New Arrival of the Week: Compass Box Nectarosity

Independent Scotch whisky maker Compass Box has a new whisky that you can buy now. It’s called Nectarosity and we got to taste it last week at the Archive & Myth bar.

The speakeasy-style cocktail bar opened in 2024 beneath the Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square and is accessed via a password-protected door. For August, it has partnered with Compass Box Whisky to celebrate the launch of Nectarosity Scotch Whisky by offering a vertical tasting of all four core Compass Box expressions with a miniature Melba Rob Roy cocktail. 

The Story of Compass Box

Before we get to the tasting, let’s talk a little Compass Box. The whisky brand was founded in 2000 by John Glaser, a former marketing director for Johnnie Walker. His idea was to bring a fresh perspective to the Scotch whisky industry and to push some boundaries, believing that whisky-making should be more about creativity and less about adhering strictly to tradition. 

This is exemplified by its focus on blending. Glaser felt it was an art form in whisky-making that didn’t receive the same attention as single malts. By selecting high-quality whiskies from different distilleries and maturing them in interesting casks, Compass Box was able to create quality whiskies that challenge the traditional view that single malts are superior to blends. 

Its first release was Hedonism, a blended grain whisky that added another layer of industry commentary by demonstrating that grain whisky could be just as complex and enjoyable as malt whisky. Marketing types often talk about wanting to be a “disruptor”, but Compass Box genuinely lived that reality and its impact on the whisky industry has been profound. Quality, transparency, and innovation won the day for the whisky maker and its willingness to challenge the norms and take risks has inspired a new generation of whisky makers.

The Compass Box tasting

Is everyone excited to taste some whisky now? Good.  Archive & Myth’s vertical tasting presents four drams: Orchard House, Nectarosity, Peat Monster, and Crimson Cask. Nectarosity and Crimson Cask are blended Scotch whiskies made from malt and grain whisky distilled on pot and column stills respectively, while Orchard House and Peat Monster are pure blended malts. 

All four are bottled at 46% ABV, natural colour, and non-chill-filtered. I messed with the recommended order of the tasting flight and saved the peaty boy for last to protect my palate but the staff encourage you to approach it how you feel comfortable. Let’s get stuck in. 

Compass Box Orchard House

What Compass Box says: “Fruit-forward and spirit driven. All-malt, and quite the all-rounder, Orchard House features some of Scotland’s fruitiest whiskies. A lively and fragrant sipper with a light oak influence, perfect for the home bar”.

Production description: Compass Box Orchard House is comprised predominantly of Clynelish and Linkwood single malts, with some sherried Speyside, smoky Caol Ila Islay whisky and fruity Glen Moray adding complexity.

Blend breakdown:

41.1% Clynelish single malt aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel.

34.1% Linwood single malt aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel.

10.4% Glen Moray single malt aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel.

9.7% single malt from the distillery near the town of Aberlour aged in a first-fill oloroso sherry-seasoned butt. 

2.4% Highland malt blend aged in a custom French oak barrel (medium toast). 

2.3% Caol Ila single malt aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel.

Tasting note: 

Nose: Very light and bright, I get apple juice, strawberry laces, and shortbread on the nose (which might say something about my diet). More honeyed, toffee sweetness is there too with a little stony minerality and black tea. 

Palate: The palate is delicate and rounded, like sucking on a boiled sweet. It has notes of raspberry and vanilla, with toffee apple and a little oak spice. Every element is very nicely pitched and it’s a gentle, easy sip. 

Finish: The finish is warming and delicately sweet with honey, peaches, and oak char. 

Compass Box Nectarosity

What Compass Box says: “Whisky meets patisserie. Great pastry chefs are fuelled by creativity and generosity, constantly enhancing life’s sweet pleasures. So are we. We wanted a new word for that irresistible urge – that word is ‘Nectarosity”.

Production description: Compass Box Nectarosity has a high single malt content of around 65%, mostly Linkwood and Clynelish, with first fill hogsheads of Cameronbridge and some refill cask Girvan single grain adding creamy sweetness to the blend.

Blend breakdown:

22.6% Linkwood single malt aged in a first-fill Palo Cortado sherry-seasoned butt.

15.1% Cameronbridge single grain aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel

12.1% Clynelish single malt aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel. 

11.8% Linwood single malt aged in a refill sherry puncheon

10.7% Clynelish single malt aged in a second-fill virgin custom American oak barrel.

10.5% Girvan single grain aged in a refill hogshead (ex-virgin custom American oak barrel).

7.1% Balemnach single malt aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel. 

5.4% Girvan single grain aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel.

2.4% Cameronbridge single grain aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel

1.2% Cameronbridge single grain aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel

1.1% Cameronbridge single grain aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel

Tasting note: 

Nose: The new one is intended to be a pastry of a dram and I get that immediately on the nose, with hearty aromas of frangipane, sponge cake, and buttery croissant. There’s also pineapple cubes, cinnamon, and apricot yoghurt. 

Palate: This is a richer and denser taste than Orchard House, with a slick, thick palate that’s got a toasty, American oak sweetness at its core. There’s a bit of bourbon about this, with all the bluster and bite removed. In fact, tasting this is not unlike having vanilla ice cream in a wafer cone (or is the ice cream van that came to the office the day before the tasting still on my mind?). Anyway, a 99-Flake-of-a-dram is alright with me. Apricot, raspberry, gingerbread, and caramel all join the party, as does a small red chilli earthy/heat which I’m a fan of, but I am the kind of guy who could happily eat chilli chocolate so make of that what you will. 

Finish: The finish gently waves away with tropical fruit, warm pastries, and marzipan. It’s a little thinner than I expected from the palate but it also left me wanting more.

Compass Box Crimson Cask

What Compass Box says: “Transformative sherry casks. We honour the spirit of these casks and the transformative influence wood has over our realm of flavour. It brings the magic of metamorphosis to our blending table.”.

Production description: Bold sherried whiskies from Benrinnes, Glen Moray, and a distillery near the town of Aberlour form the heart of this blended malt with an interesting touch of Highland malt blend aged in a custom heavily-toasted French oak barrel adding depth.

Blend breakdown:

26.9% single malt from the distillery near the town of Aberlour aged in a first-fill oloroso sherry-seasoned butt (11-month finish). 

19.7% Glen Moray single malt aged in a first-fill oloroso sherry-seasoned butt (four-year finish). 

14.5% Benrinnes single malt aged in a first-fill bourbon barrel.

11.3% Glen Moray single malt aged in a first-fill oloroso sherry-seasoned butt (four-year finish). 

8.4% single malt from the distillery near the town of Aberlour aged in a first-fill oloroso sherry-seasoned butt. 

7.3% Highland malt blend aged in a custom French oak barrel (heavy toast). 

6.1% Teaninich single malt aged in a first-fill sherry butt.

5.8% Glen Moray single malt aged in a refill hogshead (Spanish red wine barrique). 

Tasting note: 

Nose: It’s sherried, but it’s not a sherry bomb. This range shows what many already knew, Compass Box does things in a very measured way. I almost had to go looking for this nose, which slowly opened with stewed dark fruits and cardamom. You’ll recognise this nose if you’ve ever had chocolate with a red fruit filling. Cola cubes, orange zest, cinnamon, red wine, and chocolate sponge aromas emerge. 

Palate: The palate is exactly what you expect. It is an aromatic, thick, almost syrupy affair with dried fruit, winter spice, dark chocolate, sherry-stained oak, clove, and toasted brown sugar. No surprises but it’s pulled off well. 

Finish: The finish is all blackcurrant jam and smoked nuts. 

Compass Box Peat Monster

What Compass Box says: “Peat with elegance. A whisky that layers peaty and smoky elements. The recipe in 2019 has evolved to include older and more elegant Islay malts”.

Production description: A classic Islay-style blend comprised almost entirely of Caol Ila and Laphroaig, Peat Monster does what it says on the tin.

Blend breakdown:

46% Caol Ila single malt aged in a refill hogshead.

35% Laphroaig single malt aged in a refill hogshead.

14% Caol Ila single malt aged in a refill hogshead.

3% Caol Ila single malt aged in a refill hogshead.

1% Caol Ila single malt aged in a refill hogshead.

1% Highland malt blend aged in a custom French oak barrel (heavy toast). 

Tasting note: 

Nose: Woof. A proper peaty crowd pleaser here, with a rock pool, beach bonfire, somebody-set-the-cockles-and-mussels-stand-alight coastal/island smoke vibe. Apple juice and vanilla add some softer, mellowing elements. 

Palate: The palate prickes with black pepper spice which fades into sweet, sooty smoke with more brine and maritime familiarity. 

Finish: The finish is all ash and coast. You’ll like this if you like your Islay whisky, and while I don’t think it’s offering anything new it’s a reliable, drinkable option. I had some olives with it and highly recommend that.  

Archive & Myth Compass Box tasting experience 

Overall, it’s the newcomer that stole the show for me. Nectarosity was the most individual and intriguing dram of the bunch with a moreish quality and a nose I kept going back to enjoy. 

It also formed the basis for the Melba Rob Roy, the mini cocktail presented at the end of the vertical tasting. It mixes Compass Box Nectarosity, toasted granola vermouth, peach fermented whey, maple versus, and raspberry. It’s a twist on a Rob Roy inspired by the toasty, oaty goodness of a Scottish Cranachan dessert. The Melba Rob Boy is sweet but has this refreshing quality not unlike what you get from watermelon that stops it being saccharine. It’s also fragrant fantastically fruity and perfectly chilled. My compliments to the fridge. 

The whole tasting and cocktail is £30, which for a tourist-trap part of London is not bad at all. If the cocktail was full-size and not a mini we’d be into b-b-bargain territory. I like the bar too, it has a classic Speakeasy style and the staff are warm and friendly and on hand for any guidance or opinion. I could do with a little more light, being a useless, increasingly decrepit man who struggles to read menus at the best of times. Perhaps the bonus of all the Magic Mike content upstairs makes up for it.

So there you have it. Compass Box has a new whisky and I’m a fan. You can buy Compass Box Nectarosity from Master of Malt now. 

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