Hedonism is one of the most recognisable expressions in the Compass Box portfolio. Yet it is also a whisky that continues to evolve. With each new edition, the concept is updated and varied through the lens of the blending house’s current whisky stocks, as well as the desired creative outlook.
First released in 2000, Hedonism became one of the first Scotch whiskies to feature a woman on its label. It can be argued that the initial release is one of the most important blended whiskies in the last 30 years, especially with how it transformed perception of how much quality a blended grain Scotch can possess. In 2023, Compass Box began presenting Hedonism as an annual limited release, with the muse for each year reimagined by a different female artist.
This release marks the first edition of Hedonism since Angela D’Orazio was named Compass Box’s creative director of whiskymaking. For the 2026 blend, D’Orazio selected some of the oldest components ever used in Hedonism, including a 30-year-old whisky distilled at Strathclyde Distillery, whiskies between 20 and 24 years old from Port Dundas and Cameronbridge, and some historic blended grain parcels.
In fact, it’s been a time of change for Compass Box over the last two years. In March 2025, Nishat Gupte was appointed as the company’s new CEO, and only the March prior, Whisky Magazine Hall of Famer John Glaser stepped down from the company he founded after 23 years at its helm.
But, despite this sea of leadership change, the company’s ethos and commitment to quality and innovation has not wavered. This year’s release of Hedonism is perhaps the company’s most exciting venture yet, with the unexpected but thrilling collaboration with actress Karen Gillan.
Gillan is an exciting high-profile addition to the whisky-collaborating world. She first came to fame playing Amy Pond, companion to Matt Smith’s Doctor in Doctor Who (and for what it’s worth, this writer’s favourite companion across the whole show). Cinema and superhero fans may know her best for her role as Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most notably in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
Gillan has long been a whisky fan, undoubtedly influenced by her upbringing in Inverness and the north of Scotland.
“I grew up around it so much so it’s sort of just a big part of the culture where I’m from,” Gillan says. “You go to whisky distilleries growing up, and I was there so much as a child, running around learning about whisky — even though I wasn’t drinking whisky, obviously — but learning random facts, like how much of the taste comes from the cask, as opposed to the actual liquid and all of that. And then I grew up. My grandad was a big whisky drinker. He always had this bottle of Famous Grouse on the side cabinet. So, I have this distinct image of that bottle in his fingers… that was probably my earliest memory of whisky.
“And then when I actually discovered it properly to drink, me and my friend would go down to this old road in Inverness that’s not used anymore, like an abandoned road called Old Noon Road, and we would share whisky and chat and just laugh and at night, and it was… some of the most magical times of my life. And so every time I now drink whisky, I’m almost… transported back to that.”
For those that know Gillan away from the bright lights of Hollywood, her involvement in whisky will have come as no surprise at all. Her passion for whisky has even extended to making TikTok videos showing off her Scotch collection, which includes one of her personal prized possessions: a bottle of Dalmore.
“I’m always nervous to show people because the bottles are always almost empty,” Gillan jokes about her Scotch collection. According to Gupte, Gillan’s involvement came from a keen eye on the previous bottle designs for Compass Box, a claim that is backed up by Gillan herself. “Me and my good friend Donna… we were enjoying whisky and thinking, wouldn’t it be so fun to create a whisky or, you know, be in that space somehow. And then we started looking at all the whiskies that we liked, and the design of Compass Box whiskies was just the one that we naturally gravitated towards. We were like, this is so cool. And then I believe what happened was my friend had reached out to them. And then a little while later, Compass Box came up with this idea. And I was like…this is perfect.”
For the 2025 edition, Compass Box partnered with Argentinian artist Sofia Bonati. Bonati’s design drew inspiration from the magnetic fields that are crucial to the workings of a compass. In 2024, when Hedonism first became an official annual release, the company partnered with artist Stephanie Rew, who practises a contemporary painting style alongside traditional Renaissance gilding techniques, to create the label. A documentary film, From Grain to Gold, was also created, charting the history of grain whisky.
These qualities, as well as the showcase of female empowerment, have helped establish Hedonism as something of a fan favourite.
Gillan is the centre of the artwork itself for this 2026 release, with Compass Box collaborating with Australian visual artist Emma Hack. Known for her body-art photography, Hack specialises in compositions that blend the human form with patterns, colour, and environment. Remember the song “Somebody (That I Used To Know)” from one-hit-wonder Gotye? Hack was responsible for that iconic cover art. But Hack’s incredible talents reach far beyond just that work, and the design and branding for this 2026 version of Hedonism is truly something remarkable.
Through a process involving body painting and carefully constructed photography, Hack created an image in which Gillan appears to merge with decorative motifs and gilded textures. The finished portrait forms the basis of the bottle’s label design.
For Gillan, she is just relieved that she’s such a fan of the whisky that has been created, given that her identity is all over the design. Gillan still remembers that first taste: “It was warm and inviting — lovely and creamy — which is always a word that I use. I’m always nervous to use tasting note words, because I’m like, we’re gonna get it wrong. But it felt creamy to me. I could taste toffee, maybe dates or fruitcake. It just felt so warm and lovely, and something I want to drink in the cold.”
The palate reveals the hallmark texture that has long defined Hedonism. Despite its yearly changing focus, Compass Box has found the perfect way of balancing a whole new liquid, and Gupte has been particularly keen for the range to remain quintessentially Hedonism despite the ever-changing recipes and muses.
Could Gillan be seen mixing it up again in the future? “I would love to continue this journey. I’ve had a really good time with Compass Box, and so who knows what the future holds.”
Hedonism, by its very definition, is the pursuit of pleasure. With this 2026 release, bolstered by the passion of D’Orazio and Gillan, and the remarkable design by Hack, blended whisky fans need to look no further in that pursuit.
