Compass Box Great King St Artist's Blend

Updated review: 5/15/18. I decided to open a bottle of the Artist’s Blend to do a comparison between it and a bottle of the Artist’s Blend Single Marrying Cask. The latter is a special bottling done by Compass Box for certain retailers and offered in very limited numbers. Please see the Artist’s Blend Marrying Cask for a review of that specific bottle. This is an update for the normal release. First of all, let’s look at the ingredients and breakdown: 46% is Cameron Bridge single grain whisky, 29% is ex-American-oaked Clynelish, 17% is CBW’s in-house blend of 3 Highland malts that have aged in new French oak, and 8% of Linkwood aged in sherry casks. All ages of the whisky used is undisclosed. (Thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for getting the breakdown info from Compass Box for me.) The Artist’s Blend has a nice buttery, apple pie flavor albeit with a decent amount of cask influence coming through. There’s some nice vanilla and apple notes ringing through. It really is buttery smooth and completely easy to drink. The finish is short, though, while still being quite tasty. It’s a fantastic, sweet sipper that would probably also play very well in various whisky-based cocktails. It’s a solid 3.5-3.75 star caliber dram. I’m glad I have a couple bottles of both this and the Glasgow. Never mind a few bottles of the rarer NY Blend (peated). Good stuff. CBW does it right 90% of the time. Spend $40 with confidence, my friends.

3.5 stars really. Nice blended scotch when you’re not in the mood to drink the expensive more complex stuff. Very smooth and friendly. Other reviews called out apple pie and I can see that after a few dram. This blend is really friendly and easy to drink... both neat and with an ice cube. Similar to Compass Box Asyla but with a bit more body and bit heavier. Careful with this one... 2-3 pours go down pretty easily. $35 at total wine. Good value for a solid blended scotch.

Creamy honey, pear and a hint of peach sweetness, followed by gentle oak. In between Tomatin 12 Year and Glenrothes Special Reserve in terms of sweetness/creaminess. A good blend, and relatively cheap. $55 in Ontario