Compass Box Magic Cask

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).