Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Blend

Rating: ★★★

Origin: Scotland

Type: Blended whisky

ABV: 43%

Having produced the downright delectable Great King Street Artists Blend, Compass Box have seemingly decided to keep pushing the boundaries and produce a more full bodied blend that appears to be aimed at satisfying the Glaswegian palate. The aptly named Great King Street Glasgow Blend is intended to be a fuller bodied whisky with peat and sherry notes.  

Nose:

At first it is fiery with pepper and undertones of dried red chilies, reminding me of the smell of red charcoals burning bright in a Tandoori oven as the drying sherry is almost steamy and vaporous. The malt and peat are nicely integrated with the other aromas, and sitting behind the bittersweet smell of dark chocolate nonpareils are mild coastal and winy notes that meld grass and sea – mussels in a white wine cream sauce and chives comes to mind.      

Palate:

The taste of chocolate is soon accompanied by sweet sherry and maraschino cherries, and the peat then takes a more dominant role after a few moments as a grassiness emerges with white wine and a distant coastal note. The sherry is both sweet and drying.  

Finish:

The finish presents with sweet drying sherry, with lingering grassy notes and steamy alcohol vapours as the aftertaste of sour cream and chives lingers. 

Bottom line: 

Consider it. Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Blend  is a flavour packed whisky with a theme of grassy soft peat, white wine, chocolate, and, both sugary and drying sherry. Despite its pale colour, the sherry is pronounced and the flavours are nicely integrated. It does strike me as a somewhat sweet dram, and even though the sherry is certainly a presence in the whisky there does not seem to be much flavour extracted from the wood. This might suggest that the whisky is quite young, and young it does taste. Its impressive nose lifted my expectations very high, and I could not help but feel disappointed by the lack of depth and complexity on the palate. That said, this is a lovely drinkable Scotch whisky and at an affordable price. Just don’t expect any fireworks on the palate.