Compass Box Malt Whisky Collection 3x5cl -

Volume: 0.15 litres | Alcohol content: 45% | Chill filtration: No | Colouring: No

Special Features:

The Malt Whisky Collection brings together three distinctive blended malts: The Peat Monster combines sweet smoke with more powerful, medicinal peat, The Spice Tree emphasises spice from French oak, and The Story of the Spaniard introduces sherry and Spanish red wine casks.

Each of the three 0.05-litre bottles takes a different approach to casks and flavour. The Spice Tree uses specially developed hybrid casks with French oak heads and American oak bodies. The heavily toasted heads give the whisky its pronounced spice notes and toasted oak accents, while a fruity malt character remains underneath. The Story of the Spaniard puts sherry and Spanish red wine casks at the centre of its composition. In The Peat Monster, Compass Box combines Islay malts offering sweet smoke and more powerful medicinal peat. Sea breeze, spiced apple and creamy vanilla complement its smoke.

The Peat Monster and The Spice Tree are each bottled at 46%, while The Story of the Spaniard is bottled at 43%. With equal quantities of each whisky, the collection has an average alcohol content of 45%. The set contains a total of 0.15 litres of whisky. All three bottlings are non-chill-filtered and contain no added colouring. The tasting format allows a direct comparison of three markedly different approaches taken by Compass Box.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: The Spice Tree offers aromas of clove, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. The Story of the Spaniard combines dark citrus notes with vanilla, dates and spices. Subtle hints of dark chocolate and soft caramel round out the nose.
• Palate: The Spice Tree is full, rounded and sweet on the palate. Spices and vanilla complement the character of the malts used. The Story of the Spaniard is full and soft on the palate. Pears poached in red wine, citrus peel and spices define its flavour.
• Finish: The Spice Tree has a long, spicy finish. Vanilla and a tannic oak note linger. The Story of the Spaniard has a long finish with subtle hints of vanilla panna cotta, ripe berries and cherries.

Distillery/Bottler:

Compass Box was founded by John Glaser in 2000. The company works as a Scotch whiskymaker, with its own Blending Room in Richmond, London, and its own stocks of maturing whisky in Scotland. Rather than producing whisky in a distillery of its own, Compass Box creates its compositions from selected Scottish whiskies and shapes their cask maturation.

The history of The Spice Tree illustrates the close relationship between cask development and blending. The original 2005 bottling used additional French oak staves inside the casks and had to be discontinued following objections from the Scotch Whisky Association. Working with coopers in France and Scotland, Compass Box then developed hybrid casks with French oak heads and American oak bodies. Different levels of toasting on the heads produce distinct flavour profiles, which are balanced during blending.

Facts: