More and more single cask Amruts that list age statements and vintages are appearing in the United States. For a while, official single casks were rare so all we had were Blackadder casks missing both of those elements. But now the distillery is embracing a massive carbon footprint, flinging some of India's tempered poison across many thousands of miles over to us Yanks.
For instance, here's an Oloroso butt with six years on it, bottled for the Whisky Neat group. I have no idea how my buddy, Mr. NO, got his mitts on a bottle, but I don't ask questions. I just drink what people hand me.
Distillery: AmrutRegion: Bangalore, India
Age: 6 years (July 2014 - September 2020)
Maturation: Oloroso sherry butt
Outturn: 480 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 60%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(Thank you, Mr. NO!)
NEAT
The nose starts with heat, VOCs and saline. Then some orange oil, dates and florals. Hints of maple syrup, mint leaf and dark chocolate color the edges. The palate is really really hot. After my feeling returns to my face, I find some black raisins and pumpernickel bread up front, tobacco and black coffee in the back. A bit of ash too, but maybe that's from my cooked taste buds. It finishes hot, salty and tangy with plenty of black raisins involved.
Please, water.
DILUTED to ~46%abv, or nearly 2 tsp of water per 30mL whisky
The nose gets slightly mustier, yeastier, with orange oil, raspberries, toffee and almonds. This is a completely different palate. Now there are lemons and dried apricots. Ginger and cloves. It's much sweeter, though a woody bitterness lurks in the background. It finishes with sweet and salt in tune. A little bit of pepper to go with the lemons and dried apricots too.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Even though this goes against the name on the bottle, I do not prefer to drink this neat, where it registers much hotter than its already sizable ABV. Water wakes it up, bringing out fruit and variety, properly burying all those black raisins. Can't say it's my favorite Amrut, but perhaps some dilution experiments could further lift up this whisky.
Availability - ???
Pricing - $100+
Rating - 83 (diluted only, it loses 8-10 points when neat)
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