Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend Review
Contributed by on Apr 17, 2018
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Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend is a non-peated blended whisky from Compass Box that, as they put it, was made for “both demanding single malt drinkers and mixologist bartenders”. Essentially it’s meant to be an affordable everyday blended whisky with a backbone so that it stands up in cocktails, and taste good if want to drink it neat.
Obviously, we’ll get into the details in the Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend review below, but before we get into to nitty-gritty details of the whisky I’d like take a second to commend John and the team at Compass Box for what they do.
Every release, love it or hate it, is created with thought and they strive to do it right by not chill-filtering or coloring their whisky. They let the creations fully speak for themselves and create things that are unique in the market. Like this, a blended Scotch with <50% grain in a world besot by 70-80% grain blends is something to give a slow golf clap to at the very least.
Whiskey Review: Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend
In Compass Box’s Words: Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend
“Rich, round, fruity. Artist’s Blend is a tribute to a time when blenders used an artistry, creativity and craft to make this combination of flavourful single malt whiskies and delicate single grain whiskies one of the world’s most famous drinks. Soft, full and fruity on the palate, with flavours of baked apple, vanilla, spices and toasted oak.”
Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend price, ABV, age and other details
Region: Scotland
Blender: Compass Box
Blend: 46% Grain (Cameron Bridge) & 54% Malt (8% Linkwood, 29% Clynelish, 17% Highland Malt (60% Clynelish, 20% Dailuaine, 20% Teaninich))
Cask: ex-Bourbon, ex-Sherry, French Oak Hybrid
Age: NAS
ABV: 43%
Non-Chill Filtered | Natural Color
Price: $35
Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend Tasting Notes
EYE
Light gold
NOSE
Honey, malt, apricot, golden raisins, grainy caramel, Cheerios and a bit of spice and bubblegum.
PALATE
Honey, malt, apricot, golden raisins, vanilla, green apples and a bit of spice and caramel.
FINISH
Medium -> Fruit, wax, malt and honey.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Good sense of balance, medium body and a soft supple feel.
Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend Review – OVERALL
Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend is quite an enjoyable whisky and I wasn’t expecting that. It’s not complex, it’s not deep, it’s not wild, it’s just… enjoyable. This is a sit-back-relax-and-drink-something-not-terrible kind of whisky. The kind you don’t need, or even want, to think about. It’s the thing you’d pour on a Saturday while doing chores around the house.
In fact, the only real fault I have with it is how heavy the caramel-laden grain comes through. It’s the one detractor for me here and is what keeps the Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend from hitting the B range. I’m just not a massive fan of that caramel-meets coconut of youngish grain whiskey.
SCORE: 82/100 (B-)
Compass Box Great King St Artist's Blend Review
Compass Box Great King St Artist's Blend Review Summary
Compass Box Great King St Artist’s Blend is alright, especially for the price point.
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