Compass Box Myths & Legends III

I have had one great whisky. It comes in a great looking bottle. I dont want it to end. If you have read some of my Compass Box reviews you might already known they tend to dissapoint me, or at least fall short from my expectations (which i build because of their great marketing). But not this time. I bought this bottle because i was hosting a "Legendary Whiskies" tasting class and i had some really good monsters in there like the almighty Glendronach 18yo, so i gave this Myths And Legends III to 23 people and i now regret it fully. Myths & Legends is a 3 bottle series by Compass Box, the first two are actually Single Malts, since all whiskies in the "blend" come from the same distillery, Glen Elgin. The real reason i picked this one is because this is a blended malt of some Glen Elgins, and a Highland Park 23yo and a Caol Ila 15yo Sherried. So there is a peat character to it. Bottled at 46%abv, best looking bottle ever with the minotaur; burnished gold color. On the nose, perfection. Oranges and Lime with a great smokiness. Fruit salad, so tropical. Glue. Peaches and silicon. After the 2nd sip it gave me beach aromas, sand and salt. Pineapple and Vanilla. After the 3rd sip it was wet clothes and socks. Amazing stuff. On the palate, it seems like it is just a transition from the nose to a great aftertaste. Orange peel, chocolate cake and grapefruit. Aftertaste is incredible, peaty but very pleasant. Salt and sulfur. Chewable peat, grassy. Smoky. Great, rewarding medium long finish. Overall, this is a great, very pleasant, super rewarding dram. Nothing off-putting or too strong. Everything is balanced to perfection. My score for it, and this is because it lost some points on the palate, is 94 over 100. I regret that i shared this whisky, i shouldn't have.

The final bottle in the series builds on the Glen Elgin single malt of M&L II by blending in a couple of peaty whiskies. In other words, we’re back in traditional Compass Box territory. And indeed, the nose is as well composed as a typical bottling from the blender: aromas of a sweet, light peat with a menthol tinge mingle with green apples. The taste begins with a silky minty smoke and then takes a turn into crisp, dry and malty flavors. The finish is pleasantly yeasty, like crumpets. Compass Box often weaves magic with peaty elements and doesn’t disappoint here. Indeed, the peat is so transformative that the DNA from the second bottle isn’t immediately obvious, although my notes show it’s there in the fruity nose and the dry flavors on the palate. The transformation might seem remarkable given that the Caol Ila and Highland Park comprise just 15% of the blend but such is the power of peat. This was my favorite of the three after my first tasting of each, only knocked into second place after the complexities of the first bottle became apparent on a repeat tasting a night later. Still, one can’t overlook the other limited edition peated whisky that Compass Box is offering currently, No Name 2. It’s around $20 cheaper and from my brief taste at least as good. So if you have more money, storage space and liver cells than I do, buy M&L I and III and stick No Name 2 in the middle of the sequence. If you can only buy one, the first M&L makes for a unique treat.

Of the three Myths and Legend bottles, this is my favorite, albeit just barely over II. The addition of Highland Park and Caol Ila to the components of II provide just the right amount of peat to make it the better of the two in my opinion. The nose hits you with smoke, green apple and a bit of citrus peel. On the palate I get sea salt, honey, caramel and peat, although not an overwhelming amount. It's very well balanced. The finish is the longest of the three and has some spice, sulfur and only a touch of heat. Overall, I really enjoyed the last two bottles in the series, less so the first one. The prices for these are a touch high, especially for the first one but if I had to choose one I would pick this but if you are not a fan of peat, then I would go with II. I nearly picked the second one as my favorite but the finish put this one over the edge for me.

Been trying to buy less but I just had to get at least one of these and I went with the blend. Nose - fruity, waxy, vanilla. There's a bit of oak and a touch of salt and earthy notes at the end. Taste - vanilla, cream, followed by some earthy elements, some peat, bitter notes. This is a nice reasonably older tasting blend providing the fruity elements that compass box so often seeks out with a light touch of peat. It was about 150 bucks which is a bit too much as seems to be the norm lately with compass box. I'd love to have the 3 bottles for display but I'm pretty happy saying I had this one and calling it a day here. 2.5 quality scotch, but nothing special.

I just finished off my bottles of No Name 1 & 2, both of which I really enjoyed. I have to say I like this better - it’s more subtle and intriguing than those. I almost passed on this bottle due to the price point ($149), but I’m glad I decided to get it. It will be interesting to see how this develops over time. Not sure I’d recommend that people rush out to get it, but if you have room in your budget and on your shelf then i don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Tons of white fruits (white grapes, peaches)