I am not sure I would pay the hefty ~£130 for a bottle to drink but I think it’s pretty clear from the packaging that this is more a “collector’s” whisky. It was a bit light and spirity but there was something going on in there that made me want to chase.

There are a lot of flavours there that I don’t usually encounter in whisky which is refreshing. That being said this is quite an interesting dram. I would have very much liked to have much more of this but alas it was not to be. I should preface this by saying I only had a very small amount of this. Notes of chocolate like the kind they use on ice cream sundays. Smooth sweet caramel and fudge on vanilla bean ice cream. Reminds me of eating a cheeseburger with a vanilla milk shake or MacDonald’s ice cream cone.

Almost like a MacDonald’s cheeseburger fresh out of the waxed paper, oddly enough. A kind of tangy spirity note that’s kind of savoury. He’s a cool guy with a passion for his craft. We met Gregg Glass at a special Water of Life Society tasting in 2014. John Glaser obviously being the founder and captain of the ship and Gregg Glass doing some real legwork.

Whisky recipes! Anyway before I get on with the tasting notes, I’d like to give credit to the main dudes at Compass Box, John Glaser and Gregg Glass. 18% 32yo Loch Lomond mystery blended grain from American standard barrels.19.4% Port Dundas 20yo from first-fill American standard barrels.8.4% Dumbarton 28yo from American standard barrels.36.6% Port Dundas 25yo from rejuvenated hogsheads.17.6% North British 20yo from first-fill American standard barrels.Here it goes (from the Whisky Exchange Blog): While the makeup of blends is typically guarded more closely than nuclear launch codes, Compass Box have revealed all in typical compass Box fashion. You can kind of see a trend in the naming. The Quindecimus is their special batch produced for their 15th Anniversary.

Some people are dead against grain or simply unimpressed, but I think there are some notable exceptions. I guess the name kind of gives that away a bit. The original Hedonism was one of the first blended grain whiskies to push into the luxury market. As for this particular expression from Compass Box, it’s a special batch of a special idea. As a result they’ve received some harsh rebukes and sanctions but I guess that’s what happens when you push the limits. Always experimenting and poking at the rules. I think of them as being on the cutting edge of whisky. There aren’t too many companies like Compass Box.

Compass box hedonism quindecimus whisky