Whisky Discovery #290

Great King Street 'New York Blend' (46% abv)

Blended Scotch Whisky

£60.00 750ml (from Compass Box Website)

Another fabulous label design from Compass Box

We feel really lucky to have been able to taste this, the first release from Compass Box's Great King Street brand of blended whiskies. New York Blend is the first of it's limited release regional blends and was launched on Saturday, October 27th, 2012 at the New York Whisky Fest in Manhattan. Only 1,840 bottles were released and it was available primarily in the New York metropolitan area and via the Compass Box Whisky Company web site. 

A review sample arrived at Whisky Discovery HQ just before Christmas, However checking the Compass Box website it is available on the UK, although for how long I wouldn't guess.

So how did this all come about? I initially read about it in Whisky Advocate blog, where John Hansell explains how he asked John Glaser if he would create a new whisky and debut it for them at WhiskyFest New York. John thought this would be a great opportunity to start a series of regional blends, something he'd wanted to do for some time.

John made two key discoveries that inspired this one-off, limited edition bottling. One was an ancient New York Times article describing an 1890's bartender named Patrick Duffy who was responsible for instigating the importation of branded Scotch whisky in glass bottles for the first time into New York. The second was an old Scotch blend recipe from a Glasgow blending house from the same era. John fashioned a blend based on the old recipe dedicated the bottling to Duffy, and the New York Blend was born.

The New York Blend uses lots of peaty single malts, plenty of sherry cask-aged single malts, and a much higher proportion of malt to grain whisky (80%/20%) than is typically used today (generally 30%/70%).

As with all Compass Box whiskies this is bottled with no added colouring and without chill-filtering.

Compass Box plans more Great King Street regional blends in the future, but for now there are no details of where or when, so to make sure you're the first to know it would be a good idea to sign up for the Compass Box newsletter on their website (we have!)

So What Did We Think?

Kat: My nosing notes were rattled off: Malty, sweet, gentle smoke, citrus candied peel, Johnson's Baby Powder, Morning Dew.

On first taste I exclaimed 'Wow this is really nice, I think I might have to get a bottle of this.' Light and delicate on the palate, fresh, spicy cloves, gentle smoke, malty notes. Towards the end I was getting a bitter dark chocolate notes or coffee beans.

Dave: The high percentage of malt whisky in this blend is immediately evident on the nose leading with malty notes. Fruity notes of sultanas and sweet clementines develop shortly afterwards. There is less peat smoke than I was expecting especially when a quarter of the recipe is said to contain heavily peated single malts from Islay, it's there, but quite gentle

However the Islay peated malts certainly make themselves known on the palate. It starts off with with a light sweet toffee note before a spicy chilli heat takes over, all the while the soft peaty smoke hangs in the background. The spice subsides leaving a dark chocolate bitterness and a medium length gently spice finish

If you're quick you might be able to blag yourself a big US style bottle at the Compass Box Shop If you have tried this let us know what you think!

Whisky Discovery #91

Great King Street 'Artists Blend' (43% abv)

Blended Scotch Whisky

Circa £25.00 50cl

Great King Street ' Artists Blend'

For our second Compass Box whisky we were introduced to the first of the new ‘Great King Street’ range. Great King Street is a new line dedicated solely to the category of Blended Scotch Whisky, and the first whisky of the line, “Artist’s Blend”, was released in 2011

The name of this new label is inspired by Compass Box's registered office, 24 Great King Street, in Edinburgh, and their mission is to offer a style and approach to Blended Scotch that they believe has not existed before. The blends will use a high proportion of malt whisky (about 50%), excellent quality grain whiskies, and the careful use of new French Oak aging for added complexity. All will be bottled without chill-filtering and be naturally coloured.

There are five key things that Compass Box considered in Great King Street:

Great Grain. Using the very highest quality single grain Scotch whiskies. Sourced from a renowned Lowland distillery and all of it is aged in 'first fill' American oak barrels, which makes the grain whisky much richer and sweeter on the palate than those aged in larger, refill casks.

More Malt. Secondly, they are using a higher proportion of malt whisky than most other Blends. 'Artist's Blend' consists of almost 50% malt whisky, far more than the 30 or 40% most blends use. This provides more character and complexity.

Better Oak. Compass Box are known for their fanaticism about quality oak casks. Every cask of whisky used to make 'Artist's Blend' is of a much higher quality than is typical in Scotch whisky: first-fill American oak casks, first-fill European oak ex-Sherry butts and, something no other Blended Scotch uses, new oak. In this case, new, heavily-toasted French oak.

Bottled Naturally. 'Artist's Blend' is bottled at its natural colour (no E150 colouring agent) and without the chill filtration prior to bottling that most Scotch whiskies go through. This leaves the whisky full of its natural complexity and mouthfeel.

Traditional Strength. Bottled at 43% abv, a strength traditionally used in Scotland many years ago.

‘The Artist’s Blend’ is a marriage of delicate Lowland grain and robust, complex Highland malt whiskies. The style is rich, round and fruity with hints of toasty oak, vanilla and spice.

So what did I think?
I've been finding out a little about blended whisky recently. I read Richard Paterson's excellent book 'Goodness Nose' over the Easter weekend and have had a great Tweet Tasting with Steve Rush of The Whisky Wire and Cutty Sark Blends, so really appreciate the work that is going into the making of them. This was a very pleasing blended Scotch whisky which I would be happy to have on my shelf.