Malt Nuts: Amrut Tasting

Oh Amrut, how I enjoy thee… most of the time. I’ve had some terrible expressions, but on the whole, I’ve always enjoyed Amrut and looked forward to this meeting as soon as it was announced. There are several Indian Whisky brands now available in the US, but the first major one was Amrut and they’re a name that I’ve always associated with quality and luckily for us, one of the brand reps decided to join. That always makes for a great evening.

As per usual the food was kosher, the conversation lively and whisky was blinded. Here are the rounds.

Malt Nuts Amrut Tasting Rounds

• Pre = Some new Indies
• Cut Amrut
• Cask Strength Amrut
• Post = Unidentified Islays and an old Tobermorey

Let’s get into it!

Malt Nuts: Amrut Tasting – Pre

Pre-A: Claxton Linkwood 11 years (06-17): 52.8% – Bourbon Hogshead

• Nose: Spirity vanilla and clay with notes of pears, honey, malt and bubblegum.
• Palate: Spirity vanilla and clay with notes of pears, honey, malt, bubblegum and menthol
• Finish: Short -> Spirity vanilla, menthol, fruit and bubblegum.
• Overall: C (73-76) Soft and simple it started out fruity but with a few drops of water and some air it almost tasted like new make, it was almost the right color for it too.

Pre-B: Five Lions Aberlour 8 years (05/09-09/17): 57.9% – Oloroso Hogshead

• Nose: Sherry, dark fruit, nuts, cocoa, honey, graham, tropical fruit and balsamic vinegar.
• Palate: Balsamic, dark fruit, nuts, sherry, cocoa, honey and some spice.
• Finish: Medium -> Dark fruit, nuts and spice.
• Overall: B (83-86) Decent little Aberlour. Silky and a dark, but missing in complexity.

Pre-C: Blackadder Ben Nevis 16 years (01-17): 53.4% – Hogshead

• Nose: Vanilla, malt, oily spice, nuts, fruit and a touch spirity.
• Palate: Fruit, vanilla, malt, oily spice, nuts, honey and butter.
• Finish: Long -> Alcohol, fruit. spice and spirity vanilla.
• Overall: B- (80-82) Touch spirity in the delivery but the fruitiness of Ben Nevis is always welcome.

Malt Nuts: Amrut Tasting – Cut Amrut

1A: Amrut Fusion – India Release: 46%

• Nose: Brown sugar, fruit, toast, orchard fruit, mango, hay.
• Palate: Fruit, brown sugar, orchard fruit, nuts, ash and a bit of toast.
• Finish: Medium -> Brown sugar, cocoa and honey.
• Overall: B- (80-82) Honied, dark and malty it was ok, but missing complexity. When it was revealed everyone was shocked, including the brand rep, that it was a Fusion. Then it was revealed this was the India market version bottled at 46% instead of 50% and apparently doesn’t use peated malt because there was no peat to be found. A weird, but fun, curveball for the group.

1B: Amrut Single Malt: 61.8%

• Nose: Dried fruit leather, marmalade, almond, char and oil.
• Palate: Sherry-like sweetness, dark fruit, leather, cinnamon, almond, char and nutmeg.
• Finish: Long -> Sherry-like sweetness, dark fruit and almonds.
• Overall: B+ (87-89) This is great. A silken dark and fruity delivery with nuanced complexity. I’m in.

1C: Single Cask Nation Amrut: 62.8% – ex-Bourbon Cask

• Nose: Tropical and orchard fruits, nuts, malt, honey and spice.
• Palate: Fruit, spice, honey and oil.
• Finish: Fruit, nuts and malt.
• Overall: B- (80-82) Limited in complexity, but it’s nice nonetheless.

Malt Nuts: Amrut Tasting – Cask Strength

2A: Amrut Single Cask Port: 56.5%

• Nose: Peat, cardamom, caramel, herbal, oak, Smarties.
• Palate: Peat, cinnamon, caramel, herbal, oak and some juniper-like herbal funkiness.
• Finish: Long -> Peat, cinnamon and oak
• Overall: B+ (87-89) Nice rich peaty quality with a nice dark sweetness underneath. Really digging this.

2B: Amrut Peated Cask Strength: 62.8%

• Nose: Vanilla, butterscotch, spice, herbal, fruit, malt.
• Palate: Butterscotch, spice, fruit, malt, pear taffy.
• Finish: Long -> Honey candy and malt.
• Overall: B (83-86) Such a tight malt, water helped express it and once it opened a bit it was quite nice, but without water it was hard to get much out of it.

2C: Amrut Peated Cask Strength 2010: 62.8%

• Nose: Fruit, caramel, vanilla, nuts, bananas foster, honey and pine.
• Palate: Caramel, fruit, vanilla, nuts, grilled banana and honey.
• Finish: Long -> Caramel, vanilla, malt and oil.
• Overall: B (83-86) Water brings out some nice sulfur pops and a sherry essence rises to the top with come Canadian Mints on the end with a bit of herbalness rising. Much better with a few drops of water.

2D: Amrut Intermediate Sherry: 57.1% – ex-Sherry

• Nose: Lemon curd, acid, banana taffy, spice and orange candy.
• Palate: Herbal oak, caramel, taffy, honey and spice.
• Finish: Long -> Honey, spice and malt.
• Overall: C+ (77-79) Odd, nutty and fruity.

2E: Amrut Kadhambam: 50% – “oak”

• Nose: Toffee, ash, nuts, banana, cocoa, malt, wine sweetness and fruit.
• Palate: Toffee, ash, nuts, banana, malt, salt and fruit.
• Finish: Long -> Fruit, toffee, nuts and malt.
• Overall: B (83-86) Water gives it a nice lemony pop and a salt water taffy sweetness. Odd, but in a good way.

2F: Amrut Portonova: 62.1% – ex-Port

• Nose: Dark fruit, citrus, candied nuts, cocoa and complex spice.
• Palate: Dark fruit, citrus, leather, pepper, nuts, cocoa and herbal.
• Finish: Long -> Dark fruit, cocoa, herbal and a bit funky.
• Overall: B+ (87-89) Hands down my favorite of the night. I think it’s port due to the sugary sweetness and some funky dark fruit brown sugary sweetness lingering through it.

Malt Nuts: Amrut Tasting – Post

I’m going to be honest with you. I was feeling the full effects before we got to this last round so my notes aren’t that great for the last round…

Post-A: Blackadder Smoking Islay (July 2012): 62.4%

• Nose: Peat, oil, minerality, fruit and I think it smells like Bowmore.
• Palate: Peat, oil, minerality, fruit and I think it tastes like Bowmore.
• Finish: Long -> Peat, plasticy, oily and funky
• Overall: B- (80-82) It really reminds me of Bowmore… a lot.

Post-B: Blackadder Peat Reek 10 years (06-17): 58.1% – Hogshead

• Nose: Meaty, phenolic, spicy, plasticy with some dark sweets and some minerality.
• Palate: Minerality, phenolic kick, plastic and toffee.
• Finish: Long -> Peat, plastic and minerality.
• Overall: B (83-86) This is good and reminds me of a young Laphroaig with the mineral-heavy nature. The meatiness reminds me a bit of Lagavulin, but that mineral quality keeps bringing me back to Laphroaig.

Post-C: Lady of the Glen 14 years (02-16): 56.2% – refill Oloroso

• Nose: Dark fruit, spice, peat, cocoa and malt.
• Palate: Dark fruit, spice, peat, cocoa and malt.
• Finish: Long -> Peat, cinnamon and cocoa.
• Overall: B+ (87-89) Not much for notes on this one, but it was pretty good. I thought it might be a Lagavulin or a sherried Port Charlotte, but turned out to be a Bunnahabhain which makes way more sense. Should have thought of that.

Post-D: Blackadder Tobermory 15 years (95-11): 59.1% – Hogshead

• Nose: Salted fruit, wax, lemon, marmalade and malt.
• Palate: Fruit, cocoa, taffy and wax.
• Finish: Medium -> Fruit, cocoa, taffy and wax.
• Overall: B (83-86) Tastes like a dark Speyside… so more like a Highland. I made a wild guess at Tobermorey and was right, but it was honestly just a wild guess. I could also tell I’d probably like this one more if it was’t at the end of a big tasting that had so much big peat at the end. Kinda nuanced, but hard to get right now.

Oh yeah, this was a fun tasting. So many twists, turns and surprises along the way, this was honestly one of the best events I’ve been to with the Malt Nuts purely because of the twists and turns it took. It was such a great night and as always I’m looking forward to the next one.

Till next time, cheers!