Compass Box Nectarosity
Blended Scotch Whisky | 46% ABV
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
A “fun” sweet dram and easy daily sipper
Back to Basics
I spent a lot of my Summer (and this year really) digging deep into the ol’ Dunlop trove and enjoying lots of new, not so new, and exciting releases from independent bottlers.
And I’m probably kicking at an open door here with this audience, but there’s just a wealth of engagement to be found among indies and, even with a thirst for exploration that would make the most seasoned mariner blush, I’m merely scraping the surface of this wonderful world.
I feel like I’ve hit my stride in my whisky journey lately and I’m content with where I’m at. Like Smaug the Dragon coiled atop his hoard of plundered treasure, I’ve assessed my spoils and find myself fulfilled.
Not that I’ll be instituting a bottle ban anytime soon like our dear Drummond, but there’s been a few splurges lately and several “ok that’s too great a deal to pass up” punts that have swelled the Dunlop whisky closet to near-bursting capacity (ok, I admit it, it’s bursting, we’re already at “strewn on the floor” status). Plenty of these are to be grist for the Dramface mill that shall keep my nose, palate, and fingers busy with assorted offerings to our readers well into the future, as well as bottles to be featured in tastings.
Plus, I have to save my shekels for what I assume shall be an epic journey to Scotland this Fall (more to come on this…).
But from a volume of liquid perspective – and I believe many among us will nod silently in tacit agreement – we’re talking a lifetime’s worth of sipping, maybe more (that’s why sharing is so important!).
Official Bottlings, independents, single casks, special releases, festival releases, core range, limited editions, legacy distilleries, new distilleries… a universe of discovery awaits in just one overloaded closet in Long Beach.
After a satisfying summer of mostly cask strength, independently bottled single cask single malts – and a recent six-way behemoth of a write-up that left the creative juices on empty – I was determining what to pour for my Friday night dram and was struck by a desire to go “back to basics,” and revisit a bottle from early on in my whisky journey. As a coach might say: “A return to fundamentals.”
Further, as mentioned above, though it was a labor of love, my appetite for another Homerian epic featuring multiple releases - like my recent Cut Your Wolf Loose piece - was lacking. I felt it best for our readers I get “back to basics” as well…
Plus, a fun experiment, has all this “advanced” whisky drinking really changed my tastes?
A bottle stood out to me toward the top of one of my shelves - the organized part of the Dunlop closet - before it all just became a disheveled mess of labels and bottles - where my “early” purchases all stood, including a few from the self-appointed “Scotch Whiskymakers” and blending aficionados Compass Box.
It’s been a while since I’ve opened one of these and – as I always do when inspiration hits to write – I checked the Dramface search bar, and lo - no review yet! The same bottle I was eyeing was a recent addition to their core range that hadn’t yet received treatment among these hallowed pages.
So, the cork was popped, a splash was poured, and old notebooks were opened to find previously scrawled notes and what might be different, months later.
Review
Compass Box Nectarosity, Blended Scotch Whisky, 35.7% grain, 64.3% malt, NAS, 46% ABV
US$45 paid, widely available
Before I get to the notes, a… (what I hope to be) humorous aside for our editors and readers.
As I’ve mentioned before, bottle photography (and photography in general) is a newer hobby and came after the whisky passion enveloped me. So, as I explored my new camera and what I thought would be a fun adventure upon receiving this bottle I had some experimentation with its colorful label, hoping to recreate some of those “bowl of fruit” paintings and pictures under the warm lights of my kitchen bar.
Not sure if it was a success, but I’m comfortable enough to highlight these gems for better or worse to the greater world of the internet.
Back to this expression, one thing I do appreciate about Compass Box is their transparency. The contents of each blend and the components of their releases are available online. As I was researching this one I realized it wasn’t a “blended malt” as many of the others from their core range are, but a “blended scotch” and includes grain whisky from Cameronbridge and Girvan, the industrial powerhouses of Diageo and William Grant & Sons respectively, that feed the maw of their high-selling blends.
35.7% of this blend is grain whisky, 64.3% is malt whisky.
The malt whisky included is from Linkwood, Clynelish, and Balmenach.
This blend was overseen by the “new” Whisky Making Director (what a title) James Saxon who took over “whisky making” duties in 2024 from former CEO John Glaser – the American who founded Compass Box in 2000 and steered them toward success.
Score: 6/10
Good stuff.
TL;DR
A “fun” sweet dram and easy daily sipper
Nose
Strawberry filling and vanilla birthday cake. Pink frosting. Filipino Christmas cake. Big honey sweetness. Lightest hints of wood glue and wall plaster that I sometimes get with grain whisky. With time much more of the deep fruitiness develops. Orange citrus (like pulpy). Pineapple upside down cake. Peaches. Papaya. Melon fruits. An orange candy juiciness. Funfetti cupcakes. Caramel drizzle. Red Jolly Ranchers. Slight notes of sandalwood in there somewhere.
Water brings stronger vanilla and more oakiness and really brings out some breezy, meadowy floral notes I didn’t notice before. Maltier and doughier. More Pineapple. Honey Smacks cereal. Lucky charms marshmallows. Donut holes. Hi-C. Juicebox. A fun nose!
Palate
More caramel, cereal, and honey sweetness with bits of Gushers fruit candy right at the front. A malty, sugariness like rainbow cupcakes. Honeycakes. Apricots. Peaches and cream. Twinkies. Good texture and mouthfeel, easy sippin’. Water brings out some distinct waxiness and Honeycomb cereal. Creamy and sweet. Also, juicier with water. More lemon filling than red fruits. Yellow apples.
The finish has maltiness and some cinnamon roll and sweet lemon dessert. Red starburst. A tad short, but overall, a fun, expressive dram.
Did I mention it was fun?
The Dregs
Before I looked at the specs I thought there might be some port casks in the mix here since the candy fruits and sweetness were really dialed up on this one. I was pleasantly surprised to see most of the whisky here was matured in first-fill bourbon barrels.
90% of the grain whisky is first-fill bourbon and 10% virgin oak.
A plurality of the malt whisky component is actually Palo Cortado seasoned Sherry butts and refill Oloroso Sherry Puncheons from Linkwood Distillery. The balance of the malt blend is bourbon-cask matured Clynelish with a small percentage being virgin oak Clynelish. I did get some soft woodiness, so the virgin oak component makes sense and adds some overall complexity to this one.
The full breakdown of this release can be found here at Compass Box.
I enjoyed pulling this one out and exploring further and would recommend this and the other Compass Box blends as a fun (there it is again) daily sipper and as an intermission from those nose-searing cask strength pugilists and parade of special releases. We all need a break sometimes.
And speaking of a break, you absolutely cannot beat the price on these core range Compass Box bottles; good value, even here in the States.
It’s sweet but by no means a sherry bomb and I’ll admit the sweetness is unique and it’s hard not to look at that colorful label and not think about all the “cake” notes present throughout.
I’d recommend everyone do a “back to basics” pour. Have our tastes really changed? There’s engagement to be found still, even among these “entry level” bottles.
Score: 6/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AD
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