Amrut Peated Indian Single Malt Cask Strength

Dark chocolate bitter, smoke (not salty), vanilla. No salt notes. Mostly sweet and harsh smoke.

At 62.8% ABV, this one packs an incredible punch. Without water, a tiny sip provides a rich explosion of woody, dried fruit, and earthy peat flavors but it just way too hot so plenty of water is definitely needed...for me at least. With a generous helping of water, the aroma opens up a bit and shows more nuance while still retaining it's density. More dried fruit, apricot, green apples, orange peel, leather, oak, wood smoke, and a touch of bacon. The taste follows the nose with more dried fruit, salted burnt caramel, allspice, bitter tannins which continue and dominate the finish which isn't particularly pleasant. With plenty of water, it is still rough around the edges and while it has some serious flavor, it isn't rounded out like more mature distillates are. Still, this is a great accomplishment for such a young whisky to extract this much flavor and depth. The Indian climate definitely plays a huge factor. For those who deserve big, bold whiskies, this deserves a taste if you come across it.

I had the good fortune to attend an Amrut tasting event tonight with one of the brand ambassadors at the Seven Grand whiskey bar in downtown Austin. I got to try five different expressions from Amrut over the course of the evening, plus some delightful punch made with their peated single malt. This one ranks #3 out of 5 for the evening. The nose hits you with cut grass, vanilla, LOTS of peat, and almost makes you think you're smelling Lagavulan. Doesn't taste the same as Lag though, which doesn't mean it was bad. It had a creamy, vanilla taste once you got past the peat, reminiscent of a cross between a Laphroig and a Highland malt. Very intriguing.

less peaty. strong in taste but not enough to get you buzzed