Compass Box No Name

I went ahead and added this newest Compass Box release to my little side by side comparison of Peat Monster and Peat Monster Cask Strength. Why you ask? Well, because it’s written on the packaging for No Name that this was CBW’s peatiest scotch yet and it was a natural progression up from Peat Monster- that’s why. So, me being a (humble) scotch connoisseur- it just felt right to have it there. Thankfully, my brother from another mother- @PBMichiganWolverine, had sent me a sample back in November. Now, I also have to add that I wasn’t expecting too awful much from this bottle. I’ve heard all the “peatiest yet, most powerful, blah blah blah” jibber-jabber and thought it was just posturing. Plus, I’ve had lots and lots of Octomore. Boy, oh boy... Let’s start from page one, though. The ingredient list is quite tantalizing: 75% Ardbeg, 10.5% Caol Ila, 13.5% Clynelish and just under 1% of CBWs base blend (Clynelish, Teaninich and Dailuaine blended together and aged longer in French oak casks). That’s a big percentage from all the smokiest players on Islay. I believe CBW even re-charred the casks from those guys and aged the final blend a bit longer. Impressive stuff. Guess what, fam? It delivers. The nose is flat out amazing. It took a little while longer than usual for it to really open up, but when it did it told a story like my mama used to read to me when I was a little boy. The nose builds anticipation like no other Compass Box before it. It’s floral, smoky as hell and then the candied fruits and red berries appear. Boy, it really teases you along. It even disappears briefly before returning sweeter, then smokier, then sweet again. It’s a real page turner of a scotch. The palate opens with a smokiness on par with Peat Monster before a lovely fruitiness arrives that’s reminiscent of a certain Lowland distillery. The floral notes, too. It forms a delicate balance and never gets ahead of itself, never gets harsh. I almost don’t believe this whisky is almost 49% ABV, either. Do Not Add Water To This Whisky. Or at least wait until after you’ve tried it neat. It doesn’t need to be cooled a bit. The finish is medium length but I have to say that this is the juiciest, most mouth watering finish I think I have ever experienced in a scotch, single malt or blend. It is an amazing achievement. This is also as close as I think we may ever see Compass Box get to mimicking a peated, port barrel finished whisky. And my motto is that port and peat play perfectly when paired. This blend nearly accomplishes that without a port barrel. In conclusion, this whisky cracked my Top 6 favorite whiskies of all time and is also better than This Is Not A Luxury Whisky. Which had been my favorite CBW to date. It’s easily a 5 star dram. Now I have to just figure out how many of the 15,000 available bottles I need to hoard. I gotta go, I can hear my credit card whimpering. What’s $129 times 6? Find this bottle and experience it for yourself. It’s worth every penny. Cheers, my friends.

Another one of the awesome bonus samples from the SDT group, this one provided by @PBMichiganWolverine. To echo the specifics already laid out by @LeeEvolved this is a malt blend composed of 75.5% Ardbeg, 10.6% Caol Ila, 13.4% Clynelish and .5% of the Compass Box secret ingredient, Dailuaine, Clynelish and Teaninich blended together and aged in French oak. Marketed as the peatiest CBW yet, this is presented in a beautiful and bad ass black accented bottle. Bottled at 48.9% ABV and as all CBW whiskies it is non chill filtered and natural color. This is a pale straw color not unlike its core range cousin, Peat Monster. The nose is a little flat at first, but give it more time and it really shows it’s true colors. Of course it’s smoky, but it’s also very floral, much like Peat Monster. It’s also quite fruity with raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and a bit of ripe red apples. A hit of candied bacon, sticky sweet smelling, like coating your fingers in bacon grease and plunging them into a bag of sugar. The Clynelish comes in with a waxy note. Vanilla and cream. The smoke comes back around, but it’s overshadowed by the fruitiness. Polished oak, more floral notes and a little honey with a light lemony citrus. Dark chocolate and sea salt, apricots and a far off rubbery note. The palate arrives sweet but quickly turns peppery. Layers of smoke rather than the blast you get from sticking your face over a dying fire like you might expect from the high proportion of Ardbeg. Smoked brisket and over cooked BBQ chicken. Grilled stone fruits than were then chilled in the fridge. Not super complex, but very enjoyable. Medium-full bodied mouthfeel. Oily and dry at the same time and a little waxy. The finish is medium long, smoky, meaty and dry. While I am certain that this is a cut above the Peat Monster, I’m not quite so certain that it’s twice the price better. The overall peat/smoke feel makes it seem like there is a higher percentage of Caol Ila than what’s actually in there. While this may be the peatiest CBW ever, I guess I was expecting something more along the Ardbegian levels of intense peat. Still, it’s very enjoyable and another testament to the blending genius that is John Glaser and the team and Compass Box. A solid 4.5 that I am rounding up to 5 because simply giving it 4 is a disservice. We are all going to have to update our many many ratings once we finally get our half star increments, hint hint @mikael Cheers 🥃

He reached into his pocket and found that he was out of rolling paper. The ashtray next to the cold, dead body was full with embers still warm and smoking, whispering to him to leave to buy more rolling paper. No. He would finish. The mourners would be gathering soon. He had already arranged the lilies and carnations; they sat in one corner of the room giving off a gentle floral spicy scent, which pleased him. He hated the cloying scent of most flowers, and sneered to himself as he imagined doing a wedding. In another corner of the room, he had already prepared the food. The last dish he made was a lemon and vanilla rice pudding. Always a hit. In a moment, the mishmash of aromas in the room will be unified by an emperor, when he opens the glass bottles of embalming solution. He loved that moment and he loved his work. Some may call him an undertaker; a mortician; or a funeral director. But he prefers No Name for what he does. Compass Box undersells themselves as whiskymakers. They author whiskies. Most of their whiskies make sense like a good story. This one is called “Chain smoking in a funeral home.” Carnations. Lemon rice pudding. Cigarettes. Formaldehyde. It has both the power of the anguished shrieks of the widow to greet you on the nose, and the delicate sympathetic tears of her friends in the soft and haunting finish. I went through my first bottle much too quickly, and I am fortunate to have a backup. This is in my top 3 Compass Box whiskies of all time. #1 is the Flaming Heart 15th anniversary edition. And #2 and #3 are a coin flip between this whisky and This is Not a Luxury Whisky. I guess No Name should take the #2 spot because it is about $100 cheaper. I’m not going to guess how old the Ardbeg, Caol Ila, or Clynelish is in this blend; and I’m not going to e-mail Compass Box either (apparently they will give you the ages of their blend components if you e-mail them). At this point, I am enjoying the magic so much, I don’t want to ruin it by knowing the tricks. Score: ** (unimaginably good) How much does a bottle cost: $120-180 How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $280

I'm a sucker for Compass Box and their beautiful presentation and this one, with it's all-black mysterious outfit, replete with runes and a wax seal sold the inner romantic in me. Nose: Huge whiff of smoke akin to if you decided to douse the campfire with water at the end of the night because you're a headcase and wouldn't be able to sleep at night if you didn't. Salty sea-breeze air, tarmac, seaweed, cereal, and hints of lemon/lime trying to poke through...maybe some vanilla. Palate: Right off the bat the sweet medicinal notes hit you, band-aids, rubber, tarmac, bigtime liquorice, cacao, citrus notes along the lines of grapefruit, a touch nutty Mouthfeel isn't big and chewy as would be expected but medium-bodied, velvety and a bit oily. Finish: Billowing smoke, leathery, peppery, very salty and huge liquorice in your face. It reminds me of a certain liquorice that a friend from Sweden sent to me about 10 years ago that I absolutely loved; salmiac liquorice. Coffee, band-aids...it just keeps going and going. Upon my first dram of this whisky, I was completely enamored and had to go back to the store to grab another couple bottles because when it's gone, it's gone. I could sit back and savor a single dram of this for a good hour or two, picking apart all of the nuances. It's dirty and aggressive yet elegant and sophisticated. A paradoxical, beautiful blended whisky and at the top of the list of "Islay-themed" whiskies that I've ever had the pleasure of tasting.

The nose starts with a mix of toasted marshmallow, waxy sweet citrus and a campfire next to the ocean then tangy barbecue sauce on top of baby back ribs followed by light florals, freeze dried apples, orange starburst and Bosc pears that transitions to cloves, fresh grated ginger and gauze pads with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium yet creamy mouthfeel starting slightly bitter with ash and a moderate black pepper spice that slowly fades to a mix of light floral notes, toasted marshmallow and lemon custard then tangy barbecue sauce on top of barbecued shrimp followed by sautéed apples, orange zest and grapefruit that transitions to cloves, fresh grated ginger and gauze pads with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with moderate ashy campfire ashes, creamy citrus fruits and chalky dark cocoa powder. This was an excellent blend by Compass Box greets you on the nose with a wonderful combination of creamy sweets, waxy fruits, barbecued meats and spices that carries over to the palate but unfortunately veers towards a higher spice profile to start that fades back to the flavors on the nose with barbecued seafood and slightly soured fruits that finishes on the ashy side. Side by side with a Talisker 15, the No Name seems thin, youthful and has a higher spice whereas the Talisker comes across as creamier with a better balance. A huge thank you to @jonwilkinson7309 for the generous sample.

Nose - strong peat, iodine, smoked meat, menthol, sunscreen, chalk, mint, black pepper, ash, mellow oak, lemon, coconut, old book, tar, leather, apple skin, vanilla, toffee, grass, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - iodine, menthol, smoked meat, strong peat, brine, apple, grass, lemon zest, salted caramel, cocoa, anise, rubber, pear, leather, spicy oak, chili pepper, vanilla, high alcohol bite, finishing medium long with menthol, citrus zest, iodine, and chili pepper flavors. This is some powerful stuff. The Ardbeg and Caol Ila footprints are front and center. I can’t find an age statement on the components, but I’m guessing there’s some young stock included, as the peat is potent and acrid. The nose is all menthol, smoked meat, and iodine. The Clynelish makes an appearance in the palate, with that characteristic waxy fruitiness, but it’s very much in the background. This is great whiskey. However, the menthol notes are extremely powerful, making it rather difficult to identify some of the more nuanced aromas and flavors. It’s very reminiscent of having Vicks VapoRub on my chest when I was sick as a child. I know this note comes from the high proof Ardbeg, as I’ve smelled it before, but I wish it were less pronounced here. Nonetheless, it’s hard to complain too much about this. I would always be happy to have a glass. As usual, a big thank you to @jonwilkinson7309 for providing the sample.