Compass Box Whiskies Arrive In Usa!!

For immediate release: 29 October 2003



Scotlands Most Innovative and Acclaimed Whisky Maker Comes HOME
to AMERICA!!



Compass Box Whiskies Now Available in the US!

Hes been called a pioneer and an innovator in an industry where innovation is shunned and been dubbed the enfant terrible of Scotch whisky by Britains leading whisky writer.
His whiskies have become the darling of the British press, hailed as disgracefully drinkable, sexy and 21st century.
Unbelievably, he started it all out of his kitchen just three years ago. And hes not even Scottish: hes a transplanted American!
John Glaser has been leading a not-so-quiet revolution in the world of Scotch whisky through his boutique whisky blending company, Compass Box. He makes a range of innovative Scotch whiskies in small batches that are currying the kind of favor normally reserved for Scotlands best single malts.

Now Compass Box is coming home, as Glasers whiskies are now being imported into his home country, moving into distribution in top stores, bars and restaurants across the US.

Compass Box has come a long way since Glaser, an ex-pat American, started the fledgling company in the kitchen of his London home in the spring of 2000. A former marketing director for Diageos Johnnie Walker brand, Glaser spent years amassing a huge collection of whiskies and making prototype blends at home. Ive always been attracted to the creative aspects of whisky, Glaser says. Whisky blending became a creative outlet for me. Blending is an underappreciated craft that allows you to create styles of whisky that no single distillery can make.

Increasingly, work with Johnnie Walker kept him in Scotland, where he spent time with master distillers and blenders. Eventually, I realized there were so many innovative things we could do with whisky, but the big company environment wasnt in a position to do them because theyre focused on building their big brands.

In 2000, Glaser left Diageo to strike out on his own and do things his way. Compass Box was born.

Applying an inspired mix of traditional methods with innovative techniques, Glaser sources whisky from Scotlands various distillers, then blends and ages the whiskies according to his own recipes prior to bottling under the Compass Box name. Compass Box comprises a bourgeoning range of eccentrically named (and packaged) whiskies, including:

7 Asyla, a blend of malt whisky and grain whisky that recently won Best Scotch Whisky of the Year by Food & Wine magazine , and which just took the Gold Medal for blended whisky in this years International Wine & Spirit Competition.

7 Eleuthera, a beguilingly drinkable smoky vatted malt whisky called complex and brilliantly balanced by Londons Wine Magazine and the winner of numerous medals in competitions.

7 Hedonism, a Scotch whisky in a category by itself. A luscious, elegant 100% Scotch grain whisky made in tiny batches using whiskies up to 23 years-old, Hedonism is an amazingly sweet whisky redolent of vanilla cream and toffee flavours.

The mad American whisky zealot, as British Esquire magazine recently called him, now has his Compass Box Scotch whiskies imported to American shores. Look for the Scotch whisky world to become decidedly more interesting in the months and years ahead!

Compass Box Whiskies are launching in markets across the country now through January 2004.

Suggested Retail Prices (prices vary from state to state):
Hedonism $75.00
Asyla $35.00
Eleuthera $50.00


For samples, photographs, interviews with John Glaser, and more detailed information about Compass Box whiskies contact:
Riannon Walsh at Cloonaughill CelticMalts in the U.S.
Phone: 610.326.8151 Email: Riannon@celticmalts.com

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