The Artist's Blend launched in 2012 as the inaugural release of Compass Box's Great King Street range, named for the Edinburgh New Town street where John Glaser had once lived. The brief was deliberate: to produce a blended Scotch with at least 46% malt content, no caramel colouring, no chill filtration, and a price point that put it within reach of curious drinkers.
The recipe is dominated by Highland and Lowland malts, with a soft Cameronbridge grain providing the backbone. The malt component leans on Linkwood for floral fruit and Glen Elgin for sweetness, producing a blend that is markedly lighter and more aromatic than its Glasgow sibling.
Glaser positioned the Great King Street range as a campaign as much as a product line — an argument that blended Scotch had been quietly degraded by industry shortcuts and that a return to higher malt percentages and unmolested presentation could restore the category's reputation. Whether the rest of the industry has listened is another matter, but the Artist's Blend remains in continuous production over a decade later, which suggests the case has at least found an audience.
It works neat, but it is genuinely excellent in a Highball or Old Fashioned, where its vanilla and orchard fruit hold up against ice and dilution without disappearing. At under £40 it is one of the best-value entry points to Compass Box.
