There is a new collection from Compass Box, and if you thought that their artistic labels where incredible, you have no idea of this new expressions. The Extinct Blends Quartet collection, is a group of bottles that honours lost and discontinued famous blends. Their first release was called Ultramarine. A previous looking bottle, with a great strength of 51%abv to deliver more flavor. This one really commemorates the extinct Johnnie Walker Oldest, which itself is the predecessor of nowaday's Johnnie Blue Label. On the nose, it is very good. Smokey with some coconut notes at first. Piña colada cocktail; Sambuca liquor. Cream, fondant and ashes. A cheap lemon note, that makes this a very tropical dram. Cremè Bruleè and Hawaiian Tropic sunblock lotion. On the palate, this is absolutely out of this world. Thick, creamy and rich body. Cake, coconut, super salty. It feels like a salty vanilla cookie. Danish cookies, very buttery. Delicious. Aftertaste, is a great ending for an outstanding dram. Wasabi, gunpowder, bonfire. A full but fancy coconut note. Super rewarding. Overall, this might be overly expensive, but it has delivered so many flavors and aromas that surely feels like it is worth every penny. This first expression might be one of the greatest Compass Box ever released, and i would definitively buy another one before its price goes to outer space. A truly great whisky, my score for it is 94 over 100.
About this bottle
Ultramarine is the first release in the brand's Extinct Blends Quartet, a series which pays homage to Scotch whisky from the past. For this release, Lead Whiskymaker James Saxon was inspired from blended Scotch whisky from the late 1980s. The featured whiskies in this blend include single malts from Glendullan (1st fill sherry-seasoned butt) and Caol Ila (refill bourbon barrels) as well as grain whiskies from Cameronbridge (recharred hogshead) and Girvan (1st fill bourbon barrel) in addition to other pre-blended stocks and other Scotch whiskies. Available globally, there were 5,430 bottles produced. The US will get its allocation in October 2022. (SRP $375)
How it tastes
Measured across 14 flavor axes. Tap a note to find other bottles that lead with it.
Reviews
Showing the most detailed of 3 parsed reviews.
The nose evolves as the pour sits out for 15-20 minutes. Light spice, light sweetness, and moderate oak play against a delicate maltiness. A little peat dances around the edges of the palate, as well. Excellent pour, this
Lovely peat on the nose, really interesting herbal and mint notes, citrus maybe 🙃, medium body with great light smoke on the long finish. Very interesting!
Tastes like this
Closest flavor profiles across the whole catalog.