ScotchingHard
Glenmorangie Nectar D'or 12 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
February 23, 2018 (edited August 28, 2019)
PRICE: $60-80. Widely available.
INFO: Single malt scotch whisky distilled by Glenmorangie from the North Coastal Highlands region. This is your basic 10 year old ex-bourbon Glenmorangie finished for 2 additional years in ex-sauternes casks. Sauternes is a sweet white wine from France. This is bottled at 46% ABV. “D’or” is pronounced “door”, except you have to make the first sound of hacking of spitwad at the end. C’est francais.
NOSE: 85/100. I definitely get white wine. White grapes plays well with the fresh green fruits and florals of the Glenmorangie base. The original 10 year old already noses so pleasant; this is different, but is not necessarily better.
PALATE: 86/100. This is much sweeter than the nose. Vanilla, honey, sultanas. A tiny bit of water improves this. It becomes softer, and you can find some peaches and apricots.
FINISH: 84/100. The best finish out of all the core range 12 year old finished Glenmorangies. There’s a captivating transition point into a creamy citrus. There’s still that white wine, but there’s also lime sherbet, lemon rinds, and a moderate amount of pepperiness from cloves and ginger. The linger is medium.
OVERALL: Solid whisky, to be sure. But I don’t agree with packaging. Why does the box have hinges and why is this $10-20 more than La Santa and Quinta Ruban? It’s not like Sauternes finishing is rare or unique. For example, Arran does it without fanfare. In the end, I like this better than La Santa, but I prefer Quinta Ruban, which is cheaper.
MARK: 85/100.
VALUE FOR MONEY: Unwarranted premiumization. This used to be in plain box, like the other core Glenmorangies. I think this is worth about $50; but for that money, I would rather get the port-finished Quinta Ruban.
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Funny, but Glenmorangie whisky never captures me fully, with the possible exception of the 18 year old, which is good value for an older highlander. Looking through my diary I rated it 90, whereas every other Glenmorangie I've given from 84-87 (3 stars).
@PBMichiganWolverine @LeeEvolved I’ll wait for hype to settle. still haven’t tried bacalta or astar. They’re now being marked down to 80 on a lot of local shelves and not moving. Hell, I can still get milsean and tusail here. I’m sure Spios will come down. The only limited release that blew me away was finealta.
I’d like to give the new Astar release a try having loved the 2008 version. But like @PBMichiganWolverine says- it’s tough giving ‘Morangie the benefit of the doubt, especially at over $100 a pop. Great review, btw. I think I was kinda bored with this one, but I haven’t had it in over 3 years either.
I’ve read pretty good reviews for their latest one Spios. But at close to $100, still quite a bit
Totally agree about the pricing/value issue, and about Quinta Ruban being the better whisky