Compass Box Spice Tree Extravaganza

Spice Tree, which I reviewed a few months ago, is the best of Compass Box's regular lineup of blended scotches, and is a better scotch at around $60 a bottle than Johnnie Walker Green Label or Blue Label, two much more expensive and well-known blends. Extravaganza is the company's "upscale" version of Spice Tree, which means that the components are older and presumably more expensive to acquire than those that make up the original. At about $130 a bottle, this is squarely in the middle of the high end or limited edition Compass Box blends. It is also an excellent whisky, although not without flaws. The nose features some graham cracker, oats, orange, sherry, and spice. That spice, the whisky's namesake, grows in influence in its taste, which features pepper, all-spice, and honey in addition to those grain notes and sherry. The finish is where the age reveals itself, as it's much oakier than standard Spice Tree and quite long. I found this scotch to be a little hot, which was a surprise for an older blend.