Compass Box – The Lost Blend – 46%

Here’s some of the PR info, and after that you’ll find my notes and thoughts…

The Lost Blend is the new limited edition release from award-winning Scotch Whiskymaker Compass Box. This marriage of three single malts is a homage to their long lost (and much loved) Eleuthera whisky, and boasts the same unique smoky fruity style. After 10 years of searching, whiskymaker John Glaser was finally able to track down the unique whiskies he required earlier this year. The result is The Lost Blend.

Bottled at 46% and packaged in a high quality gift box adorned with ‘lost items,’ it will be priced at $120 in the US, £85 in the UK and $100 in Europe.

This elegantly complex whisky is a union of rare old Highland single malts and a delicious peaty Islay single malt. An ethereal fruit and herbal character and a sweetness on the palate is buttressed by an underlying smokiness. Single malt whisky (of a certain age) from the Clynelish distillery, and a small cache of extraordinary whisky from the Allt-A-Bhainne distillery, aged in American oak barrels and just a few years shy of two decades old, is combined with malt whisky from the Caol Ila distillery. Bottled at 46% this limited edition of 12,018 bottles was bottled in August 2014. It is not chill-filtered and is natural colour.

Now on to my notes and thoughts…

Nose: A fairly classic style nose to this, quality stuff. There’s a gentle, slightly mossy peat smoke to this, along with a coastal nature and a lovely gentle grassy sweetness and milk chocolate tones after a while.
Palate: Fairly thick and oily with a sweet smoked grassy barley thing covering your palate.
Finish: There’s a lovely deep warming peat hug which leads into the grassy barley sweetness, all of which combines nicely and sticks around for ages with gentle oaks.
Thoughts: A very enjoyable blend, lots of character to this, it’s malty, nicely sweet and with a nice gentle peat tone. A great quality drop of drammage, pretty much what you come to expect from Compass Box. Top of the 80’s in score.

Thanks to Compass Box for the sample.