Whisky: Compass Box The Spice Tree Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Producer: Compass Box
Distillery: N/A
Region: N/A
Whisky Type: Blended Malt Scotch (Unchillfiltered no caramel coloring added)
Age: NAS (All malts in the blend are around 10 years)
ABV: 46%
Aged in Cask: American oak and French oak
Price Range: $$

After several years of tasting Compass Box whiskies, I finally wrote my first review. This one is a Scotch Blended Malt well-known among Scotch Whisky geeks as The Spice Tree.

Compass Box is a whisky boutique based in London founded by John Glaser in 2000 with the mission of creating innovative expressions of Scotch Whisky through the art of blending whiskies from multiple Scottish distilleries. The trademark of Compass Box is to break the rules of Scotch Whisky. Compass Box’s mantra is to create whiskeys that stand out from any other whiskey in the market.

Compass Box Principles

• Quality of the wood. Great casks will result in great whisky. Hand-selected from distilleries in Scotland.
• Age is just a number. The whisky is ready when it is ready.
• No chill filtration and caramel coloring (E150a)
• Enjoy it as you wish (i.e., Neat, on the rocks, as a cocktail)
• Experiment with different barrel toasting levels to create unique profiles.
• Highly rehearsed blends that take months to achieve.
• Select a few components of each blend to shine.
• Mature the whisky from six months to three years in the cask.

The Core Range

• Hedonism. A Single grain whisky released in 2000 that received mixed reviews in England when it launched.
• Orchard House. A Blended Malt.
• The Story of the Spaniard. Blended Malt aged in Sherry casks.
• The Spice Tree. The controversial Blended Malt. See the story below.
• The Peat Monster. For those who love peat-influenced whisky.

The Compass Box Spice Tree Story

John Glaser was a wine geek before he became a Scotch Whisky expert after spending some time in Scotland working for Johnnie Walker’s Master Blender, Jim Beveridge, and Diageo’s Master Blender, Maureen Robinson.

While on vacation in the Bahamas with his wife, John had a eureka moment and decided to leave Diageo to create a new line of whiskies to showcase the art of blending and introduce the 40-year-old segment to the Scotch Whisky category.

With that mindset, John created The Spice Tree in 2005, a whisky aged in French Oak barrels with stave inserts (a common practice in the wine industry) that did not comply with the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) regulations. As a result, Compass Box was forced to pull out The Spice Tree from the market within months. The dispute at the time was big and all bottles of the blend sold out.

In 2009 Compass Box adjusted the aging method by giving the whisky a second maturation (finishing) in heavily toasted new French oak heads and relaunched The Spice Tree successfuly.

Compass Box has been in the hot seat with the SWA for providing too much transparency to its customers by disclosing the composition of its blends. In the wine industry, the label allows the customer to identify the grape varietal, winery, year of the vintage, casks used for maturation, and proportion of the grapes in the blend (i.e., 80% Sangiovese 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc).

In the Scotch Whisky industry, 100% disclosure has not been a common practice. Distilleries have been required only to state the year of the youngest whisky on the label, often leaving the customer guessing about the proportion of malts and grain whiskies.

For those familiar with the Macallan edition series, the distillery makes an effort to disclose the types of casks used for each of its six limited edition expressions. For example, The Macallan Edition 5 is made from 1st fill Bourbon barrels (33%), 2nd fill American Hogshead (37%), and American Butts (30%). A step in the right direction in favor of consumers who want to know more about their purchase.

Compass Box discloses its recipes on its website for all of its blends. Here is the recipe for The Spice Tree:

• A Highland Malt Blend (28.9%) aged in a custom French Oak barrel with a heavy toast to provide dark chocolate, cinnamon, and clove flavors.
• A Highland Malt Blend (20.4%) aged in a custom French Oak barrel with a light toast to provide toffee, honey, and spiced apple flavors.
• A Highland Malt Blend (24.5%) aged in a custom French Oak barrel with a medium toast to provide rich vanilla, caramel, and cinnamon flavors.
• The Glen Moray Distillery (16.8%) single malt aged in 1st Fill Bourbon barrel to provide apple, honey, and vanilla flavors.
• The Balmenach Distillery (9.3%) single malt aged in 1st Fill Bourbon barrel to provide ginger, fruity, and toffee flavors.

Tasting Notes for Notes for Compass Box The Spice Tree 

Nose:  Aromas of orange apricot, honey, malt, and caramel. A very delicate nose.

Palate: A tasty arrival of oranges, cereal (malt) developing into intense flavors of clove, ginger, and other spices. A malt with a great personality and complexity.

Finish: Medium. Intense spices take over the finish.  

Conclusion: This tasty and well-crafted blended malt is hard to put away because it combines delicate tropical fruit flavors with oak spices in a masterful manner. The way this whisky delivers on the palate took me back to a similar experience I had with Hibiki 12 years old, which is also a highly engineered blend. However, The Spice Tree has something that feels very Scotch, perhaps the cereal malt note from start to finish. I enjoy this as I did seven years ago when I first tried it. I do not know why I waited so long to return to this beautiful blend. Slainte!

For more information and reviews on blended whiskies, check here and don’t forget to follow me on my Instagram account.

Score: 4.25/5 ⭐

Legend

$50 or less $
$51-$100 $$
$101-$150 $$$
$151 or more $$$$