Spice Tree

So much good whisky, and so little time. John came home recently for the holidays, with a couple new bottles, recommendations from Joe Howell, the whisky manager at Federal Wine & Spirits in downtown Boston. Joe's recommendations are always right on point, and this time was no exception. One was a Bladnoch, soon to be our favorite lowland malt, as soon as the world's supply of Rosebank disappears. But the Bladnoch posting will have to wait for a while; after all I've previously posted about the Signatory bottling of Bladnoch which I found right here in Rochester. Joe's second suggestion, and the subject of tonight's post is Spice Box, one of the new blended malts from the Compass Box label.

I don't know much about Compass Box, other than the fact that Joe sold Chipper a bottle of Peat Monster, and that their whiskies are attractively packaged, catching the eye as they sit on the shelves, next to the other blends. But honestly, I never spent much time looking them over. A few years ago, when I was at the bar at Max one night, a liquor salesman urged me to try something called Pebble Beach, which looked nice, but which I quickly concluded was all show and no go. Just a pretty package with not much inside. So since then, I've been disdainful of offerings that smack of too much input from the marketing department.

But, I'm pleased to report that the Compass Box folks, even if they are guilty of attractive labeling, have done a great job with the whisky inside the bottle. Spice Tree doesn't taste like a blend, at least not like any of the currently popular blends. It has the character and distinctive flavor of a single malt. In fact, although it's apparently blended from highland malts, it reminds me of whisky from the islands. It has a peppery quality, not unlike Talisker; but more than that, a hint of ginger or cinnamon, or who knows what. (I'm never much good at picking out the different flavors in wine or whisky.) John and I thought it would work best after dinner, so that the big flavor did not tend to overwhelm the meal, or the wine. Like the Islay malts, Spice Tree fills up the palate, leaving little room for anything else, except perhaps the smoke of a good cigar. And it has a much longer finish than any other blend I know of.

Joe: thanks for the suggestion. And Johnny, thanks for the gift. If I had more room in the liquor cabinet, I think I'd try a couple more of these Compass Box offerings, because I was most impressed with Spice Tree.