, is a spirit that we think is underrated, especially when it has some good age on it - and the Miltonduff in this blend is 25 years old! The remaining component, Compass Box's Spice Tree blended malt, is one of our favorite core range products from the brand.
When it all comes together, however, it's quite cohesive and loses much of the character of those individual malt pieces. We're not saying this is a bad whisky at all - we would happily sip this - we would just prefer the price to be much lower given the flavor in the bottle.
It is full of fruit, in terms of flavor profile - a plethora of sweet and sour fruits, especially orchard varieties and stone fruit, quite light and bright. There's a soft oily character to the spirit, but overall, there isn't a lot of complexity here; it doesn't evolve over time, instead staying mostly in that bright fruit vein, accented by some malty spirit notes. We're a little surprised that we didn't get more of an oak influence, either, considering some of the older components in the blend.
Because of that $200+ price, the value score here isn't great. Compass Box makes great whiskies, and generally we're happy to purchase one blind, but in our personal opinion, this specific bottle shows that the more expensive examples aren't always the best or worth the premium.
Our Average Rating: 7.0 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 4.79
About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.
Check out our other Compass Box reviews:
Review #678 - Compass Box Glasgow Blend Single Marrying Cask - Storied Company Selection
Review #489 - Compass Box Menagerie
Review #470 - Compass Box Spice Tree
Review #230 - Compass Box No Name No. 3
Review #181 - Compass Box Orchard House
