I've been dying to bust open a nicer bottle in my collection at some point through the holidays, and between work and now some bad weather, I've finally had some spare time (stuck) at home so I grabbed for the bottle that has been intriguing me the most since I bought it: This Is Not A Luxury Whisky from John Glaser and Compass Box. Silly name and packaging aside, let's get into this one properly. It's packaging is a flimsy, cardboard box and the bottle label appears to be hand-written with a cheap, gold marker. There was only a thin strip of gold, foil tape (reminiscent of old, cheap American bourbon) going across the cork. It was easily opened with a quick snip from a pocket knife. (Quick note: that should be considered shameful as there is some really old and expensive juice in the blend and to not air seal the cork is reprehensible.). I get the whole premise here with the cheap looking packaging and actually find it humorous, as intended. It's cask strength at 106.2 proof, is non-chill filtered and has no added color. This bottling was limited to just under 5,000 bottles and I found it online for just shy of $180. A bargain considering newer CBW releases have been asking close to $300 (Circus, 3 Year Deluxe). Enough babbling, on to reviewing what's inside. It's slick and deep amber in color and giving it a spin in the Glencairn causes it to stick like glue to the sides of the glass. Not much leg action at all. Thick and oily. After resting for about 20 minutes the nose is amazing: new leather belt, chocolate, gentle smoke and ripe bananas. I could sit and nose this one all day long. That first sip is heavenly. The initial heat from the high proof just sizzles your tongue to life. As the heat subsides your tongue is left oily with quite a bit more smoke than I expected (30 year old Caol Ila is the only smoky malt used and it makes up around 4% of the blend). There's underlying notes of leather again, figs and wet hay. There's a bit of caramel-covered apple as well. Freaking incredible! The finish is long, bitter and a bit hot but damn if it doesn't feel like it really needs to be. It burns away the oil left behind on the palate and leaves you begging for another hit. As it settles, a faint wisp of smoke rises up and singes the nose to remind you that you're drinking whisky right now. It's a completely amazing experience. I get it, John Glaser. This isn't a luxury whisky because it needs to be drank. Setting this ugly bottle on your bartop should lead to your friends grabbing it, popping the cork, blurting out "I'll just try this one", turning the bottle to the sky and gasping for breath as they instantly become scotch whisky fans. Now, if you'll kindly make more of this while dropping the asking price to around $100 a bottle... Wrapping up this long-winded review, so I can drink some more, I gotta say (without going through my entire scotch review list) that this blended whisky has jumped to the top of my non-peated favorites list. Go online, find the remaining bottles of this non-luxury sauce, and buy one. If I could give it more than 5 stars on this non-luxury whisky app, I would. Cheers, you bottom shelf whisky sippers. Lol