Blended Scotch whisky – 40%ABV – $35 | £24 | €29
Last week (and for a couple of days the week before) I focused on kosher certified whiskies. This week I will begin a series of blended whiskies. I will touch on Compass Box whiskies as well as a few Double Barrel expressions. It’s going to be a week or more of crazy mix’em ups (pun intended) here on the JSMWS whisky blog.
So, Compass Box. Who are they? Is this a distillery? No, Compass Box is not a distillery. Compass Box is a brand of blended whiskies and is the brain child of John Glaser – master blender extraordinaire.
A couple of months ago The Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society hosted a whiskey tasting with Hudson American Whiskeys and something their owner said stuck with me after his seeing a bottle of Peat Monster on the host’s kitchen counter. He picked up the bottle and said (with me paraphrasing here and him referring to said bottle and the blender of the fluid contained within): “what we at Hudson do is apply skill to making whiskey, what John does is pure art”. That’s a compliment and a half!
So, let’s see if Ralph is right:
On the nose – A light and bright nose with a fight.
Oh, you’ve got a wee bit of spunk to yeh!
However, with a touch of time to breath you reveal to me hints of fresh butter and white corn.
Unripened fruits (think pear mostly).
A touch of nail polish.
Perhaps plastic shopping bags.
Lemon meringue.
A saltiness that I can’t shake.
On the mouth – Two words: Mouth Feel.
This is some thick, chewy-ass stuff!
Very soft like ‘almost-jello’ soft.
Slightly salty and a bit peppery now.
Hints of light biscuits, honeyed and delicious.
The grain influence is fairly obvious – adding a light, almost bourbony sweetness.
Finish – Nothing to complain about.
Some maltiness and medium-ish in length with a lasting fizziness toward the center back part of the tongue.
In sum – This is something to simply relax or, as my friend Steve of The Whisky Wire would say, Dramlax with. Very light in style, very approachable and, actually, one to help lure in your non-whisky drinking friends into enjoying one of the finer things in life – whisk(e)y!!