Amrut Peated Indian Single Malt

Nose - light smoke and iodine, but no seaweed like you’d get from Islay Peat, some herbal notes and a bit of tropical fruit Taste - light wet smoke, some earthy notes with minerals, definitely tobacco, Finish - fades to a pleasant sweet smoke, lingers a bit, slightly dry, medium burn

Amrut is a solid bet when buying a new bottle. Everything they do is great, specially considering their first whisky was released in 2004. Having said that, this is not the best Amrut i have ever had, and it is not that peaty. Still a good whisky; with some interesting notes. Bottled at 46% abv (not to be confused with the Peated Cask Strength Amrut). Amber color. On the nose, it is so amazing, that score a perfect score, saving the overall rate of this dram. Starts with "naranjilla" a fruit that is amazing and only exists in countries like Ecuador where i live. You might find it called as "Lulo". Very tropical. Glazed Pork, some medicinal notes too. An IPA beer aroma, tangerine, and coffee. Citric. After having a first sip, the aroma develops an Olive oil note, spices and cherry tomatoes. On the palate is a little dissapointing. Vanilla, ashes, a little earthy, lemon and pineapple. Still a tropical yet peaty profile. Aftertaste has an explosive peat punch, but gets dim too quickly. Chilli and salt. Overall this is a good whisky but not a great one. Every single Amrut i have had before is better than this one. The score is 85 over 100 and it is because the aroma is amazing.

Rating: 17/23 All of the Amruts I have tried so far (admittedly only 3) have been at least great, but they've all been fruit-centric. I have high hopes for this. N: I get a big peaty nose. It really doesn't smell sweet and it has lots of smoke too. Unlike Arran's Machrie Moor, this has a big presence. There's a hint of mint and some malty richness. Because it isn't fruity and sweet or possessed by the salt and brine of the sea, it isn't an incredibly complex nose though. The Amrut Fusion's nose is definitely more complex and a bit more enjoyable. P: This isn't messing around! There's some sweetness here, but also a lot of peat. The herbal, medicinal character of the peat really comes through along with a big dose of tobacco and some of that rugged salt and a bit of brine that the nose was missing appear as well. There's a little bit of something to the fruit here, but it's hard to pick out. The sweetness is actually a bit more generic, with even a bit of cinnamon sugar to it. This is definitely less balanced than the Fusion is, but the peat presence is quite enjoyable. It's still has good complexity and solid balance, despite being a bit unrefined. There's a bit of wet wood, but it isn't bad. There's this sort of tart note as well that I get from other Amrut offerings, as well as Kavalan and American Single Malts. The American single malts tend to spin it into a yeasty profile, whereas the Southeast Asian ones go more for a tropical fruitiness. F: The peat lingers, as does some of the sweetness, herbal medicinal flavor, and little bit of tartness. It's a solid finish, though the palate is more impressive. I expected this to be kind of like a fruitier Talisker based on the amount of peat in it (24 PPM), but this is much more assertive than either that or Caol Ila. It's less assertive than Ardbeg, but it does kind of remind me of a somewhat fruitier and less herbal Ardbeg Corryvrecken. I'd say I prefer this over Talisker 10 and Caol Ila 12. It's probably not as good as the Ardbeg Corryvreckan or Uigeadail, but it's impressive. Nice work, Amrut! The cask strength version is fuller with more of a kind of cherry sweetness. The cask strength also holds up well to water, so it's a tough call on which is better value. I did find this to be more complex, but I really enjoyed the richer, fruitier profile of the cask strength, so I'd say that is is definitely the better whisky. That said, this is a great whisky. It is close to the Amrut Fusion in quality, though I'd say that the fusion is a little bit better. Talisker and Caol Ila are down at 16, while Amrut Fusion is up at 18, so I think this is a 17. I can imagine it going up to an 18 though, in large part because I can imagine Amrut Fusion going up to a 19. I have to say, as much as I love this, I continue to be a bit disappointed in Amrut because it's so expensive. I mean, it isn't ruinous, but how much can it cost to age some whiskey for a few years in India? There's no way that they had to keep this around for very long and labor can't be very expensive, so I have to assume that the distillery is making a killing on this. I'd curse them if the juice weren't so good! Besides, Kavalan is so much worse when it comes to gouging.

I’ve consistently been impressed by Amrut. Combination of the Indian heat, quality production, and ingenuity has really created some top notch products in a wide range of price options. This one here is using Scottish peat and North Indian barley. It’s about 6 yrs in used bourbon casks. Six years in Indian heat is more like 15-20 years in Scottish climate, given the high wood interaction. . Aromas of burnt rubber and citrus. Taste is light smoky, strong fruity flavors. At about $70 USD, this is a no-brainer buy-now.

The peat is on the back adding nice depth to an already playful amount of fruitiness up front.. supremely balanced.. one of my favorite non-scotch whiskies to date