Compass Box The Story of the Spaniard

Neat. Glencairn. A light to middling honeyed orange color, not much viscosity in the glass. Yep! That’s sherried. And a blend! The nose is assertively musty, young, and more than a bit sharp. Strong pear leads but so sharp and zesty it doesn’t make sense. Maybe cherry cola. Some malt enters the chat, along with oats and hay. Muted spring wildflowers. Ok… can this be this be the first time I’ve pieced this together? Took my first sip, and the next nosing lacked 80% of that sharpness now that the devil’s water had breached the gates. Is that sharpness just your body’s warning against toxic ethanol, but once it has lost the fight it just gives up sounding the warning alarms (or is so inundated from the inside it is now normalized)? Yep, it’s just gone. OK, sorry everybody – instantly invalidated my nosing notes but I’m leaving that in so I can document my a-ha moment. I guess I’m just not usually this patient before taking my first sip. Rich and waxy on the palate, but still spiky and young. Honey. Golden raisin. Clove. Orange pith. Aspartame. Pinch of cinnamon. Softwood (evergreen) sawdust. A vein of gentian and licorice. Getting some callbacks to a Springbank 10 flavor profile, but that is a superior spirit in a number of ways, IMO. Definitely brings a splash of musty sherry. The finish drops flavor quickly but holds that bracing saccharine zing impressively (unless my palate is just a wimp today) and even rebuilds to flash across the tongue, numbing the tongue and cheeks and drawing saliva with a pinch of char and light cherry. This grows on me as some of the spiky bits level out and the palate acclimates. Not a home run, but a competitor. Still hard to pick this over sherry-forward single malts that can usually be found for similar prices, like Glendronach 12, Glenfarclas 10-12, Springbank 10 (maybe that time has passed us by), Craigellachie 13, etc.

This was my first foray into blends. Did lots of reading about Compass Box and decided to give this one a try as my local liquor store just got this in stock. Nose: First things that comes to mind is those little cherry coke bottles! There is even a bit of effervescence. Sandalwood, and a variety of dark dried fruit and stone fruit show up. A bit of a prune note in there as well. Taste: Very pleasant! It has an extremely nice balanced sherry taste to it. Dark fruits like blackberry syrup and cherry show up. More in a way sweetened with honey, than with a sugar or artificial sweetener. This follows into a light vanilla and baking spice note. Finish: Surprisingly long. The sandalwood sticks around here followed by a light note of freshly tanned leather. Like a brand new leather jacket. The honey sweetness lingers as well. Overall a delightful surprise for my first blend purchase. Not as sweet as something like Glenmorangie LaSanta, and not as rich as something like Glenfarclas 15, but a nice light balance of those two with a bit more of a Highland influence. Out of the three, I would likely still pick Glenfarclas 15, but given the price point, this is a great value.

This is the 10th and most recent expression from CB in my cabinet and I have yet to find one that isn’t tasty. The nose is all fruit, starting with pear and ripe green grapes, and then becoming syrupy sweet fruit cocktail, like pouring a Del Monte fruit cup in the glass. If you keep digging you will find some malt behind all that jammy syrup. The front is kind of like a grain Irish with lots of fruit minus the metallic notes, but the middle and back is reminiscent of a single malt Pot. Palate is quite velvety, with loads of honey and vanilla cream. Give it a moment in the mouth and you can coax out some damp, earthy vegetal flavours which are dusted ever so slightly by pepper and oak. There isn’t enough oil or proof here to just sip and enjoy.. it’s gone too quick. This is one of those drams you need to swish around enough to make Richard Paterson proud. Finish is pretty light and not much to note, just a little cereal and char, and dry enough to make you reach for the glass again to quench your thirst. All in all a good whisky but somewhat simple. Not a must buy but also no regrets having it in the cabinet.

N: An atomic sherry bomb - every red fruit you can think of. Strawberry, cherry, blackberry. Sweet red wine. Hints of caramel, vanilla, and something mineral behind that. And that's about as far as it goes. P: Same as the nose: all the red fruits. Leans heavy to the dessert wine. Good wood behind that with decent spice, but always sweet. There's a creamy vanilla, toffee, and caramel that's subtle behind that. Not much for a finish - just more red fruit and a little heat from the wood. This seemingly aims for a narrow goal: the most sherried whisky on the market. It hits that mark, for my experience at least. It falls flat in a few places, it's not terribly complex, but it's still pretty charming and I've had no problem opening this bottle regularly since picking it up. Sometimes a nice, easy drinking, fruity dram just hits the spot. I would probably do this one again, but it seems a bit overpriced. The CB Artist's Blend is fruity, but less so, and is a better deal.

The nose jumps out of the glass bursting with fruit. Prunes and dried cherries fight for dominance in a pool of honey. In the background: just a faint hint of musty leather. This nose is about a sherry cask as it gets. The oily and viscous taste is dominated by candied fruits similar to what you'd find in fruitcake. Beeswax and honey swirl with the fruit but by far the dominant taste throughout is fruit. An interesting turn happens as the finish starts, the aforementioned beeswax on the taste leaves a bit of powdery mouthfeel and a bittersweet cacao taste. Think: powdered dark chocolate. Sweetness comes back for the finale bringing with it a bit of a spicy bite like candied ginger. The finish is short and leaves your mouth feeling quite dry. Hm... probably my least favorite Compass Box so far. That said, it isn't terrible. If your thing is fruity whisky you might actually enjoy this much more than I did but for me this is a solid "average".

Well for my money its hard to beat Compass Box at most levels in the world of blends. They are masters of delivering a thoroughly enjoyable experience in many different varieties and price points. This is no exception. It has the soft sweet sherry fruit nose. Rich fruity/malty palate with light woods and just a hint of peat. Pleasant lasting finish with no off notes to be found. Are there better single malts in this range sure but some are spikey and uneven. This is just smooth sailing, succulent and delicious. Think of the Spaniard as the JW Green of sherried blends........87/100..... not a huge note taker(there if you want to suss out ) just damn good VERY drinkable scotch. Great gift with the artwork and easy ride like an old Trans Am with T-tops on a summer night