Compass Box Blends…

My partner will sometimes introduce me as a ‘Single Malt Snob’… he does so with great affection and humour, knowing I’m far from snobbish in life but am particular about my whiskies.

It does highlight a perception that an old single malt MUST be good whereas a blended whisky MUST be rubbish.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

While there are some absolutely stunning single malts… there are equally some rather good blends.

And the folks over at Compass Box are out to prove you should pay attention to well crafted blended whiskies. They keep surprising whisky watchers with their creative approach and beautiful marriage of art and science.

They also set in motion a movement for transparency after being told to stop disclosing the component whiskies that go into their blends.

They aren’t demanding others mandatorily disclose what goes into that whisky you love so much… they are simply asking for the right to share with consumers what goes what they create.

Hard to argue with such an approach but they have a fight on their hands… read more here.

Compass Box Juveniles sampled at La Maison du Whisky (Whisky Lady)

Juveniles sampled at La Maison du Whisky (Whisky Lady)

Living in India means either sampling these blends outside of the country or depending on a whisky club member to source and bring into the country…

Through both approaches, have enjoyed til date seven Compass Box blends:

Compass Box Trilogy

Anyone have a favourite Compass Box blend? Or another blended whisky?

From time to time, you can also find other whisky related updates and activities on:

Compass Box – The Peat Monster 46%

A recent visit to La Maison du Whisky in Singapore provided a chance to try two new Compass Box offerings. Which prompted a desire to revisit our Compass Box trilogy evening…

Tasting Notes from 21 August 2014

Following our standard approach, we tried ‘blind’ different whiskies before unveiling a theme night of three remarkable blends from Compass Box: Great King Street Artist’s Blend, Spice Tree and The Peat Monster.

Peat Monster isn't so scary after all..

The Peat Monster 46%

  • Colour – Again back to a lighter wheatish shade à la Great King Street Artist’s Blend
  • Nose – Instant Wow! Peat, rubber, a little blue cheese …. After the first powerful notes faded, revisiting was like the waft on opening a closed closet in the rains – that peculiar queer monsoon mold odour!
  • Palate – Peat and ash with mellow spice, not so much smoky as just a well-rounded complex peat, surprisingly smooth for such a forceful dram
  • Finish – Oh baby! A peaty ash, sweet and not harsh at all…. 5 mins after sipping, it still remained romancing ones taste buds…
  • Add water? Oops! We missed trying that… somehow it was just one we enjoyed ‘as is’ without the temptation to try a few drops of pani

Our blind verdict? Yummy yummy! Well worth revisiting during those moments where you need something to just envelope in rich peaty warmth!

The unveiling – Don’t let the name dissuade you! Yes The Peat Monster is peaty but it is also exceptionally balanced.

As Compass Box describes it

“combines extremely smoky malt whisky from Islay with medium-peated Highland whiskies to create a balanced and approachable monster, but a monster nonetheless. Enjoy!”

And yes… enjoy it we did!

Comment of the night

“The Peat monster had a queer smell but was certainly not monstrous enough to scare any of us.”

Compass Box Trilogy

The unveiling was a visual treat. Compass Box takes creative design of the bottles as seriously as the blending. For several, the evening favourite was Spice Tree, however all are well worth trying!

Now… I’ve had my eye on The General but that price tag in Singapore is definitely a deterrent…

Other Compass Box treats sampled:

From time to time, you can also find other whisky related updates and activities on: