Three Year Old Deluxe

Three Year Old Deluxe, 3 YO, 49.2 %

I love the idea behind this product. The independent bottler Compass Box have on a number of occasions been, let’s say, mildly critical to some of the restrictions in place for Scotch whisky. Especially what can be interpreted as “anti-transparency” rules.

So they produced the Three Year Old Deluxe blended Scotch whisky. Here is their own product description:

Composed of less than 1 % three year-old malt whisky produced near the village of Brora, 90 % malt whisky of an unstated age from the same distillery and around 9 % peaty malt whisky distilled on the Isle of Skye, regulations only permit us only to share details of the age of youngest component! No matter. For it is this three year-old that is most important to us. Aged from new-make spirit in our own first-fill American oak casks, it imparts a lively vivacity and represents a milestone in our development as whisky makers.

This was a limited release of 3282 bottles back in 2016, and it is long since sold out.

Nose: A bit hard to place at first. It certainly does come across as way older than three years. It is dusty, delicate and delectable. Notes of apple wax, honey, dried fruit and vanilla. Soft spices and a touch of the green. All in all, there's a lot going on here, and it plays very well. A touch of oakiness and mild smokiness seep in with time.

Taste: Full bodied and then some. Quite spicy up front - ginger, cinnamon and various types of pepper. A bit fizzy in character. There's also an abundance of fruitiness; tropical, fresh, dried as well as summer-y.

Finish: Medium to long finish. The spices are now tamed, the fruits have mellowed out, and I am treated to chocolate and fizzy bits of dried ginger. Mild notes of dried herbs, licorice and wood smoke in the end.

Comment: Yowsa! This is one heck of a “three year old”!

Score 89/100

Sláinte!
- Thomas