Whisky Review: Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Blend

While I was in Washington D.C. in early November, I dropped by Black Whiskey for dinner and a couple of drinks. Glancing at their back bar I noticed a decent collection of blends that I decided to try.

I've had a few releases from their Great King Street lineup. The Artist's Blend was perfectly decent, but somewhat uninspiring. The one-off New York Blend was far better and a peat-y treat. So I was very interested when the Glasgow Blend was released, which looked to combine the peat of the NY Blend was sherry cask whisky. Unfortunately it is rather expensive locally, so I haven't been able to bring myself to buy it.

The whisky is composed of a mix of 35% grain whisky from Cameronbridge and 65% malt whiskies from a number of distilleries and cask types, the details of which can be found on Compass Box's site. It is bottled at 43% without coloring or chill filtration.

Compass Box Great King Street Glasgow Blend

Nose: strong but not overwhelming Laphroaig smoke, solid underpinning of malt and grain, backdrop of sherry, Speyside floral notes in the background. After adding a few drops of water it becomes a little washed out leaving peat smoke on a smoothly grainy bed, less sherry.

Taste: opens with balanced malt/grain/sherry sweetness, joined by moderate but not tannic oak and caramel in the middle, sherry in the background throughout, rising but not overwhelming peat smoke at the back. After dilution it becomes smoother but maybe too much, a little washed out but more sherry.

Finish: balanced malt/peat/sherry/oak

This is a good whisky, no doubt about it. It's a well-composed blend that uses its grain component as a base while letting the malts do most of the work. I think I missed a bit because I was served this whisky in a tumbler, but the general sense was still very positive. If I can ever find this for under $40 with shipping I will definitely be grabbing a full bottle.