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Whisky
Tasting Journey: January 2007
By Brett
Calish
Compass Box |
Here at Whiskyguild, if
there is one thing that we prize almost
as much as a great dram, it’s the spirit
of innovation. It’s why we chose to
create this site in the first place –
not to be the first, but to be
different, and better! It seems that
Compass Box is a kindred spirit. Less
than a decade old, the Compass Box
Whisky Company is flourishing, producing
accessible whiskies that are “off the
beaten path”. Although they marry
together whiskies from various, lesser
known, distilleries, the superb quality
of their casks make the end results
simply astounding. Plus, they’re all
remarkably affordable. Whether you try a
blend, vatted malt, or vatted grain, you
MUST try one! (Actually, we tried five!)
The line up:
Asyla: Lithe and luxurious.
Wow! A fresh, barley nose with just
the slightest
hint of oak. There’s a dry, slightly
sweet vanilla here too – subtle and
sublime. The mouth feel is light,
but certainly not “thin”; it seems
to taste almost ethereal, and this
is continued in the finish, which is
longer than what you would expect
from a “light” blend. I explained to
my co-tasters that this whisky
reminded me of a good symphony,
where the opening theme is recalled
in the finale. So many whiskies out
there have noses that bear no
relation to their finishes – this is
not one of them. Even if you prefer
a whisky with Islay heft, you’d be
hard pressed to top this soft
beauty! Outstanding!
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Hedonism: First off, this is a
vatted grain, not a malt. It’s also
the best dram in the
Compass Box range (high praise,
considering the quality of the
range). Hedonism starts off with a
nose that reminded us of bourbon;
sweet, but not overpowering. There
were notes of French toast, and
someone also picked-up pencil
shavings that added to the
complexity. In the palate, it was
clean and mouth-watering, with loads
of honey, as well as vanilla and
orange marmalade. Honestly, it felt
like I was drinking breakfast.
Yummy! The finish was impressive,
too, with a warmth that didn’t fill
your whole body, but still seemed to
pull the chill out.
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Oak
Cross: Ah, here it is. Every
company, or distillery, wants to put
out an “anytime”
whisky, and this is Compass Box’s
contribution. With a young nose that
is by turns grassy and syrupy, this
vatted malt reminded us of a fine
Lowland single malt. Then the whisky
hit our taste buds, and we realized
that we weren’t in Kansas anymore!
The dram remained wonderfully
syrupy, and was much “chewier” than
we expected, with just enough heft
to satisfy us. A finish of mostly
vanilla, but also oak and cinnamon
made this a great all-round whisky.
At a good price point, this was an
easy-drinking and supremely
satisfying dram, which reminded us
that you don’t need a special
occasion to drink a special whisky.
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Eleuthera: A
good dram for those who want smoke
and peat, but are afraid of it.
Although they are quite obviously
there, the smoke and especially the
peat do not overpower the pretty
maltiness of this dram. On the
contrary, we found this vatted malt
to have a silky richness to it, with
a nose that spoke of butter toffee.
It had a medium, slightly oily body,
and a finish that just seemed to go
on forever – warming, with
suggestions of peppermint. A very
complex malt.
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Peat Monster:
Although the smoke in this dram is
evident, what this Monster lures you
in with is peat. And for those of
you who say that you don’t like
peat, maybe you just haven’t had it
served up like this before: softly,
highlighting the cereal malts and
“wine-like” tannins in the nose.
There is also citrus and light
iodine (of course), in the nose, but
only a tease. Surprisingly, this
vatted malt monster had a lighter
body than we would have imagined; an
interesting, and not unpleasant
treat. The finish on this one was,
at first creamy with that light
citrus again, and then finished with
a late flurry of peat (Beauty and
the Beast, maybe?). Our overall
impression of this dram was that it
was a very accessible, easy-drinking
peat whisky, which is not an easy
trick!
Questions or comments are welcome, I can be reached at
brett@whiskyguild.com |
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Nov
06 |
Dec 06 |
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