Single Malt Report: Amrut Kadhambam, batch 03

The Amrut Assault continues.  Yesterday was Amrut Fusion, batch 29.  Today, it's Amrut Kadhambam, batch 03.

I'm going to tell you ahead of time: this whisky is a hell of a thing.  As I write this, it's been 24 hours since I wrote my tasting notes and I still haven't really gotten my head around it.  Firstly its construction is nutty (or adventurous or silly).  As per the official press release Kadhambam is...

"...the result of Amrut Single Malt Whisky and a small portion of Amrut Peated Single Malt Whisky being initially matured in ex-Oloroso sherry butts. It was then put in ex-Bangalore Blue Brandy casks and matured for a further period. Next it was emptied into ex-rum casks and matured for a further period. Both the brandy and rum casks had previously been used to mature Amrut’s own rum and brandy..."

You follow that?  It's mostly unpeated whisky and a little bit of peated whisky first matured in ex-sherry butts.  Then that whisky gets a second maturation in Indian brandy casks.  And then that stuff gets a third maturation in Indian rum casks.  Murray McDavid, eat your heart out.

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: minimum 3 years

Batch: #03

Maturation: ex-Oloroso sherry butts, then Indian brandy casks, then Indian rum casks
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? ???
(This sample arrived via sample swap with My Annoying Opinions. Thanks, MAO!)

NEAT
Its color is darker and redder than Fusion's gold.

So many things going on in the nose.  A combination of tar and aged cheese leads the way, then fades after less than a minute.  It's replaced by dried berries and dried cherries.  Honey and coriander.  Then sherry vinegar and beef stock.  Ten minutes later it shifts gears to hard toffee, a nutty dry Oloroso, and some Jamaican rum funk.

The very rich palate starts off with layers of malt and fresh berries.  There's plenty of hot ethyl still cooking.  Lots of salt and spicy toasted oak notes.  After twenty minutes it all settles down into dark chocolate and blackberries.

The sharp finish is a little drying, musty, and salty.  Sherry residue and grape jam.

Adding a little water...

WITH WATER (~43%abv)
It's almost a different whisky.  The nose is mostly milk chocolate and caramel.  Baked raspberry filling.  A little bit of the dried fruits and coriander.  The palate is really dark chocolatey.  Then figs, sugary rum, and wood smoke.  Milk chocolate, black pepper, and dry sherry in the finish.

A little more water...

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
It noses like a nice sherried scotch (think Macallan 12 from five years ago).  There's some dusty-whisky-style old creaky oak.  Definitely some rye bread underneath.  The palate has fudge, berry syrup, and a nice soft herbal bitter bite.  It finishes with wood spice, toffee, and grape jam.  A decent length considering the ABV.

COMMENTS:
Here's an attempt to encapsulate the crazy:  The whisky totally appeals at all three of the above strengths.  The sherry butts speak the loudest throughout, while the rum casks provide subtle shading.  I'm not really sure what the brandy casks bring to the conversation, but at least they don't inhibit anything.  The overall character keeps shifting with oxidation and water, thus it never really congeals, but it always pleases.

Sadly, the Kadhambam has gotten difficult to find.  There was a fourth batch released in 2013.  Was there ever a fifth batch?  Will there be one?  If they do bring it back, it would be a fun buy if they kept the price down.  Ha.

Availability - Becoming scarce worldwide
Pricing - it used to run $90-$110 stateside, a few bucks cheaper internationally
Rating - 88

Single Malt Report: Amrut Fusion, Batch 29

The AMRUT ASSAULT begins!  Eight Amruts in two weeks.  And I'm starting with an old (with old meaning "since 2012" in this case) favorite.

I reviewed Amrut Fusion back in April of 2012 -- batch 04 in that instance -- and loved it.  Loved it, Loved it, 90 points, etc.  But in the final section of my report I detailed how the Fusion may have the largest carbon footprint and requires the most petrol of any whisky in existence. I ended the piece saying, "As tremendous as this malt is, I will probably never buy a bottle (mini or otherwise) of it......until container ships are run on happiness."  Well, container ships still run on civilization's black tar heroin, but I bought a bottle anyway.  At least I waited nearly four years.

So, what is Amrut Fusion exactly?  One part unpeated Indian barley and one part peated Scottish barley are mashed and distilled separately, then (like many human beings) are married together in ex-bourbon casks for a short period of time, ultimately getting bottled at 50%.

Note the "short period of time" mentioned twice.  Because of the heat and humidity in Bangalore, the Angels are big ol' drunks, sucking down 10-16% of a cask's contents per year.  But that also means interaction between the oak and spirit is intensified during maturation.  The last I'd checked, Amrut was following SWA's guidelines, so its single malt whiskies are at minimum three years old.  But, again, three years in Bangalore ain't like three years in Aberdeen.

I've had the Fusion on a number of occasions, at tastings or bars, since my review and I've continued to enjoy it every time.  This liquid reviewed in today's post was from my own bottle at just above the halfway mark.  This was one of my Winter Whiskies, though sadly our winter didn't really show up.  El Niño took a pass on Long Beach.

Oddly, the whisky's metal tube says, incorrectly, that it's bottled at 46%abv.

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Distillation - India (Bangalore), Maltings - Scotland and India

Age: minimum 3 years

Batch: #29, March 2015

Maturation: ex-bourbon casks
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? ???

NEAT
The nose starts out with lots of barley, cinnamon, and ripe banana.  Actually it's not banana, but chirimoya (deep cut!).  With a few minutes of breathing time, a fascinating balance of characteristics develops.  On one level there are notes of white spirits like kirsch, eau de vie, and rye new make.  Then there are the phenols, clove cigarettes and heathery peat.  And then there are the fruit and flower notes like melon, lemon candy, and roses.  Considering the maturation environment, it's surprisingly light on the oak.

The peat is much louder in the palate, smoldering, very rich.  A load of spice, like cloves, cinnamon candy, cigar tobacco, and chili oil, keeps any young sweetness in check.  There's also hard toffee, ripe banana (in a good way), and a tiny bit of cocoa.

The finish is heat and peat forward.  Some spearmint leaves, charred beef, chili oil, hints of young rye, and caramel.  It's never sweet, though it's not terribly long either.

WITH WATER (~43%abv)
The barley is met with a HUGE hit of anise in the nose.  That's followed by dried cherries, wood spice, butterscotch, orange oil, and cinnamon.

The water totally tames the palate, sweetening it up.  It's malty and desserty now.  More cinnamon and vanilla.  Marzipan.  A mellow bitterness meets with a spicy zing.

The finish gets increasingly sweet as well.  Some caramel and a slight bitterness mingles with the peat.

WORDS AND STUFF
This is very young, but very good.  I prefer it neat, but if you need to sweeten it up then add water, a little at a time.  A lot of elements ping about in the complex nose, and something new seems to show up every time I pour a glass.  And though the palate is less complex, it's focused and rich, my favorite part of the whisky.  The finish is its weakest spot, but it's not terrible, just a little brief and narrow.

The price on this whisky has only gone up only $5-$10 over the past four years (hooray!), though the days of finding it for under $60 in California are over.  But Amrut has kept the good bottling strength and the quality remains high, so one will find more excitement in a bottle of Fusion than many single malt scotches in its price range.

Availability - Many specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $60 to $80
Rating - 87

Single Malt Report: Glenmorangie Milsean

ACHTUNG! RELEVANT WHISKY!

(I was going to paste The Drudge Siren gif here, but I figured my rant would be obnoxious enough.)

Because I haven't been a fan of any of the releases from the series, Glenmorangie's Private Edition range is a mystery to me.  It comes down to "Why?" and "Whom?"  Why is Bill Lumsden still producing these whiskies?  And for whom is creating them?

I'll start with the Whom?  I know there's still somewhat of an Ardbeg cult out there awaiting Lumsden's annual winey peaty stuff.  But is there anyone still breathlessly checking the calendar, anticipating the next Glenmorangie Private Edition?  Like the Ardbeg special editions, GlenMo's Private Editions rarely eclipse the quality of the cheaper regular range, but unlike the Ardbeg specials the GlenMo Privates don't have much of a presence on the secondary market.  Meanwhile, every single one since Finealta (2010) can still be found on the shelves in Southern California.  (Okay, maybe not Ealanta, but that's due to Jim Murray's enthusiasm.)  At the time of this post, there are a few local retailers that have three or more of the Private Editions side by side at their original prices.  Are there other countries where these things do fly off the shelf?

Then, Why?  I have no doubt that Dr. Bill is awesomely talented.  I think he improved the classic 10 year old; the Astar was great; and the 18 is a good drink.  And on Islay, his team keeps cranking out the solid Ardbeg Ten.  But what's with all the wine, man?

Milsean: re-toasted Portuguese wine cask finish
Taghta: Manzanilla sherry cask finish
A Midwinter Night's Dram (ahem, High West got there first, bruv): Oloroso sherry cask finish
Dornoch: Amontillado cask finish
Duthac: PX sherry casks
Companta: Two kinds of French wine casks
Artein: Super Tuscan wine cask finish
Glenmorangie Pride 1981: Sauternes secondary maturation
Sonnalta: PX sherry finish

And that doesn't include the five wine-finished products in the regular range.  Again, why?  They're far from the only ones doing wineskys.  Most distillers/producers who do release wine-finished whiskies are trying to correct bad casks or are trying to sell young ones.  Is this what GlenMo is up to?  Or are they trying to update their old Wood Finish series?  Their regular single malts have experienced exceptional growth over the past half decade, so could this be an attempt to exploit this popularity by expanding the brand?  Or are wine-influenced whiskies now their Brand, period?  Or is Dr. Bill -- rumored to be a spectacularly profane joke teller (really) -- kinda bored with the Glenmorangie spirit?  I mean, look at this packaging:

When my whisky buddy, Andy, and I picked up a bottle for our whisky event, we started riffing on what the hell this looked like.  I called it French Clown Whisky.  Andy said it looked like something you'd buy at a carnival, along with cotton candy and a corndog.  But then he nailed it, "The box looks like it should be holding my popcorn at a movie theater."

Hard to top that one.  Though to me, the design and font strikes of something Gallic (not Gaelic, despite the name).  And I began to wonder...what kind of French entertainment would this be like...?  Would it be a light fluffy lark like the works of Sartre and Noé?  Or would it be soul-destroying nihilism like Maurice Chevalier?  I shuddered at the thought.

Distillery: Glenmorangie
Ownership: Louis Vuitton Moet-Hennessy (accents and umlauts not included)
Range: Private Edition
Age: no age statement
Maturation: ??? years in ex-bourbon casks, then 2+ years in re-toasted Portuguese wine casks
Region: Highlands (Northern)
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Limited release: 5,000 cases
Chill-filtered? No.
Colored? ???

NEAT
Its color is a slightly peachy gold.  I'm assuming that's the Portuguese casks at work.

The nose indeed achieves the candy shop effect Lumsden was aiming for.  Orange brandy and cherry bubblegum.  A big white chocolate note reminds me of Brenne's single malt.  Give Milsean 15 minutes to breathe and you may find notes of circus peanuts and violets.

The palate is very sweet with some ethyl heat.  Lots of bubblegum and raspberry Schweppes.  Lime lollipops.  After that breathing time, a big note of vanilla marshmallows develops in the midground.

The cloying finish starts out all Cherry Sudafed and sugar-free (read: aspartame-loaded) raspberry popsicles.  Gradually it picks up some vanilla and a spicy buzz.

WITH WATER (~40%abv)
Most of the fruity sweets wash out of the nose, leaving some oaky whisky.  Big vanilla, caramel, and toffee notes take over.  Some mint extract in the back.

The palate picks up a big bitterness, beneath which vanilla and confectioner's sugar lies.  I'm just going to list my notes as I wrote them: "really bitter, wow, woody and cardboardy papery".

The finish is all bitter marshmallows, if that were a thing.

COMMENTS:
Well, since Lumsden was aiming for a sweet shop, he succeeded. This is sort of a flavored-whisky without any added flavoring.  But does the market really need another sweet whisky?  Both Forbes and Serge Valentin (what a team!) say this whisky is for bourbon folks.  I'd say it's for people who drink Mountain Dew Code Red for breakfast.  If there's a Venn diagram of those two demographics, then this whisky is sure to please the crowd where the circles overlap.

But it's not for me.  I will say that the nose is very pretty and sort of lifts expectations.  And there are no big flaws in the palate, when neat.  But the finish proves too sweet for my teeth.  In the Forbes writeup, Lumsden suggests one "add a few splashes of water".  I found adding water knocks it totally out of whack.

Personally this is not a whisky I'd choose to drink again and most of the people who drank it at last night's OC Scotch Club event feel the same.  Once again, I'd take the 10 year old over this Private Edition.  But for the sweet teeth out there, you may find this one tickles your cavities.

Availability - Most specialty liquor retailers, as of the date of this post
Pricing - $90 to $120
Rating - 79  (this may appeal more to those seeking only sweet whiskies)

Compass Box Blended Malt Triple Taste Off: Oak Cross, Spice Tree, and Peat Monster

Finally, our third set of three CBs.  This time it's their three main regular range blended (or vatted) malts: Oak Cross, Spice Tree, and Peat Monster.  I've reviewed each of these before, but this time these samples were poured by me, rather than purchased from a retailer.  Plus these were all bottled in 2014.

COMPASS BOX OAK CROSS
Company: Compass Box

Type: Blended Malt

Distilleries: approximately 60% Clynelish, 20% Dailuane, and 20% Teaninch

Age: used to be about 10 years old, not sure if it's still that old
Maturation: "...primary maturation in a mix of American oak cask types. The marrying casks are a mix of first-fill Bourbon barrels and our proprietary “Oak Cross” casks made of American and new French oaks."

Alcohol by Volume: 43%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No

COMPASS BOX SPICE TREE
Company: Compass Box

Type: Blended Malt

Distilleries: approximately 60% Clynelish, 20% Dailuane, and 20% Teaninch

Age: used to be about 10 years old, not sure if it's still that old
Maturation: "Primary maturation: first-fill and refill American oak.Secondary maturation: custom barrels with heavily toasted new French oak heads sourced from 195 year-old Vosges forests"

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No

COMPASS BOX PEAT MONSTER
Company: Compass Box

Type: Blended Malt

Distilleries: Ardmore, Laphroaig (current batch), Ledaig (current batch), Caol Ila (past batches)

Age: ???
Maturation: Fact sheet says just refill American oak, Tasting video says "30% first fill American oak, 70% refill American oak", so it might change from batch to batch

Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No

The Spice Tree sample came from my own bottle, gifted to me by my lovely wife.  The Oak Cross and Peat Monster samples were from two different OCSC events.  Because I know Spice Tree pretty well and Peat Monster is much different than the other two this Taste Off was not done blindly.

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THE TASTE OFF!

OAK CROSS
Its color is a yellow amber.  The nose is big on flowers and fruit.  There's lemon, banana bread, peach schnapps, fresh apricots, orange marmalade, and floral teas.  There are also smaller notes of vanilla and pencil shavings.  When it comes to the palate, the bad news is that the mouthfeel is thin and there's little development.  Caramel and butter cookies balance with some bitter citrus and black pepper.  Vanilla, notebook paper, and a soft citric sweetness lingers in the background.  A little bit of spirity heat stays throughout.  The finish gets sweeter, focuses on vanilla and caramel.  Meanwhile some burnt oak and bitterness runs through the middle.

Comments: This one feels like it's lost something over the years.  It has a very good nose but a flat palate.  The finish does even less for me.  I wish some of the nose's fruits showed up on the palate and that the finish did something.  Maybe it needs the extra three points of ABV.  Maybe it needs more age.  Maybe it needs more Clynelish.  Not a bad whisky, but it no longer can keep up with...


SPICE TREE
This one has the darkest color, a medium gold.  LOTS of spice (obvs) in the nose, much of it is probably from the French oak, but it's sometimes reminiscent of American rye whiskey.  Other major notes: Spice cake, butterscotch candy, cocoa, fresh tobacco, and tapioca pudding.  With some breathing time, the whisky develops notes of salty beach air and lychee candy (Kasugai).  That spice cake shows up in the palate as well with notes of cloves, nutmeg, and (non-cassia) cinnamon.  There are limes and oranges, fruity shisha, dried apricots, toffee pudding, and a little bit of soil.  It finishes with rich vanilla ice cream topped with caramel sauce.  Oh, and butterscotch and toffee.  Cloves in the back along with a hint of cantaloupe.

Comments: I love this stuff.  My wife, who prefers American whiskey over Scotch, likes Spice Tree as well.  At times it seems to be the Scottish cousin of straight rye whiskey.  In any case, it's the one regular Compass Box whisky that consistently nails the nose, palate, and finish.  And man, does it stick the finish.

THE PEAT MONSTER
Very very pale in color, which is always appreciated here.  A surprising amount of oak spice on the nose in this one.  Perhaps there were some active US oak barrels in the mix?  The peat registers at a low rumble, kind of like a sugary Laphroaig.  There's some burnt beef and a hint of manure.  Caramel and whole wheat toast.  After 20ish minutes in the glass it finds a rotting beachside seaweed note and some dried herbs.  The palate is REALLY vegetal in its first few moments.  Then horseradish and cigarettes.  Cinnamon candy.  Somehow rooty, sweet, and tangy at the same time.  A peppery tingle throughout.  After those 20ish minutes in the glass, the whisky starts to get mossier and bitterer.  The decent length finish has a lot of salt and beach notes.  Some sage, moss, burnt bark, and black pepper.  It gets sweeter and sweeter with time.

Comments: Ye olde peat cow seems to get bolder every time I try it.  It's no longer as politely peaty as it use to be.  There's an edge to it now, something appreciated by some more than others.  Maybe there's more Ledaig in the mix.  Or maybe they're using younger whisky.  There's some young(?) sugariness to it that doesn't really dance so well with the other parts, keeping it from fully congealing.

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FINAL THOUGHTS
These were all better than yesterday's blends, thank goodness, and at least two of them sorta earn their price.  I keep getting the feeling that the Oak Cross and Peat Monster (and Asyla) are using younger ingredients than they used to.  Perhaps that was inevitable, as Compass Box's popularity might eventually put a squeeze on their own stocks.  It doesn't hurt Peat Monster too much, but Oak Cross feels like it's fallen a step over the past couple of years.  It has gotten thin and plain, as if it has been filtered or bottled at 40% ABV.  Meanwhile, Spice Tree remains one of the best blended malts on the market, and it's a Scotch I feel confident in recommending to rye and high-rye-bourbon fans.  It has also held its price -- never moving more than $5 in its national average -- over the past five years, something I certainly treasure.

COMPASS BOX OAK CROSS
Availability - Most specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $40 to $60
Rating - 82

COMPASS BOX SPICE TREE
Availability - Most specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $55 to $75
Rating - 89

COMPASS BOX THE PEAT MONSTER
Availability - Most specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $45 to $70
Rating - 85

Compass Box Blended Whisky Blind Triple Taste Off!

A lot of info to get through here, so I'll cut the usual schtick and get right to the candidates (all bottled in 2014):

COMPASS BOX ASYLA
Company: Compass Box

Type: Blended Whisky

Contents: 50% Malt Whisky (Teaninich and Glen Elgin) and 50% Grain Whisky (Cameron Bridge)

Age: ???
Maturation: first fill ex-bourbon casks
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
Official product fact sheet PDF

GREAT KING STREET ARTIST'S BLEND
Company: Compass Box

Type: Blended Whisky

Contents: 54% Malt Whisky (of which is 52% "Northern Highland (malty/fruity)", 31% "Northern Highland (grassy/perfumy), 17% "Speyside (meaty)") and 46% Grain Whisky ("Lowland")

Age: ???
Maturation: 66% first fill ex-bourbon casks, 26% New French oak "finish", 8% first fill ex-sherry butt
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
Official product fact sheet PDF

GREAT KING STREET GLASGOW BLEND
Company: Compass Box

Type: Blended Whisky

Contents: 67% Malt Whisky (numerous distilleries, amongst which Laphroaig, Clynelish, and maybe Dailuaine are included) and 33% Grain Whisky (Cameron Bridge)

Age: ???
Maturation: "A combination of first-fill Sherry casks, first-fill and refill ex-Bourbon barrels and a small portion of new French oak finishing."
Alcohol by Volume: 43%

Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
Official product fact sheet PDF

All three samples were purchased at an OC Scotch Club event.

Awesome picture and great spelling, dude.

Thirty milliliters of each whisky poured its own Glencairn glass were arranged so that I did not know which was which.  So I numbered them 1 and 2 and 3.  First I tasted them neat, then added 1mL of water to each whisky at their halfway points.  Once the tasting was complete, I ranked each, graded them, and guessed which was which.  Two genuine surprises resulted......

THE TASTING

WHISKY 1
Neat:
The nose begins with Band-aids, lemon peel, and salty broth.  It's slightly herbal and has a bite of young rubbery peat.  Smaller notes of oats, sweat, and dog fur appear here and there.  The palate is very grassy with young herbally peat up front.  Ginger and dried oregano in the midground.  Bitter oak and pencil lead in the background.  It finishes mossy and gingery.  Mesquite smoke, vanilla, and an oaky bitterness develop after a few moments.

With water:
More rubbery peat in the nose now.  More vanilla too, followed by hints of dried cherries and dried apricots.  The palate gets mossier, though it loses the lead note.  A slight stone fruitiness mingles well with a good soft bitterness.  Large notes of vanilla and brown sugar.  The bitterness improves in the finish as well, meeting up with vanilla and extinguished cigarettes.

Comments:
By far the best nose of the three, whether neat or hydrated.  Though at the same time, it has the weakest roughest palate and a finish I didn't care for.  It shouts youth and maybe even some cask issues at times.  It fact it was comparable to the $20 Shieldaig Highland single malt I reviewed last year.  That doesn't bode well for a $40+ whisky.  The good nose can't totally save it.  GRADE: 79

WHISKY 2
Neat:
The nose is very mild, sometimes almost silent.  There are subtle notes of fresh peach, apricot, and cucumber.  Then there's toasted barley, vanilla, caramel, and American oak char.  It's really grassy.  The palate has the big grass note, though here it's dried clippings.  Vanilla, caramel, pepper, and mocha are in the midground.  A whiff of smoke meets a lot of fresh ginger.  It finishes simple and spirity.  Mostly pepper, salt, and ginger.  Maybe a little bit of caramel.

With water:
The nose is still super grassy, but now there are bigger fruit notes.  Bartlett pears and an orange creamsicle.  More grass in the palate.  Some dried herbs.  A hint of cardboard and some green woody bitterness.  The finish is mostly wood spice and bitterness, then grass and paper.

Comments:
This had the weakest nose of the three, though it did improve when the water was added.  Meanwhile the halfway decent palate totally collapsed when watered.  The finish was so-so, but again didn't react well to the water.  Overall it was the most disappointing of the three.  I can see how it makes for an okay unchallenging neat sipper, but with it falling apart when hydrated I wouldn't have much confidence when it's hit with ice or club soda.  GRADE: 77

WHISKY 3
Neat:
The nose has some sharp mineral notes which for some reason remind me of young Clynelish.  Small pine needle and bubblegum notes meet larger notes of roses, orange, and pear.  After 15-20 minutes in the glass, it fades into caramel and toasted almonds.  The fizzy palate is loaded with toffee.  There's some vanilla, whipped cream, and definitely some malt.  A hint of cardboard.  This has the best mouthfeel of the three whiskies.  It finishes fizzy like a ginger beer.  Then wood spice and vanilla.

With water:
The caramel and toasted almonds remain in the nose.  It's more sugary now and picks up some cardamom.  The palate simplifies into vanilla, sugar, caramel candy, and ginger powder.  Rock candy, vanilla, and black pepper in the finish.

Comments:
The nose ultimately ranked between the other two, but I probably would have it in first had it not nearly vanished after airing out.  This had the best palate, and really the great mouthfeel alone put it ahead of the others.  But then the finish was just so-so, again.  Water narrows it down rather than opening it up.  GRADE: 81

RANKS AND GUESSES:
NOSE (best to worst) - 1, 3, 2
PALATE - 3, 2, 1
FINISH - 2, 3, 1 (but I didn't really like any of them)

#1 - Great King Street Glasgow Blend (79)
#2 - Asyla (77)
#3 - Great King Street Artist's Blend (81)

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REVEAL!!!
#1 - Great King Street Glasgow Blend
#2 - Asyla
#3 - Great King Street Artist's Blend

So, there's the first surprise.  I guessed them all correctly.  But that wasn't due to expertise.  I knew the Glasgow Blend would be the peatiest, thus #1 was a dead giveaway.  Then I just had to guess between #2 and #3.  I've had the Artist's Blend a few times, and #3's palate seemed familiar so I placed it there.  It was a 50/50 shot and I got lucky.

Second surprise?  I was underwhelmed by all of three whiskies.  I've been a big Compass Box fan ever since I first tried their stuff three years ago so I take no pleasure in writing any of this.  But I found these three whiskies to be, frankly, boring.  They all feel quite young and the charms of Asyla totally escape me.  If you're looking for whisky to sip and forget, I suppose these are all fine, but most major 12 year old blends will serve those needs better at a lower price.

This was a disappointing Taste Off.  Let's see if the next one goes better.

COMPASS BOX ASYLA
Availability - Most specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $40 to $60
Rating - 77

GREAT KING STREET ARTIST'S BLEND
Availability - Most specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $35 to $55
Rating - 81

GREAT KING STREET GLASGOW BLEND
Availability - Scarcer than the Artist's Blend, but still sold at many specialty liquor stores
Pricing - $35 to $55
Rating - 79

Notes from a Tasting: Original US editions of Compass Box Asyla, Eleuthera, and Peat Monster

There will be a lot of Compass Box reviews belching forth from this site over the next few days.  One disclaimer: there will NOT be a review of either Not a Luxury Whisky nor Flaming Heart 15th Anniversary included amongst these posts.  I'm focusing on the regular range, stuff that's more affordable.  I haven't tried the Luxury thing, but I did have a couple sips of the new Flaming Heart.  It's good but I have a difficult time reconciling its $130 price tag.  If I can source good samples of any of their special releases I will certainly review them.

Let's start off with a little warmup.  Back in October I unearthed my samples (purchased from Southern California Whiskey Club) of the original US editions of Asyla, Eleuthera, and Peat Monster.  I tried them side by side in the order I list them below, comparing and contrasting.  They were small samples (about 15mL) so I'm going to give them letter grade range below, rather than an exact number grade.

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COMPASS BOX ASYLA blended whisky, 40%abv
Nose - First there are the fruits lemons, limes, and peaches.  Then some toffee and salty air.  Lots of dried herbs too.  Some shortbread cookies show up after some air.

Palate - Very soft and mellow.  Mild sweetness, vanilla, a little bit of flower blossoms.  Lots of first-fill-ex-bourbon oak.  Some sharper young stuff underneath.

Finish - Sweet.  Think brown sugar, vanilla, and orange oil.

Comments: Very nice nose, somewhat forgettable palate.  Probably could have used the 46%abv at which they bottle their vatted malts.  I have doubts that the components reached their 10th birthday.  In any case, it's not bad stuff, it's fine.  There's just not much motivation to pay $45-$50 for it.  Grade range: C+/B-

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COMPASS BOX ELEUTHERA blended malt, 46%abv
Nose - Starts off with a big ol' Band-Aid note, followed by peat moss and a little bit of seaweed.  Some moderate notes of vanilla and orange zest too.

Palate - Gentle warm peating.  Limes and oranges and marzipan and "hint of horse shit".  Don't ask me, I just work here.  It starts out lightly peppery but gets progressively more peppery with time.

Finish - Peppery again here.  Some toasty oak and light citrus.  Much longer than the Asyla's finish.

Comments: I reviewed this blend of 15yo Clynelish and 12yo Caol Ila almost three years ago when it was still kinda available.  Though my notes are a little different I generally agree about the quality and the blending skill.  This really seems like a single malt.  Grade range: B

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COMPASS BOX PEAT MONSTER blended malt, 46%abv
Nose - Very leafy.  Fresh herbs.  A bit of American oak, but not much.  Cinnamon, molasses, and vanilla bean.  Tart apples, sort of like cider vinegar without the stank.

Palate - A peating level that won't offend.  Mellow smoke, a little bit of tar and concrete.  Lots of  sugars, along with cocoa and mint.

Finish - Brown sugar, vanilla, and a little bit of moss.  A good long salty finale.

Comments: I think I've tried every version of The Peat Monster, but it's never shown to be a monster.  They're all cuddly peat cows.  These early batches were more herbal than smoky or mossy.  The most recent batches, like the one I reviewed 16 months ago, are getting better, louder, and fuller.  Perhaps there will be another review this week.  Grade Range: B-/B

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Okay, a good start.  Tomorrow, a blind Taste Off......

Valentine's Whisky Report: VAT 69 Gold blended whisky (bottled in 1980)

This one is for all you lovers out there.

No word really conjures the beauty of a beverage like "VAT".  Forget Value Added Tax and the Joker falling into a vat of acid.  VAT rhymes with tender words like rat and plutocrat and scat and shat.  And hey, this isn't even a vatted malt.  It's just a cheap high-grain blend.  A cheap high-grain blend that single-handedly destroyed Shackleton's Antarctic voyage in 1915.  Okay maybe not single-handedly.

VAT 69 has been loved by such romantic fictional individuals like Jack Torrance from The Shining, the murdered manwhore Chris Laverly of The Lady in the Lake, and Sergeant Deadhead.

"Hey baby, when things get cold,
nothing helps out a Trans-Antarctic Expedition
like a little VAT 69."

There is a story behind the name and it's très chaud.  When wine and spirits producer William Sanderson was creating his own blend in 1882 he sent 100 different samples to independent judges.  The judges unanimously selected sample 69, but not because it was the best one, but rather they were hammered and couldn't stop giggling about 69.

And that's it for your history lesson today.

The whisky (Gold Label edition!) being reviewed here was discovered by this intrepid blogger who spent two years bravely rescuing the shittiest whiskies from their Long Beach liquor mart prisons.  The guards asked for only $12.99 to free it.

Brand: VAT 69
Ownership at the time: William Sanderson & Sons Ltd. (owned by DCL)

Current ownership: Diageo

Type: Scotch Blended Whisky

Age: minimum 3 years

Alcohol by Volume: 43% (or 86 US proof)
Bottled: 1980

REVIEW
Its color is light golden, as the label says.

The nose has a thick frosting of old bottle blend stank that one just needs to wait out in order to get underneath.  Once there, it gets very nice.  There are vanillas and caramels, with little strawberry and raspberry candy notes.  Orange blossoms, dried grains, and candy canes.  After a while it becomes all flowers and fudge.

Quite some pruney sherry in the palate.  There's a little bit of the stank, then a spicy zing and some citric acidity.  There are mothballs and bland caramel, but also some dark chocolate.  A big barley note lurks beneath.

A lot of the old school pruney sherry in the finish.  Then a menthol glow meets a cinnamon sting.  Not much there there but it lingers longer than expected.

COMMENTS

VAT 69 is mostly butt.

*drops the mic*

*stumbles and falls offstage*

*dies*

.............

No, that was my original commentary, written before I opened the bottle.  VAT 69 is not mostly butt.  The nose is really nice, actually, once it's aired out.  A little bit weird in the mouth at times, but still wholly consumable.  It takes a while to finish, which sometimes is good, sometimes not.

But the bottle is haunted by The Genie's Fart, a phenomenon I've experienced with every dusty blend I've bought from Long Beach shops.  As soon as the bottle is opened, a fetid rotten vegetable odor puffs out.  Once freed, it usually never returns.  Sometimes it penetrates the liquid itself, like with the '72 Haig I reviewed last year at this time.  Here, it does so more gently than that Haig, still lingering in the nose.  Thus you may experience a little toot in the face if you rush into things.  So for God's sakes, people, take your time.  These things are only as filthy as you want them to be.

Availability - Happy Hunting?
Pricing - snuggled up at $12.99
Rating - 79