Boxes Blend is a whisky put together by none other than Athlete bassist Carey Willets. The blend is named after his new solo project, an electro pop adventure that’s already garnering some great reviews.

I had never heard of the band, or the bassist. Not a problem for sure, because this blog is about the whisky. I got this sample from Master of Malt a couple of weeks ago and was hoping to review it a bit sooner, but with all the samples lined up, I am having trouble finding the right time for all of them.

Anyway, there isn’t any info on the contents of this blend, nor on the malt to grain ratio. So, let’s just dive in, shall we?

Boxes Blend at Master of Malt

Sniff:
More aromatic than I expected. A gentle but rather nice scent surrounds my spot on the couch as soon as I poured this (The scent is coming from the glass, before you start commenting). Slightly smoky but in a less coarse way than JW Black, for example. There is some sherried character in there, with fruit and sweetness. The wood influence is a bit coarse, but I usually find that in blends for some reason. Also some spices with pepper, cinnamon and clove. Honey as well. Rather complex, so to say.

Sip:
On the palate it starts off thin, but gains some viscosity quickly. Wood spices, light and not too sweet. Weirdly enough, the spicy flavours are rather timid, but that is still the dominating flavour.

Swallow:
The finish is long and gently spicy with a certain charcoal like smokiness, and again the wood spices.

I think this whisky is nicest on the nose. It’s not bad after but I don’t find it as interesting as I had hoped. For some reason I am having trouble valueing blended whiskies properly since I usually feel the individual spirits are more or less cancelled out against each other.

Anyway, this is a more than good effort, and especially the complex nose is delicious. The palate and finish are nice too.

Boxes Blend, 40.9%, Master of Malt, also available from their shop of course, at £ 55.95

Thanks to Master of Malt for the official sample!