Soba45
Compass Box Stranger & Stranger
Other Whiskey — Scotland
Reviewed
February 29, 2020 (edited March 2, 2020)
Woho after a rollercoaster ride of up and downs this takes me all the way back up to 4.25 to 4.5 territory. Now a bottle with a bit of oxygen and time may give things a boost but it's rare (unless your palate is very fatigued) that in my experience that you can't immediately tell the good to very good from the great to excellent. This the Ardbeg Galileo and Red Spot hit you instantly with the impression they were a higher tier up straight out of the sample bottle without time or water (although you could argue they are from an opened bottle and so have had a good chance to air.. however so did the rest I tried from LeeEvolved).
Anyhow this is a great one. Light sweet smoke, calvados apple honey and more in this one. Very well blended, balanced and decent hit of complexity (but not astounding). Thanks once again @LeeEvolved
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@LeeEvolved Ah interesting. Looking at that I'm exceptionally impressed how well the Ardbeg has done given its one of the oldest. Thought I was onto the masterpiece with the Macallan but no forgot about the Mortlach..onto that now!
If you look at the date I wrote on the label of each sample, 95% of the time that’s the date I opened the bottle and poured the sample. I usually pour myself a large, long term sample as well as 3-4 more for trading, etc. There’s usually no oxidation when I fill my samples. The rare exception is when I’ve had a bottle open awhile and someone asks for a pour after I’ve given away the ones I’ve already poured- in your case, the Oscuro bottle has been open since July 2019, so that pour has probably oxidized somewhat. The others I sent were from freshly opened bottles directly into the sample bottle. No oxidation, my friend.