Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Compass Box Artist Blend vs Nikka From The Barrel
No flavour axis separates these two, so the choice is price and occasion.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Compass Box Artist Blend | Nikka From The Barrel | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blended scotch | Blended malt |
| Origin | Scotland | Japan |
| Age | No age statement | No age statement |
| Strength | 43% ABV | 51.4% ABV |
| Cask | First-fill ex-bourbon barrel, custom medium-toast French oak, re-vatted Palo Cortado sherry-seasoned butt | Various, married before bottling |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 500 ml |
| RRP observed | £37 | £45 |
| Per 10cl | £5.29 | £9.00 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £123 | £175 |
| Chill-filtered | No | Not stated |
What separates them
Different countries: Compass Box Artist Blend from Scotland, Nikka From The Barrel from Japan.
Compass Box Artist Blend is a blended scotch, Nikka From The Barrel a blended malt.
Neither carries an age statement, so neither discloses its youngest spirit.
Cask as each producer describes it: Compass Box Artist Blend in first-fill ex-bourbon barrel, custom medium-toast french oak and re-vatted palo cortado sherry-seasoned butt, Nikka From The Barrel in various, married before bottling.
Chill filtration: Compass Box Artist Blend is not, Nikka From The Barrel does not say.
Colour: Compass Box Artist Blend natural colour, Nikka From The Barrel silent.
Nikka From The Barrel: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Nikka From The Barrel is £8.00 dearer a bottle than Compass Box Artist Blend.
Different bottle sizes, 700 ml against 500 ml, so per 10cl it is £5.29 against £9.00.
Strength keeps that ordering: £123 a litre of pure alcohol for Compass Box Artist Blend against £175.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Compass Box Artist Blend is 10th cheapest and Nikka From The Barrel 24th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Compass Box Artist Blend | Nikka From The Barrel |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 2 | 2 |
| Sweet | 6 | 6 |
| Fruity | 7 | 5 |
| Spicy | 5 | 7 |
| Woody | 5 | 6 |
| Sherried | 4 | 4 |
| Cereal | 6 | 5 |
| Oily | 6 | 8 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is fruity, 7 against 5.
Identical on peaty, sweet and sherried.
Each bottle in its own right
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 →Nikka From The Barrel
Dense and spicy at 51.4%. Punches far above its price and its 500ml bottle.
Sold in a 500ml bottle, so per-litre it is dearer than the shelf price suggests.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Compass Box Artist Blend for value at 43%, transparency and first blended scotch, Nikka From The Barrel for value, highball and gift.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Compass Box Artist Blend and Nikka From The Barrel: compassboxwhisky.com, cdn.shopify.com, nikka.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.