Compass Box Phenomenology

I’ve been working my way through this bottle for the past 8-10 weeks and I just recently finished it, while finally getting some thoughts together about it. This bottle was released simultaneously with the peated, No Name. That bottle was CBW’s heaviest peated whisky to date and it cracked my Top 6 whiskies of all time. So, I really had high hopes for this one, too. First off, let’s go over what went into this blend. Now for starters, John Glaser and CBW pride themselves on transparency when it comes to what they put in every bottle, but this time around they played their cards a little closer to the vest until well after the release. They wanted people to judge it on flavor alone and asked drinkers to guess what they thought was in the bottle. A bit of a change for them, but that was kind of cool. I guess it was late December/early January before they released the make-up: Phenomenology is 72% Glenlossie (recharred hogshead), 24.5% Tamdhu (first fill oak), 2% Highland Park (recharred oak), 1% Talisker (refilled white oak) and 0.5% Caol Ila (hogshead). So they are expecting sweet, Speyside style whisky with a hint of smoke. Sounds nice. The color is yellow gold and it’s quite oily in the Glencairn. It makes some slow forming legs while leaving behind small droplets near the rim. This hits the ABV sweet spot at 46%. The nose is semi-complex: berries, orchard fruits, bananas all dominate the opening before yielding to what I’d describe as a candle shop. The smoke comes and goes when you put your nose down in it. One minute it’s there, the next it’s gone. It’s a bit frustrating, but looking at the low percentages of peated stock I guess it’s understandable. The palate feels very waxy initially. Almost like you’re rolling melted candle wax around on your tongue. It’s intriguing, but the wax flavor tends to keep the fruity notes from making a statement. Mid-sip I got a nice spice hit and some ginger snap cookies before it turned towards a traditional whisky with oak tannins and vanilla. It’s surprisingly complex, but that waxy texture and note keeps things too separate IMO. The finish is medium length and oily with some nice florals mixing in- where did they come from? The waxy aspect is completely gone, which is great and the final bits are warming and welcome. It doesn’t linger too long and it doesn’t finish dry at all. All pluses here. Overall, I’m a bit more mixed than I expected or wanted to be. The waxy bits and lack of distinct smoke bring the score down, but the complex palate and nice finish raise it up. It’s better than a middle of the road blend, but it’s not a top tier dram like I’ve come to expect from Compass Box. This bottle has slightly risen in price as well, and now fetches $175-199 US and that’s a bit too high for something that doesn’t reach 5 star level for me. As it is, it’s a solid 4 with maybe a slight dip because of price. Cheers, my friends.

Our monthly date night, which actually is just an excuse to have dinner outside without breaking up a fight between a 9 yr old and a 5 yr old ( funny thing is that the 5 yr old kicks the 9 yr old’s ass despite her having a black belt ). Of course, I noticed this at the bar, and immediately had to try it. So different than their last one I tried, the No Name. This is almost diametrically opposite. It’s fruity, waxy (Clyneish?), vanilla-infused. Definitely well aged components. Have they released the components? CB is usually pretty good about that. I’m guessing a well aged Clyneish as the backbone, maybe followed by a bourbon cask Speysider (Tamdhu?), which explains the vanilla. If I had to buy only one, it would be the No Name over this...but nonetheless, this is very, very well made.

"Phenomenology: The Philosophical study of the Structures of experience and consciousness" Epic Name. This is by far one of my favourite whiskies of 2017 maybe one of the best I've ever had. I was lucky enough to try this at the Whisky show earlier this year, I was blown away. As expected from Compass Box it has a hell of a lot going on, you will pick up new flavours every time you go back to it. This dram has all of my favourite things in one bottle, tropical notes backed up by peat and a rich creamy texture. Nose Light citrus and sweetened pineapple backed up by a hint of shortbread and a hint of salty peat. Palate Beautifully rich mouthfeel, almost like creamy custard with juicy citrus and a hind of red berries Finish Lemon merging, chewy Marshmallows with a lingering salted peat and a late medicinal hit, it's like a "peaty pudding"