Amrut Naarangi

Nose - (w/o water) Strong orange peel, orange syrup, almost mandarin like, cooked bananas, grilled pineapple, hint of caramel, Tajin (w/ water) Slightly reduced sweetness, but otherwise the same Taste - (w/o water) Initially very hot, strong but surprisingly balanced orange zest, orange gummies, cooked banana sweet, grilled pineapples, lightly metallic (w/ water) Reduces the initial heat, slightly less sweet, brings out a hint of hot pepper in addition to the bananas & pineapple Finish - (w/o water) Lingering orange hot tingle, slight metallic lingers, grilled bananas & pineapples, toasted orange rinds (w/ water) Pretty much the same, but the slight metallic is significantly less. Score - 84/100 Final Thoughts - This was quite surprising as upon the initial nose, I had immediate fears that this would be a cloying syrupy orange mess. Fortunately this wasn't the case as the orange was there from start to finish, but it wasn't too cloyingly sweet. Interesting for sure, but not sure this would be an everyday dram other than for certain cocktails or maybe a tiny dessert dram like a port or something. Water definitely helps tone this down a bit and improves it quite a bit. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - If they sold it in smaller 200mL bottles? I might have this in tiny amounts like a port

Meget orange i duft 81/100

Batch 5. Great stuff with a bouquet of aromas and flavors from orange, chocolate, creamy vanilla, cherries, ginger, and pepper, and a long spicy finish.

I had this about one year ago in London... a 6cl sample, so going on memory. One thing I love about Amrut: they're innovative and willing to try experiments, pushing the boundaries of what the EU Scotch association defines as legally a whisky. In Hindi, Naarangi means oranges...although Amrut is in Bangalore, the dialect there is Kannada...so go figure. Anyway, from what I recall---this wasn't what I expected. I expected orange galore in the nose like Compass Box Orangerie, but instead this was more sherried---so more dried fruits, dates and figs. Lot of figs. I remember the taste then being more oranges, but still not as strong. Mild, light. Still figs. What I was most surprised at though wasn't that I didn't get a tsunami of oranges, but instead the 6 yr old tropical maturation didn't seem more than its six years. Normally, South Indian tropics ages the spirit far quicker than the Scottish climate. Wondering if this was aged truly in Bangalore? Anyway, net-net....not bad, but certainly not any significant naarangies. Instead plenty of "unjir" ( figs in Hindi). This orange rind cask seasoning experiment does make you wonder though---what if they tried other whisky favorable spices like cloves, ginger, or anise? We'd have Amrut Laung ( cloves), Adarak ( ginger), and Saumf (anise). Yes Amrut, you can have those ideas. All yours.