Must Try

Compass Box Myths & Legends I

/ / Highland, Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Compass Box Myths & Legends I
Single Malt Scotch Whisky

46% ABV
$150
Website
Compass Box Myths and Legends I

What the Blender Says

Scotch whisky has a rich array of stories, myths and legends.

However, what start as myths can become received wisdom, influencing our understanding and restricting our enjoyment. We have deployed blending to challenge assumptions, biases and prejudices concerning Scotch in this limited edition series we call Myths & Legends.

It may surprise some, but blending is as crucial to the creation of single malts as it is to blended whisky. Myths & Legends I highlights the extent to which individual casks are often unreliable authorities for the style of whisky made at a distillery; it is by blending casks together that a fuller picture of distillery character can emerge.

Two parcels of malt whisky from the same Northern Highland distillery tasted markedly different: the younger parcel was malty and citrusy, the older one much creamier with a ripe fruit character. Two distinct personalities but from the one distillery.

By combining these two parcels we have created a whisky full of fragrance with a more rounded complexity, one that provides a richer understanding of what this distillery can produce.

FLAVOUR PROFILE: A malty and creamy character develops into notes of ripe orchard fruits and delicate oak.

SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS: This whisky is delicious neat, as an aperitif. Adding a splash of water will reveal more of its bright and delicate character.

Not Chill-Filtered, Light 5 Micron Filtration | Natural Colour | Lead Whiskymakers: Jill Boyd and James Saxon | A limited edition of 4,394 bottles | July 2019

What Gary Says

Nose:  Fruit notes of pears, peaches, fresh apples, floral notes of honeysuckle with a hint of lavender.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel with pears, nutmeg, malt, peaches in cream, kiwi.
Finish:  Long and gentle with dried fruit and nutmeg.
Comments:  A delightful dram – fruity, nuanced, gentle.  I’m not sure if I’d had anything from Balblair distillery before (from where this came, with one parcel aged for 15-16 years in recharred American oak and the second aged for 22 years in first fill bourbon barrels).  But this would certainly leave me willing to try it blind.  The first of three in the Myths & Legends series is starting off strong!

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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Knob Creek 12 Year Bourbon

/ / Bourbon, Review /

Knob Creek 12 Year
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

50% ABV
$60
Website
Knob Creek 12 Year Bourbon

What the Distillery Says

Full proof for full flavor. An honest Pre-Prohibition style bourbon.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich fudge and caramel (like freshly baked turtle brownies), walnuts, charred oak, brown sugar, nutmeg, hint of graham cracker and leather.
Palate:  Rich dark chocolate with caramel, nutmeg, cinnamon, oak, vanilla, brown sugar, cracked pepper and a hint of peanut brittle.
Finish:  Moderately long with drying cocoa, oak and baking spices.
Comments:  Launched initially as a limited offering in 2019, this is now part of the standard offering. Wow – I’ve long been a fan of Knob Creek, and was disappointed when they dropped (although recently brought back) the 9 year age statement. Older single barrel offerings showed how this whiskey carries a few extra years well. I get a brownie flavor I really love, and while I’m not a big fan of a lot of oak – this is pushing that envelope without going over. The Beam house style with a peanutty-note is either missing, or really faint (which I’ve noticed that as the bourbon ages and the proof goes up, that distinction seems to fade). Fans of Knob Creek definitely need to give this one a try – damn solid bourbon.

Rating: Must Try

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Hazelburn Sherry Wood 13 Year Old (2017)

/ / Campbeltown, Review, Scottish Whisky /

Hazelburn Sherry Wood 13 Year Old (2017)
Triple Distilled Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky

47.1% ABV
$80-$140
Website
Hazelburn 13 Yr Sherry Wood

What the Distillery Says

Our Hazelburn Sherry Wood, always bottled at cask strength, is released annually in small quantities after being matured in varying types of sherry cask.

The 2017 release is 13 years old, matured in Oloroso Sherry casks and bottled at 47.1%.

Nose: Initially raisins, marzipan, Demerara sugar followed by treacle, sticky toffee and wood shavings.
Palate: Homemade strawberry jam, sugary and filled with cream, orange zest, brandy snaps and a white chocolate creme brûlée.
Finish: Chocolate orange, creamy coffee liqueur, buttered popcorn, cocoa beans and mocha coffee with a delicate finish of sweet orange marmalade.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich dark fruits, raisins, prunes, figs with toffee and musty oak.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel with raisins and berries in milk chocolate, slowly building spice notes of nutmeg, allspice, toasted orange zest.
Finish:  Moderately long with cocoa and citrus spice.
Comments:  An absolutely lovely pour.  I’ll admit I was way late hopping on the Springbank train (and wish I could figure out why to avoid a similar mistake in the future!)  Hazelburn is their unpeated style, although I’ve yet to find anything they do that I didn’t think was pretty good.  This doesn’t need water, and I didn’t find it helped nor hurt.

Rating: Must Try

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Springbank 13 yr Single Cask

/ / Campbeltown, Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Springbank 13 yr Single Cask
Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky

58.6% ABV
$120-$140
Website
Springbank 13 yr Single Cask

What the Bottle Says

Distilled: December 2003
Bottled: April 2017
Cask Type: Fresh Sherry
No. of Bottles: 474

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich sherry bomb, plums, raisins, dates, smoked meat, leather, pipe tobacco, clove, oak.
Palate:  Rich and thick sweetness, fruit, berries, cherries, honey, brown sugar, toffee, balsamic, dark chocolate, clove and pepper spice.
Finish:  Long with sherry dripping and a bit of clove.
Comments:  Just delicious! Takes water like a champ, bringing out some maple candy notes on the nose. An unapologetic sherry bomb that hits all the right notes.

Rating: Must Try/Must Buy

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Springbank 12 yr Cask Strength Batch 15 (August 2017)

/ / Campbeltown, Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Springbank 12 yr Cask Strength
Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Batch 15 – August 2017

56.5% ABV
$100-$120
Website
Springbank 12yr Cask Strength

What the Distillery Says

Our 12-year-old edition, always bottled at cask strength, is a wonderfully balanced dram that boasts a smooth buttery body and rich fruity palate. Add a drop of water to release milk chocolate and vanilla notes.

Our latest release*, bottled in January 2017, is 54.2% and the tasting notes are:

Nose: It’s reminiscent of walking in an autumn forest full of pine and chestnut trees, before returning home to the iodine of a Campbeltown malt and ending with a delicate hint of peat.
Palate: A gorgeous richness on the palate which is balanced between citrus marmalade on toast and caramelised toasted marshmallows, not forgetting flavours of vanilla and pepper. It’s a lip licking meaty dram.
Finish: A delicious, viscous, smooth liquid with a salty edge. It brings back memories of a ham joint which has been marinated in a rich honey sauce and slow baked in the oven.

*This content was listed in August 2020 (and there have been multiple releases since). As luck would have it, this refers to batch 14 which is 70% sherry/30% bourbon cask matured – the same as batch 15.

Special shout out to Ben’s Whisky Blog and The Washback for detailing out the Springbank 12 yr Cask Strength batch differences!

 

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rich, sherry, dark fruits, heather, oak, floral, clove, thyme, leather.
Palate:  Rich and thick, dark fruits, balsamic, dark chocolate with berries, toffee, vanilla, caramel, honey and clove.
Finish:  Long and slightly drying with sherry, wisps of smoke and pepper spice.
Comments:  This is a lovely, complex dram! Rich, savory and sweet. A bit of water opens it up even more. I’m not sure why I had waited this long to buy a bottle of this. Other folks in the whisk(e)y circles I’m in have been Springbank fans for years. I had enjoyed it, but I think hadn’t appreciated it as much before (possibly due to those tastes being mixed amongst a LOT of other drams!) I managed to pick this bottle up in August 2020 for $90, which is below the current retail – but even at the latest prices, I wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. There is batch to batch variation, as Springbank isn’t shooting for a consistent profile every time – and at least on this batch they didn’t provide any indication as to the batch. You can check sources for details using the ABV.

Rating: Must Try/Must Buy

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