Time for some new releases from Compass box. It’s been a while since I tasted a new one from this brilliant little whisky company (headed by John Glazer). this time we’re speaking Blended Malt again: THE LOST BLEND is a new limited edition release – this marriage of three single malts is a homage to their long lost (and much loved) Eleuthera whisky, and boasts the same unique smoky fruity style. After 10 years of searching, whisky maker John Glaser was finally able to track down the unique whiskies he required earlier this year. The result is The Lost Blend. The whisky is bottled at 46% and what’s also unique is that they have created 3 different labels to be used with this same whisky. In terms of the vatting :
The whisky is a union of Single malt whisky (of a certain age) from the Clynelish distillery, and a small cache of extraordinary whisky from the Allt-A-Bhainne distillery, aged in American oak barrels and just a few years shy of two decades old, combined with malt whisky from the Caol Ila distillery. Bottled at 46% 12,018 bottles was bottled in August 2014. It is not chill-filtered and is natural colour.
Compass Box The lost Blend , 46% abv, £78 [TWE]
Nose: The nose is rather fruity, fruitier than expected I must say (in a good way), with some citrus notes and orchard fruit (peach, apple) vanilla and honey drops. quite fresh, with a hint of peat underneath, but very very subtle.
Palate: Ok this is very nice, and the peat is stronger here, but don’t expect a whole lot of it. it’s peaty but rather creamy too with vanilla, then the pepper and spices become more evident, and add a punchy note, this is also when the wood kicks in, getting drier.
Finish: Certainly there’s smoke there, with wood, vanilla and some of the fruit. much drier.
Conclusion
This is a delicious whisky and a great example of John’s Blending skills, knowing to select the right combination to produce a whisky that is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s not a peat monster, but the peat adds a nice dimension to it, and with the fruity and creamy notes from the other two components, this ends up being just lovely.