Compass Box Spice Tree

Review by: The Muskox

I love Compass Box blends. After my introduction to Oak Cross, I was keen to pick up this bottle and give it a try.

This whisky is a vatting of malts from the Clynelish, Dailuaine, and Teaninich distilleries, blended in roughly 60/20/20 proportions and matured in French oak casks with extra-toasty barrel heads. This is to replicate the effect of the French oak staves inserted into the barrels of the original version of Spice Tree.

Distillery: Blend.

Bottler: Compass Box.

Region: Blend.

ABV: 46%.

Age: No age statement.

Cask type: Various.

Price: $65 CAD.

Color: Medium amber. Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

Nose: Rich caramel and honey jump out of the glass. Orange peel provides some notable citrus zing. Red delicious apple. A touch of banana, pineapple, and coconut. A hint of raisin and black currant, and more than a hint of dried apricot. Toasted cream and butter. Vanilla ice cream. Spices (obviously): iced cinnamon rolls, nutmeg, just a trace of anise. Very slight soy sauce. Mouthwatering.

Palate: Starts out creamy and smooth with lots of vanilla, then explodes into spice. Nutmeg, black pepper, grape skins, brown sugar, cinnamon rolls. Lemon is in there too. Lots of toasty oak. Some black tea. Just after the spices subside, I got the same pomegranate note I got from Oak Cross! Very cool. The vanilla really carries through the whole experience.

Finish: Stays pleasantly spicy, with lots of cinnamon and old oak. Lemon drops, brown-sugar-fried pineapple. Bitter honey, and more pomegranate. Some slight astringency, like a bit of a sour strawberry. Some of that soy sauce comes back, not so much in the sense of salt, but as a rich umami sensation. Lingering vanilla.

Conclusion: I was surprised how similar this tastes to the Oak Cross. It’s got that same backbone of lemon-toast-vanilla-pomegranate. I guess that makes sense given that the malts going into the two whiskies are the same. However, this one has got way more fruit, spice, and richness though. I think “full” is the right word to describe this whisky experience. It’s dense, rich, full of flavour. It’s like if you took, I don’t know, a TREE, hung a whole bunch of SPICES from the branches, and then uprooted the tree and beat somebody half to death with it, then tried to ice the bruises with vanilla ice cream, and then also you’re in a fruit market. Yep, exactly like that.

Final Score: 86.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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