
October 6, 2016

Two extraordinary Amrut

I mean, they are anything but ordinary. It seems to me that India’s Amrut have been a little less, say uproarious in recent times, but here they are with two new bottlings. Lets simply try them…

Amrut ‘Rye’ (50%, OB, India, +/-2016)

This is malted rye, so it is a ‘single malt whisky’. An appellation that, I believe, you couldn’t use in Scotland, as malt has to be made out of barley. Glann ar Mor in France already had a single malt rye last year, called ‘Only Rye’. It was excellent, in my opinion (WF 87). Colour: deep gold. Nose: pineapple bread, or something like that. Mango cake, stewed guava, papaya chutney… You see what I mean. The balance between the tropical fruits and the rye’s breadiness seems fragile at times, but the combo works to perfection, quite miraculously. Indeed, pineapple bread (who will try to bake pineapple bread one day?) With water: very fragrant, musky, with a little geranium (flowers, not stems or leaves). Very, very unusual. Mouth (neat): very unusual indeed, the rye imparting some strange medicinal flavours to an otherwise very exotic/tropical whisky. If you will, a blend of Laphroaig, 1976 Benriach, and Rittenhouse Rye. Unusual indeed, but it does work once the wonderment has gone. With water: rye up, fruits down, certainly not for the worse. A touch of lavender (not in a B-way), plus aniseeds. Really fun. Finish: quite long, just as unusual as before, with bready flavours, and, wait, could this be lotus seeds? Comments: not an easy one to assess, but it’s so ‘different’ from any other whiskies, and so fine-tuned, that you just cannot not like it. Very well done, Amrut, this is innovation that makes sense, rather than, you know, ‘hey, let’s find some Zinfandel casks and do a finishing!’ SGP:751 - 86 points.

Amrut 12 yo ‘Greedy Angels’ (60%, OB, India, decanter, 2016)

This is the Chairman’s Reserve, thank you Mr. Chairman. There already were a 8 and a 10 in this series, but this one’s the rarest, they only issued ‘around 100 decanters’. Colour: gold. Nose: classic tropical fruitcake, vanilla, and manuka honey. Mangos, longans, and above everything, juice blood oranges. No single trace of any over-oakiness. Because, they say one year in India is equivalent of three to four years in Scotland, which means that this baby’s between 36 and 48 years old. Sort of. With water: menthol, eucalyptus, cough syrup, embrocations… And many tropical fruits. Wonderful. Mouth (neat): a fruity blast, then some oak, then many essential oils and saps. Mango and orange jam cooked in new oak and flavoured with fir sap. No, it’s actually better than that, of course. Strong but not undrinkable at 60% vol. With water: jammier, fruitier, with more citrus that, as usual, lift it. Finish: long, a little more custardy. Pineapple-flavoured desert cream. Comments: those greedy angels left the best part for us. It’s pretty concentrated and even thick, but it’s kept a fruity lightness that’s quite splendid. A great Amrut, it’s just ‘a little expensive’ ($1,000, it seams). SGP:751 - 89 points.

Check the index of all World Whiskies I've tasted so far