Compass Box The Circle No. 1

Caramel. Spicy. Bright. A little smoke.

In 2018, John Glaser along with the whole Compass Box people, held a special contest. They recruited bartenders from all over the world and the one who made the best whisky cocktail would have the chance to make their own Compass Box blend. The contest was named "The Circle" and was won by Rosey Mitchell who picked this special recipe, made by: 78.8% Tamdhu 14.8% Clynelish 4.9 % Highland Park 1.5 % a Highland malt blend. The label has a sun, since Rosey tried to make a whisky that resembles a sunshine. Bottled at 46%abv, burnished gold. On the nose, it is very appealing. Starts with a solid chocolate fudge, Cinnamon, pineapple, the most incredible white chocolate aroma note ever. Stewed apples, very creamy, coconut. Very elegant stuff. On the palate, it is not as good, but not bad, just mediocre. Very light and creamy; vanilla and dulce de leche. White chocolate; salmon. Super smooth and spicy. Aftertaste is peaty and nice. Earthy, pepper, metallic. It has this amazing recently-baked brownies note, very long finish. Overall, i liked this dram, but it won't rock anyone's world. The palate could be better, but i guess it is a very balanced whisky. The white chocolate notes are really nice. My score for this blended malt is a solid 85 over 100.

I don't usually rate the nose on my whiskies reviews. That changed today. I liked the extremely easy entry and never ending after taste. Better that what I expected for one of the best noses on a Compass Box I've tasted so far.

Easy going, long finish, caramel

I wasn't floored or even impressed. Found this light and lacking. Was hoping for a big smack of orange malt and burnt sugar based on description. But struggled to find much of anything standing strong to the finish.

This is outstanding! Orange.... Smooth. Barely tastes like scotch

Sampled at a tasting event held by the "Sonoma County Single Malt Society". I recognize the irony here. Nose: Dark sugars, oak, light ethanol punch, smoke, and peat. Flavor: Sweet right up front, vanilla, mildly peaty and smoky, buttery, kind of boring and smoky. Finish: Lightly spicy, medium length finish with baking spices and less smoke and peat than I'd expect. Very hot on the finish. I wanted to like this based on the story but there just wasn't much flavor happening here. Very subtle in a boring way.