Tag: Amrut | MaltKlaus' Daily Drams

April 29, 2018April 28, 2018

Tasting: Amrut Intermediate Sherry NAS b.30 Indian Whisky

Dram data:
Distillery: Amrut
Bottler: official bottling for Taiwan
Distilled: –
Bottled: May 2016
Age: NAS
Limitation: ? batch 30
Casks: Ex-bourbon – Oloroso – Ex-bourbon
Alcohol: 57,1%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

Intermediate Sherry? Now what’s that supposed to mean? Easy! The whisky was first matured in Ex-bourbon casks, then transferred to Spanish oak Oloroso-seasoned casks for a year before a final maturation in ex-bourbon again. That’s a lot of cask-swapping! Let’s see if it was worth the effort!

Tasting notes:
Colour: reddish amber
The nose is quite strong on the alcohol – no wonder, it is clocking in at 57% ABV! Behind the alcohol, there’s the first waft of slight, fragrant oak and a mixture of herbs and spices. Oriental cough medicine, perhaps? The European oak influence is noticeable! Let’s wait a few minutes! Zzzzzzzzzzz. It’s opened up a bit! Now traces of orange juice, chocolate-covered orange peel appear on a bed of sultanas and molasses. It’s been a while since I last spent such a long time just nosing a dram, if that means anything… The interplay of the freshness and the darker notes works rather well! On to the palate!

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September 6, 2017September 6, 2017

Tasting: Amrut NAS BA24-2016 by Blackadder

Dram data:
Distillery: Amrut
Bottler: Blackadder
Distilled: –
Bottled: 2016
Age: NAS
Limitation: 172
Casks: Ex-bourbon BA24-2016
Alcohol: 61,4%
uncoloured / unchillfiltered
Whiskybase link

Some bottlers bottle their whisky heavily filtered and heavily coloured, some don’t filter and don’t add colouring – and then there’s Blackadder. Their “raw cask” series even puts bits of charred oak (and, in this case, a string of hessian bung cloth(?) into the bottle. Let’s take a look at this example from the Indian Amrut distillery – if I can manage to pour a “not too crunchy” dram from the bottle, that is – I have misplaced my strainer…

Tasting notes:
Colour: dark copper red
The nose has quite a lot of alcohol up front – obviously. The nose needs a few seconds to adapt to that. Once we’ve cut through the alcohol layer, a spicy charred cask character awaits us. Burnt fudge, chocolate-covered vanilla caramel, allspice, turmeric and toasted cask. It feels “warm” and satisfying in a way. I have sniffed freshly delivered ex-bourbon barrels in Scotland, which didn’t nose too dissimilar. With water the alcoholic top note disappears into the background, revealing more of the aromas – let there be dried oranges and pickled ginger. On to the palate!

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February 15, 2015October 7, 2016

Tasting: Amrut Peated

Dram data:
Distillery: Amrut
Bottler: Original Bottling
Distilled: –
Bottled: March 2013 / Batch 19
Age: NAS
Limitation: –
Casks: –
Alcohol: 46%
Unchillfiltered, uncoloured
Price at the time of purchasing: 56€ (yes, I paid too much, it’s usually about 40€…)
Whiskybase link

Tasting notes:
Colour: light-ish amber
The nose is an interesting mixture of known and unknown aromas – a clash of worlds – literally, as Scottish peated barley malt is distilled, matured and bottled in India. The peat is there – not nearly as prominent as in most Islay whiskies it is Highland style peatiness to a level we’re used to seeing in, for example Springbank (maybe a little less). It’s there – but just one flavour component amongst many. Continue reading “Tasting: Amrut Peated”