Must Buy

Compass Box Flaming Heart Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
2012 Edition
48.9% ABV
$100 to $120
Website

What the Blender Says:
Flaming Heart is back. Every few years, when we have the appropriate combination of aged whiskies, we are able to blend and bottle a new edition of the award-winning Flaming Heart. This is our fourth. It is a big, smoky malt whisky with rich, concentrated vanilla and spice character. It is unlike any other whisky, owing to the combination of distillery whiskies we use and the variety and quality of the casks.

This is a whisky inspired by a rock song.

Appropriate, perhaps, as rock music has long been associated with rebellion against various societal norms. And our humble company
has been associated, for better or for worse, with a reaction against the “traditions” of Scotch whisky production.

We like to think of our approach as reflecting a craft ethos –making whisky better for the sake of it. Flaming Heart is an ideal example of this approach.

It is a whisky that combines Highland single malt whiskies aged on the highest quality, new French oak, with a heavy-peated Islay single malt. And for the first time, we add to this edition of Flaming Heart a small portion of whiskies aged in sherry casks, providing added layers of richness and complexity.

In the melodramatic parlance of a rock lyric, it is a whisky born of fire, yet one with a big heart. Share and enjoy.

Availability
Limited release of 9,147 bottles. Bottled in August 2012.

Flavour Descriptors
A big, complex, smoky malt whisky with rich, concentrated vanilla and spice character.

Recommendations
Sipped neat or with the addition of water, to taste.

Distillery Sourcing
Single malt whiskies from distilleries located in the Northern Highlands, Islay, Speyside and Islands. Primarily from the south shore of Islay and the village of Brora (Highlands).

Wood
A combination of refill American oak (ex-Bourbon), new French oak (heavily toasted) and sherry casks.

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

What Richard Says:
Nose: A nice smokiness laying low behind a sherry drizzled treacle tart. Wisps of peat float in and out at the edges.
Palate: So viscous it’s almost gooey. A quick hit of salty sea air and smoking fish followed by a rich berry sweetness that hits you late in the mouth.
Finish: A campfire built in an old whisky barrel.
Comments: I’m guessing since “Monster” is already taken then “Flaming Heart” was as aggressive a name as they could come up with. This is a massive whisky. The flavors are bold, agressive, and in your face. No holds barred for sure. That being said I think this is more a testament to blending prowess more than large scotch. There are so many bold flavors here but they augment each other instead of fighting for air time. The worst thing about this dram is that Flaming Heart is a periodic limited release. How I was able to get a bottle two years after it’s release is beyond me. This should be a wait list worthy scotch!
Rating: Must Buy

Compass Box Delilah’s Blended Scotch Whisky
40% ABV
$60 – $75
Website

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

Compass Box The Peat Monster 10th Anniversary Blended Malt Scotch
48.9% ABV
$100-$120
Website

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