Tasting Notes for Amrut Indian Single Malt Whisky
Nose: Sweet candy with honeysuckle and a gentle touch of sour lemon. Notes of apple develop – both sweet and floury apples as well as intensely flavoured boiled sweets.
Taste: An initial creaminess followed by sweet and sour fruit – apples, crunchy pears, unripe pineapple, mango and hints of banana. Sharp clove spice sits behind that, with tannic fruit skin dryness at the very back.
Finish: Very long. Sweet and grainy, with damp leaves and liquorice.
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Produced from malted barley grown in the foothills of the Himalayas, nurtured by the waters that flow there and cultivated by old and traditional agricultural practices. From the north of India, the barley is transported south to Bangalore where, at an altitude of 900 metres, it is carefully mashed and double distilled in small batches, then matured for 4 to 5 years in unique, hot, tropical conditions. Amrut contend that the topical aging process gives their whisky the same flavour as 12-15 year old whisky matured in Scotland or Ireland. The single malt whisky is matured in ex-bourbon barrels, bottled at 46%, and is non-chill filtered.
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Jim Murray's Whisky Bible: Liquid Gold - 2010
Ultimate Spirits Challenge: 88 Points - 2012 -
Amrut whisky started life in 1948, just as India became independent and people were looking for more home-grown Indian products. In the beginning, Amrut was manufacturing Indian Made Foreign Liquor, a catch-all term for all non-Indian alcoholic drinks at the time. In 1982, the company changed direction and started producing premium spirits, using barley gown in the Punjab region, and Prestige Blended Malt Whisky was released in 1986 with a Single Malt version following 18 months later. As Single Malt was virtually unknown in India at the time it seems Amrut didn’t quite know what to do with it and it ended up blended sugar cane distillate to create MaQintosh Premium Whisky - the wild-west indeed!
One thing that Amrut discovered on their journey into making premium quality whisky was that the angel share in India was much higher, typically around 11-12% per year compared to 3% in Scotland or Ireland. The higher evaporation concentrates flavours and brings oak character into the maturation process faster (there is always a debate about temperature vs tropical aging, both are good!). The brains behind Amrut felt their whiskies were as good as 12 year old Scotch after aging for 3 years and so Amrut took a giant step forward towards international recognition and entered the European market in 2004. The quality of their whiskies has improved enormously since the days of MaQintosh Premium Whisky and this was recognized in Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible, where Amrut Fusion was awarded the World’s 3rd best whisky in 2010. -
Producer Amrut Distillery Style Indian Single Malt Whisky Age No Age Statement Volume 70CL ABV 46%