Compass Box Spice Tree DUO (2016), IB
- whisky.hedonist
- Jan 6, 2018
- 2 min read
General Information
Distiller / Bottler Compass Box Whisky Co.
Type Blended Malt
Age NAS
ABV 46.00%
Official Website http://www.compassboxwhisky.com/
Notable Online Reviews
Compass Box Spice Tree
whiskyfun - 85 / 100
whiskybase - 86.79 / 100
Compass Box Spice Tree Extravaganza
whiskyfun - 86 / 100
whiskybase - 86.75 / 100
Tasting Date: 5/2/2017
Tasting Time: 1540
Tasting: Neat
Compass Box Spice Tree
Nose:
Very prominent oak, imagine sherry bomb without those dried fruits notes. Heavily charred oak. Chocolate. Ginger. Light touch of floral barley notes. Quite zesty. Hint of old furniture woody notes. The oaky and woody notes really shines, with touch of wax in the mix. Overripe apples, or oxidized apple. / 21.5
Palate:
Full of charred oak. Liquorice or Hacks we called it here. Oily oh oily mouth feel. Just a nice amount of burning on the tongue. Oily at the same time very soft. Very good ginger. Mouth-watering. Very interesting Chinese Traditional Liniment (铁打酒 or Tin Fat Medicated Oil). / 21.5
Finish:
Oaky and liquorice. Some Chinese Traditional Herbs. Mouth-watering. Pretty much most of the notes in the palate. Can considered short. / 16.0
Balance:
Again, a very harmonious blend by John Glaser. I think this is what Compass Box is all about. A light, balance and elegant whisky. / 20.5
Price:
This is slightly more expensive than Oak Cross in the market. Is it better than the Oak Cross? I'm not so sure. / 3.0
Final Verdict:
If you are looking for a whisky to start the night, this is perhaps a very suitable whisky. Light and elegant. This whisky offers you a slight different smell and taste from your regular single malt. / 82.5
Compass Box Spice Tree Extravaganza
Nose:
Sherry and oaky, with the signature CB's style of Clynelish notes lingering. Waxed furniture wood. Some ginger barley. Pretty floral as well. After 15 minutes, zestiness appears along with nutmeg, liquorice, charred oak. Very faint wood dust. Dark Chocolate, yummy. The sherry influence definitely lift up the nose compared to the normal Spice Tree. / 22.5
Palate:
Rich and candied, lovely sweet candy. Soft and smooth as milk, pretty spicy and considerably burning, raw ginger. Liquorice pretty obvious. Mouth-watering. / 20.0
Finish:
Considerably long finish, but does not make this whisky any good. With some bitter herbs. Tad of nuttiness. Oaky. / 15.0
Balance:
The sherry notes, although is lovely, but it masked all the lighter notes that makes up Spice Tree. I would prefer the sherry notes to be a little bit less prominent. Or maybe adding bit of water would help. / 20.5
Price:
One bottle of this Extravaganza can buy you two bottles of normal Spice Tree. The nose is a lot better than the normal Spice Tree, but the palate is a little disappointing. / 2.5
Final Verdict:
I would say this is not really good enough for the price that they charged and I actually prefer to normal Spice Tree to this one. Still a very respectable whisky from Compass Box, but given the fact that they named it "Extravaganza" and the price they charged, I will say this is not good enough for what it supposed to be. Will revisit again. / 80.5
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