We'd been bugging John Glaser about doing a K&L private blend since 2011, back when both Compass Box and our spirits department were still making their way forward. We wanted to create something incredible and deliver excellence on a level normally not seen in the whisky world. The question was: what to do? John proposed combining two single malt whiskies he had put aside in his warehouse: a luxurious 31 year old hogshead of Caol Ila and a 19 year old sherry butt of Glen Ord. As big fans of his Flaming Heart series, we loved the idea and we placed our trust in John and his team to create the recipe. Then whisky got hot. We got busy. Another two years went by. Compass Box's popularity increased significantly. Things got hectic. We moved our San Francisco store to 5th & Harrison, prolonging things. Finally in 2015 John came to visit. "The address sounds like an old folk song," he opined. "That's what we should call the whisky," motivated to finish up a long-lived project now five years in the making. The finished product is now here and it's spectacular. The nose is a symphony of honey, brandied fruit, and the sea. Cocoa, fudge, and cakebread coat the palate and the oily, phenolic notes of smoke and ash roll over the finish. It's impossible to tell where the Glen Ord ends and the Caol Ila begins, their yin and yang a nebulous sea of harmony. It's luxury, brilliance, and soul all in one. It's 5th & Harrison, the crossroads of culture and craft. It's K&L & Compass Box at last.