The new expression offers all the richness and drama of a night at the circus. Bottle-hunting travelers can discover the spectacle by visiting The Travelling Circus displays at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) until the end of August.

Inspired by The Circus, a Compass Box Limited Edition blend originally released in 2016, The Travelling Circus offers an enhanced peat presence courtesy of malt whisky from the Talisker Distillery and a parcel of peated blended Scotch whisky. The label design nods to the original The Circus, refreshing it through the filter of Futurism, which valorised movement and machines.

To create The Travelling Circus, Compass Box Whiskymaking Director James Saxon assembled whiskies bold in flavor and rich in texture. The majority of component whiskies have been aged in sherry casks. Smokiness from malt whiskies from the Talisker and Caol Ila distilleries are layered with Speyside sherry character, finished with grain whisky from the now-closed Port Dundas Distillery, resulting in a 98 proof expression.

“We are incredibly pleased with the arrival of The Travelling Circus,” says Compass Box Whiskymaking Director James Saxon. “The balance of sherry cask maturation and complex smokiness is something of a hallmark for Compass Box, and those who are fans of our whiskies will enjoy dissecting this latest composition. For those new to Compass Box, this is a globe-trotting introduction to the sorts of places we can explore when creatively combining high-quality Scotch whiskies.”

Compass Box’s The Travelling Circus Blended Scotch Whisky is available for $188 exclusively at duty-free shops.

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Cask 88’s the Eighty Eight Series features small batch expressions from Bunnahabhain, Highland Park, Caol Ila and Bladnoch, and offers whisky enthusiasts the opportunity to explore the impact of cask size on the maturation of the whisky.

A Bladnoch 27 Year Old (55.6% ABV; 70cl; $569.99), is the oldest whisky in the series and was originally held in an ex-sherry Hogshead before being finished in an ex-sherry quarter cask for 9 months. A Caol Ila 9 Year Old (58.9% ABV; 70cl; $239.99), was originally held in a refill Hogshead before being finished in an ex-sherry quarter cask for 9 months. A Bunnahabhain 9 Year Old (57.8% ABV; 70cl; $239.99) was originally matured in a refill ex-sherry butt before being finished in an ex-sherry quarter cask for 3 months. A Highland Park 14 Year Old (54.8% ABV; 70cl; $154.99) was originally held in an ex-bourbon Hogshead before being finished in an ex-sherry quarter cask for 7 months.

Quarter casks, at one eighth of the size of a standard cask to hold whisky, are capable of holding approximately 50 liters of whisky each. Each quarter cask yields 88 bottles of whisky. “The smaller cask size maximizes the contact between the spirit and the wood, theoretically producing a whisky with a stronger, more complex flavor,” said APAC Sales Director Patrick Costello. “Whereas the wider industry favors larger casks to produce whisky on scale, we wanted to select something a little different, and focus on producing small batch whiskies that excite the senses.”

The Eighty Eight Series is the second release of Scottish whisky independently bottled under the Cask 88 brand. The first bottling under the Edinburgh-based whisky broker and independent bottler’s brand was a 45 Year Old Ben Nevis 1972 Single Malt from the Cask 88 Scottish Folklore series, with a design inspired by the Scottish legend of the Cù-Sìth.

All four whiskies in The Eighty Eight Series will be available from Whisky Foundation for worldwide delivery and from Cask 88.

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