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.