Compass Box Peat Monster Arcana
46% ABV - Blended, Scotland
Nose: Light tropical and ripe fruits. A small amount of oak barrel, with an embedded creamy or buttery note. Mango, papaya, and a sweet, swirling peat smoke throughout the dram.
Taste: That sweet peat meets and greets you. The tropical fruits are here with pineapple. Hints of biscuits.
Finish: Maybe it’s because I cooked it today, but I am reminded of crispy bacon on the fadeout. Overall a sweet dram, but it’s all smoke at the end… and sweetness. Smoke and sweetness.
This Compass Box Peat Monster Arcana is a fantastic beast. It’s a significant step above the previous "standard" Peat Monster release.
Not important to the whisky inside, but this bottle has a really cool label. There is a sort of Stranger Things vibe to the menacing peat monster in the center of the imagery, with runes placed along the edges, a forest enshrouding the monster, various wares in the foreground, and it’s all wrapped in a black-green-gold colour scheme.
This whisky really gets better over time. I’d highly recommend trying this if you ever have the opportunity. I'm at a loss for words!
Note: This Compass Box Peat Monster Arcana was tasted with the Cooper's Choice Kilnaughton Secret Islay. Check out the other review to see how they compared!
Details: 8328 Bottles.
Whisky Components (as stated in email correspondence with Compass Box):
- 71.4% Talisker (Refill Hogshead)
- 10.4% Miltonduff (First Fill Bourbon Barrel)
- 9.4% Peat Monster Blended Malt (Refill Custom French Oak)
- 6.7% Ardbeg (Recharred Barrel)
- 2.1% Highland Malt Blend (Custom French Oak)**
**Interestingly, the label states different percentages due to an error:
"To further complement the French oak character of our experimental parcel, we wanted to add part of a cask of our French oak-finished Highland Malt Blend. Unfortunately, this component was not included in the final bottling. So closely did the final liquid match our blending room prototype, we did not discover the error until after the whisky was bottled and shipped."
Tasted 07 April 2022. (Posted 07 January 2023.)
