Single Malt Whisky, Scotland/Highlands

Following Myths & Legends I and II, dedicated to Balblair and Glen Elgin respectively, London-based Compass Box has created a third single malt, dedicated to the Clynelish distillery. This version, mischievously named This is not a Blend, is the result of blending seven first-fill bourbon barrels distilled in 2015 and then aged for eight weeks in former Bowmore 2002 casks. Bathed in a green and maritime atmosphere with subtle hints of peat and licorice, its aromatic and flavor palette unfolds throughout the tasting with pastoral tones of great freshness and a particularly airy elegance.

Nose : Fresh and subtle. Swept by a salty sea breeze, the aromatic palette also reveals lovely scents of green barley mixed with licorice, vanilla, candied lemon, and Williams pear. As it breathes, increasingly balsamic (cedar), spicy (clove, pepper), medicinal (balm) and honeyed (acacia) scents give it great depth.

Appearance : Gold

Palate : Full-bodied and slender. Supported by flavors of rich, oily peat, the palate is enlivened by notes of exotic fruits (pineapple, banana), beeswax, and acacia honey. Then, infused with flavors of chamomile and verbena, it ventures into increasingly aquatic (reed, rush) and milky (coconut) territory.

Overall : Rich and concentrated. In line with the palate, it reveals a peat that has become more licorice-like, aniseed and slightly empyreumatic (eucalyptus). A melting pot of herbaceous (salicornia, sea kale) and vegetable (zucchini flower, peas) flavors, the retro-olfaction gradually takes on fermented tones (barley porridge).