Compass Box The Double Single

Great drink sweet notes

I'm getting lazy (or maybe is it just efficient..) so I'll start poaching from other reviews. The collective experience sums things up way better than I every can so why bother..little value will be added here. I'll throw in salted green toffee apples from Lee which nailed it (word order shifted slightly around :-)) and I will sum up by agreeing with PBMs sentiment. I think a few great reasonably priced successes have gone to Compass Boxes head. The pricing is getting stupid and completely out of wack with the product. $170USD for this? Still its at least a 3.75 to 4.

Great blend, spicey, less complex than blue , tasty, great nose

Late to this party and I felt like I needed more time with it than my small sample provided, but I found this intriguing and worthy of further contemplation. Many of the flavors felt frustratingly just beyond reach of my vocabulary given how little liquid I had to work with, but my notes list a nose of old wooden desks (specifically the one my father used to have when I was a child,) tamarind and dried plums on the palette, and a finish like a very dry ginger snap. Edging into buy-a-bottle territory, if only because there’s a lot of complexity to explore in this minamilist blend, if not quite the slam dunk of many a Compass Box.

Thanks to @LeeEvolved, I got to try this CB sample. You really have to hand it to Glaser and team. They produce fine blends, really push the boundaries on transparency, and offer everything from amazing entry level ( Great King St) to super-premium ( "3"). Out of all CB offerings, the only one I wouldn't drink again would be the Orangerie. Other than that orange Tang mess, every other one is a good to amazing. This here falls squarely in the "good" category. He's made a statement that he can create a fine blend by two simple ingredients. And it's a fine blend indeed, with a citrus forward nose and a woody vanilla waxiness on the palette. But at $150...I'm questioning if it's really that good. Just my opinion, but the No Name was basically all young Ardbeg at $100. This is basically a majority of Glen Elgin at well over $150. I'm finding that CB makes amazing core ranges, but their recent limited one-offs may be too expensive for what it offers. A good product, and definately something I'd have again, but not sure I'd buy it at $150. Also, interestingly, as transparent as CB is, I can be mistaken, but I don't think he's revealed the age statements of the two ingredients. Honestly...for $150, I want to know the age.

Time to be brave, my friends. You see, the “G” word, Girvan, scares me, and there’s 28% of that waxy whisky in this offering. On the nose, I get sawdust, brine, potato, and very subtle vanilla. Not bad, but not much to speak of either. The palate was much better than expected. The Girvan here is not the star of the show, so the waxiness is just to help the nice mouth coat. There are buttery pears, apple, and vanilla, but no smoke, spices, or any “dark arts”. This would be much better in the summer, and a solid dram. The finish is medium length, salty/vanilla-y, but dry. Let’s try a couple drops of water, just to see if anything else develops. Nose is even more muted, and the palate is similar, but the burn was somehow more pronounced. If you want a bright and light Compass Box, look no further, but I need something more. This is a 3.75 for me. The theme of this glass should tell that shimmer pop story. How about “Move” by Saint Motel.

Ah, how do I begin to express my feelings about this simplistic Compass Box release: The Double Single? Well, suffice as to say that it took me nearly 2/3 of this bottle to finally get into the nitty gritty of this one. Maybe it was me, maybe palate fatigue, maybe just the change of seasons and the early onset of darkness that winter brings...who knows. It just took me awhile to warm up to this one. And I’m not sure I really did. Here’s the info: this is CBW trying to prove they can make a stellar blended whisky with just 2 simple ingredients- a well-aged single malt and a mass produced single grain. The single malt is 19 year old Glen Elgin and it makes up 72% of this blend. The remaining 28% is grain whisky from Girvan. It’s bottled at 46% ABV and like all Compass Boxes it’s NCF’d and has no artificial color added. It’s a lovely champagne gold and makes skinny, fast forming legs in the tasting glass. It doesn’t appear very oily at all. The nose is dominated by salt-&-toffee-covered green apples with the tiniest bit of light oak mingling with the orchard fruitiness. No real hint of alcohol or general spirit here either. Light and enjoyable. The whisky greets your palate with what initially caught me as Wrigley’s Double Mint gum. There’s spearmint and menthol that fades away to apples and cereal malt. It has a salty mouthfeel as it dries on the tongue and begins to warm you the way any spirit should, but at no point did it feel smooth or oily. I would call it abrasive if you accept that I mean that in a neutral/good way. The finish is long and full of spices that nail down the salty, dry feeling you get right after you brush your teeth. You can actually feel the alcohol drying and evaporating off of the tongue. It’s very lively. Overall, if I just take into account (as John Glaser probably wants) that there is just 2 simple ingredients I would have to bow down and say it is a wonderful creation. If I take it as an entire CB whisky experience (like I want to) then I say it falls short for making a statement, like most other CBW whiskies do IMO. If I factor in the crazy price tag of $155- well, then I think I should start to deduct grades. It’s a valiant effort with a ridiculous price tag. I can’t say I’d replace this bottle either because you can find plenty of other blends that leave you wanting something more for a whole lot less. This isn’t a fail- it just isn’t a win for me. 3.75 stars. Cheers, my friends. Happy New Year, as well. Bring on 2018!