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24th March 2021 |
After a bit
of a delay the new Compass Box Magic
Cask is now available.
 Magic
Cask is a new limited edition Scotch
blended malt whisky from the creative
folks at Compass Box, some of you based
in Canada who have been enjoying Compass
Box whiskies since the company's early
days may be familiar with the name of
the new expression as this is not the
first Magic Cask whisky to be conjured
up by the creative whisky maker, back in 2006 a Compass Box
Magic Cask expression was bottled
exclusively for the LCBO in Ontario,
Canada.
The Compass Box Magic Cask
expression bottled back in 2006 for the LCBO was a
blend of two Scotch single malts, a
Linkwood 17 year old which was finished
for the last year of its maturation in a
Madeira barrique which at that time was
a first for Compass Box as they had
never used former wine casks in their
whisky making before, this was
blended with a Clynelish 14 year old and
the resultant whisky was named 'Magic
Cask'.
Fast forward around 14 years and Compass Box
Lead Whiskymaker James Saxon has created a
blended malt using two Speyside whisky
region single malts which Compass Box has deemed worthy to carry the name
Magic Cask.
The new Compass Box Magic Cask has been
created using just two Scotch single
malt whiskies, 92% of which was
distilled at the now lost Imperial
distillery which closed back in 1998 and
was demolished in 2013,
this was matured for around 23 years in a First Fill Bourbon
barrel.
The other 8% of contributing whisky in
the new Magic Cask blended malt was
distilled at a undisclosed distillery
near the town of Aberlour. The 4 to 5
year old undisclosed single malt in the
blend came from cask no. 2 in a batch of
10 sherry butts which Compass Box had
filled in
2016 as part of a maturation trial. For
the trial they re-racked an undisclosed one year old malt spirit into First Fill
Oloroso seasoned sherry butts from the
renowned bodega, Jose Miguel Martin. By
2019, one particular cask, cask no. 2
proved so compelling that James Saxon
began to experiment with it and after introducing
it to a much older malt whisky from the
now lost Imperial Distillery, he says
that he witnessed a moment of magic and
hey presto the new Magic Cask was
bottled.
Compass Box Magic Cask has been bottled
at 46% ABV, it is naturally coloured
and non chill-filtered. Although it was
bottled in March 2020 it is only arriving on the shelves of the whisky
shops now, its release like many things
has been delayed somewhat by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is
a limited
edition release of 5,538 bottles with a RRP of £145
for the 70cl bottle, you will find it available
while stocks last from
specialist online whisky retailers
such as
The Whisky Exchange and
Master of
Malt
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Compass Box Magic Cask Review
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William
Morrison's Tasting Notes:
Nose:
A little fruity and floral, enticing sweet citrus notes of orange
is joined by some fresh apple and
sultana.
A little sweet vanilla toffee and a hint
of honey and dark chocolate lurking in the background.
Taste:
Demerara sugar sweetened spiced vanilla
toffee leads all infused with a
delicious gentle citrus orange, followed
by a stronger wave of oak spice, a
little raisin and sultana, some late
dark chocolate and a touch of
coconut ice.
Finish:
A deliciously longish finish, the spice
quickly mellows, vanilla, orange and
sultana fade first to leave a touch of
coffee and some gentle sweet, mature oak
and mildly drying spice.
Comment:
A delicious, spicy, lightly sherried,
mature Speyside whisky. The creative
folks at Compass Box have put together
some deliciously outstanding whiskies
over the years and this is another one.
Whisky is made for pleasure and this was
a pleasure.
I am sure the knowledgeable whisky
drinkers amongst you could hazard a
guess to what the undisclosed sherried
whisky is in the blend but we will never really
know for sure, perhaps it is Benrinnes
or maybe Aberlour, one thing I can say
for sure is that it is a cracking
balance of young and mainly old single
malt and it is outstanding.
SMW Score
92/100
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