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Fahrenheit 173 - Whisky
"The king o' drinks, as I conceive it, Talisker, Isla or Glenlivit" (R.L. Stevenson)
Amrut - Indian single malt whisky | 11 May 2010 | ||
Amrut, the Indian single malt whisky, has grown quite popular recently. I've read several reviews of Amrut that have made me quite curious - Gordon's tasting notes on Spirit of Islay are especially positive. It's about time I tried Amrut myself, I thought, so I picked up three minis at a visit to a certain German whisky fair...
The Amrut distillery is situated in Bangalore and was established in 1948. However, it wasn't until 2003 or so that they started distilling a single malt whisky. The malted barley used comes from the north of India ("grown at the feet of the Himalayas") but their peated whiskies are made from barley sourced in Scotland. The climate is such that the whisky evaporates quite quickly during maturation - the casks apparently lose over 10% of their content per year. In contrast to the conditions in Scotland, the water evaporates quicker than the alcohol thus the alcoholic strength actually increases over time!
Now to my tasting notes:
Amrut 46%:
Nice nose with malt, honey, citrus and an oaky spiciness. Without water the palate is quite hot and
develops a lot of oak. Oaky, spicy, disappointing finish. With a little water added the oak recedes
a bit which reveals a nice sweetness and fresh notes of orange and lime. Nice, oaky, peppery finish
with citrus fruits. All in all rather nice and moreish although a bit on the oaky side.
(85 p)
Amrut Fusion 50%:
Made from Indian unpeated malt and Scottish peated malt.
Peaty, malty nose, also earthy and musty (but that works well with the peat) with a note of citrus. Sweet, peaty
palate, develops very nice notes of mint and citrus. Disappointing finish with mostly oak. All in all it's
nice yet a bit unbalanced. But an interesting experiment!
(84 p)
Amrut Peated 62.8%:
Made from Scottish malt peated at 24 ppm.
Rather nice nose - quite peaty with a note of iodine, also a little earthy with a cereal note. Quite sweet, quite peaty
palate. It's youngish yet rather nice and develops nice notes of mint and citrus. Very nice finish with peat, iodine and a little oak.
(85 p)
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