Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years vs Compass Box Artist Blend
No flavour axis separates them, so the difference on record is disclosure: Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years states 10 years, Compass Box Artist Blend states no age.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years | Compass Box Artist Blend | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Single malt | Blended scotch |
| Origin | Islay, Scotland | Scotland |
| Age | 10 years | No age statement |
| Strength | 50% ABV | 43% ABV |
| Cask | First-fill and refill ex-bourbon American oak, ex-wine casks | First-fill ex-bourbon barrel, custom medium-toast French oak, re-vatted Palo Cortado sherry-seasoned butt |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £46 | £37 |
| Per 10cl | £6.57 | £5.29 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £131 | £123 |
| Chill-filtered | No | No |
What separates them
Both from Scotland.
Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years is a single malt, Compass Box Artist Blend a blended scotch.
Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years states 10 years; Compass Box Artist Blend states none.
Cask as each producer describes it: Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years in first-fill and refill ex-bourbon american oak and ex-wine casks, Compass Box Artist Blend in first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, custom medium-toast french oak and re-vatted palo cortado sherry-seasoned butt.
Neither is chill-filtered.
Colour: Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years natural colour, Compass Box Artist Blend natural colour.
What the price buys
Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years is £9.00 dearer a bottle than Compass Box Artist Blend.
Strength keeps that ordering: £123 a litre of pure alcohol for Compass Box Artist Blend against £131.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years is 14th cheapest and Compass Box Artist Blend 10th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years | Compass Box Artist Blend |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 2 | 2 |
| Sweet | 6 | 6 |
| Fruity | 7 | 7 |
| Spicy | 5 | 5 |
| Woody | 5 | 5 |
| Sherried | 3 | 4 |
| Cereal | 6 | 6 |
| Oily | 7 | 6 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is sherried, 3 against 4.
Identical on peaty, sweet, fruity, spicy, woody and cereal.
Each bottle in its own right
Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years
Barley sugar, sea air and citrus at a proper 50%. Unpeated Islay, which surprises people.
Now carries a 10-year age statement — it was NAS 'Scottish Barley' for years and most sites still publish it that way. Every bottle prints a recipe code that unlocks the exact cask-by-cask recipe and barley origin for that batch, batch disclosure no other major Scotch brand offers. Bottled at 50% rather than the usual 40-46%, which the producer states explicitly.
Full record →Compass Box Artist Blend
Bright orchard fruit and cream with a dry, spiced finish. Proof that a blend can be interesting.
Compass Box publishes the complete recipe by percentage, which no large blender does: 45% Cameronbridge grain, 22% Linkwood, 10% Clynelish, 10% Balmenach, 8% a Highland malt blend in custom French oak, 5% Linkwood in a Palo Cortado butt. Component ages are the one thing conspicuously absent. Formerly sold as Great King Street Artist's Blend.
Full record →Both listed for transparency; only Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years for value at 50% and unpeated islay; only Compass Box Artist Blend for value at 43% and first blended scotch.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie 10 Aged Years and Compass Box Artist Blend: bruichladdich.com, compassboxwhisky.com, cdn.shopify.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.