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Monday, July 18, 2022

Amrut 6 year old 2015, cask 2126 for Norfolk Wines

This Amrut run concludes with a pair of single casks selected for Norfolk Wine & Spirits in Massachusetts. While the entire state of Ohio will likely never see an Amrut single cask, at least a couple of individual retailers in The Baked Bean State were awarded a few. All of these casks appear to have been reduced to 60%abv, as if they were Knob Creek bourbons. What interests me about this particular cask is that its spirit was distilled from, per the retailer's website, "malted Indian Peated Barley". So Amrut did not use imported peated barley from Scotland during this spirit run. I'm intrigued...

Distillery: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Age: 6 years (June 2015 - August 2021)
Maturation: bourbon cask
Cask #: 2126
Outturn: 120 bottles
Exclusive to: Norfolk Wine & Spirits
Alcohol by Volume: 60%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Woody smoke mixes with an industrial greasiness in the nose, then shifts into a hay bale fire after 20+ minutes. Honey, nectarines and ginger fill the middle, with rye bread in the background. Just the right amount of sweetness in the palate arrives in the form of clementines and black licorice. A mix of ocean-y peat, sea salt and cinnamon frame the sweetness rather than overwhelm it. Cayenne pepper colors the background. It finishes with salt, sweet, smoke and a squeeze of lemon.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or nearly 2 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose becomes simpler: smoky and briny, with a curious polyester note in the midground. The palate also narrows, featuring wood smoke, salt, cayenne and lime. It finishes with soot, lime and cayenne.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Unlike the 6 year old cask for Whisky Neat, this 6yo for Norfolk Wines actually performs best when neat. It dazzles with neither complexity nor fireworks, rather it hits each note well, feeling balanced and polished to the point that it is (SPOILER ALERT) my favorite of the single casks from this month's series, and it'll finish second among these ten Amruts. In fact it could compete well with most of Scotland's peaters. While its $200 price tag is a dealbreaker for me, I'd be willing to pony up $100-$125 for this 6 year old whisky. Yes, I just typed that.

Availability - Possibly still available at the retailer
Pricing - $199.99
Rating - 87