dhsilv2
Compass Box Rogues' Banquet
Blended — Miltonduff, Glen Elgin, Clynelish, and North British, Scotland
Reviewed
June 29, 2020 (edited October 11, 2022)
Bought this a couple weeks ago, had a pour so lets get back into it.
Background I haven't really researched. I know we're looking at about a 75:25 malt grain mix and the vast majority of the whisky in here is about 25 years old with some 19 or 21 year old mixed in. So plenty of age. A bit of grain to bring down costs but still net net I think a pretty good value on face value. Lets see how it drinks.
Nose - ok first off, just coming off my glass, it's delicate yet powerful and really inviting. Citrus, apples, vanilla, spices, and a touch of oak. Really a very delightful and all be it perhaps a bit generic kind of a fruity citrus notes. The spice, fruit and vanilla character with the under lying older oak notes are really playing on each other well here. I even dare say I get distinct clynelish elements which is shocking given how little is in here, but yet I can't miss them.
Taste - The taste goes a different direction from the nose. While the nose brings out citrus fruits and it has a balanced and fruity well banquet of notes, the flavor is very different. It plays on some waxy vanilla notes, gives off oak spices, and then you move into the finish where it gets a bit savory and there are umami elements likely oak driven. That lingers on medium to long with toasted oak and waxy vanilla with it. I'm struggling to find the nice citrus notes from the nose however.
Mouth feel is another issue here. The 46% drinks like a non chill filtered whisky with a nice coating to the mouth, but it's still dishearteningly thin. Just going into the 48-50 range could have really pushed this one to the next level.
I'm at 2.5 with this one. Let me walk you through it a bit. There is the complexity and nuanced transitions of a 20+ year old whisky and in that this should be walking into the 4.0 range. The finish is long and lingering, again should be at least a 3.5 if not 4 as well. The nose has the makings of a sold 3+ as well. The problem then? It's just SO flat up front when you first taste it. Where there should be orchard fruits or something. I plan to go back to this in a day or maybe even today and see if I'm just off or missing it, but it's truly a depressing start to what is otherwise a wonderful whisky. None the less a 2.0 is an average whisky and a 2.5 is a firm step up and is moving into a very good, but not great. I wouldn't dismiss this whisky on my score as there are layers upon layers of depth that for many might be more than enough to push this into their 4+ ranges. I'm picky and I hate to say this one is just missing a mark or two.
Short re review - see comments but I'm upping this to 3.0
235.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@dhsilv2. thanks for that insight! it puts it in perspective - I may have to consider this one...
@jonwilkinson7309 so I see you gave the muse a VERY good review, I think this is price adjusted pretty close. So if you'd have paid more for the muse and thought there was value there, this is worth it. I think they have some conceptional similarities. Certainly different whisky by a lot.
@dhsilv2 Thanks for the follow up! I'm thinking I wouldn't dislike it, but I'd be underwhelmed. Which is partially because Compass Box has set a very high bar, and partly because of the price.
@WhiskyFish @jonwilkinson7309 ok guys, re-review post 3 bourbons and witha HEALTHY pour of this. So right to it, the issue was it was BORING up front. OK so now I'm getting more spice and sweet up front. It's not impressive but it's rounding it out really nicely. I'll have to do a more "offical" update, but this is no longer boring so I'm down to up this score to a 3.0. At 235 a 3.0 is a perfectly reasonable score if this is your wheel house. I'd say buy if you like what I reviewed in terms of these bourbon finished older casks and great really great finish. But it's missing for anyone who's not a crazy fan of older bourbon cask finished whisky. Water does help bring out some fruits too, fyi. Anyway yeah, it's for a selected group of people who will love it.
Interested in your follow-up impression. At $220+ it should not disappoint, regardless of the age.
Thanks for the review! I've been thinking about pulling the trigger on this one before it's gone. But I'll wait to see if you have a better follow up!
@dhsilv2 I love it that they’re so open with the age and %.
Yeah not a big deal. You can get their details all over, I tend to say it without exactly stating it in the review but add it as requested in the comments.
@dhsilv2 oops I did NOT know that! Noted moving fwd.
@Anthology I may have mislead on what I knew about the ages as compass box asks us to not share :)
@dhsilv2 Nice review! I just picked up a bottle of this and was curious about the aging info so I wrote CB. Here’s what they [Alex] came back with: 1: Miltondoff (Rechar Bourbon Hogshead - 25Yr, 68.7%) 2: Clynelish (Rechar Bourbon Hogshead - 25Yr; 3.5%) 3: North British (First Fill Bourbon Barrels; 25Yr; 25.6%) 4: Glen Elgin (Recharred Bourbon Barrel; 19Yr; 2.2%) Hope that helps