Compass Box Whiskies

[JAZ]

I read about this Scotch on Drinkboy's site, and when I saw a selection of whiskies from Compass Box at my favorite liquor store, I indulged and bought a bottle.

It's really unlike any other Scotch I've had. Extremely peaty, as the name implies, yet incredibly light bodied and smooth. Although it's 92 proof, so maybe "smooth" isn't exactly the right term. Some might consider it unbalanced, as peaty as it is, but I happen to like that quality in a Scotch. (I really like Laphroaig, for example.) In fact, the closest whisky I can recall tasting was a cask strength Laphroaig at the Whiskies of the World expo some years ago.

Has anyone else tried this, or any of the other Compass Box whiskies?

Compass Box

[davidbdesilva]

All of them look very interesting.. I am an avid scotch drinker and I still remember that my first experience with scotch was with a bottle of 10 yr. old Laphroaig. Wow, was that baptism by fire! I have come to savor speyside malts the most (Arberlour, MacCallan, Glenmorangie, Glenfarclas) but still like the peaty Islay malts as well (Bowmore, Laphroaig). This monster sounds even more intense than Laphroaig, which is saying something. One of my all time favs is Highland Park, which I think is a perfect balance between sweet and peat in a scotch.

[jparrott]

Dave: You'd love the Compass Box Eleuthera then. I believe the blend is 60% 12 yr old Caol Ila and 40% Clynelish (forget the age). Great, great blend. Attractive packaging too.

[davidbdesilva]

Thanks Jake, I'll have to try it some time. I have to admit to not really being that familiar with blends, as I usually stick with single malts. Seems like blends get a bad rap, but this one sounds great.

[culinary bear]

Dave:  You'd love the Compass Box Eleuthera then.  I believe the blend is 60% 12 yr old Caol Ila and 40% Clynelish (forget the age).  Great, great blend.  Attractive packaging too.

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I hate vatted malts with a passion; although other people are perfectly free to enjoy them, I'd much rather have a single malt.

You might like to try the Signatory's unchillfiltered Caol Ila. It's pale, very pale, but tastes like vanilla ice-cream and smoked haddock, mixed with cigar ash. Really good.

Clynelish is an interesting malt too; if you can get a hold of it, try and track down a Rare Malts bottling of its sister distillery, Brora. I think it's bottled as a 23 year old. Fabolously complex, and you'd swear it was an Islay malt, not highland. Unfortunately it's getting rarer, and consequently more expensive; I believe it retails for nearly GBP100 these days.

[jparrott]

I like single malts because of their distinction, like an Armagnac. I like vatted malts because of the blender's craft, like Cognac. I love the Caol Ila un-chillfiltered. I'm multi-boozal.

[slacker]

Compass box are stunning. Give Asyla to anybody, and they'll be impressed.

I sell the range, and well, I sell the range.

[eje]

I like whisk(e)y but I'm not really a scotch guy. More Bourbon and Rye.

Sadly, the death of James Doohan encouraged me to enrich my bar with some scotch.

I have to say, with some encouragement, the Compass Box Asyla is a fine decently priced whisk(e)y with an "e" or not.

Yum, and glad we are not drinking synthehol.

-Erik