Compass Box Asyla

Meet the Chardonnay of Scotch Whisky.

Compass Box isn’t a distillery and it isn’t a distributor. Compass Box is a story. It’s a great story that began in the year 2000 when John Glaser—a marketing director for Johnnie Walker at the time, decided to break out on his own. Think about it for a moment. John is an American working for one of the most iconic brand names in the word of Scotch Whisky but he thinks he can do it better on his own. It takes a lot of Whisky stones to step out of a dream job with Whisky perks and start a business that competes with your former employer. He buys bulk output from some of the best distilleries in Scotland—just like Johnnie Walker—and then creates custom blends which he then finishes and ages to create great Whisky.

In the words of Compass Box themselves, “ASYLA is the plural of asylum – a word rich in ambiguity, suggesting that delicate balance between madhouse and sanctuary….” So what does that mean to the Scotch Whisky drinker? We say, think of Compass Box Asyla as the Chardonnay of Scotch — light, gently fruit forward, and delicious paired with chocolate and nutty cheeses. It is a blended Scotch Whisky that is 50% malt from Alness and Longmorn, married with single grain spirit from the town of Fife (which means wheat). It is aged exclusively in first-fill ex-Bourbon casks that brings just enough vanilla and toffee to delight.