Artist Blend Compass Box Blended Scotch Whisky 43%

Compass Box has spent years fighting for the right to say what is in their bottles. It sounds like a technicality, but it is the heart of the house: if you believe a blend can be art, you have to be willing to show the recipe.

The Expert's Description

Artist Blend is a Blended Scotch Whisky from Compass Box, bottled at 43% and neither chill filtered nor coloured. It embodies the house mission of getting people to rediscover the pleasures of a well proportioned and artful blend.

Compass Box was founded in 2000 by John Glaser and works from a blending room in Richmond in London. The house owns no distillery but buys whisky from across Scotland and puts it together by flavour rather than by geography. That is a different method from the one the large blending houses use.

The nose and palate are full, round and generous, with toasted oak, vanilla and spice in both. The whisky is bottled without chill filtration, which is unusual for a blend in this bracket.

Tasting Notes

Nose

Toasted oak and vanilla first, with a round cereal sweetness underneath. There is spice in it, cinnamon and a little nutmeg, and a clear malty weight that is more than you expect from a blend.

Palate

Full and generous. Vanilla and toasted oak open, then the spices arrive along with a soft fruit sweetness. At 43% the body is good, and the absence of chill filtration is felt in the mouthfeel.

Finish

Pleasantly spiced and tingling, with a fine fading sweetness and a wisp of smoke at the close.

Specifications

Name: Artist Blend Compass Box Blended Scotch Whisky 43%
Bottler: Compass Box
Region/Country: Scotland
Type: Blended Scotch Whisky
ABV: 43%
Size: 70 CL
Non-chill filtered: Yes
Natural colour: Yes
Edition: Artist Blend
EAN no.: 5060632880505

Flavour Profile

Spiced · Vanilla · Oaky · Malty · Soft · Lightly Smoky

Did You Know?

Compass Box fell foul of the Scotch whisky authorities in 2015 for stating the age of the individual components in their blends. The rules say that if you mention an age it must be that of the youngest whisky in the bottle, so disclosing the full recipe was technically against them. The house has campaigned for the rules to change ever since.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Artist Blend Compass Box Blended Scotch Whisky 43%

What is a Blended Scotch Whisky?

A mixture of malt whisky and grain whisky, usually from several distilleries. The grain whisky makes the blend softer and lighter, while the malt gives character. The great majority of all Scotch whisky drunk worldwide is blended.

What makes Compass Box different?

They own no distillery and instead buy whisky from across Scotland. The blends are assembled by flavour rather than by supply agreements, and the house has consistently pushed for greater openness about what is in the bottles.

Is 43% high for a blend?

A little, yes. Most standard blends are bottled at 40%. The extra degrees give more body, and together with the decision to skip chill filtration that means a noticeably fuller mouthfeel.

Who is John Glaser?

The founder of Compass Box. He started the house in 2000 after a career in the established whisky trade, and his starting point was that blends deserved the same attention as single malts.

Can it be used in cocktails?

Yes, and it is well suited. At 43% it stands up to being mixed without disappearing, and the spice and vanilla work in an Old Fashioned or a Highball. See our full range of Scotch Whisky.

Is it peated?

Only a wisp at the close. There is a suggestion of smoke on the finish, but this is not a smoky blend. Vanilla, oak and spice take up far more room.