Review

Compass Box Magic Cask

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box Magic Cask
Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

46% ABV
$175-$185
Website
Compass Box Magic Cask Blended Scotch Whisky

What the Blender Says

A precocious whisky from a magic cask.
When we began a maturation trial in 2016, we hadn’t expected the whiskies to develop such deliciousness in so short a period of time. One-year-old malt spirit, made at a Speyside distillery famous for the robust character of its whiskies, was re-racked into first fill Oloroso-seasoned butts. Sampling them three years later, one particular cask – #2 – proved so compelling that we began to experiment.

A parcel of first fill Bourbon barrels containing whisky from the now closed Imperial Distillery had sat in our sample library for some years. Though delicious in its own right, as whiskymakers we couldn’t hit on the ideal match. The much younger malt whisky from the Oloroso-seasoned cask proved the ideal means to deepen the fruity and creamy profile of this rare parcel.

Magic Cask is perfect for those who appreciate lush fruitiness and fullness of body in their malt whiskies. Pour Magic Cask after dinner and savour its medley of autumn fruits and dark chocolate.

The ten Oloroso butts from which the “magic cask” emerged were sourced from Bodega José y Miguel Martín (J&MM). We requested a grade of American oak that would deliver moderate tannin and – for this parcel – a gentle seasoning process with Oloroso wine. Masters of their art, J&MM could dial up just the right levels of sweetness, tartness and spiciness, ensuring that cask #2 in particular delivered everything we desired from a Sherry cask.

TECHNICAL DETAILS: Natural colour | Not chill-filtered | Bottled March 2020 | A limited edition of 5,538 bottles

LEAD WHISKYMAKERS: John Glaser and James Saxon.

FLAVOUR PROFILE: Aromas of marmalade and chai tea spices, with hints of plum. Ripe, golden dessert apples dominate the luscious palate, supported by an oaky richness. Flavours of toffee and cocoa powder are also conjured up.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich, bright fruit notes of apple and kiwi, orange marmalade, honey, vanilla, a note of cedar.
Palate:  Rich and creamy with apples, pears, peaches, toasted oak, milk chocolate, hint of raisins, toffee and light caramel.
Finish:  Moderately long, damp with apples, honey and toffee.
Comments:  Classic Compass Box. Elegant, rich and well balanced. When I first tried, I thought it was a bit light but it unveiled more nuance in each subsequent sitting. I’m unfamiliar with the now closed Imperial distillery’s single malt, but this is fairly nuanced and gentle. A bit of water (not too much) coaxes out the fruit and caramel notes, as well as letting sit in the glass. I’m pretty impatient, so I hate to admit that letting a pour like this sit for 10-15 minutes BEFORE nosing it makes a difference – but it does.

Rating: Must Try

Compass Box Magic Cask Read More »

Compass Box Hedonism Felicitas

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box Hedonism Felicitas
Blended Grain Scotch Whisky

53% ABV
$170-$180
Website
Compass Box Hedonism Felicitas Blended Grain Scotch Whisky

What the Blender Says

Hedonism Felicitas pays tribute to the whisky that launched our business 20 years ago. ‘Felicitas’, meaning a particularly productive or happy state, seemed apt when reflecting on such a milestone.

This latest special Limited Edition is intended to convey the good fortune and happiness we feel, having met and worked with so many remarkable people during our first two decades. As a celebration of this important anniversary, this whisky is for them.

The largest single component was distilled in 2001 at the Port Dundas Distillery and is full of wood spice, toffee and honey. A third of the recipe was made in the 1980s at the Strathclyde Distillery, providing vanilla cream and orchard fruit notes. Barrels filled with spirit from the North British Distillery in the 1990s complete the recipe and lend passion fruit and cardamom notes.

Hedonism Felicitas is at once vibrant and stately: the higher bottling strength concentrates its luscious depths without any loss of the disarming gentleness for which aged grain whisky is rightly praised.

TECHNICAL DETAILS: Natural colour | Light 5 micron filter, not chill-filtered | July 2020 | A limited edition of 2,226 bottles

FLAVOUR PROFILE: Creamy coconut intertwines with notes of caramel, vanilla and almond. Apple and greengage add a delicious weight with a soft finish packed with creamy toffee.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich and creamy, freshly baked cheese Danish, caramel, raw honey, tropical fruit, nougat, nutmeg, exotic wood and floral perfume.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel, apple Danish, gentle baking spics, toffee, hazelnuts, coconut macaroons.
Finish:  Long, thick with vanilla, light caramel and slowly drying.
Comments:  Hedonism is a bit of a delicate dram, as you’d expect with grain whisky – so I appreciate the higher ABV on this one. This definitely takes Hedonism up another level, and I couldn’t shake the thoughts of freshly baked pastries (more cheese Danish on the nose and apple on the palate). Takes water like a champ, but doesn’t need it. Absolutely delicious neat.

Rating: Must Try

Compass Box Hedonism Felicitas Read More »

Compass Box Menagerie

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Compass Box Menagerie
Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

46% ABV
$120
Website
Compass Box Menagerie Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Blender Says

Welcome to the Menagerie.
Whisky is full of life. Scotland especially is home to many different species of spirit, from heavy to light, fruity to smoky, and pungent to ethereal. Certain whiskies taste that little bit wilder than others, and we have brought together some of these strange and beautiful creatures to create our Menagerie.

We have focused on parcels of malt whisky that in addition to their fruity or spicy charms have something animalic about them just beneath the surface. This is a whisky of mossy woods as opposed to floral meadows; Menagerie is what you put into the hipflask ahead of a Tuscan truffle hunt.

Building on chocolatey and meaty malt whisky from the Mortlach Distillery, we have added whiskies of a citrusy and earthy nature from the Deanston Distillery. Our Highland Malt Blend – aged for a number of years in custom French oak barrels – lends a brooding spiciness, while malt whiskies from the Glen Elgin and Laphroaig distilleries bring musky tropical fruit and tarry smoke, respectively.

Rather than a raucous zoo, bringing these specimens together has created harmonious flavours and textures. Gentle notes of spiced honey, toffee and roasted peach are the flavours on which Menagerie’s wild creatures leap and soar.

FLAVOUR PROFILE: Menagerie boasts a complex aroma of baking spices, leather, tar and musky fruits. The palate is engagingly lush with even more fruit, while oily smoke and forest floor notes linger in the finish.

TECHNICAL DETAILS: Natural colour | Not chill-filtered | A limited edition of 7,741 bottles | January 2021

LEAD WHISKYMAKER: James Saxon

What Gary Says

Nose:  Smoked barbecue brisket, sea air, peat, old leather, creosote, charcoal ash, lemongrass, nectarines and gentle spices.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel, rich with dark fruits, plums, berries, peaches, ginger, peat, cinnamon, honey and a bit of lemon.
Finish:  Moderately long with peat, dried fruit and pepper.
Comments:  Another really solid blend from Compass Box. The nose is pretty smokey, having to work to coax those fruit notes out (or I may just be impatient). Some water helps open those up more. On the palate the smoke and peat take a backseat to some lovely sweet fruity notes.

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

Compass Box Menagerie Read More »

Compass Box Peat Monster Arcana

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box Peat Monster Arcana
Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

46% ABV
$100
Website
Compass Box Peat Monster Arcana Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Blender Says

How does French oak influence peated whisky?
A combination of American oak bodies with toasted French oak heads, our custom barrels generate compelling flavours for us. Yet until 2016, their effects on smoky whisky remained something of a mystery.

We took three French oak custom casks which had already been used to mature our Highland Malt Blend and filled them with a cask strength version of The Peat Monster. More than two years later, the French oak had imparted extra creaminess, spice notes and a chocolatey profile – it had also mellowed the whisky’s smokiness. What started as The Peat Monster became something rather different.

Peat Monster Arcana celebrates mysteries but there will be no secrets. This is a blend of malt whiskies from the Talisker, Miltonduff and Ardbeg Distilleries, together with our assertive and spicy experiment. We sense that there are plenty more discoveries to be made regarding the impact of French oak on Scotch whisky.

Transparency is incredibly important to us and we believe that you deserve to know what is in your whisky. On this occasion however, we must also inform you about what didn’t make it into the bottle.

To further complement the French oak character of our experimental parcel, we wanted to add part of a cask of our French oak-finished Highland Malt Blend. Unfortunately, this component was not included in the final bottling. So closely did the final liquid match our blending room prototype, we did not discover the error until after the whisky was bottled and shipped.

The recipe as published on the back label for Peat Monster Arcana is therefore incorrect. From bench-top prototype to the full-scale blend, our experimental parcel grew in influence – we want to understand why this was so. The whisky remains true to the delicious fusion of oak and smoke we envisioned, in spite of the Highland Malt Blend’s absence, but we are sorry that the recipe table does not reflect the contents with total accuracy. We are adjusting our processes to better meet the new challenges we face.

FLAVOUR PROFILE: Chocolate, cinnamon and boat tar appear on the nose while the palate is fruity and compellingly waxy. A dry smoky presence steadily builds.

TECHNICAL DETAILS: Natural colour | Not chill-filtered | A limited edition of 8,328 bottles | August 2020
LEAD WHISKYMAKER: James Saxon

What Gary Says

Nose:  Peat, gentle smoke, distant smoked meats, seaweed, coal tar, iodine, pears and milk chocolate.
Palate:  Sweet and fruity, pears, peaches and vanilla cream, honey, salted toffee, a bit of graham cracker.
Finish:  Moderate in length with fruit notes amidst peat and light smoke.
Comments:  While virtually every Compass Box whisky I’ve ever seen is non-chill filtered, this one clouded up really quickly with just a few drops of water (which always makes me excited to see!) The nose is quite smokey with the palate being more balanced with fruit notes. I didn’t find anything objectionable, but also it didn’t seem to be remarkably better than the standard Peat Monster (which I should note is not my favorite of their Malt Whisky Collection).

Rating: Stands Out

Compass Box Peat Monster Arcana Read More »

The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Year

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside / ,

The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Year
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

43% ABV
$160-$180
Website
Balvenie DoubleWood 17 year Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Distillery Says

To craft The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 year old single malt whisky Malt Master David C. Stewart MBE returned to one of his most celebrated achievements – consecutive maturation in two different types of cask, a process often referred to as ‘cask finishing’.

This technique is at the heart of The Balvenie DoubleWood – it sees the whisky matured first in American oak barrels, which impart soft sweet vanilla notes, before being transferred to European oak sherry casks, where the second cask ageing adds rich spicy flavours and a depth and fullness of flavour.

The DoubleWood 17 year old is an elder sibling to DoubleWood 12 year old and shares its honeyed, spicy characteristics, but it is distinctly different, with deeper vanilla notes, hints of green apple, creamy toffee and a striking richness and complexity.

TASTING NOTES
NOSE: Elegant and complex oak, vanilla, honeyed sweetness and a hint of green apple.
TASTE: Sweet with dried fruits, sherbet spice, toasted almonds and cinnamon, layered with a richness of creamy toffee notes and traces of oak and deep vanilla.
FINISH:Vanilla oak, honey and spicy sweetness.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Green apples, cinnamon buns with raisins, heather, honey, a floral perfume, vanilla.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel with dried fruit notes of apple and pears, vanilla with soft spices, nutmeg, slightly nutty with a touch of oak, pepper and tamed cinnamon.
Finish:  Long with fading cinnamon dusted fruits.
Comments:  I’ve always found Balvenie to be an elegant whisky, and this is no exception. Really nice balance between the two casks where neither is dominating the other, and the combination is lovely. A bit of water tilts this toward more tropical fruit notes of papaya and mango, although wouldn’t blame anyone for sipping neat and never thinking to add water!

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

The Balvenie DoubleWood 17 Year Read More »