Compass Box Spice Tree

This whisky is now my default go to. The special French oak barrel heads add such a wonderful spice finish to this whisky. The palate is one of the best - the texture is round and rolling and just perfect at 46%. I’ve had this beside Talisker 10, one of my favourites, and this one destroyed it. I like the spicy pepper finish on Talisker but the overall package from Spice Box is better. This whisky makes me want to seek out more Compass Box.

Compass box killing it once again. First time trying this one and of course it lived up to the hype. Perfect fall/winter scotch. Nose: So much here it seems impossible. Pears, apples, orange, slight cranberry, cinnamon, sweet cream, nutmeg, all spice, cloves. It’s like walking into your parents house 3 hours before thanksgiving dinner. Taste: As the title suggests, so many spices right off the bat. Sweet apples and cream lead into cinnamon brown sugar. Mid pallet has a lot of buttery puff pastry taste. The fruits linger on the finish. Orange and lemon zest, along with savory butter and allspice berries. Going to hang on to this bottle for the remainder of the year so that I have enough for the holidays. Hats off once again Compass Box.

Smells oaky and like honey. Hints of fruit and dark chocolate. Tastes of wood, nutmeg and a herbaceous honey. Smith start, strong finish. Bit of a bitter aftertaste.

A sample as part of the "Whiskey Transfer Program" from dthom. I really wanted to like this. Nose: Light vanilla, musty wood, toasted bread, grapefruit, stewed apricot, lemon peel, mint, black pepper, caramelized sugars, and some ethanol bite. This is VERY complex on the nose. Too complex maybe. There is sort of a background funk that I don't really care for. Taste: Very sweet initially with stewed stone fruits like peaches, apricots, and nectarines but without the acid. Fades fast though right in to the finish. Finish: I kind of hate the finish on this. It's so many overwhelming confusing flavors that I can't get my head around it. Cloves, cinnamon, heavy cardamom, fennel, black pepper, nutmeg, and some orange peel as well. This is just too complex. What I mean is that there are too many flavors going on and it's muddy and confusing. I like when a whiskey has clear flavors and intent and purpose and this seems like it's just going too many different directions. Sorry Compass Box but this one doesn't work for me.

I had high hopes for this one and was not disappointed. The nose is wonderfully strong, with orange cream, fruit and spice most prominent. The palate is similar, with nice oak (unusually nice, perhaps the American/French mix?). The finish is fairly long, with a very mild cocao note. I tried this with a 1 ounce sample. There's a lot of interesting stuff going on here, and I will buy a bottle. I expect to find more as I work my way through.

Spiced vanilla palate, with burnt orange peel in the back. Medium mouthfeel with a slight burn on the tip of the tongue. Don’t really like the smokiness on the finish. Not peaty but not woody, odd smoke.