Compass Box The Peat Monster

Was not too punchy for a heavily peated whisky. Far nicer than Laphroaig 10. I finished the bottle, so this was a free serving!

A good blend of peat. Not offensive and really approachable for people who might otherwise not move peated whiskey.

Smooth, rich, full bodied yet light and easy to drink, minimal spice compared to Laphroaig or Ardbeg, so so so good

A smidge too peaty for me

Fine but nothing special. Would certainly accept another pour if it was offered me, but won’t go looking for it. Glasgow blend is by far my favorite from Compass Box

I broke my own rules so I’ll be brief: Out of a Norlan glass it tastes exactly like what I imagine a heavily peated Caol Isla 18 year would taste…lemon oil, smoke, and hay with the littlest bit of honey tying everything together. It’s amazing what a change of glassware can do.

Fumé, légèrement tourbé.

At some point, along my whisky journey, I developed an unconscious (or maybe not so unconscious) bias against blended Scotch. I started off with them. Among my first whiskies were Johnnie Walker, Dewar's, Cutty Sark. But over the years, I started to think of them as lesser. Less interesting, lower quality, the clumsy young sibling of single malts. Of course, once in a while, I'd still dip into the well. A blended Scotch would come along to rouse my interest: the Dewar's run finished Scotch, Dewar's 21 Double Double. But these are, admittedly, still rare. Generally, if I'm going to opt for a blend, it has to come highly recommended. I hear Johnnie Walker Green is good, but I somehow always have another preference if I'm going to drop $65, so I haven't gone there yet. Where I have gone, in the past year, are Sheep Dip Islay and Compass Box Peat Monster. What these two have in common are that they both appeared in recent years on the Whisky Advocate Top 20. What Sheep Dip Islay had going for it is that, while the SRP on a 750 mL bottle is also $65, they were selling 200 mL bottles at the FW&GS for $5. If you do the math there, that meant I was able to procure 800 mL for $20. Had it remained in stock and stayed at that price, it would have become a mainstay on my shelf, not necessarily because it was high quality: frankly, it had a Laphroaig nose with a Cutty Sark menthol/citrus palate (the Laphroaig nose I could go for; the Cutty not so much), but it was an amazing dram at $20 for 800 mL. I have to imagine, however, that I'm not the only one who caught on to this. It sold out within relative quickness, but has not returned. Compass Box Peat Monster, however, is something I had higher expectations for. After all, it wears its sources on its sleeve, Laphroaig and Caol Ila, and Laphroaig is my go-to Islay in terms of the land where price meets quality. That said, I've seen two reviews from sippers I follow on this site, where they compared this Compass Box pour to Laphroaig 16 and Ardbeg 10 and found the Compass Box wanting. I'm not really sure comparing it to a Laphroaig 16 is fair, but the Ardbeg 10 is apt. After all, both that and the Peat Monster go for between $50-60 a pop (Laphroaig 10 is around the same price), so the challenge here is really on the Peat Monster. And I ask you Compass Box: why should I spend my money on your blend rather than those single malts? The answer is quite simple: you shouldn't. Now I'll tell you two things having said that: 1. I would never turn this down if offered and 2. I don't regret that I bought a bottle of this. Is it good? Yes. The expert review is apt. The aroma is fruit and smoke, a brininess. It's got a pleasant nose. On the tongue, it reminded me of the Kilchoman Machir Bay Cask Strength I had earlier this year, if you were to water that down significantly. The expert review refers to the fruit on the palate as raspberries, but it reminds me more of the freeze dried strawberries you get in Special K. I like that she mentions ham because I'd have never thought of it, but it's there (or did she plant the idea?) and it's something of a honey-glazed ham. I'm not sure I agree about the finish being medicinal, but being a Laphroaig drinker, that might just be because Laphroaig by itself is so much more medicinal that when present in a blend I find that medicinal quality muted, but there might be a slight touch of the band aid at the end. Overall, it's solid (far, far superior to Sheep Dip) and I could probably sit and sip it all night long, but I'm not sure it's all that distinctive (if it distinguishes itself at all, it's not because of the titular peat but because of the sweetness that's not generally as prevalent in most Islay single malts). Which brings me back to addressing my original point: at some point, in the whisky journey, blended Scotches become less appealing because they don't provide a distinctive enough experience. They are, if done right, so smooth that you can drink them without noticing them. And that's fine as far as that goes. If the bottle were $10 cheaper, I could see me opting for this over certain single malts in the $45-$50 range: Fiddich, Livet, even the Highland Park 12 Year. But at $57, I'm picking up Ardbeg or Laphroaig 10 every time (or well, every time other than the one time I picked up this). As I mentioned, I've seen others compare this to Laphroaig 16 and Ardbeg 10 (which are both going to make the Peat Monster pale in comparison). The other bottle of Islay I have open right now is Ardbeg 5. So how does this hold up? Well, if you're looking for smooth, this is the better whisky. It might even be slightly more complex. It's certainly got the rough edges rounded off, but that's always been what I've liked about the Beastie (which I've mentioned in plenty of reviews here): those rough edges. They're what makes the Beastie unique. Though that said, if this were in the price range of Beastie ($37 when it's on sale), I would pick up Peat Monster fairly frequently. But at $58, I can't bring myself to put this on a regular rotation. Then again, I can't get this around me anyway. It was a special Jersey Shore pickup, and the stores down there have plenty I'm aching to try when I get back down there. So farewell Peat Monster. When the bottles done, we'll be parting ways for greener pastures.