Compass Box Stranger & Stranger
$294.99
Stranger & Stranger has been a big part of Compass Box's marketing success over the years. To mark the 10th anniversary of their collaboration as well as Stranger & Stranger's 30th Anniversary, John has put together this special blend. It is a Scotch Malt Whisky blended with wheat and barley spirit... ahem, is it Scotch or a whisky? 46%. 4802 Bottles Worldwide!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: sinful caramel sauce and Manuka honey leads in to big juicy citrus: Starburst fruit candies, fresh squeezed orange juice and grapefruit bitters; doughy with more exotic fruits emerging: apricots, quince paste and ripe tropical fruits; very decadent and slightly floral with soft leather, vanilla bean and caramel chews.
Palate: rich, creamy, coating and silky; still sinfully indulgent with a big, round oily and coating body; so juicy... ; more exotic and tropical fruits with bight citrus to boot; the dried apricot tones are still there with mango, papaya and waxy Starburst fruit candies; loads of floral vanilla, some soft leather and decadent crisp spices with a faint wisp of smoke.
Finish: long, coating, creamy and elegant; fruity, layered and decadent; the finale is just as interesting and complex as the nose and palate.
Comment: this is a brilliant spirit drink... crucially this can be called a whisky or a Scotch as 1% of the recipe is 18 month of grain spirit from the Girvan distillery matured in virgin oak; but who cares? this is yet another fine example of how innovation can come crashing up against well intentioned but misguided rules of the road; if you are someone who takes comfort in clear definitions and labels this drink is not for you; if however you are someone who puts the liquid ahead of all other concerns, look no further; this stuff is brilliant and as an added bonus, the label is another triumph!
Producer Tasting Note: "You’ll find aromas and flavours in this Stranger spirit that remind you of custard and dark sugars, fresh apple fruit and an appealing herbal character. It has a sweetness on the palate that will call you back to the glass, owing to just one percent of the recipe using our delicious sacrificial spirit."
Producer Description: "Some may call it sacrilege, but we thought the addition of one year old ‘sacrificial spirit’ would be the perfect component to use in our limited edition blend to celebrate ten years of collaboration with our good friends at the package design company Stranger & Stranger. In the 30 plus design projects we’ve worked on together, we typically provide a core idea and direction, but for this special project, we let Stranger & Stranger design what they liked. All I told them was we were working on a recipe incorporating some amazing one year old grain spirit we had used to season some experimental American oak barrels. We had been calling this one year old ‘sacrificial spirit’ because we didn’t know what it would be like after a year in these crazy new barrels. Turned out, it was amazing, filled with intense wood spice and exotic shades of vanilla character."
"Typical of the way we ordinarily work with Stranger & Stranger, the simple idea of a ‘sacrificial spirit’ captured their collective imagination and they used it as a springboard for the intricate and fascinating design of this limited edition. You’ll find aromas and flavours in this Stranger spirit that remind you of custard and dark sugars, fresh apple and an appealing herbal character. It has a sweetness on the palate that will call you back to the glass, owing to just one percent of the recipe using our delicious sacrificial spirit."
Compass Box Affinity
$171.99
Far be it from Compass Box to push the boundaries of whisky... this new release, Affinity, is a blend of Calvados from Normandy, with Scotch Whisky. It is a limited global release of 6,436 bottles.
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: thick caramel, manuka honey, quince paste, Breton Cider and crab apple jelly; tarte tatin and caramel apple; dried dark fruits and macerated Saskatoon and blueberries.
Palate: thick, juicy, floral and toasty; more crab apple jelly and Breton Cider; more tarte tatin and caramel apple but with darker spice elements: clove, fennel and anise; a touch of espresso roast coffee grounds, perfume and floral vanilla.
Finish: perfumed and floral with all manner of apple notes wafting past; long creamy, decadent and spicy.
Comment: this is without question the most unusual bottling from Compass Box that I can think of, but in a pleasant way; not legally whisky or calvados, this spirit drink offers a little of both; I find Calvados too one dimensional and over the top, as a component in a spirits blend though... I think Compass Box is on to something.
Producer Tasting Note
"Aromas reminiscent of baked apple, vanilla and clove spice.
On the palate, full and with a sweet impression. Very long in the finish, echoing the baked apple and spice notes. Lovely served neat or with an ice cube. It makes a staggeringly delicious pairing with a classic Tarte Tatin, the upside-down caramelised apple pastry. Or, pair it with any number of apple-based baked goods. It is also a versatile cocktail spirit, especially for stirred drinks."
Bottling Details
- Guillaume Drouin of Domaine Christian Drouin is supplying us XO grade Calvados from his distillery in the picturesque village of Coudray-Rabut.
- Whisky: 75%, Calvados 25%
- Alcohol content: 46% by volume
Cadenhead Blended Scotch Whisky 20 Year
$124.99
SOLD OUT!
This very small batch blend was created with a cask each of Glenrothes (single malt) and Strathclyde (single grain). It is very heavily sherried… can’t wait to try it! 46%. Limit 1 per customer!
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: classic, big, dumpy, old-school sherry bomb; liquid Christmas cake and mole sauce; Sunrype Fruit Bars, Panda brand licorice and treacle sauce.
Palate: round, fruity and rich with building spices; classic-Christmas cake notes and old school sherry; more mole sauce and treacle with both Panda brand licorice and a touch of Dutch licorice; there are clean, silky tendrils of floral grain notes and bright orange.
Finish: big, rich and trending towards nutty and leathery; dark spices, chocolate and fruits linger long and elegantly with the delicate grains notes lingering longest.
Comment: on the bang for buck scale this is a steal; the grain softens up nicely what might have been an over the top sherry bomb; delish.
Producer’s Tasting Note
Nose: Rich sherry, chocolate and dark cherries with almonds, hints of bubblegum and faint dry spices.
Palate: Obvious dark fruits, brambles, raspberries and a whiff of smoke. Drying wood spice with cloves and orange oils.
Finish: Starts soft and then grows chewier with pecans, maple syrup and cracked black pepper.
Cadenhead Creations 2007 Light Creamy...
$114.99
The Cadenhead Creations line is a selection of unique, one-off blended whiskies from the oldest independent bottler in the UK. This batch of the Light Creamy Smoky is a curious and very unique marriage of Kilkerran and Longrow malts from Campbeltown together with Invergordon Grain Whisky, all distilled in 2007. Bottled at 10 years of age at a cask strength of 60.5% ABV.
Compass Box GKS Glasgow KWM Cask
$93.99
This is our third KWM exclusive Compass Box Blend, and it is one for the peat heads! It is also our second marrying cask from the Great King Street line - this time from the Glasgow Blend - which means it has a bit of sherry cask influence and a dash of peat or more as well! Bottled at 49%, the whisky is the 2018 Glasgow Blend, finished for just under 2 years in a second fill Sherry Butt from the Craigellachie Distillery. The whisky is 18% Laphroaig, and it dominates the blend. The sherry matured Craigellachie 34% plays second fiddle, while the 35% Cameronbridge grain, matured in First Fill ex-Bourbon, plays a moderating role, adding an elegant touch!
The Composition of the 2018 Glasgow Blend (The Ages Are Pre-Finishing)
- 35% 11 Year Cameronbridge First Fill Bourbon Barrel
- 34% 9 Year Craigellachie First Fill Sherry Butt
- 18% 6 Year Laphroaig Refill Bourbon Barrel
- 10% 6 Year Clynelish First Fill Bourbon
- 3% 7 Year Highland Malt Blend
Alexander Murray Monumental 30 Year
$134.99
Price Recently Dropped $55 from $190 to $135!
A lightly peated 30 year old Blend, produced with a high malt content of 75%, bottled at 40%. In the words of the producer the whisky was matured in both ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry. Some sources also reference 8 months of Sherry Finishing. 90pts Whisky Advocate
Andrew's Tasting Note
Nose: sherried, nutty and chocolate-y; wet Jujubes, dried cranberries and chocolate covered espresso beans; firm new leather and a touch of muddy peat and burnt rubber; some soft, floral vanilla underneath and the promise of some decadent spice.
Palate: big, rich and nutty; very sherried with loads of caramel, candied fruits (cherry and orange) and brandy soaked Christmas cake; still chocolate-y, with more espresso, peat and rubber; candied ginger, nutmeg and anise; more floral vanilla and honey.
Finish: medium long, creamy, fruity and floral; sweet caramel, candied fruits and spices slowly mellow out.
Comment: while I would have rather seen this at a higher proof, the whisky is very drinkable; it doesn't hold a candle to the Berry's 40 Year KWM Blend, but it is also less than 1/3 the price; for $135 this is a steal!
90pts Whisky Advocate Magazine
"Sherry finishing influences, from leather satchel, maraschino cherry, floral blossoms, and deep orange notes to a pinch of Chinese Five Spice and buttered ginger loaf. Medium bodied, with a malt content of 75%, it riffs around an orange theme, at times quite sharp, with pith, some bitter grapefruit, more ginger, and herbal strands. Lively spices flicker across the tongue throughout the long finish as the citrus seeps away."
Producer Description & Tasting Note
"The Monumental Blend 30 years old is rich, decadent and complex. Matured in a combination of ex- Bourbon and Sherry casks, select malt and grain whiskies have been combined with one thing in mind: Big & Bold. Malt whisky leads here, making for a luxurious texture that coats the mouth with memorable luxury. Delicate grain whiskies lend their sociability to form a blend that is balanced, full of depth of character, and most importantly bursting with flavor."
Yushan Signature Bourbon Single Malt
$83.99
Distilled at Nantou, Taiwan's second distillery, opened by the government. This sinlge malt is bottled at 46% after maturing in ex-Bourbon Casks.
The distillery is built between the Bagua mountain range and the tranquil Maoluo river. The Blended Malt and Single Malt Whiskies are sold under the brand Yu Shan, named for the beautiful nearby “Jade Mountain”. The single malts are non-chill filtered, and bottled without added colouring. There is no age statement on the whiskies, but, like Kavalan, the Taiwanese climate rapidly matures spirit, with 7-10% angels share lost each year!
Producer Tasting Note
Nose: Fresh and well-balanced – Vanilla, cream, honey, flowers.
Palate: Subtle and silky – Vanilla, caramel, spices.
Finish: Well-balanced – Vanilla, malt, mandarin.
Johnnie Walker XR 21 Year
$136.49
This special release in the Johnnie Walker range is a Blended Scotch made of up whiskies that are at least 21 years of age. 40% ABV.
From The Producer
"John Walker & Sons XR 21 was created to honour this very special occasion. Inspired by Sir Alexander’s own hand-written notes, it is blended from the exclusive Johnnie Walker reserve of rare whiskies, all of which have been matured for a full 21 years."
Producer Tasting Note
"Assured, balanced and elegant, it has intriguing layers of intensity that are both surprising and delightful. Sweet honey and tempered spices come cloaked in warming smoke. Citrus zest, ripened tropical fruits and caramel swirl within hints of tobacco and raisins. The long, smooth, soothing finish is complex and fascinating - a myriad of influences played out over a subtle tapestry of peatiness."
Berry`s The Perspective 21 Year Blend
$124.99
Exclusive is KWM in Canada. Bottled at 43%, the label features a photo of Sandwood Bay in Sutherland, by Scottish photographer Lindsay Robertson. Hard to find a 21-year-old Scotch this good, at this price!
Producer Tasting Note
"Fresh, vibrant fruit is undercut by delicate oak and spice, gracefully interwoven with vanilla and honey. A lingering finish caps the experience."
About the Series
"The Perspective Series brings together two art forms – whisky-making and photography. The essence of our master blender’s work is captured by photographer Lindsay Robertson’s evocative images."