Generously_Paul
Compass Box The Lost Blend
Blended — Scotland
Reviewed
February 13, 2017 (edited January 2, 2019)
I decided to review my 2oz sample of The Lost Blend that I got from my friend Lee tonight to honor all that we have lost; family, friends, icons. Last week my wife lost her maternal grandmother and Detroit lost a great king of a man in Mike Ilitch, owner of the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, founder of Little Caesar's Pizza, believer of and investor in the city of Detroit and contributor to countless charities.
This blended malt whisky comes in at 46% ABV, is non chill filtered and a natural color of what I would call champagne gold.
The nose is simply divine. Floral peat smoke up front that turns to tarry/creosote ashes (I'm not sure what malts are being used but if I had to guess Laphroaig would be a key component). Light oak and vanilla creep in but are subtle. Red fruits and stone fruits like plums or apricots. A pineapple like citrus note and a very distinct candle wax. Complex and powerful with a great balance of peat and fruit.
The palate is a bit more perplexing. Lightly spicy up front. Bonfire smoke. Pepper, cinnamon and other wood spices. It turns into light oranges and orchard fruits and a general deliciousness. It was difficult for me to pin down a few of the notes but this is a very tasty blended malt indeed.
The mouthfeel is fairly light but has some oiliness to it. Very mouthwatering. The finish is medium long with peat smoke, fruits and some oak spices, a bit dry at the end.
To me this is like a mixture of Peat Monster and Spice Tree with a splash of Hedonism. It's too bad this is a limited edition as it's exceptionally well crafted. Granted this is my first non core range CBW but it is my favorite so far, sorry Hedonism but you needed a hint of smoke to remain on top. Even though this is a NAS I can tell it has some age to it, but enough youth to boost its intensity. 4.5. Cheers everyone.
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Totally understanding not thinking about the true contents at the moment of tasting. Your guess as to Laphroaig sparked my interest. Knowing about CB transparency, I decided to check it out. In doing so, thought I would pass it along.
They're super friendly via email as well----I had emailed them through the contact form on their website to ask them about the make up of their " 3" blend. Before dropping close to $150, I wanted to make sure what's in it. They provided really good details, giving age statements, % breakdown, and casks
I should have checked the website Scott. I know they are all about transparency and I love that about them. I guess I was just more focused on the whisky and forgot that a quick search would have told me what I needed to know. So it's Caol Ila and not Laphroaig, could have fooled me
Compass Box has mastered the blending process. What I really like about them is their stand on transparency. From their website for Lost Blend: "Single malt whisky (of a certain age) from the Clynelish distillery, and a small cache of extraordinary whisky from the Allt-A-Bhainne distillery, aged in American oak barrels and just a few years shy of two decades old, combined with malt whisky from the Caol Ila distillery." [http://compassboxwhisky.com/pdf/TheLostBlend.pdf]