Review 191: Compass Box Peat Monster

Review 191

12/10/13

Compass Box Peat Monster: 46% abv

Background: As a huge swing from Spice Tree, Peat Monster takes on a completely differently angle of Scotch with the darker side of peaty, powerful flavor. Compass Box has proven to be good at this kind of thing, too, with their Flaming Heart being a very popular, praised malt blend. This particular whisky sits at 46%, which we are happy about, and is composed of 49% Islay malt, 30% Highland malt, and 21% Island malt. The whisky is aged in virtually all new American oak casks, with 1% being exposed to French oak. And although we have a bottle of this, we decided to open the vile and include it in our Compass Box series. Here are the thoughts.

Straight

Nose:  With a dry, malty peat aroma immediate on the nose, it is clear that this will be a nice one. There is almost a smell of baked bread in the nose, along with a slight saltiness and sea water. There is a strong sense of oakiness on the arrival, which adds an element of intensity. The nose seems almost completely void of any fruitiness, with a very subtle hint of vanilla. Between leather, sawdust, and burnt wood, the dry style of the aroma is noticeable. It appears in this case that the fresh wood has dominated the aroma, because after opening up, it is difficult to pull more.

Arrival: The Peat Monster does not disappoint, with a malty, heavily salty and smoky arrival. It doesn’t taste overwhelming, and has a remarkable balance. There is a strong seaweed-like flavor, with some clove and cinnamon spice really blasting in. The oak is definitely present on the arrival, with a slight savory meatiness developing late in the arrival.

Body: The body takes on more of the salt and smoke body, while adding fresh tobacco into the mix, much like the similar style of Kilchoman. The cinnamon and clove really jump into the body, giving it the type of spicy, but smoky presence. It is so rich in the body, making the whole event more dynamic.

Finish: Getting into the finish, the smoke leaves its lasting impression as the Peat Monster slumps away into the dark abyss. The Monster has left a nice blend of refined saltiness, peat smoke, and smooth malt. In addition, small hints of fruitiness actually start to emerge, perhaps in the wake of the Monster. There is actually an interesting cayenne pepper heat to the finish, which is so unique to find in a whisky. The finish is certainly earthy, with a strangely similar flavor to agave hiding at the back of tongue. There is a slightly medicinal hint to the end of the finish, with a dark, phenol quality to it.

With Water

Nose: Water is a definite favor to the nose. The nose becomes more floral and sweet, adding some sugarcane and grain notes that were harder to identify before. The peat stays strong, due to the higher proof, and the whisky remains well balanced on the nose. There is still no real sign of fruitiness in the aroma.

Arrival: The arrival is much sweeter after adding water,  almost to a disappointing degree. The arrival is more mild and controlled, and the peat backs off substantially. There is more vanilla, and even a little bit of apple

Body: The peatiness is still present in the body, with a grill smoke flavor and some savory notes. The body has declined a lot in comparison to before.

Finish: The spice in the finish is more pronounced, with more allspice than anything coming through, and even some ginger to be noted. The finish tastes almost zesty at this point, with a slightly Italian spice taste to it. The medicinal quality to the finish is also enhanced in the finish, now bringing out a cough syrup like flavor at the end.

Final Comments: Peat Monster is very much like Spice Tree. It is not considered the most complex whisky in the world, and certainly the nose proved to be highly disappointing. That being said, this is a solid offering and offers a unique blend of Kilchoman dry smokiness, and the salty intensity of Laphroaig. It is such a lovely medley of peat flavor that any peat-happy malt drinker would appreciate the hugeness of flavor. It seems like the whisky shouldn’t be exposed to a lot of water, in order to retain the pure, natural flavors that it has to offer, despite how it enhances the nose. Overall, a very solid offering in the world of peated whisky, and worth the buy.

 

Why you’d buy it: A nice, smoky offering from an innovative blender.

Why you wouldn’t: You like more fruitiness to your peated whisky.

Score: 8.5/10

Review 190: Compass Box Spice Tree

Review 190

12/9/13

Compass Box Spice Tree: 46% abv

Background: Getting more intense in the Compass Box range is the first 46% whisky offering. Spice Tree is another blended malt, and there is an obvious foreshadowing present in the name of this bottle that might hint you off to what it tastes like. Spice Tree is made up of 60% North Highland malt, 20% Highland malt, and 20% Speyside Malt, interestingly the same proportions as with Oak Cross. To add to the list of similarities, Spice Tree also uses American and French oak casks, but this time 80% of the aging takes place in the French oak. So, from a strictly theoretical standpoint, this could be a very similar whisky to Oak Cross. The fun part about it is we won’t know until we try it, which we’re going to do now!

Straight

Nose: Right out of the glass, you can tell this is a much different whisky than the Oak Cross. From a fresh start, this whisky smells more composed and refined than the Oak Cross, with a thicker nose demonstrating more maturity and complexity. There is a slight hint of savory red wine, with a rich malt and vanilla combination complimenting the aroma. It is spicy, with some white pepper and cloves gently introducing themselves from the glass. The oak in this whisky smells fresh and mellow, instead of harsh and sappy. There is crisp, fresh apple in the nose, which compliments the sweetness of the vanilla and malt. There is also some sweet molasses and caramel in the nose, which starts to become more noticeable and pleasant as the whisky opens up. The nose on this whisky is so much more composed than in Oak Cross, it feels like a different blender altogether.  

Arrival: With a bounty of sweet apple and malt in the arrival, this whisky quickly tells you it isn’t messing around. Sweet caramel and molasses, sugarcane, and a hint of brilliant spice. The oak in the arrival is pleasant and noticeable, but not rough or undrinkable. Left with enough time, a bit of spiciness will start to emerge on the palate, but becomes way more noticeable in the body. There is a bit of smokiness and leftover

Body: The body fulfills the prophecy that the label has foretold. There is some definite clove, allspice, and pepper in the body. It still holds on to the glorious maltiness, along with a certain amount of fruit. The balance of flavors in the body is remarkable. It might just be trying to compare Oak Cross to this that makes this seem like such a great whisky, but it truly is well balanced. There is a bit of mint and cinnamon that start to develop as well.

Finish: The finish of this whisky can only be described as succulent. Succulent apple, strawberry, and huge, full-flavored malty goodness make this finish worth basking in. The finish of this whisky steals the show without a doubt. The medley of balanced spice notes in the finish is still apparent, but it fades away as the sweeter notes replace them.  Given time though, this balance will change. This does have a striking semblance to Clynelish. There is also a slightly cool, refreshing experience to the whisky as well.

With Water

Nose: After adding water, the nose becomes slightly more fruity, with a bit of juicy ripe fruit coming across. The barley smell is softer and greener now, and there is a definite vegetal quality to the aroma that was not present before. There is some lavender and perfume-like smells that are starting to develop as well, getting almost floral in quality.

Arrival: With water, the fresh malt of the whisky, and savory, almost grape/wine like succulence of the flavor returns to the whisky. It is strikingly similar to before in taste, but there is a slightly better balance of flavors.

Body: The body has an almost Irish Whiskey character to it after adding water. There is an interesting mineral-like taste to it, with a nice earthiness and a healthy spice. The oak in the body is in healthy proportion.

Finish:  There is definitely a grainy, vegetal character to this whisky after adding water. The finish brings forth more earthy tones, while still keeping the fruit and spiciness dominant. The balance is enjoyable, although it is clear after a few swigs that the “Spice Tree” is still fighting for dominance. There is some spearmint present in the finish as well.

Final Comments: When the bottle was first opened, this whisky started off fairly succulent. Given enough time, the aforementioned spice will begin to flood the taste buds. It isn’t unpleasant at any point, though, and it tends to work for this whisky. The fullness of flavor is certainly present, and the oakiness to the finish is enjoyable. Adding water just enhances the balance and flavor contribution. It is sad to say, but Spice Tree just makes Oak Cross look WRONG. They are not similar in style, but they do have some commonalities that beg the question of why Oak Cross is so unpleasant. This is such a great whisky as it stands, and stands strong against solid bottlings like Clynelish 14 Year. This is truly demonstrates that Compass Box is capable of some great stuff.

 

Why you’d buy it: You like an intense, full whisky with some bite to it.

Why you wouldn’t: You didn’t bother reading this review and tried Oak Cross.

Score: 8.5/10

Review 189: Compass Box Oak Cross

Review 189

12/8/13

Compass Box Oak Cross: 43% abv

Background: Oak Cross is the first whisky in the range of Compass Box selection that is offered as a blended malt. Oak Cross is made up of 60% northern Highland single malt, 20% Highland single malt, and 20% Speyside Single Malt. It is aged for 60% of its life in first fill American Oak casks, and 40% of its life in new French Oak casks. It is still considered a relatively young whisky, we assume, but that shouldn’t be a terribly incriminating feature, considering how young Compass Box is as a company. It is also bottled slightly higher than Asyla, which gives it another plus. 

Straight

Nose: The nose for this whisky starts off with a slight maltiness, but quickly reveals some peculiar qualities. The nose does have a substantial saltiness to it, along with an odd note of baking soda. It is creamy, and has some vanilla overtones, with dried fruits and sawdust present. There is slight grapefruit citrus and pear, with a fresh medley of grain flavor. Overall, the baking soda seems to be an over-dominant flavor in the aroma, which creates an edgy, harsh nose. The nose is not terribly complex, nor is it thick or concentrated. That being said, the brininess to the nose can be enjoyable at times, and presents a very sea-salt like layer to the nose that is highly reminiscent of Old Pulteney 12 Year.

Arrival:  The arrival starts off with a quick introduction of maltiness, followed by saltiness and a hoppy/floral bitterness. The arrival is not hugely complex, with the same softness as the Asyla. It just packs a saltier punch. There is a sense of oakiness in the arrival, which tastes primarily American.

Body: There is an odd prominence of citrus and acidity in the body, which seems to disrupt the event of drinking this whisky. This seems fairly similar to Jura’s 10 year old whisky. As the whisky creeps into the body, a fluoride-like flavor develops. There is mild spiciness that starts to develop in the body, but it doesn’t take a dominant role until the finish.

Finish: The baking soda is back in full effect in the finish. There is a prominence of saltiness, tartness, and malt that pulls from the rest of the whisky. There is a clash of pepper and clove in the finish, along with vanilla and spicy oak. It feels like the French Oak is taking over at this point and really asserting its dominance. There is some hops-like bitterness in the finish as well.

With Water

Nose: Water does not seem to curb the salty, baking soda aromas from this whisky. In fact, it might even enhance them. There is a slight shoe polish type smell to this. In general don’t let somebody smell this before they try it, or they may never try it.

Arrival: The maltiness in the arrival opens up a lot more after adding water, and as the whisky hits the back of the tongue, a much more open flavor of fresh fruit and floral notes appears. It is a pleasant surprise in stark contrast to the baking soda. There is a substantial amount of apple in the arrival now as well.

Body: With a little bit of clove, gingerbread, and other dry spices, the mouthfeel in the body has become very dry. The body has eliminated some saltiness, which is good considering the extreme lack of balance that would have presented to the whisky.

Finish: Like the body, the mouthfeel in the finish is now incredibly dry, and the maltiness to the finish has been replaced by more spices, assumingly from the French Oak cask. It appears that the addition of water say made the finish of this whisky slightly intolerable, to be frankly honest. There is more hotness than there is flavor. 

Final Comments: This is not the most positive review. Let’s be clear though, KCM doesn’t have a grudge against salty whiskies. Old Pulteney is one of my favorite distilleries, personally. The problem here is that the flavors are not terribly complementary, and the employment of fresh casks seems to be adding a harshness to the whisky that just isn’t doing it any favors. This isn’t a terribly whisky either, though. The spirit itself tastes good, and there doesn’t appear to be any burn associated with impure alcohol. The flavor of baking soda, however, just isn’t adding to the blend. Disappointing, we’d like to see a better lower end offering out of Compass Box, but we’ll just have to keep looking.

 

Why you’d buy it: You want to feel sea-worthy.

Why you wouldn’t: Old Pulteney 12 Year is perfection in comparison for a similar price.

Score: 6.75/10

Review 163: White Horse Blended Scotch

Review 163

5/29/13

White Horse Blended Scotch: 40% abv

Background: White Horse Scotch is a Blended Scotch, and it marks a couple firsts for us. It marks the first time we’re reviewing a Blended Scotch, the first time we’re reviewing a Scotch under $20, and the first time we’re documenting a new experiment. I will explain that in a second. White Horse is made with a blend of Lagavulin, Talisker, Caol Ila, and Linkwood. Of course, there are many more malts in this whisky, but they aren’t all mentioned. For the price, this is a nice blend and it has a moderate amount of peat influence to it, due to the Islay Scotches involved. What’s the experiment part about? If you have paid attention to our decanter in the background, it currently has some liquid in it. It is a homemade solera vat. A solera vat is a process where a certain amount of liquid is taken out and is replaced by an equal amount of liquid of a different quality. So what we do is take a majority of a certain whisky we don’t find particularly appealing, and then add higher quality whiskies incrementally. This White Horse will be the base of a new peated Scotch Solera Vat, and we will take some notes every couple of times we add new Scotches. For now, let’s see how standard White Horse is.

Straight

Nose:  The complexities in a blended whisky are actually not that hard to find. Right off the nose, you start to see some prominent notes of champagne and creamy barley coming through. There is a lemon-like tartness and some fruity notes coming through intensely. There is a noticeable maltiness, with some sweetness akin to caramel and vanilla complimenting the grain character. Now, as you would expect there is a sense of peatiness here, but it is more like a suggestion of peat, not a huge presence of peat. Along with that though, there is a far more dominant spiciness that adds intensity and heat to the nose. The spice seems like a mixture of hot spices, but doesn’t promote a single character very definitively to us. There is also a sense of tequila present in this nose, which is kind of peculiar. It isn’t even subtle in this case. I can’t fully explain what would evoke such aromas, but we enjoy it nonetheless. Overall, this is an above average nose for a blended scotch.

Arrival: The arrival starts off soft and creamy, in a pleasant, smooth way. There is no intense woody character or harsh burn present from the grain. This is truly a higher quality than I would ever expect from this offering. It has nice vanilla and malt overtones to it, with genuine sugar sweetness coming forth as well. None of the harsh peatiness we expect from these whiskies is coming through. If you really agitate the whisky in your mouth, you can start to get some pepper notes and slight bitterness coming through, but it doesn’t strike me as off-putting or coarse.

Body:  In the body, there is still a large sense of vanilla and creaminess, which seems to be the highlight of this whisky. That soft character must be coming from the grain spirit, because the single malts listed are going to be a more dominant character. There starts to be an evolution into some soft sherry notes, although it doesn’t come out in a rich, dark flavor, but more over a light, fruity hint of sherry. There is some dry fruitiness in the body that carries over to the finish. This isn’t a flavor you’ll normally see from a single malt, and I think it has something to do with the grain whisky.

           

Finish: The finish starts to bring out the contribution of peat, although the cream and vanilla notes that we noticed in the other parts of the whisky has not diminished much at all. The grainy harshness of the barley starts to become prevalent here, but is still not terribly off-putting. By the same token, it should come as no surprise that there is some spice character coming through as well. The agave we smelled in the nose makes a small appearance here, albeit it is hardly the star of the show in this whisky. There is still the sense of a dry fruit presence, which can unfortunately provide a slightly pasty residual mouth-feel.

With Water

Nose: Generally, when we see a whisky at 40%, especially a Blended Scotch, we try to be really shy with the water, so we only added a small portion. After adding said water, the intensity of the barley spirit comes out more, emphasizing darker, richer characters. In general, the biggest highlight is some more sherry and dark fruits coming through, but they are not overly prominent which respect to the other notes.

Arrival: Surprisingly, the nose here is even softer than before, with little flavor change and just a smoother mouthfeel.

Body: The body has become hugely enhanced with the barley sugar flavor. There is a big sweetness that was not so much an overtone in flavor that comes out now, and lasts for quite a while.

           

Finish: The finish takes on the sweetness character that was discussed in the body. It lasts like a sugar cookie treat with some malt sprinkled on top. What a pleasant treat, but it doesn’t do much for the complexity side of things. It sort of overshadows the peat aspect.

Final Comments:  This whisky is only the beginning of an experience, but it might be more than that to you. It is completely drinkable neat, and requires no water. It is sweet and smooth, and is not cheaply crafted. It also doesn’t taste horribly young and doesn’t reflect what you might call a high grain content blend. It also has some interesting flavors that we enjoyed when we tried it. It is by no means a groundbreaking whisky, but for the money, it doesn’t need to be. I think this might have just replaced Dewars, Black and White, Chivas Regal, and maybe even Grants.

Why you’d buy it: You want to drink cheap Scotch but still enjoy yourself.

Why you wouldn’t: You like Johnnie Walker Red because you feel cool saying you’re drinking Johnnie Walker (that’s an IQ issue)

Score: 8.25/10

Review 152: Compass Box Flaming Heart

Review 152

3/31/13

Compass Box Flaming Heart 4^th Edition: 48.9% abv

Background: Well, to our utter dismay, Compass Box doesn’t have a Wikipedia page yet, so we need to go off of other sources for our “exclusive knowledge”, but let’s start with this. Compass Box is NOT a distillery; in fact, far from it. Compass box is a Scotch whisky blender. All of CB’s whiskies are blended whiskies, most of which are blended malts, but some of which are uniquely blended grain whiskies (you will seldom find a Single Grain Scotch Whisky in these parts). If you’re interested in a blended grain whisky, look up Compass Box’s Hedonism. Compass Box hasn’t been around for too long, with John Glaser having started up the business in 2000. In fact, it was not too long ago that we saw first signs of Compass Box crop up in Michigan, and boy were we excited. What’s not to like about what CB is doing? They’re bottling at higher proofs with more natural “non chill-filtered” presentation and natural color. This particular limited edition bottling takes the craft aspect to an almost Bruichladdich level. It is a whisky made up of single malts from Islay and the Highlands, so a mixture of smokey richness and sweet-bodied fruits should be expected. This one is aged in new French oak casks, which are frankly not used enough in Scotch maturation. This particular Flaming Heart was bottled in August of 2012 and only 9,147 bottles were produced. As I mentioned before this is a natural presentation and is bottled at 48.9%, which is over-proofed.

Straight

Nose: Well, as you would expect from a malt blend containing peated Scotch, there is some peat on the nose, but don’t mistake this as having the same presence as a Laphroaig. Instead, the peat couples nicely with notes of subtle smoky campfire, nuttiness, agave and sea salt. The fresh French oak brings out the vanilla oak notes, while dry fruits and a subtle malt note underpins the whole ensemble.  

Arrival: The arrival will be an exciting moment for you, and surely you’ll be rewarded by the wait. The nuttiness in the nose prevails in the arrival with some almond hinting through, but truly the peat takes the attention. This isn’t a tobacco-like, dry peat taste like Kilchoman gives you. It is indeed smoky and spicy, with a hot, cayenne-like presentation up front and a mild counterbalance of sweetness.

Body: The body contains notes of peat, creamy vanilla, and some tropical, but mellow fruit types. It took us a while to pin down exactly what we were experiencing, but other sources have sited guava as a potential note.

           

Finish: There is a gentle peat note, vanilla, sweet apple, and sea salt coming through. The whole experience isn’t brutalized by the proof of the alcohol, but it is worth seeing how much change there is with some water.  

With Water

Nose: With water, the nose brings out some more harsh intensity in the smoke and alcohol, with the vanilla coming through and an added sweetness akin to rock candy.

Arrival: The arrival reflects the aforementioned sweetness, being significantly sweeter than before, but also brings out some drier notes and a big vanilla presence. 

Body: The body is again sweet, with a balance of sweet and smoky notes like before.

           

Finish: The peat in the finish, after a few teaspoons of water, is subtler, while fruit and spice notes climb through. There is red grape, spices, more oak, prominent agave, and some subtle grain notes which start to get added.

Final Comments: This is definitely an enjoyable and challenging whisky, and to be honest, we might not have done it justice in this review, but for us, this is a learning experience. This malt blend represents a highly crafted spirit with a nice contrast of peat smoke and sweetness/spiciness. The peat isn’t too commanding, but it still has that quality of a good Islay Scotch. I don’t know if this competes on a full scale with the likes of Caol Ila, but it is not trying to be a Caol Ila either. We hope to see more distilleries bottling at higher proofs like this, and we hope to review more Compass Box in the future.

Why you’d buy it: It is a great blended malt Scotch and you like that it is limited edition

Why you wouldn’t: You can’t get it in your area.

Score: 9.25/10