Compass Box The Spice Tree

Sweet and Spicy - An Excellent Blend

Reviewed by
Connosr member:

YakLord

Date:

5th Jul 2012

Reviewer rating:

About this score:

Nose: 23
Taste: 22
Finish: 23
Balance: 22

The average score for this whisky is 86.

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Tasting Notes by YakLord

I opened my bottle of Spice Tree (non chill-filtered, no artifical colouring, 70cl, 46% ABV, $67.25 @ the LCBO, although there is a very limited supply remaining) for a Scotch Tasting Event a couple of weeks ago, and then took what was left of the bottle to my parents-in-law's place for the Canada Day Weekend, as there wasn't much left and it needed to be finished.

My father-in-law is very much a wine and beer connoisseur (he likes expensive red wines and imported/microbrewery beers), and clearly understands my interest in whisky (I mean, he did give me my bottle of Penderyn for Christmas), he just isn't a whisky person. Yes, he's sampled the Penderyn (he's Welsh and it is a Welsh whisky, so he had to try it), along with a couple of my other whiskies, but he says it just doesn't "do anything for him", so I was interested to see what he thought of the Spice Tree.

The menu for dinner on Saturday night (the 30th) was skewered grilled baby potatoes, maple butter-milk chicken, grilled marinated vegetables (mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, etc.), and a hazelnut meringue with fresh blueberries and French vanilla ice cream for dessert. Given that I'd paired the Spice Tree with a ginger-pear upside down cake at the Scotch Tasting, I thought that we'd save it for dessert, as it would likely go well with the meringue. And did it ever! Both the ice cream and the meringue created very different flavour combinations, and it was quite something to feel the whisky slowly overcome the ice cream on the palate.

As Blended Malt (formerly known as a 'Vatted Malt'), the Spice Tree is created by blending together single malts (10 to 12 years old) from other distilleries - primarily Clynelish, Dailuaine, Longmorn, and Teaninich - and then maturing the blend for another two years in first-fill bourbon hogsheads that have had the barrel heads replaced by barrel heads made of new French Oak. This interaction with the new wood is what gives the Spice Tree its very distinct, spicy flavour profile. In many ways, the Spice Tree is a more mature (although younger) and spicier version of the Glenlivet 15 year-old French Oak Reserve (the extra 6% ABV also adds a bit more kick to the Spice Tree).

The Spice Tree has a deep, gold-brown colour (almost the same as Demerera brown sugar), and a nose that is rich with spices. The official tasting notes refer to cloves, nutmeg, and sweet stewed fruits, but I also detected some cinnamon, as well as cardamom and freshly ground coriander seed. It has a very soft and sweet, yet spicy palate; you can taste the brown sugary malt and the traces of spice - nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon - almost like you are drinking a warm spiced apple pie. The finish is very long and extremely satisfying, carrying the sweet spiciness all the way down your throat.

All things considered, the Spice Tree is a fantastic blended malt, and well worth picking up (if you can find a bottle...hopefully the LCBO will have more in stock soon).

Whisky details

Distillery/Brand:

Compass Box

Bottling:

Compass Box The Spice Tree

ABV:

46%

Colour:

Full Gold

Compass Box The Spice Tree Sweet and Spicy - An Excellent Blend Reviewed on 2012-07-05T11:27:00 scoring 90/100 by YakLord

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Comments

YakLord wrote:

Interestingly enough, since I wrote this review, the LCBO has actually DROPPED the price of The Spice Tree to $62.95 (as of January 25, 2013). It is still listed as 'Limited Supply', but there appear to be at least a couple hundred bottles left.

25 January 2013 15:23

Pudge72 wrote:

This really is a great bottle...in addition to the spices, I also picked up a mineral note (like I would imagine licking a wet stone would be like...note to self, do this sometime). It was especially noticeable when the bottle was open for the first month or so. A very nice complement to the spiciness. Spice Tree has been marked as 'limited stock' at the LCBO for most of the past two years (I got my bottle just after Xmas, 2011) and always seems to come back. Budget permitting, I intend to re-stock it when my current bottle runs low.

25 January 2013 17:23

YakLord wrote:

@Pudge72 - hence the reason I have two bottles sitting in my basement!

11 March 2013 13:37