Flaming Heart Scotch Whisky Review

Patrick "Pops" Garrett -

Editors Note: Today’s post is from Tom Szydelko, one of the semi-finalists who are applying to become a regular contributor to Bourbon & Banter. We hope you’ll read all of their posts and let us know what you think of each applicant by commenting below the post, sharing online or dropping us a note via email.

BOTTLE DETAILS

  • DISTILLER: Compass Box Whisky Co.
  • MASH BILL: 27.1% 30 year old Caol Ila  |  24.3% 20 year old Clynelish  |  38.5% 14 year old Caol Ila  |  10.3% mix of Clynelish, Teaninich and Dailuaine
  • AGE: NAS – No Age Statement
  • YEAR: July 2015
  • PROOF: 97.8 (48.9% ABV)
  • MSRP: $99.99
  • BUY ONLINE: Discontinued but still available at Binnys.com and other major liquor retailers.

TOM'S NOTES

NOSE: Slightly medicinal, with fruit undertones of apples and blackcurrant berries with a resin oak wood base. Pencil shavings and worn leather peak through some of the smoke.

TASTE: Sweet fruits, orchard and berries, light peat with hints of a smoky campfire. A wonderful full oily mouth feel.

FINISH: Intense long lasting burn. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

SHARE WITH: Aficionados of complex layered drams would appreciate this pour, especially Caol Ila fans. Not a whisky to introduce to new or inexperienced scotch drinkers.

WORTH THE PRICE: Definitely!

BOTTLE, BAR OR BUST: Buy a bottle before it’s gone for good, in fact buy two bottles, one to drink now and one to save and savor when all 12,000 plus bottles are history.

OVERALL: Extremely well balanced whisky. No need to add any water, in fact the few drops I added basically destroyed the flavor profile. Keep it neat and you won’t be disappointed. There was more wood and smoke on the nose than in the mouth, which was a very slight disappointment to me, but if you are familiar with and enjoy the Caol Ila flavor profile, this is the bottle for you. This is a scotch to enjoy comfortably ensconced in an overstuffed, worn leather chair before a warm fire. Compass Box has always been a favorite distillery of mine and I thoroughly enjoyed this pour. This is a remarkable whisky that is already disappearing from the shelves, so don’t wait too long before picking up a bottle.  Kudus to Compass Box for complete transparency with its recipe details.

BRAND NOTES

First released in 2006, Flaming Heart was the first whisky to combine the rich, complex spice of Scotch aged in new French oak with the evocative peat-fired smoke of Islay malt. It created a genre-defying style that was smouldering, spicy, complex – and so popular that we’ve re-released it four more times in the years that followed.