Amrut, Cask Strength, 61.8% abv.

My first Indian single malt. Amrut means "nectar of the gods", "nectar of life", "drink of the gods", or "elixir of life" in Sanskrit. Amrut headquarters is in Bangalore and had its "current" version of the single malt debut in Glasgow in 2004 while retailing in Bangalore and the USA in 2010. Like Kavalan, a Taiwanese distillery, reviews by famous people have been positive and popularity has soared, although it seems the demand for Indian whisky seems to have subsided, or production hasn't been keeping up.

Nose: sweet honey, major fruit sweetness, a mixture of oranges and strawberries, some light toast, couldn't sense that whopping 61.8% abv, but it shows up after a few sips amd after a few drops of water.

Palate: drying, intense, spicey, slightly fruity sweet, sour, staged flavors, purple plums, quite complex, basically hits a subspectrum of all fruits. A few drops of water brings out the sweet and sour aspects and the alcohol content. Hard to describe, but something like old cherries in syrup.

Finish: moderate to long, just dry.

Overwhelming. The nose was thoroughly enjoyable, what I expect a sherry cask should exhibit. Those flavors were quite intense though, I imagine from the high abv. I enjoyed the staged flavors, from sweet and spicey to a final sour note. Quite an adventure. Although not too similar, it reminds me of the Kavalan Solist Sherry Cask, intense. Dry though.

Grade: B-

Whisky bible, Jim Murray, 93.5 points

Image courtesy of Eric Yee.

Eric Yee

🇭🇰 🇺🇸(LA, SF) -> 🇯🇵 (京都, 東京) -> 🇰🇷 (서울, 부산)