Compass Box Stranger & Stranger

Orange, honey and marmalade. Silky smooth and packing lots of fruit. Extremely nice dram.

Woho after a rollercoaster ride of up and downs this takes me all the way back up to 4.25 to 4.5 territory. Now a bottle with a bit of oxygen and time may give things a boost but it's rare (unless your palate is very fatigued) that in my experience that you can't immediately tell the good to very good from the great to excellent. This the Ardbeg Galileo and Red Spot hit you instantly with the impression they were a higher tier up straight out of the sample bottle without time or water (although you could argue they are from an opened bottle and so have had a good chance to air.. however so did the rest I tried from LeeEvolved). Anyhow this is a great one. Light sweet smoke, calvados apple honey and more in this one. Very well blended, balanced and decent hit of complexity (but not astounding). Thanks once again @LeeEvolved

Sweet, with a hot, pepper finish

Nose: dried apples, leather, floral, hard fruit candies, dried tropical fruits, shortcake, hint of maple syrup Taste: similar notes as above, but more floral, spices, salt, and oak. Finish: spices, oak, salt, floral, spices linger the longest. Hot and long finish considering the abv. 93/100* *I rank my whiskey based on a 100 point scale. It is a cumulative score with each category of nose, taste, finish, and balance worth up to 25 points. Here is how this score translates to the number of stars I give: 0 stars = 50 or below 1 star = 60 2 stars = 70 3 stars = 80 4 stars = 90 5 stars = 100 The score is rounded to the closest 1/4 star increment.

Was missing the high notes for me. As a result, found it a bit flat. Interesting concept but not my favorite bottle from these guys.

Continuing to go through my current bottles - about 120 or so left to go. This will be fun! Going in, I've had this opened since release but I've not had too many pours of it. My first impressions were pretty poor so lets see if it's gotten better or I've changed. Nose - peach and mango with an oily waxy back. Some earthy tones as well on the finish. There's a nice vanilla and spice note at the end as well. Much more sweet and vanilla than citrus or spicey. Taste - Up front the fruits and vanillas stay in the very dessert pastry level. The finish overwhelms with an explosion of alcohol, spice, and a swirling of cream fruit cocktails. There remains a woody and bitter finish that really pulls this together. Finish - medium-medium long without much nuance or changes. There however is a nice lingering finish, really nicely done. This has really come along for me. I early on was pretty disappointed, but I've come to really like it. The sweat notes are well balanced. There is nice complexity. I thought I'd paid about 200 for this, but looking at prices it seems I paid 180. Worth it at that price? I have to say, I think it's well worth it. If you're into sweater scotch you really should seek this out.