Compass Box creates some wonderful styles of whisky. Some may not be your or my favorite, but each is a masterpiece for what it is. This is a vatted malt consisting of Clynelish, Dailuaine, and Teaninich. This blend is aged in an assortment of standard and hybrid wood casks with varying degrees of toast to give a complex spiciness to the whisky. When first nosing the glass the first impression is of opening a spice box. In the mouth the spiciness is forward (ginger, mace, clove?). If you allow it to linger on the tongue an underlying sweet fruitiness is distinct. All of these are evident on the slow finish. At the very end there is a bit of astringency, I think from the French oak from the Vosges Mts. Overall a very solid blended malt Scotch.