Glenmorangie Nectar D'or 12 Year

Nice and sweet, smooth finish.

Very pleasant dram. Raisin and vanilla stand out, almost like liquid pie.

On the nose, a gorgeous bouquet of vanilla and honey. Like a bourbon nose without the corn oversweetness or the oak sting. Smooth and velvety on the palate. More honey, more vanilla, and nice earthy cereal. Nice long finish due to the viscosity, but right beforehand, a nice little bite to let you know it's there.

When it was announced that Glenmorangie was breaking up their 12-year line up, I decided that was the time to get the remaining bottles. I already had the Quinta Ruban, which I scored a solid 4.0. This Nectar D'Or has been renamed the "Sauternes Cask Finish," and has dropped from 12 y.o. to NAS. I'm sure I'll one day grab the NAS to compare, but for now let's see how the most expensive of the original 12 year trio rates. Nose: Sweet all the way through. Vanilla, honey, toffee, and (vanilla) icing. Butterscotch. White grape (I'm far from a wine expert but it's darker, like a pinot grigio) and orange citrus, and raisin. Pear and apricot. Floral and malty. No trace of ethanol. Not too complex, but very inviting. Palate: It's a dessert whisky if I've ever had one. More vanilla and honey, as well as orange and raisin. Classic Glenmorangie apple and pear add a layer of fruity sweetness. White grape. Malt and toffee. Caramel and milk chocolate. Almond and hazelnut appear on the mid-palate, followed by a hit of cinnamon and oak. Finish: The cinnamon and oak persist into the finish, playing along with the vanilla, honey, and white grape sweetness. When the sweetness dissipates, those notes are replaced with the almond, hazelnut, and caramel which ride out alongside the cinnamon, oak, and baking spices to the end of what makes for a moderate length finish. Good stuff here. I've got nothing to compare this to in terms of Sauternes finished whiskies, so instead I'll turn to its peer, the Quinta Ruban. Judging them strictly on the experience, they're quite similar. The port cask delivers more complexity to the QR, if anything. I feel the respective black and white colored packing were aptly chosen. The QR is jammy, dark, and juicy, while the ND is light, airy, and sweet. Which is better? Factoring price, the QR. The Nectar D'or commands, on average, a $15 premium over its 12-year counterparts. Personally, I don't see any reason why this one should be priced ahead of the QR and LS. Maybe the rarity of quality Sauternes Casks? That's all I can come up with. At any rate, this is good stuff. Perfect choice for a background whisky and is a great choice for a fan of the Speyside/Highland profile looking to branch out. At $68, I don't regret my purchase, but understand full well that there are better options in this range. It's a good malt that I hope won't be ruined by a dip in age. Overall, pleasant experience; would consider grabbing another before the 12 year expression is totally extinct. 4 plus years later and this is long-since discontinued. I ended snagging one last bottle though, and ended up boosting the score up to 4.25. There is a lot to like here. The nose is more complex than I gave it credit for. The VFM is even better; most bottles have seen massive price hikes but Glenmoramgie remains one of the few to only introduce a slight prife increase. The nose and VFM boosted my score a quarter star each, bringing this from 3.75 to 4.25.