Cock-and-bull trio No.7, Paul John and Amrut

October 28, 2013

Cock-and-bull trio No.7,
Paul John and Amrut

Namaste! Well no real cock-and-bull session today as we'll stay in India this time. We'll have a go at these new 'Paul John', it was about time I tried some of them. And then we'll try a new single cask Amrut...

Paul John 'Edited' (46%, OB, India, 2013)

This new one from Goa was matured in bourbon wood. Colour: gold. Nose: very simple but perfectly balanced, on vanilla, apple pie, maple syrup, fresh oranges and a little grenadine. It reminds me a bit of some young Arran or, for that matter, Amrut. It is said to be lightly peated but I do not detect much peat or smoke so far. Am I tired? Maybe a little cardamom... Mouth: apple juice, a lot of apple juice. I mean a blend of apple juices, ripe sweet ones, drier ones (cider apples), overripe ones... Add to that a little white pepper and you've got a good idea. And 'ideas' of a kind of green peat indeed. Finish: quite long, just as fruity, probably a little more citrusy than before. Also pineapples. The aftertaste is frankly peaty indeed. Comments: honestly, I had thought this would be junk, McDowell style. Not at all! It's actually an easy, fruity, well-crafted malt whisky. Very solid! SGP:642 - 82 points.

Paul John 'Classic Select Cask' (55.2%, OB, India, 2013)

Colour: full gold. Nose: less expressive than the 'Edited' but that's because of the higher strength. Very similar easy style, or maybe a little more pencil shaving, café latte and custard. With water: becomes a little rounder, more compoty. Mouth (neat): hey hey hey! What a surprise again! Big bright fruits all over the place, blood oranges, pineapples, limes... There's even something of Bladnoch, in a way (please don't shoot!) Very easy, very good. With water: same. Excellent, really. Maybe just a wee notch lactic? Finish: medium length, clean, fruity, full, easy. Comments: I don't know if this Goa whisky is made by old hippies but I'm afraid the very excellent Amrut aren't the only ones to make great Indian malt whisky anymore. Speaking of Amrut... SGP:641 - 85 points.

Amrut 2009/2013 (60%, OB for La Maison du Whisky, India, bourbon, cask #3438)

Distilled from unpeated Indian Barley. It's to be noted that the angel's share (rather a garuda if you ask me) has reached 40% over those four years. Oh, and kudos to Amrut for not hiding the age of their whiskies, it's often not the case elsewhere in the world. Colour: full gold. Nose: as I wrote above, we have a similar style but this Amrut seems to be a little more complex, with more floral and 'tropical' touches. For example, it's got guavas, as well as a little sandalwood and incense. Melons? Very likeable! With water: more of all that. Multivitamin juice, this baby must be good for your health. Mouth (neat): yeah, once again, it's got more character and personality than the already excellent Paul Johns. Rich yet 'nervous' fruits, touches of bananas, passion fruits... So once again, its more 'tropical' and, in a way, more un-Scottish than the Paul Johns. With water: oh, this is great! It's got more pink grapefruits and some very funny touches of citrons and Campari-orange. Serious, this could be Campari-orange. I love Campari-orange. Finish: long, on... oak-aged Campari-orange. Apologies. Comments: this is hard to beat. I could quaff litres of this (Mum, you know that was just a figure of speech, don't you!) SGP:641 - 89 points.