Compass Box The Lost Blend

Bottle killed on 5/22/19. Compass Box The Lost Blend Blended Malt NAS 46% ABV Bottled 8/20/2014 Limited to 12,018 bottles Purchase price: 113 USD This is a blend of three single malts (Clynelish, Caol Ila, and Altt-A-Bhainne) each matured exclusively in bourbon casks. The background story is that the fortuitous discovery of some 18 year old Altt-A-Bhainne that was “extraordinary examples of near-perfection in maturation” allowed them to create this Lost Blend. Nice bullshit. A perfectly matured Altt-A-Bhainne would probably still taste bad. It is not a good distillery. I sometimes get metallic and straw notes in this whisky that prevent this from being a perfect blend. Could it be that Altt-A-Bhainne floating around in there? On its good days, this is a sublime peaty take on a solid and typical Clynelish. A nice mix of orchard fruits and cereals. Waxy and spicy on the palatte. A beautiful soft, savory, and soulful peat on the finish. When I first opened this bottle, it was the perfectly balanced nose that blew me away, but then I started noticing the metallic and straw notes. As I finished this bottle, I definitely latched on to the finish more. I do love Compass Box. But I don’t need to have a backup bottle of The Lost Blend. If I find this on sale at less than $100, I might pull the trigger. Rating (price not factored): 90 / 100 Purchase satisfaction (price factored): 3.75 / 5

This is an odd blend to like (for me) as it is mostly Highland scotch with some peaty Islay to round it out. Typically I’m a Speyside guy and not a big fan of peat smoke. This blend does a fantastic job though of layering in the flavors that you really get a complex dram (which is what I like about a great Speyside). The Islay does a great job adding just a whisp of smoke on the finish but does not overpower.

Layers of flavour and texture. This one makes you think about it. Iodine, green apple, brine, caramel... everything balanced though!

Much more peat than I expected, and pleasantly so. Very smooth with the fruity notes balancing the peat nicely