#compassbox — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #compassbox, aggregated by home.social.
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The recent auction haul included only a lone Compass Box Whisky expression, but it is a special one.
M is for Magic has been on my target list for a long time, but it's a rare one. When it popped up last year I was able to snag it. It was a limited release only available in France.
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Thank you Compass Box Whisky! Can't wait to get this framed and up in our corner shrine to CB & Hedonism!
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A very cool thing on the latest Single Cask Nation
Extra! Extra!! Padcost Season 10 Episode 5. Of special interest to the Compass Box Whisky community, at the 41 minute mark. ;-) -
These three I'm very happy to have as I've been hunting them for a while, trying to be a Compass Box Whisky completist.
Canto Cask 48 is number 15 of 16 - leaving me only number 125 to obtain. I've been avoiding opening any of the Canto Casks until I can get all 16. I hope it won't be much longer.
The Hedonism 10th Anniversary was a real unicorn. I had not seen it pop up in years of hunting, but it finally did. It was the last special release of Hedonism I was hunting. Note it is special in that it is a Single Grain, not a Blended Grain - a 38 year old Invergordon. I've already cracked this one, and it was worth the wait.
The last one is a bit sad - note the fill level of the 'sealed' bottle. That's Monster - the original blend for Park Avenue, the ancestor to The Peat Monster.
This one came from K&L, not an auction. I have to have some of these shipped to a friend in CT, as not everyone ships to MA, and I picked up numerous boxes at once.
While I was bringing the boxes in, I got a whiff of peat. I knew immediately that something was leaking so I quickly unpacked everything to find this bottle. The packing materials were a little damp around the neck of the bottle.
As you can see, the cork had dried out and shrank, allowing a slow leak. The box it was in had no 'this end up' indication, so it could've been upside-down, etc. In any case, I tried it and it doesn't seem to have hurt the whiskey - just wasted some. I replaced the cork, of course.
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Saturday night was a very special night, for several reasons. As some of you know, this past year was a tough one as my father was diagnosed early on with terminal lung cancer, and subsequently suffered a few health crises which had him in the ICU a couple of times. For most of the past year, Jess & my lives were occupied with helping him, and visiting him regularly in New York. We were happy to do it, but it did mean a pause in our usual get togethers with friends, which we missed.
On December 10th, 2025, my father succumbed to his cancer. As you might expect, the subsequent weeks have been full of grief, and paperwork. Even death has bureaucracy.
December 10th was also the day that the Compass Box Whisky Confluence auction at Bonhams Skinner, to benefit The Wolfsonian-FIU, ended. I'd been watching the auction, but uncertain about bidding - despite being a longtime Compass Box fanatic. However, after my father passed early that morning, I decided that I needed something good to go with the day - and that was going to be winning Confluence, which I did. You only live once, as was painfully clear that day.
My birthday is at the end of December, and we had planned a small gathering with friends to celebrate - but Jess & I both came home from my father's services in NY under the weather, and not really in a celebratory mood, so we cancelled that.
Instead, yesterday we had a gathering which was partly a delayed birthday celebration, partly a toast to my father's memory, and partly an exploration of a truly unique whisky. But, more than anything, it was a gathering of good friends for the first time in quite a while - and boy did I need that more than I realized.
Thank you Jess, Jer, Shamala, Marc, Lizzy, Lisa, Carol, Friski and Betsy for making the evening wonderful.
Before we could dive into the whisky, we had to put something in on stomachs - so we had an assortment of my father's favorites, in his honor. There was an antipasto salad, some veggies and cheese, meatballs and sauce (for subs or over pasta), pickle soup (the Cafe Polonia recipe), kielbasa and sauerkraut, pierogi, a texas sheet cake, rice pudding, cupcakes, and some fine Läderach chocolates.
Properly fueled, we attacked the mission of the evening.
We'd assembled a lineup of whiskies for the evening - of course, there was the Confluence, but we also pulled some expressions from the component distilleries. Obviously, these were not *the* components used to make Confluence, but it was just a fun way to try a few things.
We'd lined up Mackmyra, a Gordon & MacPhail Miltonduff, a G&M Macallan, a Highland Park 25, a Flora & Fauna Teaninich, and a Glen Moray (which was peated, it was what we had). We also had a couple of whiskies from Nashoba Valley Distillery, right here in town - Papa's Bourbon and the Stimulus Twenty 20 year old American Single Malt. Thanks to Marc Follit, our good friend, neighbor, and distiller at Nashoba, for bringing those.
Oh, yes, and there is also the Black Tot Rum Last Consignment. It seemed like another special bottle to open - after the whiskies.
We started off with the Confluence, so that we'd have clear palates - the better to taste it with. Whisky reviewer extraordinaire, Friski Whiski, agreed to write up a joint review with input from the whole crew, and we spent quite a bit of time on that. A most enjoyable time it was, too. We avoided reading the official tasting notes before creating our own, and were pleased to see that our notes ended up aligning fairly well with the official ones once we were done.
Friski posted the review on his page (https://www.facebook.com/friski.whiski/posts/pfbid0cQjrjpvFAm7XzAwf54Y62YPcTHMwcriwn5aF1b4JifQrV9XumhkTR5NYcwrT18tMl), but here it is:
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Dram of a lifetime on 1/10/26Compass Box
Confluence
Blended Malt Whisky
Age: NAS
Abv: 48.9%
No. of bottles: 1Components:
The Mackmyra Distillery
Swedish Single Malt
Cherry Wine Fresh Seasoned American Oak
9%The Mackmyra Distillery
Swedish Single Malt
Oloroso First Fill Sherry Seasoned American Oak
9%The Mackmyra Distillery
Swedish Single Malt
American First Fill & Virgin Oak Casks
9%The Mackmyra Distillery
Swedish Single Malt
Swedish Virgin Oak & First Fill Casks
3%Teaninich Distillery
Scottish Single Malt
First Fill Sherry Butt
12%Miltonduff Distillery
Scottish Single Malt
First Fill Bourbon Barrel
12%Highland Park Distillery
Scottish Single Malt
Recharred Hogshead
3%The Macallan Distillery
Scottish Single Malt
First Fill Bourbon Barrel
14%Glen Moray Distillery
Scottish Single Malt
First Fill Bourbon Barrel
15%Glen Moray Distillery
Scottish Single Malt
First Fill Bourbon Barrel
15%Availability: 1 of 1 bottle. Bonhams auction house event "Art & Alchemy of Spirits: Presenting Compass Box to Benefit the Wolfsonian".
Crowd source notes: MegaZone, Jess Terry, Jer Johnson, Shamala Rao, Marc Follit, Lizzy Nicolai, Lisa Mulvehill, Carol Ann, Betsey Hendricks, and Friski Whiski.
Color: Medium honey and golden syrup
Neat (without water)
Nose: Soft and crisp. Honey, green apple, marzipan, cooked caramelized pineapple, confectioner’s sugar, lemon citrus, orange peel, with hints of cardamom and anise.Texture: Warm. Creamy, buttery, slightly drying through the finish and pleasantly astringent.
Palate: Apple blossom honey, honey comb, marzipan, caramel, and birchwood. Swedish Kanelbulle (which is a classic Scandinavian cinnamon bun, spiced with cardamom in the dough, less gooey and use a lighter cinnamon application).
Finish: A roller coaster ride of white pepper, fresh green olive oil, saline, toasted almonds, fine Corinthian leather, oak, grapefruit pith, and oleo saccharum.
Unleash the serpent (with water)
Nose: An orchard house of fruit moved to the forefront. Pear, apple frangipane, sliced almonds, sweet cracked malt and fresh cream. Birchbeer float with vanilla bean ice cream. Lakrits, lemon blossoms where floral and citrus combine into a confluence of marriage.Texture: Creamy, buttery, woody without the tannic astringency.
Palate: Baked apple dumplings, roasted butternut squash, demerara sugar, sweet cream, and candied meyer lemon.Finish: Earthy notes get amplified. Warm spiced sweet potato pie with a pastry crust, sea spray, salted caramel, walnut skins, and toffee with subtle hints of a gentle smoke.
Tasting notes glass used: Open Up Chef and Sommelier 5.5oz glass.
The morning after glass: Sweet cracked malt, dust, vanilla, and caramelPairings...
Season: AnyMusic: Lovefool by The Cardigans
Food: Rosemary pork loin with homemade applesauce
Media: Best enjoyed with great company and good conversation.
Overall: From first nose to final sip, several of us ended up in a journey from an apple orchard to our grandmother's seaside cottage while various desserts were being cooked. Fantastic debut from Angela D'Orazio at Compass Box! We really look forward to her future creations.
---END---As you can see, we loved it. This is a fantastic whisky, IMHO, and I'm thrilled that we were able to try it. Whisky is for sharing, not for staring. It would have been a crying shame for this to sit on someone's shelf, never to be tasted. You can tell we enjoyed it - we went through about 1/3 of the bottle compiling those tasting notes. ;-)
Afterwards we did taste through the other whiskies - which were good, but kind of paled a bit after Confluence. The Mackmyra was well-loved as well, and you can see the influence in Confluence. The other standout for the group was the Flora & Fauna Teaninich - really good. Enough so that we're going to be looking for more Teaninich at auctions to try in the future.
Really, everything was good - and, more importantly, we had a lot of laughs and great conversation trying them.
After we ran the line of whisky, we did open the Last Consignment - and I figured out why it comes with two extra corks! The cork in the bottle is fully seated and covered in wax - so you have to pull it like a wine bottle, and it isn't really designed to go back in. So you use one of the supplied corks to reseal the bottle. Mystery solved!
It is a very rich, unctuous rum that those who tried enjoyed. It is also liquid history, and it was special just to be trying it. The previous evening I'd also read through the little booklet that is included, going through the history of the rum and rituals in the Royal Navy, and that was quite interesting.
The molasses note is front and center, but there are tropical fruits, spices, chocolate, leather, a bit of funk (there has to be some Jamaican rum in there)... a really thought-provoking sip.
As the evening ran down, and some of the crew left for home, we decided to keep the evening going with a few additional drams. So I grabbed some Glenmorangie. We hit Year of the Snake first - I'd opened this, but some of the others had not had a chance. This is still a standout dram - a blend of ex-Bourbon and Amontillado finishing casks.
They we opened the Rare Cask 21 year Mizunara finish. As expected, this is a very fine whisky, but the Snake was still in the lead by consensus.
And we last turned to the new 25 year, The Altus. This is mostly aged in designer bourbon casks, but is seasoned with a little whisky finished in Malmsey Madeira casks. A very juicy, fruit-forward dram, this ended up coming in second place, bumping the Mizunara to 3rd. Still, they're all fantastic.
That pretty much wrapped up the night. It was an amazing time start to finish - fantastic drams, but even better friends.
Next Saturday we're doing a larger gathering - this time for Raising Glasses rums. Should be fun!
#Whiskey #Whiskey #Rum #CompassBox #BlackTot #Mackmyra #Miltonduff #Teaninich #Macallan #HighlandPark #GlenMoray #NashobaValleyWinery #Glenmorangie #Scotch #Bourbon
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Crème brûlée inspires Compass Box creation https://www.diningandcooking.com/2303458/creme-brulee-inspires-compass-box-creation/ ##products #CompassBox #CremeBrulee #desserts #francais #france #French #FrenchDesserts #ScotchWhisky
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I didn't come home empty-handed from last night's event at Julio's Liquors. I was fortunate to come home with a bottle of the new Compass Box Whisky Limited Edition, Brûlée Royale. Samuel Travers, the lead whiskymaker for this release, led the event last night.
A couple of other bottles I'd reserved had also arrived in the past week. The new Glenmorangie Limited Edition, A Tale of Spices. This is the latest in the ongoing 'A Tale of' series.
And, lastly, Maker's Mark Cellar Aged 2025 Release. I have the previous releases (2023 & 2024) already, and I've been hearing good things about this one. It came with an informational booklet, which I don't recall the previous releases having.
#Whiskey #Whisky #Scotch #Bourbon #CompassBox #Glenmorangie #MakersMark
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I recently had several months worth of auction lots shipped, and last night I finally had time to open them. It has, unfortunately, been a crazy couple of months.
This is the first batch.
First up are five Ardbeg bottlings - the original 17 year (not the recent re-release), Traigh Bhan release 02, the Twenty One, Twenty Something 22yr, and Twenty Something 23yr.
A run of nice Single Grain bottlings from Clan Denny - 1997 20yr Invergordon, 1998 25yr Cambus, 1974 35yr North of Scotland, 1975 36yr Cambus, 1965 45yr Dumbarton, 1965 45yr Girvan, 1965 45yr Caledonian, and 1963 48yr Cambus.
And a 2006 bottling of Compass Box Hedonism. That's one I was missing from the lineup.
#Whiskey #Whisky #Ardbeg #ClanDenny #CompassBox #Invergordon #Cambus #NorthofScotland #Dumbarton #Girvan #Caledonian
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Recent acquisitions:
First up, recent pickups from Julio's Liquors. Hirsch Whiskey Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Double Oak Loch & Key Whisk(e)y Society pick. Taconic Distillery New York Single Malt Whiskey & Barrel Strength Straight Rye Whiskey from a recent Whiskey Wednesday tasting. And Yellowstone Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Loch & Key "Lassoing The Wind" Single Barrel.
A shipment from Unicorn Auctions with WhistlePig PiggyBack Single Barrel Alfa Romeo F1 Team edition and CampStock Wheat Whiskey, a Solo Stove collaboration. High West Distillery 14 year Light Whiskey Batch 2. And, all the way from Germany, Eifel Whisky German Rye Whisky Edition 2019.
Last, but far from least, Compass Box Whisky "Share, Enjoy, Celebrate!". A Japan-only release that I managed to obtain thanks to several kind coworkers who were willing to accept the delivery in Tokyo, bring it to our Seattle office, and hold it for me until I could pick it up this week as I passed through on the way home from vacation.
#Whiskey #Whisky #Bourbon #Rye #Scotch #Hirsch #TaconicDistillery #YellowstoneBourbon #WhistlePig #HighWest #EifelWhisky #CompassBox
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I've been sitting on bottles from Whisky Auctioneer for over six months as the shipping cost per bottle drops significantly as the number of bottles increases. I recently pulled the trigger on shipping and by last week everything had arrived - just in time for me to get sick. I finally opened it all tonight.
I picked up a number of Glenmorangie. The Maltman's Special Reserve 18 year. MH Private Europe 21 Year Cask 9. 1993 Swamp Oak Single Cask. 1991 Mount Everest bottling. The Scotch Malt Whisky Society 125.27 & 125.75. Crom 16 year Westport Warlords & Warriors Edition Thulsa's Choice. And Wilson & Morgan 18 year Westport.
Compass Box also got some love. I picked up Hedonism Maximus - the market release as I already have the LWDW bottling. Two additional bottlings of the standard Hedonism from 2018 & 2019. Canto Cask 17 & 124 - that brings me up to 8 of the 16. The Nectar 10th Anniversary release (I have the 15th). The "Double Single" original Craigellachie Hotel release from 2004. The Peat Monster 2008 bottling. And D is for Demi John.
And then a smattering of others. A Clase Azul Mezcal San Luis Potosi. Amrut Single Malt Rye - the first ever Indian Single Malt Rye. Three Clan Denny Single Grain bottlings - Garnheath 43 year, Invergordon 47 year, and Dumbarton 48 year. Wild Turkey 13 year Distiller's Reserve. Ardbeg Smoketrails Manzanilla Edition - a second bottle as I've shared my first at a few tastings and it is getting low. And, last but not least, a non-auction bottle from Julio's Liquors, Knob Creek Single Barrel Select Rye "Si" for the Loch & Key Whisk(e)y Society.
There were four other bottles, but those are for others.
#Whiskey #Whisky #Scotch #Rye #Bourbon #Mezcal #Glenmorangie #Westport #SMWS #ScotchMaltWhiskySociety #CompassBox #ClaseAzul #Amrut #ClanDenny #Garnheath #Invergordon #Dumbarton #WildTurkey #Ardbeg #KnobCreek
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We had a cozy little gathering with just a handful of friends Saturday, with no theme other than to try some 'good stuff'. We whetted our appetites with a couple of small sample sets my wife gave me shortly after we met. 12 samples in total, just enough for small tasting pours.
Friends brought Mehkong cane spirit from Thailand. My neighbors brought a 23 year Glen Rothes 1997 Cask Strength and a nice beer from Amory’s Tomb Brewing Co., which we used as a palate cleanser part way through the evening.
I just kept pulling things, and in the end we went through 20 of my bottles over the course of the evening. It was an amazing night, so many good bottles.
Not in the order we did them, in part because I didn't record the specific order and in part because I can't be arsed to try to remember:
Wild Turkey Master's Keep Triumph
High West Bottled In Bond rye & Cask Collection bourbon finished in Barbados rum barrels
Glenmorangie 1987 Margaux Cask Finish, Distillery Manager's Choice bottled 2001, Cote De Nuits Wood Finish, 30 year Oloroso Cask Finish, Tain L'Hermitage 1975, Tain L'Hermitage 1978, Year of the Rabbit 23 year old, Grand Vintage Malt 1991, and Carn Mor "Celebration of the Cask" Westport (Glenmo in disguise)
Amrut Greedy Angels 12 year, Spectrum 004, and Single Cask Single Grain
Clan Denny 1991 Cameronbridge 29 year & 1978 Port Dundas 33 year single grains
Copper & Cask "Roxie" rye & "French Kiss" bourbon from Julio's Liquors
And, last but not least, Compass Box Great King Street Experimental Batch 00-V4There may have been a couple of other random silly things at the end... 😉
#Whisky #Whiskey #Scotch #Rye #Bourbon #IndianWhisky #WildTurkey #HighWest #Glenmorangie #Amrut #ClanDenny #CopperAndCask #CompassBox #GlenRothes #Mehkong #Westport
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A couple of auction boxes arrived this week.
First up, from Unicorn Auctions, two High West Distillery expressions - a Bottled in Bond Straight Rye and a rum cask finished bourbon. I'm a sucker for rum finishes.
And six from Scotch Whisky Auctions. Three Compass Box Whisky expressions - two vintages of Hedonism to fill in gaps in my lineup, and the Great King Street Experimental Batch 00-V4. (Still seeking TR-06). A Scotch Malt Whisky Society Glenmorangie 125.80. Amrut Single Cask Single Grain Indian Whisky. And a Clan Denny 29 year old Cameronbridge Single Grain.
#Whiskey #Whisky #Scotch #Bourbon #Rye #HighWest #CompassBox #ScotchMaltWhiskySociety #AmrutWhisky #Glenmorangie #ClanDenny #Cameronbridge
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Today is a bountiful day.
Several Compass Box additions arrived, notably the K&L Wines 5th and Harrison blend and the Binny's Gold Standard blend. But also a few variations of Hedonism from 2011, 2013, and 2015, which join others I already have. I think I need to do a side-by-side Hedonism tasting sometime just to see how much variation there is, outside of the special editions.
A couple of High West Distillery bottles - a bourbon and the Silver Whiskey Western Oat. The latter is a light whiskey that I've not tried before, so that should be interesting.
And, for ludicrous factor, the WhistlePig Whiskey Pit Viper Summerstock Whiskey, complete with Sunglasses From The Future. (Which I've already been forbidden to wear.) I'd ordered this way back when it first became available, but first my order was delayed, then it shipped but sat in a depot for a while before being picked up... And then it vanished.
So, after a few weeks I followed up, it was declared lost, and this is the second one. This one made it, just took a few months in the end. I hope someone is enjoying the 'lost' shipment.
#Whiskey #Whisky #CompassBox #Scotch #Bourbon #HighWest #WhistlePig #Rye #Binnys #KandLWines
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On our drive out we stopped in PA to pick up some Yeungling for Jess's aunt, as it is hard to come by in Illinois, and I picked up a couple of local bottles to try. Liberty Pole Spirits Wheated Bourbon Whiskey and Rye Whiskey. They drink as a fairly young product; I think the rye was more to my taste. Always good to try something local when traveling.
On my visit to Binny's I picked up a couple of their WhistlePig store pick 12 year Old World Ryes. They're both good, but the Apple Heavy Toast Cask is very interesting. Just different from any other WhistlePig finishes I've had, and I liked it. I also picked up the Compass Box Flaming Heart 2022 release which I'd managed to miss when it hit shelves near me.
But the real reason I made the long drive up was for one specific bottle - the Glenmorangie Pride 1978. This joins the 1974 & 1981 expressions I already have, completing the trilogy. I'll have to get a family photo soon.
Since I returned I also scored a High West Distillery The Prisoner's Share. Thanks to Kevork for hooking me up with that.
#Whiskey #Whisky #CompassBox #Scotch #Rye #Bourbon #Glenmorangie #HighWest #WhistlePig #Bourbon #Binnys #LibertyPoleSpirits
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This is what got poured last night, in approximately the right order...
Hedonism^2
Rogues Banquet
Myths & Legends I, II, & III
Vellichor
Ultramarine
Delos
Artist #7 by La Maison Du Whisky
Tobias & The Angel
The One I Love
No Name #3
Experimental Grain Whisky
Circus
The General
Phenomenology
Bern's
Three Year Old Deluxe
Hedonism Quindecimus
Hedonism The Muse
Hedonism Felicitas
Orangerie
AffinityAnd an oddball at the end - Amrut Greedy Angels 10 Year Old
Oh, I completely spaced on the pre-release bottle of Teeling Single Barrel Cask Strength Loch & K(e)y Virgin Oak that John brought that we kicked things off with.
