Bimber Distillery and Compass Box have revealed this week the release of Duality, two blended malt whiskies created in collaboration. Each is created from components sourced from both England and Scotland and are said to combine youth and maturity with texture and intensity. Both expressions will be available from 4 July from the respective producer’s websites.

Matt McKay of Bimber and James Saxton of Compass Box worked in tandem, exploring a range of components from both brands and each selecting a distinctive sherried and peated element for their individual Duality blended malts.

Bottled at 54% ABV, Bimber Duality combines a fruity Bimber drawn from a peated ex-bourbon cask with first fill sherried malt from Glendullan Distillery. 340 bottles of this expression will be available at an RRP of £120.

Compass Box Duality, meanwhile, takes a core of smoky whisky from Ardbeg Distillery and combines it with a rich Pedro Ximénez-matured Bimber whisky. Bottled at 54% ABV, the release has an RRP of £180 with 1,050 bottles available.

Speaking on the launch, McKay commented: “It has been a pleasure to create Duality with a team as passionate and inventive as Compass Box. The end results speak not only to the mindsets and approaches of both a distillery and a Whiskymaker in conjunction, but also to the incredible versatility of the component malts which have been selected for blending. The Bimber Duality bottling is the first time our London whisky has been utilised in conjunction with malts from different distilleries – we’re incredibly proud of the result and are delighted to have collaborated with Compass Box to produce this duo of Dualities.”

Saxon added: “I’ve been a huge admirer of Bimber since visiting in September 2020 – my first distillery tour after lockdown! I have wanted to find a way to bring the attention to detail and distinctiveness of Bimber’s spirits into a Compass Box project since that day. Working with the Bimber team, we created Duality and a pair of releases to celebrate our West London Whiskymaking connection. Duality is unlike anything we have made at Compass Box before – the weight and texture the Bimber brings to our heavily-peated Islay malt is truly compelling.”