This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. I’m a big John Glaser fan. I think he’s done more to elevate blended scotch and especially blended malt (The Artist Formerly Known As Vatted Malt) than anyone in the industry. That said, the last many releases I’ve found to be overpriced and while not underwhelming, they have not exceeded expectations. I’m sure this is due to a drastic increase in pricing of barrels on the secondary market, a drastic decrease in the quality available on the secondary market (distilleries are keeping their good barrels for popular limited releases), and frankly a limited canvas. If your audience is jaded whisky drinkers like yours truly who expect to have their heightened expectations exceeded with every new release, and all you’ve got is a dwindling supply of Clynelish, Linkwood, Caol Ila, and Benrinnes barrels to draw from, well… I guess I should be more lenient. Changing the rules required agreement between all 27 member states of the European Union. “And then Brexit hit, and they all got even less interested in changes,” Glaser says. However, he remains resolute that greater transparency is imperative to the category’s future success. But Glaser sees the beauty in blends. Since he launched Compass Box in 2000, his goal has been to showcase all that is great about the blended Scotch whisky category. So happy I almost don’t even care if it’s good… almost. I mean, if it’s not good I’m never buying another bottle and that would be sad. Right now my regular buys in the Compass Box line are the Spaniard, Peat Monster and Glasgow Blend which are all great, but it’s all a bunch of peat and sherry/wine casks. I’d love to add in an ex-Bourbon fruit bomb to the rotation. And maybe, just maybe, this will be the answer.

The second issue is the category’s pricing past, “particularly in markets like here in the UK”, he notes. Glaser explains how “heavy discounting” began in the 1980s, when Scotch whisky sales and global shipments to established markets started to fall. This marks the start of an exciting future for Compass Box. Glaser is thinking long term into the next 10 and 15 years, laying down whiskies with future core products in mind – Orchard House is just the beginning!Blend: Linkwood (39%), Clynelish (29%), Benrinnes (20%), Macallan (8%), Caol Ila (2%), Highland Malt Blend (2% – 60% Clynelish, 20% Dailuaine, 20% Teaninich) Conclusion: Orchard House is a good whisky at a great price. I put this right up there with Peat Monster as the two stars of Compass Box’ core lineup. If you’ve enjoyed the King Street releases, Orchard House is a great step up in quality and depth and can absolutely hold its own against single malts in this price range. There’s more that we as an industry need to do,” he adds. “The outdated legislation, which prohibits people from talking about the age of anything other than the youngest whisky in a bottle, needs to change. There’s just no logic there, no rationale for keeping it. It’s just inertia on behalf of the industry. Unless, of course, there are companies in the industry who feel that the law protects them from having to disclose everything they have.” Fruit of the land: Orchard House was released last August Now we’re talking about the ability to change Scotch whisky legislation when the powers that be behind the Scotch Whisky Association want to change,” he says. “It hasn’t made any difference to us. It’s just not my thing, Tequila casks with Scotch whisky in them, I don’t get it; I don’t get the deliciousness or how they match.”

This 2021 release is a blended malt with the majority of the whisky coming from Linkwood (39%), Clynelish (29%) and Benrinnes (20%) distilleries, the remaining 12% from “a distillery near the town of Aberlour” (8%), Caol Ila (2%) and their Highland Malt blend (2%) which Compass Box uses in all their core line to varying degrees. Nose: very bright and fruity indeed. Juicy pears and peaches, with hints of grapes, lemons and green apples. Also vanilla and mint, as well as light blossomy touches. Young but vibrant, with a subtle waxy side that hints at Clynelish. In terms of fruitiness this is spot on. Nothing in the Terms shall exclude or limit our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or for death or personal injury resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct by us. Using the base of The Spice Tree to create a Compass Box liqueur (similar to Drambuie), using honey, spices, herbs and vanilla (all supermarket purchasable), we then suggest pairings with other Compass Box whiskies from the core range to bring out different flavour profiles. A great alternative to an Old Fashioned. Palate: Medium bodied, almost syrupy. Anise up front this time, sweetened into licorice candies or nonpareils. Marzipan, almond extract, and dried apricot.

Flavour pairings for the cultivated palate

We put the names and stories and the information we provide around our bottles,” he says. “Every single Compass Box product is sort of one big poetic biosphere. I don’t worry about the Scotch whisky industry or how the category is doing because, you know, 80% of it is cheap brands that we don’t care to compete with. They’re in a different category, as far as I’m concerned.” Glaser sees wine as more transparent than Scotch, and he has been a crusader for greater transparency in whisky. At times, his devotion to the matter has landed him in hot water. For the first 15 years of Compass Box, he says, each bottle carried the name of the distillery where the liquid was sourced, plus percentages of each component of the blend, and more. That was until Glaser was reported to the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA). It’s as idyllic as a Zoom tasting could be – held on the autumnal equinox, and John Glaser is sitting in what was to be the last of the summer (or is it autumn?) sun in his garden, chatting us through a momentous new release for Compass Box called Orchard House. Whisky Exploder Combine whisky, herbs and spices for 12 hours to infuse. Pass through a coffee filter and then dissolve honey into the strained liquid. Store at room temperature indefinitely. Enjoy neat, on ice, or combine with your Compass Box whisky of choice as a Rusty Nail-ish. However, he isn’t convinced by the recent updates to the regulations allowing for a broader variety of casks to be used to mature Scotch whisky.

A smoky New York Sour, with a splash of red wine vinegar and flaky salt rim to provide the salt and vinegar. Regardless of whether the Service offers the functionality to contribute, you are solely responsible and liable for any content and information that you create, upload, post, publish, link to, duplicate, transmit, record, display or otherwise make available on the Service or to other Members, such as chat messages, text messages, videos, audio, audio recordings, music, pictures, photographs, text and any other information or materials, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (“Contributions”).Whiskybase B.V. (“Whiskybase”, “we” or “us”, company details below) offers a whisky enthusiasts online platform that provides its members access to the most comprehensive, transparent and trusted resource of whisky bottles and allows and stimulates its members to contribute information about whisky bottles to the platform (“Service”). Our Service is an online platform which provides Members with information (e.g. bottle facts, market-indices, market values and prices) on (mostly) whisky and allows Members to add information to the platform. We do not sell, nor does the Service provide any option to buy, any alcoholic products.

After university, Glaser was determined to become a wine maker in his US homeland – a desire that greatly influences his approach to whisky‐making today. But a wise word of advice from “a great friend and mentor of mine, Peter Holt” saw Glaser step out of the “long line of people trying to become wine makers in California” and into business school. From there, he secured a job in marketing with the world’s biggest blended Scotch whisky brand, Johnnie Walker. The Service has been prepared by us solely for information purposes to Members and the Service is based on information we consider reliable and we obtain the contents of the Service from a number of different third party sources (including Contributions), but we do not endorse, support, represent, warrant or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of the Services and any information therein. Nice oily mouthfeel and the immediate sharpness of raspberries. The apple and vanilla notes are ever present and help balance out the berry tartness. The finish is like a warm toffee apple and right at the end is where I think I detect that tiny percentage of peat. It gently wafts in and adds an exclamation point to the profile. Water softens everything out and removes much of the sharpness. Compass Box No Name 2 “Orchard House gathers together some of the fruitiest malts Scotland has to offer, including whiskies from the Linkwood and Clynelish distilleries.”– Compass Box Compass Box Orchard House Tasting Notes It’s also soft and oily which makes for a pleasant drinking experience. If I had an “un-peated un-sherried” table Scotch this Compass Box Orchard House would probably be it. The Spaniard would hold the sherried/wine finished role and the peated honor would be Peat Monster. And now that I’ve said that out loud… I kind of want “table Scotch” to be more of a thing. At least in my house.With Water: A few drops of water add a few tart fruit to the aroma – lemon-lime – as well as some nondescript floral notes. The palate is softer, sweeter, nuttier, and in better balance with the (still present) anise flavors. The finish might be sweeter as well. I highly recommend experimenting with water on this one. In Scotland, a lot of people said, ‘hey, you know what, our national drink is not doing very well. We’ll take anybody, even an American who’s trying to create something different with a sincere, unique approach to Scotch whisky, and integrity in terms of quality,” Glaser notes.