Happiness is making a restaurant reservation at a place that has great ratings and a fantastic menu, and discovering that (a) the food is exceptional, (b) the ambience is perfect, and (c) there are some exceptional whiskeys to be had. The wife and I decided to spend Labor Day weekend in Rhode Island, and went to dinner at Persimmon on Federal Hill in Providence.  Once we were seated, i asked for and received the spirits menu.  While not a huge list, it was quality from top to bottom.  Most exciting to me were two high end Compass Box offerings that I had yet to try - The Circle and Affinity.    The Circle is new enough that it's only been on my radar for a couple of weeks.   I've been intrigued because (a) it's Compass Box, and (B) it has one of the most awesome looking label designs I've ever seen. The nose has oak, bright fruit, and cream.  The palate is the same although the oak is much stronger.  Overall, it's very smooth and quite lovely.  In contrast to @DHSILV2 (and the wife, who, who tried it as well), I didn't get any smoke.  I did get heavy oak with with some char thrown in.  Overall, given the stated goal of producing a whisky that is light and easy drinking but very flavorful, I'd say they hit the target squarely. However, the question of price is hard to avoid.  I love Hedonism and Spice Tree, the first of which is less expensive than The Circle, while the later is less than half the price. While those have different flavor profiles, I'd say that each is more complex and ultimately more enjoyable than The Circle.  On the other hand, neither is as eye catching on the shelf.  So I'll be left to contemplate whether the label is enough to put The Circle over the top.  This may be the first time (and hopefully the last?) that a label gets a whisky to "buy" status.