LeeEvolved
Compass Box Hedonism
Blended Grain — Scotland
Reviewed
July 28, 2016 (edited October 19, 2020)
Here's to another chance to review this beautiful blended scotch from the geniuses at Compass Box. Hedonism. I originally tried this blend in their wonderful 5 flavor sample pack. It was a very nice presentation that, while somewhat expensive, did showcase their core whiskies perfectly. Hedonism and Peat Monster were clearly the stars of the sampler, but the other 3 were also quite tasty.
Anyway, onto Hedonism...this is an incredible blend of several Lowland malts that are then aged again in ex-bourbon casks. Most Lowland whiskies I've had are very light on the nose and the palate. Soft, floral and mostly sweet. Hedonism takes those qualities and adds a layer of American bourbon overtop and melds them together quite gracefully. Vanilla, lemon merengue pie, marshmallow and a bit of fresh oak are all present on the nose and follow through to the palate. The finish is soft and sweet, lingering just long enough to make you crave another sip.
I've had several newer blends from John Glaser and CBW so I can't say this is my favorite from them, but it sure as hell is a wonderful dram to finish off dinner with in place of a decadent dessert. The price is also pretty reasonable so there really is no reason to keep a bottle of this on hand for guests that want to venture into scotch. This would make a big splash at an entry level tasting event. Seek it out and take that step into higher quality blended whisky, you won't be disappointed.
Thanks to Paul for sending me another sample of this one. I'm so glad I could give it another go and improve on my initial review on Barreled. Thanks, brother. Cheers.
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Just bought the gift set so looking forward to trying this one and the other four core whiskies off the back of your guys reviews. Keep up the good work :-)
I also bought the 3 Year Old Deluxe and The Circus, both of which were extremely high priced. The bottle of This Is Not A Luxury was just over $100 cheaper and I think prices appropriately. I hope these newer bottles live up to the price point, but it's hard to imagine anything will be worth it. We are just paying for the rarity, I guess.
I love Glaser's work---he's like a chemist, getting the formula just right. ( I can appreciate that even more having a chemical engineering degree). His prices have really skyrocketed though. I recently bought the "3" (haven't opened it yet)---and had a bit of sticker shock. Not sure we'll ever get back to his affordable prices anymore though