Compass Box Magic Cask

Review by: TOModera

What was the occasion: I had the idea to review all the blends when I saw a bunch of blends in a list and went “I should review all these blends”. I’m truly a genius.

So I continue on my blend review series, slowly reviewing different blends, like how a constrictor snake digests a goat. But without the slow meat tube part. I don’t know, let’s move on.

What whisky did we review? Compass Box Magic Cask is a release from blenders Compass Box as part of a few experiments they had going on. 

First off, in 2016, they purchased casks of 1-year-old Aberlour and then re-racked them into first fill Oloroso-seasoned butts. Three years later, they tried them. One had become a honey cask, aka the cask all the workers sample on a regular basis, aka the cask you roll out to sell to a visiting representative from a Hong Kong or Japanese businessman, aka a whisky that tastes much better than it should after 4 years of ageing. This was cask #2.

Being a blender, they couldn’t “just” release a single cask from Aberlour. Probably because they promised Aberlour they wouldn’t as part of the purchase, though I can’t substantiate that. Instead, they went looking for what to blend this Aberlour cask with to release it. And being a large whisky company, of course they found a group of Imperial distillery whiskies that had been aged in first-fill bourbon barrels.

Yes, the closed Imperial distillery. Thus they mixed the casks of now-closed Imperial with this magic cask. A blending that some may find odd, but remember Johnnie Walker did the same thing with their Blue line, only they added grain whisky, so maybe I’ll avoid judgement until I’ve tried it and wrote up my judgement.

What’s the distillery? The blender is Compass Box, a blender of Scotch whiskies started in 2000 by John Glaser, a former marketing director at Johnnie Walker. One could write about the many times that Compass Box has been in fights with the Scotch Whisky Association, however I like to point out something simpler: You can figure out the components of almost any Compass Box release by checking their website or checking what they sell.

Who knew I could be helpful? Why do they do this? For transparency’s sake. And I like that.

What’s my bias? What I may have trouble with is I don’t always love what Compass Box makes. Is it because they use Clynelish a lot (or at least used to) and I can’t taste wax well? Or have there been hits and misses? Both. 

As for a honey cask or not, the age or not, and how I feel about Imperial? I mean, I love first-fill casks, I certainly give more benefits to younger Scotch than older, and I have no problem with blending it all together. Oh, and I’ve had some fun Imperial whiskies, so that’s a plus.

I did play Magic: The Gathering for over 10 years and lost a lot of money doing so, so I may be biassed against the name. Let’s see if that comes up, shall we?

Distillery: Compass Box.

Bottler: Distillery Bottling.

Region: Blended Malt.

ABV: 46%.

Age: Bottled March 2020.

Cask type: First-fill Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry Butt.

Price: £ 170 (GBP).

Color:  5Y 8/8

Nose: Pineapple, honeycomb, icing, peach, wax

Tropical fruit, some wax (which means a lot of wax), sweet, and fruity. I’ll say the nose is very, very sweet. I don’t mind sweet whiskies.

Also the tropical/slight funk doesn’t last past a few minutes, and it’s more peach than the Mario movie. That’s topical, right?

Taste: Canned peaches, wheat, white chocolate, candied grapefruit

Huh. That’s a good amount of strong peach flavour. Still very sweet. Was cask #2 just full of sugar? No, no, it’s only a tiny part of this. I think it’s the imperial, so perhaps the Aberlour had more of the peaches note and the Imperial had the other flavours that pair well with peaches.

That said, again, it’s very, very sweet.

Finish: Wheat, peach syrup, wood, powdered ginger

Oh, few, some cereal, and then… peach. Huh. Still very sweet. Whomever came up with this (or approved the final blend) sure does love going to the country. Perhaps that’s where the Presidents of the USA ended up? Time will tell (no it won’t)

Conclusion: You gotta love peaches to love this whisky. I mean you have to really love peaches. I was angling the glass and working on this one harder than a cartoon masseuse. More angles than a cover shoot. Cereal, sweet, sweet, and more sweet.

Now on the one hand, I have a big sweet tooth. One massive one left after all the sugar treats I’ve eaten. That’s a joke, in case you think we live in a Salad Fingers video world.

I don’t think this was a failure, but I don’t think it’s the success they were hoping for. It’s just so damn sweet. Sure, there’s different levels of sweetness, but it’s like they were told “two distilleries max” and went with the Imperial because it’s the best under those requirements. Or perhaps this is for someone who loves sugar and peaches more than I do.

Either way, I’d warn you to try before you buy.

Final Score: 78.

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.

Leave a comment