Amrut, a Sanskrit word translated as “Elixir of Life”, was established in 1948 and the first Indian distillery to release a single malt. This whisky was distilled in small batches in Bengaluru, the Garden City of India, 3,000 feet above sea level, from barley that has been malted and dried over peat fires in Scotland. The local tropical climate means that it reaches maturity quicker, but the angel’s share can be as high as 15% per year!
Whisky Pioneer
Appearance
Mid gold in colour with a very thick swirl line on my Glencairn glass, it drops very slow thick viscous legs.
Nose
Straight from the off the peat is very forthcoming, there’s definitely no waiting needed. The peat does come with sweetness, cream soda is leading, with apricots and other stoned fruits following along. Germoline and rose water slowly develop, and the nose has a warmth to it.
More time and dunnage aromas develop, there is a menthol note too with a touch of lime and malt biscuits. The peat has now become lightly ashy, along with old school bubble gum.
Palate
The mouthfeel is medium thick initially, and again the peat is easily accessed. It is quite a sweet peat flavour wise, the bubble gum sweetness definitely accompanies it. Like the nose, the palate is warming, and spices are coming to the fore. There is a lovely fruit cocktail syrup now, more red berries coming though, and the palate is spicy, but not face slappingly so.
For me more fruits develop with time, it’s actually a very nice peat/spicy/sweet combo. Each are easily found, and come forward equally, they blend together nicely.
Finish
The finish is medium in length, the palate is still nice and warming with continued sweetness and peat.
My thoughts
This is my introduction into Amrut whisky. Iv’e seen it around lots, along with other bottles from their range, but never got around to trying anything from them. Though i have tried whisky from a rival Indian whisky distillery. I must admit that i was really pleased when i opened the package and pulled this sample out, a new distillery to try, this is the stuff that makes me smile, a lot.
Well, i can now say that i really enjoyed this dram. At 46% ABV it has lots going for it, plenty in the way of aromas and flavours. This to me is quite a peated dram, it’s around 24 ppm in the bottle, and it’s quite prominent on the palate. Perhaps the mad peated whisky lovers may find it lighter compared to Octomore, but the peat is easily found.
For me i’d say this whisky sits on the border between the more than entry level dram lovers and those really exploring peat. It’s certainly not scary, but does offer a good experience. It’s a bottle i know i’d enjoy, but i feel that if i had the money i’d probably spend it elsewhere, just through personal choice. If offered another drop of it sometime i’d very happily enjoy a dram again.
This was the December release from the whisky Pioneer whisky sample subscription service, their website can be found here.
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