Amrut Fusion Indian Single Malt Whisky

Rating: 18/23 N: I get light peat and some malt and fruit. P: This starts out a bit weak after trying the Amrut Single Malt Cask Strength, but then an explosion of flavors emerges. The Peat brings in this sense of tropical sea-spray as it richens the regular single malt flavor, bringing in a bit of saltiness and highlighting the tropical fruits. The way that the flavors dance is terrific. It has a bit of a grainy quality along with some nice grass. A very tasty and balanced palate. I'd love to try a cask strength version! F: The peat definitely lingers for a while along with the tropical fruits and a bit of tartness and some vanilla. A very nice conclusion. This is really a great dram. It's better than the Amrut Single Malt Cask Strength because of its added complexity. Amrut has really nailed it with this lightly peated whiskey. It's definitely an 18, possibly a 19. I think I'll be sticking with 18 for now, but I'll need to get a bottle and do another tasting.

A lot of sharpness and burning at first taste, followed by peatiness and ending in coffee and chocolate. No easy drinker.

nose: hot honey and paprika smells. First sip: very and a lot of different spices but last not very strong. Spicy and peppered. Adding water permits to lower it a bit, though it's quite smooth it gets more rough but more tasteful.

That peat is really present on the nose. There is also plenty of fruit though. Tasting it, the peat and cherry come through immediately, but so does a surprising mesquite smoke and spice flavor. I appreciate the sweetness and also how it balances with the peat. That's often difficult to pull off, but since the flavors isn't aggressively bitter and tart, it works well here. It's surprisingly smooth for 50% ABV. The richness and balance are nice, but a bit more richness would be nice. This kind of reminds me of Westland Peated, but it seems a bit less complex and plain delicious. The Amrut Portonova may have that weird cardboard flavor that this doesn't, but it also has a lot of richness and some additional complexity. This kind of tastes like Peated cherry Pepsi, which I must admit is better than regular cherry Pepsi because eit avoids that grossly bitter finish, but it also has some mineral and mild salty flavors that strive to be Scotch but don't quite make it. This is absolutely a sipper that I would be happy to drink on most occasions, but it also needs to have more complexity and richness. Sweet, fruit, rich, peat, smoke. It's like cherry Pepsi whiskey. It's very good, but also quite odd. It's hedonistic in a pretty dumb way, but I'd be happy to drink this. The balance is shockingly successful. Everything that this tries, it succeeds at. It's odd, but it is also delightful. Amrut Portonova is generally better, but this wins over it because of that weird wet cardboard flavor in the Portonova.