Amrut Spectrum 004, 2021 release

This post's entire introductory paragraph appeared in my head at once. I wrote it, then went back and looked at my review of the previous Amrut Spectrum release, and discovered that I essentially wrote the same exact thing three years ago. Oh well, here's an intro anyway, with new jokes.

Amrut Spectrum shouldn't appeal to my palate, but it does. It is indeed 100% cask hijinks, yet it works. How Amrut beat Lumsden, Reynier and Walker to the quadruple-stave vessel mystifies me. Where is Saucy Dr. Bill's Glenmorangie Ménage à Quatre? Perhaps I oughtn't encourage him.

If you haven't heard Amrut Spectrum's cask recipe yet, here it goes:

Maturation step 1 - ex-bourbon casks

Maturation step 2 - bespoke casks made of four different stave types: Level 3 charred American oak, toasted French oak, Oloroso-seasoned, and PX-seasoned.

This method worked for the 2017 release. Here's the 2021 release:

Distillery: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Expression: Spectrum 004
Age: ???
Release year: 2021
Maturation: see above
Outturn: 6,000 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? ???
(sample spirited away from an event)

NOTES

The gigantic schnozz is back! Dessert begins with dried berries, milk chocolate, almond extract and toffee. Then a tiramisu fashioned with a large dose of espresso, and dried apricots on the side. There are also some staves with a really nice mustiness to 'em. The palate is its own crazy confection that shouldn't work but does. Imagine a rum cake made with honey and lemon zest, filled with blueberry jam and black walnuts, and topped with figs and yellow nectarines. Served at a shisha bar. The finish holds onto the figs and black walnuts, while introducing oranges and grapefruits. The tannins remain impressively mild throughout.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

This 2021 version of Spectrum 004 has an outturn that is more than thrice the size of 2017's, at less than half the price per bottle, allowing more people access to this Technicolor whisky. As with the 2017, the "spirit was only present to deliver the product in a liquid medium", but what a product. Hopefully more batches will follow as Amrut tries out different time frames for each maturation. Or different cask sizes and oak types (and less virgin oak). Keep this going, Amrut!

Availability - USA and Europe
Pricing - $170-$210 in the US
Rating - 88