COMPASS BOX 5th & HARRISON II
Exclusive K&L Limited Edition (2025)MASH BILL – 100% malted barley
PROOF – 106.4
AGE – blend of 21 to 24-year whiskies
DISTILLERY – Compass Box (blending Bowmore, Glendullan and Caol Ila)
PRICE – $197
WORTH BUYING? – Yes!
When California’s K&L announced the pre-sale for this collaboration with Compass Box—a rare opportunity they hadn’t had for a decade—I didn’t blink before buying a bottle. Look at these specs:
- 60.5% 23-year Bowmore aged in a refill bourbon barrel
- 28.5% 21-year Glendullan aged in a first-fill sherry butt
- 11% 24-year Caol Ila aged in a refill American oak hogshead
Bottled very close to cask strength, with no filtration or added color, and sold at a price that defies 2025 whisky pricing norms in favor of 2016 pricing, this seemed a no-brainer buy for any scotch fan. I opened it shortly after bringing it home. Was it worth the anticipation?
Here we are, three days after uncorking and three pours into the bottle. These brief notes were taken using a traditional Glencairn.
COLOR – pale buttery straw, very reflective of the world outside the glass
NOSE – lemon, high mountain pine, vanilla, woodland smoke, salty sea air, fleeting whiffs of caramel
TASTE – a smoky seaside brininess rises up to meet pungent vanilla and caramel notes; also fruits like melon and lightly baked pineapple, a bit of oak, a dash of black pepper amidst the salt
FINISH – a gently tingling warmth lingers with salted fruit notes and soft pine
OVERALL – a lovely picnic on a beach near the forest
The answer is yes, it’s worth the anticipation. This whisky is very easy to like. Complex, approachable, friendly, with just enough grit from the smoke, salt, and wood notes to balance the sweetness of the fruit and candy notes.
It’s a fun whisky, with energy and wit. The thought and care put into the blend is evident. All the notes are very clear. Nothing is muddled. The balance is exceptional. That 11% Caol Ila adds just the right contrast to the sweeter Bowmore and Glendullan. The latter’s sherry cask aging provides just the right fruitiness to complement the bourbon cask’s vanilla and caramel. And the overall maturity of the whiskies provides depth without losing the happy-go-lucky brightness of their youth.
The particular pine note at work here is notable. Pine can be divisive for some whisky fans. It can come across as sharp, “too green,” sometimes reminiscent of floor cleaner. But I’ve tasted pine notes in some rye whiskeys, like Rubicon, that have been extraordinary. The particular pine note in this Compass Box blend reminds me very much of a North British 30 Year scotch I had a few years ago. That was a grain whisky, not a malt or blend, and was bottled as a single cask by Douglas Laing & Co. That bottle took a lot of airing out to come around for me. Up front, the pine note was astringent and off-putting. But with time it mellowed out substantially and I eventually grew to quite appreciate it. This Compass Box, on the other hand, is mellow and balanced right out of the gate, harnessing the innate brightness of pine but wrapping it in the softening warmth of woodland smoke and some very satisfying candy notes.
With the ascent of single malt as the favored genre of scotch, blended malt often gets dismissed as “the cheap stuff” by [all too] serious whisky aficionados. But this K&L / Compass Box collab demonstrates how genuinely satisfying blended malt can be.
It’s expensive, for sure. And now that K&L’s stock has arrived, the price has bumped up by another $10 over what I paid during the pre-sale period. But I’d say the combination of taste and specs on offer is still a worthy buy, especially for those of us who live in San Francisco and frequent the shop there. A bit of local pride figures into the experience. K&L used this release to celebrate their San Francisco store, located at 5th & Harrison in the city’s SOMA district. The experience of the whisky indeed feels legitimately celebratory. Well done, K&L.
Sláinte!
The Right Spirit 