LeeEvolved
Compass Box Great King St Artist's Blend
Blended — Scotland
Reviewed
April 20, 2018 (edited September 3, 2019)
Updated review: 5/15/18. I decided to open a bottle of the Artist’s Blend to do a comparison between it and a bottle of the Artist’s Blend Single Marrying Cask. The latter is a special bottling done by Compass Box for certain retailers and offered in very limited numbers. Please see the Artist’s Blend Marrying Cask for a review of that specific bottle. This is an update for the normal release.
First of all, let’s look at the ingredients and breakdown: 46% is Cameron Bridge single grain whisky, 29% is ex-American-oaked Clynelish, 17% is CBW’s in-house blend of 3 Highland malts that have aged in new French oak, and 8% of Linkwood aged in sherry casks. All ages of the whisky used is undisclosed. (Thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for getting the breakdown info from Compass Box for me.)
The Artist’s Blend has a nice buttery, apple pie flavor albeit with a decent amount of cask influence coming through. There’s some nice vanilla and apple notes ringing through. It really is buttery smooth and completely easy to drink. The finish is short, though, while still being quite tasty.
It’s a fantastic, sweet sipper that would probably also play very well in various whisky-based cocktails. It’s a solid 3.5-3.75 star caliber dram. I’m glad I have a couple bottles of both this and the Glasgow. Never mind a few bottles of the rarer NY Blend (peated). Good stuff. CBW does it right 90% of the time. Spend $40 with confidence, my friends.
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
@SolanaRoots - I need to open a bottle of the Glasgow and give it a thorough run through first, but I think the NY blend would be my favorite (I’m a peat head anyways). That Marrying Cask bottle I just reviewed isn’t much different than the regular Artist’s Blend, but I did like the extra ABV.
And @LeeEvolved would be eager to hear your personal 1,2,3 ranking of Artist, Glasgow, & NY blend Great King St trio. Cheers
@LeeEvolved you can easily simulate that Orangerie...just get some orange HiC or Tang, and voila!
Fantastic review @LeeEvolved - agree this is a strong offering from Compass Box given the friendly price point & how enjoyably simple it is
@PBMichiganWolverine - I still haven’t tried that one either. I intended to try it at Whiskyfest, but got sidetracked. I still want to sample it, but don’t think I want a full bottle.
@LeeEvolved nice review. Their only one I didn’t like out of the ones I’ve tried is the Orangerie. Was like Orange Tang
Review updated and official score given. Please check out the changes.
@tonydit1 - well, if you’re going to spend money on full bottles and you like lighter, fruitier whisky then I’d recommend the Artist & Glasgow blends first, but if you like spicier and more flavorful whisky and don’t mind the extra $30-40, then you can skip these entry level things and go after the others. The good news is, all 4 are solid whiskies so you shouldn’t be disappointed by any of those choices. Cheers.
Hey Lee should I start with these that you tried or go straight to the hedonism and spice tree? Have you tried them as well?
@SolanaRoots - it may happen sooner rather than later, my friend. I’m just back to that point where I have too many bottles open at once and our little share group is scheduled to ship out the next round of samples in 8-10 days. My refrigerator is covered in samples I’ve yet to try. Too much whisky can definitely be a problem, lol.
Nice one Lee! Now you can open your bottle of both this & the Glasgow and do the side by side by side with the NY blend that you’ve talked about