Wemyss Malts Nectar Grove Batch Strength

Welcome to 2020, another year to discover breathtaking whiskies and making new whisky friends. Let's kickstart the year with tasting notes of the festive whisky from Wemyss Malts: Nectar Grove Batch Strength.

Madeira casks aren't the most common vessels to finish or mature a whisky. Only a handful distilleries had a limited run with Madeira casks in a lead role. Wemyss Malts Nectar Grove launched in the first quarter of 2018 and now has a high strength brother.


Nectar Grove Batch Strength is a blend of 2 Highland single malts. The blended malt is finished in unknown Madeira casks.

I won't dive into depth on the production methods and Madeira styles. I summarised most of it in my blog post on the original Nectar Grove. There's way more to this Portuguese wine from the Flower Island than what can be found in the supermarket.

Let's set sail with a glass of Nectar Grove!

Identity Card

• NAS Highland blended malt
• Finished in Madeira casks
• Outturn: 8100 bottles
• Alcohol: 54% ABV

Tasting notes

Colour: Brushed gold with thin fast legs.

Nose: A malty start but from then on it's a basket of summer fruit. Peaches, apricots honey and cherries. Acacia nectar, melon and marzipan with dried fruits and nuts. A festive dram for sure.
With water: a tad dustier. More wood and honey.

Taste: The alcohol is fairly prominent. A serious pinch of white pepper and slightly metallic. Cloves, unripe pears and warm muesli. Chestnuts and beechnut. Marzipan. Bitter orange peel.
With water: Nuts, wood. Honey, melon and unsweetened apricot liquor. Bitterness from grape seeds

Finish: A warm mouth feel. Syrupy. Nut cake.

Wemyss Malts delivered a truly festive malt with the Batch Strength version of Nectar Grove. The original Nectar Grove was almost on par with Velvet Fig. This high strength version has the same qualities with a bit more oomph. Upon consulting my tasting notes of the regular version from last year, I discovered much of the same descriptors. My compliments to the blending team for creating an almost identical copy of the original whisky.

So, when will we see a Batch Strength Velvet Fig?

Sample and images: Wemyss Malts