Compass Box No Name No. 3

Pale straw. The nose is a tad light and starts with red apples, tar and iodine. There’s a nice splash of bacon and brine, some hey and honey, tad of two-day-old campfire logs. The character is fairly soft but decidedly Frog-forward. Beyond the Frogy notes the peat actually has a nice, high alpha acid like character. It falls short of citrus and lands in sort of a floral range. Zing!! Wow - that is a bit fiery but vibrant. That acidic character does turn a bit more citrus on the palate and the tar and iodine come stomping along. Old campfire and floral peat compete and then fade slowly. No real surprises emerge. While not spicy per se there is a hearty warmth in the chest. The finish… tar, red apples again, oak, and almost a lemongrass/ginger note. Odd because going back to the glass there is some candied ginger on the nose. Definitely feel a bit of ginger spice (and alcohol) dancing on the top of the tongue in subsequent sips. Impression - delightful, tarry blend with some bright and borderline Thai spice notes. It’s a great twist on Laphroaig, however, I wouldn’t guess this is older than the 10 year base expression. I’m not savvy enough to cypher how the other components lend character but the fruits, acidity and spice are nice. It is less rich and malty than Corry, but with similar citrus notes. Bears some resemblance to PC 10 but more tar forward with some ginger thrown in. Definitely more aggressive than GW Green and with more distinct flavors. Now to the subject of bias. We all have our fair share. Mine is that Springbank 10 and Talisker 10 (and Glendronach 15, completely different but worth noting) could be the only scotches I ever drink again and I would be fine. I personally wish this blend had some additional brine and bacon. At $145 a bottle this will be my one and only but that’s because the heavy tar and Iodine of Laphroaig just aren’t my #1 jam - more like my #3 or #4 - when I can snatch up PC10, Talisker 10 and Springbank 10 for $60-100.

Although this whisky has no name, it will surely be remember as one of Compass Box most exciting peaty releases. The third part of the "No Name" collection, has been bottled at 48.9%abv, and it is a blended malt from Clynelish, Mortlach, Bowmore and mostly Laphroaig. A lovely looking bottle like most from this "whisky maker", offers a well crafted dram, that you can actually feel every malt that has been used, in separate ways while they are blended together. Pale straw color. On the nose, it begins with grass, humid sown land. It smells like a Gym. Gunpowder, a fresh can of tennis balls and acid prunes. Pine tree, floor cleaner. It is too crazy to be true. After some sips, the aroma turned into plastic with condensed milk. It smells like a horse stable and milk formula powder. Super complex. The palate is a bit of a transition to a wonderful aftertaste. Plastic and gooseberries; salt, toffee and oranges. A second sip gave me condensed milk, vanilla, hay and prunes. After some sips the orange note has overcome everything. Aftertaste is ashy but very pleasant. An elegant cigarrette; gooseberries, pepper and something that i can describe as a scorching viking war in your throat. Elegant, powerful, peaty, flavorful. Very long finish. Overall, this is the true proof that blends can be a superb dram; where the individual malts can shine as a whole. So many crazy, interesting notes here have made this dram incredibly tasty and enjoyable. My score for this beauty is 94 over 100.

The nose starts with a mix of soft smoke, lemongrass and a hot asphalt road next to the ocean then dark chocolate covered candied bacon, hay bales and sea salt vanilla taffy that fades to fruits of persimmons, lychee and mango that transitions to candied ginger and fresh opened can of tennis balls with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with a moderate sour, bitter and peppery spice before fading to soft citrus and floral notes then tangy barbecued short ribs, burning hay bales and sea salt vanilla taffy that fades to fruits of persimmons, lychee and mango that transitions to candied ginger, spearmint and fresh opened can of tennis balls with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with dark chocolate raisins, lemon zest, Granny Smith apples and light ash from a campfire from the night before. Overall, this is a great blend by Compass Box that brings in some soft smoke along with a nice balance of the citrus, meats and ocean brine, but the taste starts with a higher bitter, sour and peppery spice than I’d prefer before finally allowing the notes from the nose to come through and finishes on the ashy side. Side by side with No Name 1, the No Name 1 seems sweeter with a lighter peat profile whereas the No Name 3 has bolder flavors with zesty fruits but leans towards an ashier profile. I don’t think I can pick a winner between the two and am going to rate them as equals. Thanks @ctbeck11 for providing a generous sample of this one.

This is coming to the channel hopefully sooner than later, but Mike's taking his time so lets just spoil this a bit. So this is mostly 15 year laphroiag bottled at near 50%. Do I even need to review it? Nose - Iodine forward smoke with this mix of sherry and funky oak and weird malt notes. Digging deeper there's spearmint. There's gasoline and there's oak. Under that lemon and lime come out, lightly smoked but still wet inside. Taste - This is medium to high viscosity and that creates this amazingly oily whisky experience. Laphroaig and bowmore and clynelish are all just playing together like best friends. Heavy smoke from campfire to medicinal to smoked BBQ to just smoked wood fire stove. It's wonderfully clean and also dirty. There's citrus and vanilla and creamer for your coffee. There's mint and smoke and citrus and so many wonderful notes. This is an amazing pour and I'm buying another one tomorrow. This is hands down the best compass box since tobias and when you factor in price, it's the best in a long time. I might have to compare this to flaming heart 2015. But to be fair, it's so much bigger and bolder and more creamy and just the mouth feel here is amazing. Score is between a 3.75 and a 4.0. I'm going to score this 3.75 but I'm thinking I"m letting the price influence me. This might be a 4. Buy a case. That's my review.

This is truly magical. My favorite whisky is Ardbeg Uigeadail and this does something similar but at a different angle that really intrigues me. I love peat and brine and protein and sherry and all that those add up to together, but this replaces the darker sherry and protein in Oogie with a bright but rich fruitiness that accentuates the more ashy character of Laphroaig in a way that reminds me of a raspberry compote on a dark chocolate cake. The contrast and richness of both extremes is what I love about this whisky. At the end of the day it is what it is, a Laphroaig 10 where the iodine was replaced with fruit, which doesn’t satiate me like Ardbeg, but like a nice dessert, it’s not meant for a main course, but you won’t forget how good it tasted either.

NOSE Peat, plasticy funk, saline, vanilla, iodine, printer’s ink, citrus, vanilla frosting and some nutty spice. “It smells like Bowmore”. My initial whiff, that’s all I could think of was Bowmore with that plasticy funk that it gets. As it opened it got more complex, but that Bowmore note still dominated. PALATE Peat, plasticy funk, saline, vanilla, iodine, printer’s ink, citrus, vanilla frosting and a tad biscuity with some nutty spice. There is a slight spirity note that comes and goes giving it a nice minerality at times, but overall, like the nose, it tastes like a rather nice Bowmore. FINISH Long -> Plasticy funk, Honey Nut Cheerios, spice and vanilla.