Deleuzionist posted:

Compass Box Hedonism, impressions on the first 8cl.



Vanilla. Creamy vanilla by the pound. Then some grainish popcorn oil hint (stays oily, doesn't tend into that fresh popcorn + butter smell I've found in older grains), and a bouquet of perfume notes so present they probably turn off anyone who dislikes perfume notes in whisky. Neapolitan wafers. Canned peach juice. Roasted peanut? The alcohol note smells like taking a whiff from an eau de toilette bottle, heavily tempered with a floral note. Not one bit of smoke. I remembered this smelling grainier and less perfumed when I tried it at the local annual whisky fair, but maybe the nose develops after being open for a time? On the tongue much like on the nose with a bit of blackpepper burn as a bonus. The juice aroma is in the mouth a shade lighter than the peach nose promised, either diluted or tending towards pear. In the aftertaste a nectarine tail, surprisingly light, sweet and airy compared to what the heavy vanilla would suggest. At a first glance I'm of two minds about this: I do like it although I'm not as impressed as I was at the fair, and that unless the grain note I thought I found there previously starts to develop I will not be purchasing a second bottle. Not because it's bad though, that would be the wrong conclusion, but instead because I was in the market for something more... inside-a-once-used-popcorn-kettle type of aroma I've found in many Scotch grains, and Hedonism as I have it now is apparently not in that niche. As a final touch I find the blackpepper note in the nose too, at the meeting point of the corn smell and the perfume.

Hedonism in total is well put together. No issues with the mouthfeel or general structure, doesn't betray its age, has a bouquet of aromas that fit each other and form a consistent whole, but it could maybe use a bit more oomph somewhere else than in the vanilla register. It's apparently first-fill american oak so that's where most of this comes from. It does suit a grain better than it would suit some malt with heavier character, I think, but some more spiciness or wineyness or something to liven it up wouldn't have done it wrong.

A teaspoon of water seems to crack the vanilla/perfume dominance, making it a bit more woody and as such better. Repeats confirm this impression. Neat gives some tinned peach backwash in the aftertaste.

Whether you think this is a solid buy for $65 depends on what else $65 can get you wherever you're located.