Compass Box Stranger & Stranger

Those crazy chaps over at Compass Box Whisky, out of London, have released another “spirit drink” to buck the Scottish Malt Whisky Society: Stranger & Stranger. This release pays homage to the 10 year anniversary of their use of this marketing company (of the same name) that they use to design their labels and bottle packaging. This blend also contains 1% of one year old grain spirit from Girvan- so it can’t be classified as whisky under the SMWS bylaws. However, just like every other CBW release it’s non-chill filtered and has no added color. It’s bottled at 46% and currently retails just shy of $200. Is it worth that? Let’s find out... The appearance is like that of new, polished gold and it’s oily and produces tiny drops and a few undefined legs in the tasting glass. The nose reminds me of fresh sliced honeydew melon and a waxy, sweet corn. There’s a mango sweetness underlying some baked, grain bread loaf. You can also smell some of the heat from the ABV. The palate is incredibly juicy with vine-ripened fruit, faint chocolate and honey. A wonderful peach purée with some added sugar adds weight to the tongue and overall mouthfeel, but there’s a light oak backbone that holds up heading into the finish. The finish is medium length and mouthwatering- with a lingering waxy, fruity and heavy mouth coat. The mango and peach notes also hung around long after the finish and I could still notice them hours later. Overall, this is a very tasty “spirit”. Glenlossie makes up 80% of the blend here and it makes me want to search for a few independent offerings from those guys just to see if the peach and mango notes carry over into other malts. Glen Elgin (14%) and Linkwood (5%) make up the remaining whisky used. There was only a total of 4,802 bottles filled and even though the price point is rather high this is a quality product. The packaging is cool, too. Seek out a bottle or a pour and decide for yourself. I’m glad I bought a second bottle as they seem to be getting a little harder to find now. 4.25-4.5 stars. Cheers.

The nose on this new release from Compass Box is just bonkers: peach and lychee with an occasional hint of cheese ... possibly gruyere. No sign of these flavors on the syrupy palate, which is toast, ginger spice and dark orange chocolate. That spice is a little too dominant at first, but steps back a bit after a few sips. Nothing strange about another Compass Box delight, though the price is a bit cheeky, even allowing for the beautiful bottle.

@Richard-ModernDrinking and I had a tasting last night where we shared a few drams with each other. I had this ranked at #3 out of 12. Really well made, taste of peaches, orchard fruits. Another excellent bottling by Glaser and team. It’s still available, I’d highly recommend this one. Thanks Richard for sharing this !