Compass Box Magic Cask

Notning special about this except the story behind it.

Nose: Orchard fruit (plum, apple, pear), chocolate, aniseed Palate: Sweet, canned fruit - peaches, icing sugar, oak, nutmeg, ginger in syrup Finish: Medium long finish. Citrus, sweet icing sugar, strawberries and pepper, coffee. Dry/citrus aftertaste Creamy mouthfeel. Sweet and orchard fruit. Turning dry and souring/citrus on the aftertaste. Youthful and easy to drink.

Creamy, creamsicle, oranges and berries

A suprisingly good dram, this "Magic Cask" is one of Compass Box newer labels. Limited to 5.538 bottles, this is a blended malt made 92% of whisky that came from the mothballed distillery Imperial; and, 8% from a re-racked 1 year old malt spirit of robust character which was matured for extra 2 years in first fill Oloroso-seasoned butts. One special cask, allegedly the #2, held the blend, and "magic happened" (you got to love Compass Box marketing to actually sell you a 3yo whisky, lol). Bottled at 46%abv, pale straw color. On the nose, incredibly fresh. Super orange, lovely red fruits, some nuttiness rising, very fresh. After the first sip the aroma was all about coffee beans, a freshly cut orange; Vanilla custard mixed with nuts. Snickers bar. The palate is a simply transition between aroma and afterstate. Nutty, Snickers bar and then a salt explosion happem all of a sudden. Aftertaste was Impressive. Cigarretes, nice smokiness; pepper. Sulphuric but balanced; super enjoyable finish. Rewarding. Overall this is a not too complex, but absolutely enjoyable blended malt. It is so good, anyone who tastes it will feel happy, and it is useful for introducing people to the world of whisky. The fruitiness blends amazingly with the peatiness and the nuttiness. My score for it is a solid 90 over 100. You could say it is magic for a 3yo whisky. Sláinte.

Fresh, citrus, cream soda, licorice

This starts out on a very similar path to the Imperial 20-year-old I sampled as an appetizer: austere and minerally. But things liven up considerably mid-palate with a burst of pineapple cubes at the back of the mouth and a bouquet of crisp, bright fruits. And while the single malt Imperial finished short, this blend has a long coda of apples and canned clementines. Like a wet brush on a magic painting book, the Aberlour brings out the colors in this blend to great effect.

Cool name. Check. Tiger jumping through a golden ring of fire. Check. Another stellar golden elixir from my favorite scotch label. Let's see how it plays out. This one was pretty hard to come by and was at the upper end of what I like to spend on a bottle, but it is Compass Box so I took the leap. Nose is sweet. Really sweet. Cherry cordial, cotton candy, all over laying a very subtle smokiness. Honestly you would probably miss the peat altogether if you weren't looking for it. First sip is not what I was expecting from the nose. This one is soft on the front end with light almond notes and hints of cinnamon apple. Then the light peat shows up with some gentle alcohol heat that is a little unusual for the Compass Box drams I am most fond of. The tail brings a soft burn, but not any overwhelming flavors. Am I glad I found this bottle? Absolutely. Am I glad I took the dive at this price point? Yes. Should you? Probably not unles you are a Compass Box junkie like me. The number of great vs good bottles will always keep me squarely in the Compass Box camp, but this one didn't knock my socks off as I had hoped. Still a solid bottle that any CB fan would enjoy.

At this point I feel most know what they're getting with these. This is a 3 year old whisky with 8% coming from an aberlour cask that was aged in a first fill sherry butt for like 2 years after a year in bourbon or something like that. And then a 22 year old imperial aged in first fill bourbon. I know nothing of imperial but the descriptions leave me expecting a pretty traditional highland/speyside type malt with a lot of vanilla infused from the bourbon casks. nose - orchard fruits, stone fruits, and even some more citrus orange like elements. Plenty of vanilla with some oak and an almost light smoke from perhaps the youthful first fill sherry just somewhat not mixing into the bourbon notes. Very fruity but not really compared to a lot of recent compassbox offerings which have gone to the moon on sweet fruity notes. I should note this isn't my first pour but the whisky seems a touch closed off. I reserve the right to adjust as needed. Taste - Clean simple cereal grain and fruit leads off then fades into a somewhat muted vanilla and light chocolate finish. Some oak tanins, some sherry elements. It's leaving me wanting. Water opens it up a touch brings the fruits together into a singular fruit cocktail and the oak and sherry elements move mostly into the finish where they make a fairly strong impression. I'm now down below the shoulder and I've poured 2 glasses each time I've spent time with this. You can tell they added young whisky to older whisky. You can taste more of that younger cask than perhaps you'd want but it does add something with that really rich sherry note. I had no idea what to expect coming in and to be honest, I have no idea what to expect as this opens up. And yet, it's still compass box and with that, i did know what to expect. For now I'm scoring this is a 2.0 but I'm leaving a strong chance this improves with time. As for buying it and the price, this is a risky buy and I'd generally say it might be one to think twice about for all but serious fans. It's good, you'll like it. But I feel this is pretty average stuff with some moments of very good and some moments of "I could do better for 70-80". Also the box is too big and flimsily. Phenomenalogy was that last well made quality box from them. I'm getting home with wrinkles on my boxes now every time I buy one. Sure I'm walking with it too much but still, come on guys, fancy labels need quality cardboard (I'm not asking for wood or anything crazy).