In 2005 some very old Ardbeg was accidently mixed with one fifth of 12 year-old Glen Moray. The result turned out to be very good, and it was bottled as Serendipity. Lady Luck is a similar vatting, this time made on purpose by independent vatting wizard John Glaser. It contains three casks:

• Caol Ila 29yo 1980 cask #8165
• Caol Ila 25yo 1984 cask #5384
• Imperial 14yo 1995 cask #100049

Lady Luck (46%, Compass Box 2009,
754 btl.)

Nose: elegant and gently ashy, like a fireplace that is cleaned the morning after. Some toffee, vanilla custard and sweet orange. Hints of cinnamon and cardamom. Coal and yellow apple. Nice to have the restrained Islay character together with the candied, fruity Imperial. Works really well. Mouth: oily mouthfeel. Peatier now with big tobacco notes. Again a nice sweetness but it’s mostly the Coal Ila talking. Quite briney and coastal with subtle lemon. Finish: long and dry on liquorice and olive juice.

After experiments such as Canto Cask, Compass Box is again proving that whisky doesn’t have to be single malt to be great. A bit expensive, but you do get old Coal Ila of course: about € 150.

Score: 86/100