Soba45
Compass Box Flaming Heart (Sixth Edition)
Blended Malt — Scotland
Reviewed
May 1, 2020 (edited May 19, 2021)
You can generally tell whether a limited run whiskey is a great dram at the right price point..if its sold out. 2 years later this still hasn't. At $130 there are probably a couple of hundred drams (literally) I'd buy over this. Similar to the Juveniles release I'm picking a price drop. CB has been just too detached from reality over the last couple of years in their special releases. No doubt COIVD-19 may put paid to that. Sometimes when they do something special it really is hard to put a price on greatness and it's hard to argue if it's overpriced or not. There is no hesitation with this one..it is. Peat monster is 40% of the price and not to far off this one (albeit a different dram). I heard this was a pale imitation of the original and that seems correct. Simple Caol Ila style dram, higher abv and lighter style wrapped in expensive clothing and priced accordingly. Move on folks nothing to recommend purchasing hear unless you see it 50% off. Even then just go for the real deal Caol Ila 18
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
@Soba45 I am looking for a proper Compass Box to add to my collection since they in general seem to be a top choice when it comes to blended malts. I have the Flaming Heart on my wishlist (amongst others) for some time and just today it went on sale for the next week with 30% off. But before buying I wanted to see what you guys think of it and it seems that the newer releases aren’t really that good. So since I found a lot of similarities in our tastes - what CB would you recommend? And if as a blend not CB what others are worth adding to a otherwise strictly scotch single malt collection?
@PBMichiganWolverine can't say there's anything in their core I find drinkable...maybe peat monster. But for them to release a ~200 dollar nearly all 25 year old whisky is pretty impressive. I'd agree they've had some bad options and had some crazy prices, but it was odd you mentioned what looks like on paper to be one of their best value options in a few years and then I release that I don't think left the UK and evne there it was in tiny distribution. I can't comment on north star since they aren't sold here. However they use the term "street cred" on their website, so they're at the very least pretentious as hell ;)
@dhsilv2 still think they offer an incredible core range, but I’m finding the last few limited ones as more bling and marketing, and less substance. Personally for me, my new Compass Box is now North Star. Affordable, really great output, and no bling or hyped marketing
@PBMichiganWolverine what do you have against Rogues Banquet? Looks to be about 200 bucks for 97.8% 25 year old whisky, actually seems like a relative value bottle. And I mean Transistor was a down right micro release right?
@cascode A slight step up from that :-)
@Soba45 - So - Johnnie Walker Red then :-)
@Slainte-Mhath I was thinking what should I do. I still have several closed distillery ones and other similar ones but I think I'm going to keep it simple, go back to my roots and recreate where it all started 5 or 6 years ago for me whiskey wise :-)
@PBMichiganWolverine Gees they really are pumping out the releases I hadn't even heard of two of those
@Rick_M Haha yeah I suppose it seemed like a license to print money at one point but once the commercial drive takes over the magic often fades as it has here for me.
@Rick_M Likewise, this and Tobias were the last ones I bought. Had no interest in the others
@Soba45 Ah... waiting for review 1000... what will it be? Brora? Port Ellen? Karuizawa?
Compass Box has definitely hit the wall. Too many releases in a short period of time. On sale in a lot of shops up my way. I think they’re suffering from Highland Park syndrome. I did buy this one and Tobias and the Angel but have passed on all others.
Their last few haven’t done well. It’s been overpriced for what it offers. Rogues Banquet, Juveniles, and Transistor are case and point. Not sure I’d be a buyer of their limited releases anymore. Just too expensive
it is worth noting they did use enough sherry casks to add that profile. I just can't say I liked anything the sherry did here, but it is worth mentioning.