Compass Box Secrets of Smoke

Secrets of Smoke takes you beyond the smoke screen. With this whisky we uncover the sometimes surprising inherent sweetness of peated malts.

Take some time to get through the smoke. The longer you sit with it you’ll become accustomed to it as the veil of smoke drops, the sweet side shines through.

For Secrets of Smoke, we allow those wine casks to crack the smoky outer shell and release the unexpected sweetness at the core of peated whiskies. Palo Cortado sherry-seasoned butts enhancing the toffee apple qualities of malt whisky from the Caol Ila Distillery. Refill red wine barrels tempt bright cherry notes from the depths of The Peat Monster, our own assemblage of Islay malts. And those Marsala barriques bring blueberry flapjack flavours to the surface of malt whisky from the Laphroaig Distillery.

Like morse code the flavours pulse and come in waves with moments of intensity and then a reprise.

Once past the coastal smokiness, the nose is honeyed and rich with toasted marshmallow and buttery pears. The palate is oily and spicy with pear, peach and melon. It grows citrussy, before a long, chocolatey and peaty finish.