Compass Box Great King St Artist's Blend

Nice to sip. No lingering on the tongue but a menthol linger in the throat.

Rating: 13/23 N: Sweet with mild wood (a bit of barrel spice) giving it kind of a nectar flavor. Kind of creamy with sultanas and maybe a little tangerine. A faint hint of meat and a little paper. Not a super complex nose, but a generally pretty solid one. P: Initially some sweet nectar (light sultana with a dash of tangerine tartness) with vanilla and a nice balanced highland character, albeit more mellow than complex. It gets kind of creamy and I get a hint of paper from it too. As it goes on, I get some harshness though. There are some nice bourbon barrel spices to the harshness that balance with the vanilla, but there's no denying the harshness here. There isn't as much grain or oil as in Dewar's 15 The Monarch, but I also taste less alcohol, though there still is some. F: Creamy, faint sultana remnants, some lingering spice burn. This isn't a very complex or tasty finish, but it's fine. - Conclusion - This generally seems better than Dewar's 15 The Monarch (13/23), so I now know which of the two makes a better staple. That said, the harshness here is a big problem. Without it, this would be a lot better. Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow (14/23) is more muddled flavors, giving it a less precise profile, but the harshness here really hinders this. Huh, I think the Glasgow blend is substantially better now and the Dewar's is about the same quality. I guess I'm looking at a 13 here.

Spicy and Sweet with Mild Pete

I love this. I know compass box mainly recommends using this as a cocktail whiskey. But it is a great sipper! Will buy again. Lots of apple pie, floral and honey notes and great mouthfeel.

A very pleasant blend. Approachable and quite appealing.