Must Try

Compass Box Myths & Legends III

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Compass Box Myths & Legends III
Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

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

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.

For Myths & Legends III we have taken some of the same parcels of malt whisky used in Myths & Legends II and added peated malt whiskies from a pair of celebrated island distilleries.

Some would object to our actions on principle. Famous single malts are always too precious for blending, they say; the sanctity of the category seems to take precedence over quality.

However, thanks to our parcels of well-regarded malt whiskies, the tropical fruit and butterscotch notes of Myths & Legends II are now further enriched by a deep and enchantingly aromatic smoke profile.

Never blend the famous names? The breadth of generous and complex flavours found in Myths & Legends III dismantles such superstitious thinking.

FLAVOUR PROFILE: Papaya, mango and butterscotch meld with aromatic and assertive peatiness.

SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS: Enjoy neat, late at night, and in the heaviest glass you can find.

Not Chill-Filtered, Light 5 Micron Filtration | Natural Colour | Lead Whiskymakers: Jill Boyd and James Saxon | A limited edition of 4,564 bottles | July 2019

What Gary Says

Nose:  Freshly shoveled earth and peat, caramel, faint fruit notes.
Palate:  Thick and creamy mouthfeel, rich fruit with butterscotch, peat and smoke.
Finish:  Long, drying with peat and fruit.
Comments:  I do love peat, so if someone said “What if we take some Myths & Legends II and add some peat and smoke?”, I would not have batted an eye, nor discouraged it.  For this, they took the components for Myths & Legends II and added some 23 yr old Highland Park, as well as some 15 yr Caol Ila to the Glen Elgin party (with the additions amounting to just 15%).  I like both of those distilleries, so would further have been on board. I think this is a fine example of where “less is more”.  Wish I had tried this one first so I wouldn’t have Myths & Legends II to compare against, as I think I likely would find this a perfectly delicious pour.  The nose is a lot more peaty than the palate, and some water brings out more notes of kiwi and mango on the nose. But if someone offered me my choice from the series, I’d go with II without much of a thought.

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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Compass Box Myths & Legends II

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside / ,

Compass Box Myths & Legends II
Single Malt Scotch Whisky

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

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.

Myths & Legends II blends together malt whiskies of different ages from a single Speyside distillery. We wish to show how process matters more than provenance when it comes to the flavours of single malts. In addition to the aromas of tropical fruits and butterscotch you will also discover subtle savoury notes and spiciness.

The distinctive profile has nothing to do with “Speyside”; process decisions made at the distillery, the effects of maturation, and our own choices regarding the balance of the final blend determine the whisky’s quality and character. Clues to a whisky’s flavour lie in the glass and not the distillery’s region.

FLAVOUR PROFILE: Expressive tropical fruitiness combines with silky butterscotch and sweet spices.

SERVING RECOMMENDATIONS: Serve neat to appreciate the spicy and waxy character. Alternatively, pour over a large cube or ball of ice to accentuate the deliciously rounded mouthfeel and tease out notes of pineapple.

Not Chill-Filtered, Light 5 Micron Filtration | Natural Colour | Lead Whiskymakers: Jill Boyd and James Saxon | A limited edition of 4,446 bottles | July 2019

What Gary Says

Nose:  Tropical fruit salad with coconut, peaches and mangos; toffee, subtle oak, heather and floral notes.
Palate:  Thick and creamy mouthfeel, rich fruit notes of peaches and pears, spices, butterscotch, light caramel, toffee, nutmeg, a faint hint of clove.
Finish:  Long with a bit of pepper amongst fruit notes.
Comments:  Wow – Myths & Legends stepping up with the second installment!  A lovely, rich dram.  Another distillery which I’m unfamiliar with – this time Glen Elgin, consisting of casks from 16 to 23 years old.  I need to find some independent bottlings (which isn’t to detract from the blending skills involved in creating this gem).  This is both elegant and robust at the same time – an absolutely lovely whisky.  Raising the bar as I look to the conclusion (although to be clear – nothing says you have to try them in succession).

Rating: Must Try/Must Buy

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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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