Compass Box Delilah’s

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box Delilah’s Blended Scotch Whisky
40% ABV
$60 – $75
Website
Delilahs-Bottle (1)
What the Blender Says:
• Delilah’s is a Limited Release Compass Box homage to Delilah’s, Mike Miller’s legendary punk rock whisky bar in Chicago, to celebrate the bar’s 20th anniversary in 2013.
• The whisky was developed jointly by John Glaser and Mike Miller as an expression of their shared vision that great whisky should be enjoyable by all.
• Delilah’s is an intense yet subtly complex Scotch whisky aged in a mix of experimental new American oak barrels and rejuvenated American oak hogsheads.
• It has been created to be perfect served as a shot with a beer.

If you like whisky and you like to have fun, you will love Delilah’s, which has been voted many times “Best whisky bar in America”.

At Delilah’s you can drink your whisky any way you like. In classic American style, you will always find an evening special for a “shot and a beer” – Which is the inspiration for this whisky. We’ve created a Scotch whisky that works perfectly as a shot with a beer. To achieve this, we have chosen a combination of single malt and single grain whiskies, all of which have been aged in American oak casks, some of which were new. So you get lovely, intense richness, vanilla character and sweetness. It’s an unusual style for Scotch whisky, but one that we think is absolutely delicious drunk as a shot along with a beer.

Happy 20th Anniversary to Mike Miller and Delilah’s!

Availability
Limited Release of 6,324 bottles. Bottled in July 2013.

Flavour Descriptors
Rich and sweet, with intense yet subtly complex, honeyed and seductive fruity notes, cereals and vanilla-cream.

Recommendations
Delicious drunk as a shot along with a beer or sipped neat with chilled water to taste.

Distillery Sourcing
Single malts from the towns of Alness and Longmorn (approx 50% of the recipe); single grain whisky from Fife (approx 50% of the recipe).

Bottling Details
Bottled at 40%. Not chill filtered.
Natural colour.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Air dried oak staves, orange blossom honey, and fresh churned butter.
Palate: Amazingly creamy in the mouth. Vanilla sugar hints at the edges as the whisky coats the mouth.
Finish: A whip crack of wood and pepper and then a slow fade.
Comments: Delicious! This is kind of like Asyla taken up a notch. This is one of those whiskies you have to be careful with because it’s dangerously drinkable. You could tear through a bottle and not realize it until you’re on the floor. It’s a limited edition so snap it up while you can!
Rating: Must Buy

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Compass Box Hedonism

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Hedonism by Compass Box Blended Grain Scotch Whisky
43% ABV
$90 to $110
Website
Hedonism-Box-Bottle
What the Blender Says:
Hedonism is our unique and award-winning blended grain Scotch whisky. We produce it once or twice per year, depending on our ability to source the quality of casks we require. Rare and old, it’s something special for both the collector and the new whisky enthusiast.

Rare, Old Scotch Grain Whisky
Hedonism is unusual in the Scotch whisky world: a blended grain Scotch whisky. It is very rare to see 100% grain whisky bottlings, in Scotland. Going back 100 years, grain whisky brands were more common, but they were overtaken in popularity by the big brands of blended Scotch, which comprised both grain whisky and malt whisky. Today, most Scotch grain whisky gets blended into the big brand names, typically at young ages. For Hedonism, we search for old casks of Scotch grain whisky. And we only produce Hedonism once a year, when we find casks with the right flavour profile.

Rich, Sweet, Alluring
When good Scotch grain whisky is aged in good quality American oak casks, the results can be stunning: a rich, sweet, alluring whisky, redolent of vanilla, pastry cream and coconut. You’ll find all these things in our Hedonism bottlings. We believe that great Scotch grain whisky is the little-known treasure of the Scotch whisky industry.

Flavour Descriptors
Elegant flavours of vanilla cream, toffee, coconut.

Recommendations
As an aperitif, serve with a small amount of chilled water. Late in the evening, serve neat. Also makes a great whisky sour.

Distillery Sourcing
Will vary according to batch but typically whiskies from the following distilleries: Cameron Bridge, Carsebridge, Cambus, Port Dundas or Dumbarton. 60% East Lowland Single Grain (Caramel) and 40% West Lowland Single Grain (Vanilla, Coconut, Creme Brulee).

Wood
100% first-fill American oak barrels or rejuvenated American oak Hogsheads.

Bottling Details
43%. Not chill filtered. Natural colour

What Richard Says:
Nose: As soon as you open the bottle you get a whiff of alcohol based skin treatment like Tend Skin or something. Fortunately, that fades quickly into a light, sweet creaminess.
Palate: Pina coladas and vanilla fudge. Creamy and slightly sweet and oily. An almost dulce de leche flavor.
Finish: The is sharp. It’s there and then not. This isn’t a slow fading encore. There’s also a little chalky chocolate note. It’s kind of like unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder.
Comments: I’ve had a love affair with Hedonism for years. It was my first introduction to scottish grain whiskies (and Compass Box) back in 2002. It’s still as lovely as I remember it. Batches change a little bit over time as stocks are available but John Glaser does an excellent job at holding the style. A dram not to be missed!
Rating: Must Try

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Compass Box The Peat Monster 10th Anniversary

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box The Peat Monster 10th Anniversary Blended Malt Scotch
48.9% ABV
$100-$120
Website
PeatMonster10th-Bottle
What the Blender Says:
Ten years ago we created a bespoke blend of very peaty single malts for the owners of the Park Avenue Liquor Shop in New York. We named it “Monster” and for the label graphics we used a 19th century illustration of a bizarre and strangely beautiful creature that appeared to us to capture the idea of the whisky.

It sold so well that when it became endangered we decided to share the idea with the rest of the world. We appended “The Peat” to the front of “Monster” and breathed fresh life into the beautiful beast. It has gone on to become our best-selling Compass Box whisky.

In 2013, let’s celebrate ten years of sharing the joys of the craft blender’s art, of inspiring others in the industry and of enjoying the balanced, peaty charms of this creation. Heavy peat and smoke, combined with notes of malty richness.

For this special bottling, we have produced a special recipe of The Peat Monster, maintaining the smoky, heavy-peated intensity of the classic bottling and adding a bit more malty richness through the use of some very special, quite odd casks of peaty Highland single malt.

Availability
Limited Release of approx 5,700 bottles. Bottled in September 2013.

Flavour Descriptors
Intense aromas of peet-reek, smoke, seaside character and burnt ropes, with a subtle apple-fruitiness in the background. The palate is full, round and tremendously complex. Water brings out a spice-laden, sweet vanilla character, as well.

Recommendations
A fantastic late-night digestif malt whisky.

Distillery Sourcing
Islay single malts distilled on the south shore of the island and in the village of Port Askaig. Balanced with a rich, smoky Highland single malt and a fruity oily malt from the village of Brora.

Wood
Primarily a mix of first-fill and refill American oak, plus approximately 2% new French oak for finishing.

Bottling Details
Bottled at 48.9%. Not chill filtered. Natural colour.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Restrained and lighter than the regular release. This smells like an herb fire with fresh green herbs. Medicinal and heavier on the iodine. There is a back note of ginger snaps too.
Palate: Delicate with a bit of apples and citrus. A citrus reduction drizzled on a vanilla apple cream brulee.
Finish: Warming slowly with old campfire smoke and a little peppery bite around the edges.
Comments: As good as the regular Peat Monster is this is much better. All the things I didn’t like in the regular version are remedied. The flavors, complexity, and balance are all also ratcheted up.
Rating: Must Buy

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Compass Box The Peat Monster

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box The Peat Monster Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
46% ABV
$55 to $65
Website
ThePeatMonster-Box-Bottle
What the Blender Says:
For those who love big, rich, smoky-peaty whiskies, this is for you. Peat Monster combines smoky and peaty single malts from the island of Islay and the Isle of Mull with rich, medium-peated Speyside whisky. The result is a balanced, highly drinkable peaty blended malt Scotch whisky.

For those who love big, rich, smoky-peaty whiskies, this is for you. Peat Monster combines smoky and peaty single malts from the island of Islay and the Isle of Mull with rich, medium-peated Speyside whisky. The result is a balanced, highly drinkable peaty blended malt Scotch whisky.

Flavour Descriptors
Peaty, smoky malt with hints of fruitiness; a balanced whisky with great depth and complexity.

Recommendations
A fantastic late-night digestif whisky. Excellent with blue vein cheeses.

Distillery Sourcing
Made from a marriage of 57% Islay SIngle Malt (Smoke), 34% Highland Single Malt (Smoke, Maltiness), 29% Island of Mull Single Malt (Peat).

Wood
Refill American oak.

Bottling Details
Bottled at 46%. Not chill filtered. Natural colour.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Here’s the monster! Large but balanced doses of smoke, soot, tar, and brined capers.
Palate: Here’s where the monster sleeps. As aggressive as the nose is, the palate is more delicate. It’s a little chewy with notes of blood oranges and fresh hay.
Finish: The monster returns! Quickly the finish hits you a little hot but a dash of water will calm the beast. There’s a big does of peppery spices that lingers.
Comments: If you’ve followed the blog here for a while then you know I’m a champion of the unsung blend. I feel it has been sidelined to it’s single malt brothers. You’ll also probably know that I’m a big fan of John Glaser’s work at Compass Box. With those two things reiterated I’m going to go against my own grain on this one. Peaty whiskies, and I do like them, I tend to prefer as a single malt. I just haven’t had many really peat-centric blends that I would pick over a single malt from Laphroaig, Lagavulin, Caol Ila, etc. The Peat Monster is no exception. It’s a fine dram and it’s make up and balance stand out among peers but I’m not loving it. It’s really the finish. The nose and palate are a great interplay but the finish to me is unbalanced, too hot, and way to much pepper smacking you in the face.
Rating: Stands Out

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Compass Box Spice Tree

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box Spice Tree Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
46% ABV
$55 to $65
Website
SpiceTree-Box-Bottle
What the Blender Says:
Our storied malt whisky The Spice Tree is made from Highland malt whiskies which we age in custom-made casks fitted with new French oak heads. We source this oak from a mill in the Vosges which produces some of the highest quality cooperage oak for winemakers. The result is a big malt whisky of richness and spice-like complexity.

The Second Coming.
First launched in 2005, we were forced to discontinue production under a legal threat by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) for our pioneering use of the highest quality French oak inner staves. This, despite rave reviews from consumers, trade and press. We agreed to disagree with the SWA and halted production (for the full story, see www.compassboxwhisky.com). Over the following three years we developed a new maturation process which yielded similar if not superior results to our previous method, and this new process is something the SWA can’t take any issue with. The Spice Tree was then relaunched in September 2009.

The Whisky & The Method.
As in the past, The Spice Tree is made from 100% malt whisky sourced from northern Highland distilleries, (notably and primarily malt whisky distilled in the village of Brora). The primary maturation is in a mix of first-fill and refill American oak.

What is different is the secondary maturation. Rather than using inner stave inserts, as we did for the original Spice Tree, we rack the whisky into barrels with heavily toasted new French oak heads. We have created a method for getting a super heavy toast on the cask heads which imparts a flavour profile similar to the flat staves used for the original Spice Tree. We use oak with three different levels of toasting on the barrel heads, thus allowing us to blend the resultant whiskies to create additional layers of complexity. This secondary maturation lasts as long as two years.

The Spice Tree is a very rich whisky, suitable for after-dinner sipping, as an accompaniment to certain cheeses and, especially, in cocktails.

Flavour Descriptors
Big, sweet aromas of clove, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. The palate is full, round and sweet, with the spice and vanilla complementing the core distillery characters and leaving a long finish.

Distillery Sourcing
Made entirely of Highland single malt whiskies from the villages of Brora – 60% (fruitiness), Carron – 20% (meatiness) and Alness – 20% (perfume).

Wood
Primary maturation: first-fill and refill American oak. 20%
Secondary maturation: custom barrels with heavily toasted new French oak heads sourced from 195 year-old Vosges forests. 80%

Bottling Details
Bottled at 46%. Natural colour. Not chill filtered.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Meaty with what reminds me of hard candies in exotic fruit flavors. Honeysuckle and orange blossoms are there if you wait a while for them to unfold.
Palate: Rich, creamy, and mouth coating followed by a swift kick in the teeth! Orange marmalade, toffee, and pumpkin pie spice.
Finish: Dry, spicy (as you’d expect!), leathery, and drawn out. Woody but not overly so.
Comments: What I like most about this is the exercise in understanding wood influence between this and Oak Cross. You’ll notice a blend that is all but identical except for the proof and wood. For me this dram is an intellectual exercise. It’s a great dram, don’t get me wrong but not my favorite of the Compass Box line. I think it also plays a little second fiddle to Oak Cross. Not that it does anyone any good but I also like the original version better.
Rating: Stands Out

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