Amrut 6 year old 2014, cask 3819 for Norfolk Wines

This is the sibling to Monday's peated single bourbon cask (#2126) for Norfolk Wine & Spirits. The spirit, from unpeated malted Indian barley this time, spent its life in an Oloroso sherry butt. It may also have been the next door neighbor of Whisky Neat's exclusive cask (#3820). I hope its quality tilts more towards 2126.

Distillery: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Age: 6 years (November 2014 - August 2021)
Maturation: Oloroso butt
Cask #: 3819
Outturn: 396 bottles
Exclusive to: Norfolk Wine & Spirits
Alcohol by Volume: 60%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose starts off briny and nutty, with hints of tar and leather. The only sugary thing on the horizon is the mild cherry lolly note it develops after 20 minutes. Curiously, it also has the same rye bread note as #2126. The palate impressively avoids sweetness, focusing on roasted almonds and walnuts, rye bread, mint leaf and salt. After nearly 30 minutes it does pick up a hint of the nose's cherry candy, as well as a touch of bitterness. Though this is unpeated whisky, I do find a gentle smoke note in the finish, alongside pecans, figs, ginger and mint.

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

Farminess and a hint of seaweed joins dried cherries and toasted almonds in the nose. The palate shows dried cherries, dates, walnuts, earth and bitter coffee. The finish matches the palate, but with a whiff of mint leaf in the background.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

With some curious phenolic notes, and without #3820's punishing heat, cask 3819 succeeds more than I expected it to. The oak doesn't overwhelm until dilution, so six years was probably the cask's max. This compressed aging time hinders further development of what could have been a fabulous cask, had it matured in a calmer environment for over a decade. Still, this is a very solid pour when neat, and may appeal to drinkers who prefer drier sherried whiskies.

Availability - Possibly still available at the retailer
Pricing - $123.99
Rating - 85 (neat only)

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

Amrut Aatma 7 year old 2013, cask 4670

Aatma can refer to "soul" or "spirit" (in Hindi), or it can be one of two Indian horror movies, or it'll be printed in white letters on a very red label on the front of an Amrut whisky bottle. I haven't seen either of those films, and this is the wrong Michael Kravitz Era for discussions about the soul. Instead, I regret to inform you that this is a whisky post.

It's great to see US-exclusive single casks from Amrut, especially when they're in the 5-8 year range, especially especially when they cost a fraction of the Greedy Angels series. There appear to be six of such Amrut Aatmas thus far. Today's very dark whisky came from a port pipe filled with unpeated Indian malt spirit.

Distillery: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Range: Aatma
Age: 7 years (April 2013 - December 2020)
Maturation: Port pipe
Cask #: 4670
Outturn: 360 bottles
Exclusive to: USA
Alcohol by Volume: 56.5%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(sample pilfered from a recent whisky event)

NEAT

Lots of hot fudge, golden raisins and prune juice in the nose, followed by lime candy, saline, cloves and tawny port. The palate shows tart cherries, sweeter dried cherries and dried currants first. Notes of root beer and cassia bark appear later on. It finishes with dried cranberries, cassis and cassia.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1⅓ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Now I'm finding stewed and mulled fruit (with spices included) in the nose. The golden raisins return but with semi-sweet chocolate this time. The palate barely changes, perhaps gaining cloves and losing cassia. It finishes with dried cherries, dried cranberries and bitter cocoa.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Unlike Wednesday's 6 year old single cask, this 7yo works well both neat and diluted. The Aatma also, thankfully, lacks the 6yo's punishing heat. It's a very comfortable dessert pour that never gets too sweet, but it's all cask. This style negates the necessity of putting a distillery's name on the bottle, yet it is more impressive than most 7 year old Scottish single casks I've had. I would have enjoyed better balance between the vessel and the spirit (the Aatma, perhaps?), but those of you who like cask juice may adore this thing.

Availability - Possibly sold out
Pricing - $200 and up?
Rating - 85

Amrut 6 year old 2014, cask 3820 for Whisky Neat

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: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Age: 6 years (July 2014 - September 2020)
Maturation: Oloroso sherry butt

Cask #: 3820
Outturn: 480 bottles

Exclusive to: Whisky Neat
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)

Luxury Product Report: Amrut Greedy Angels 10 year old, Unpeated

When Amrut dropped a trio of 10 year old Greedy Angels releases in 2019, I was able to take part in bottle splits of two of 'em. I reviewed the multi-cask peated GA10 almost exactly two years ago and loved it. So when the opportunity to take part in a split of another GA10, I leapt in for 2oz. This specific Greedy was nearly opposite in style from the other: unpeated and aged solely in ex-bourbon casks. Thanks to the Bangalore climate, the angels whisked away with almost two-thirds of the casks' contents across one decade of maturation. I hope they're good and drunk up there.

Here's a bottle pic from the distributor's site because I can't find my own photo, per usual:

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: minimum 10 years
Maturation: ex-bourbon casks
Outturn: 900 bottles, 300 of which went to the US
Alcohol by Volume: 55%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose takes time to open up. Dulce de leche, cornbread and cilantro arrive first. Subtler notes of yellow nectarines and ocean air stay in the back. Buttery American chardonnay and toasted oak arrive next, followed by orange blossoms. Hot and extractive, the palate is mostly vanilla bean with some flowers and citrons far behind. A mild peach note appears after a while. It finishes sweeter, with lots of vanilla and honey. A little bit of tart citrus and a lot of tannins.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or nearly 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Oak still, er, lumbers across the nose, but the fruit notes expand, with pineapple and grapefruit up front, and Kasugai kiwi gummies in the background. A bright fresh herbal grows with time as well. The palate has cooled off. Pineapple, guava, fruity cinnamon and ginger powder gradually push the vanilla into the midground. More citrus, less vanilla and fewer tannins invade the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Though the Whiskybase community is enthralled by this release, I am not. I'll repeat my note from above: this reads hot and extractive when neat. Though one may think that result is to be expected from the warehouses' climate, the peated sherry finish Greedy one did not have that character.

This GA10 can be a good, warm drinker once diluted, but I'd be extremely peeved if I'd paid $750+ for it. Yes, the final rating doesn't look too ugly, but this may have the weakest QPR of any Amrut I've tried. I'd be much happier with the much cheaper 2021 Spectrum, or some of the Kadhambam, Portonova, or even Fusion batches.

Availability - ???
Pricing - $750 in the US in 2019
Rating - 84 (diluted only)

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

Amrut Bagheera, batch 1

Next up, Black Panther and the Amrut Multiverse, or something. Amrut has framed Bagheera as a limited special edition, but I'm not sure what's so special about it. It's an NAS sherry-finished whisky packaged with two little glasses but without a clear reason for its existence. Wouldn't an NAS sherry-finished whisky would fit right into their core range? All I really know about Amrut Bagheera is that a bottle of it appeared at April's Columbus Scotch Night. And here's my review of the liquid.

Distillery: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Expression: Bagheera

Batch: 1, September 2020
Age: ???

Barley: allegedly 99% unpeated + 1% peated malt
Maturation: probably bourbon casks first, then sherry casks second
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? probably not
Color added? ???
(sample spirited away from an event)

NOTES

The nutty and sulfurous start to the nose recedes into a mix of figs, baked apples, cloves and cassia bark. Notes of molasses chews and funky honey appear later. Black pepper, salt and clover honey cover the palate's foreground with bits of ginger and bitter citrus in the back. Earthy walnutty dry sherry gives way to something sweeter after 20+ minutes. It finishes with cinnamon red hots candies, raw walnuts, candied citrus peels and candied ginger. Like the palate, it gets sweeter with time.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

It is drinkable, but its raison d'etre remains unclear. Seems like it could sit side-by-side with the standard Amrut Indian Single Malt and Amrut Peated Indian Single Malt bottles on mid-shelves, especially since it has the same 46%abv presentation, and is not an upgrade in quality. Serge thought it both weirder and better than I do, FWIW. If anyone knows more about this release, please let me know in the comment section below. Cheers.

Availability - North America, Western Europe and South Africa
Pricing - $85-$100 in The States
Rating - 81

Three batches of Amrut Fusion

Time to bring this unintentional Baby Whisky series to a close with Amrut. Ten samples of single malt from the Bangalore Bruiser are staring at me right now, daring me to figure out how to schedule them. I'll take them up on that challenge...

Amrut Fusion was my favorite non-Scottish peated whisky, ten years ago. It is possible that my opinion was influenced by influencers back then. Murray, The Maniacs, and Whisky Advocate all raved about Fusion between 2009 and 2011. Who was I, a mere neophyte whisky blogger, to disagree with their well-published palates?

After trying a number of Fusion batches in the decade since, I believe batches vary considerably, especially since the whisky is so young (3-4 years), but have never sat down to test that out. Until now.

For some unknown reason Because I can see into the future, I saved a sample from my bottle of batch 29 (March 2015), so that I could try it against batches 85 and 88, which were bottled in early 2020. Those two samples were sourced from a recent Columbus Scotch Night event during which two different drinkers independently said, "These don't taste like Fusion".

Karnataka Triplets

Amrut Fusion Batch 29, March 2015	Amrut Fusion Batch 85, January 2020	Amrut Fusion Batch 88, March 2020
The peatiest of the trio. A mix of smoked paprika and wood smoke starts the nose, followed by cinnamon, cardamom, packaged cookie dough and 3 Musketeers. It gains vanilla bean and in-season plum notes with time.	Wow, the nose is all over the place. Lemon, ham, nutritional yeast, Spam, cinnamon and a dash of peat create a sense of "WTF am I about to sip?" It gradually simplifies into barley, yeast, cinnamon, brown sugar, and a hint of florals.	Peat, milk chocolate, basil and melted candle wax sit up front in the nose, with kiwi and pineapple in the background.
The palate leads with cinnamon, ginger powder, limes and heavy smoke. Milder notes of baklava and wormwood-esque bitterness arrive later.	The palate begins sweet and tangy with a hint of smoke. Lots of raw heat, apple cider vinegar and cinnamon red hots. Ash ascends with time, as does a floral note.	The palate is gingery and peppery, though less raw than batch 85. It's tangy and grainy with a grassy smoke in the background. Feels almost like a blend.
I wish I knew my limes because I'd love to detail the finish's vibrant lime notes. Instead all I can say is: salt, limes, good bitterness and a touch of sweetness.	The harshest of the three Fusions, batch 85 finishes with heat, salt, pepper, ash and agave syrup.	It's a bit edgier in the finish, with tangy citrus and ginger, bitterness and heat.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Batch 29 (Mar 2015) - No competition here. This batch exists on a different plane than the more recent two. There's more cohesion and depth, and it's a joy to drink. It may not be the best thing Amrut has ever produced, but it reads like a complete whisky, something I'd be happy to buy again.

Batch 85 (Jan 2020) - The vast contrast between this one and #29 made for a jarring transition as I went from one to the other. This batch did not absorb any of the benefits of the Bangalore seasons, reading like a three-year-old whisky. And there was clearly a different blending staff on hand for this one, compared to the 2015 bottling. It may be my least favorite Amrut bottling thus far.

Batch 88 (Mar 2020) - Though more closely related to #85 than #29, batch 88 does feel more pulled together and better assembled than its 2020 cousin. Still, the palate's a bit thin and forgettable, almost begging for some ice and/or club soda, which, while not a tragedy, seems beneath Amrut Fusions of the past. I don't know. Do you want to pay $70 for highball whisky?

RATINGS:

Amrut Fusion, Batch 29, March 2015 - 85

Amrut Fusion, Batch 85, January 2020 - 78

Amrut Fusion, Batch 88, March 2020 - 81

Bottle Review: Amrut Naarangi, batch 05

Yes, this is my bottle. Ta da!

This batch of Amrut Naraangi was on the table at five recent local events, and it proved to be a hit every time. Drinkers seem to like the whisky as much as its story.

Amrut deposits a few pounds of small local oranges into each of a number of sherry-filled casks, then lets them macerate, integrate, infiltrate, disseminate, inculcate, annunciate, inseminate and disintegrate in the Bangalore heat for three years before the casks are emptied. Amrut's unpeated spirit is then added to the casks to mature for an unknown amount of time (my guess is 3-6 years).

Distillery: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Expression: Naarangi
Age: ???
Maturation: see notes above
Batch: 05, August 2018
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltered? probably not
Color added? ???
(approximately the midway point on my bottle)

NOTES
Citrus does feature in the nose, but it's much milder than a liqueur. It's also zippier than navel orange zest, smelling of kabosu, yuzu and citron. This blends with notes of chocolate, toffee, rosemary, fruity cinnamon, malt and brown rice. It even picks up a musty old sherry cask note after 30 minutes. The palate has more classic sherry cask notes of nuts and dried fruit. The midground citrons and limes mix with subtler notes of sweet paprika, serrano pepper and pineapple. A happy lack of sweetness in the finish makes way for tangy citrus and chiles, some paprika and a salty pickled bite.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I'm going to pour myself another glass of this very satisfying batch of Naarangi right now. There isn't much complexity in the palate, instead one finds the fireworks in the nose. But the palate is not syrupy sweet, it is spicy and tangy and — exotic is too loaded of a word — enthusiastically not scotch.

I wish Amrut could find a way to price this in the $60-$70 range. Its current price keeps me from running after a second bottle. $$$ aside, this is a fun whisky experience, and I look forward to other international producers giving an experiment like Amrut Naraangi a try.

Availability - Specialty retailers in the US and Europe
Pricing - $120-$160 in the US, €90-€140 in Europe
Rating - 86

Luxury Product Report: Amrut Greedy Angels 10 year old (2019)

Yes, at north of $800, this is the sort of whisky that gets its own casket and Certificate of Death, er, a note from Master Distiller, Surrinder Kumar, thanking me for buying a bottle.

What? Me buy a bottle? No, Surrinder!

*air drums*

I bought one ounce.

Local whisky friends offered up a bottle split, so I decided to be extra helpful and buy the smallest possible portion.

The story behind the Greedy Angels series is all about Bangalore's summers which do a number on Amrut's casks, with the "Angels" withdrawing generous amounts of contents through the cask staves. The key for Mr. Kumar is to get the whisky bottled before it's hot oak syrup, something we have plenty of here in The States.

This edition of Gready Engels was distilled from peated Scottish barley, then aged first in a Pedro Ximenez butt for seven years. What remained at that point was split between an ex-bourbon cask and "a 100 litre refill virgin oak barrel" (a series of words for which I have many questions) where it spent another three years. I have a feeling that the results were diluted to 60%abv, since a previous 10yo Gritty Angeles was 71%abv. This may make it a more approachable drink while also increasing the outturn. I can't guarantee that, but 60%abv is a very round number.

What we have in this edition is peat, sugary sherry and American oak, likely squared or cubed. Amrut Spectrum 004 was quite a ride, so I'm all buckled in for this thingamajig.

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: minimum 10 years
Maturation: see notes above
Outturn: 324 bottles, 1/3 of which are for the US
Alcohol by Volume: 60%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(from a bottle split)

NOTES
So many things going on in the nose. There's barbecued pork with a sugary sauce. Brown's cream soda. Dark chocolate with smoked sea salt. Old Armagnac. Cedar chips. Dried cherry marsala sauce. And a whiff of incense smoke. After some time in the glass, there's more orange oil. Cigarette smoke in a Tokyo whisky bar.

Charred citrus peels and charred peppers arrive first on the palate, then sweet berries and mint. LOTS of cardamom. Hints of grape jam and ginger snaps. A lovely tartness throughout. There's remarkably no generic oak or vanilla present.

The long finish balances tartness and sweetness. Cardamom, chile oil and a gentle dusty smoke.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
The gorgeous nose is utterly transportive, and I can't ask for anything more from a whisky. I don't know if it's Nose of the Year because I can't remember what else I've drunk thus far. Hell, I don't remember where I put my keys just now. Anyway, this Greedy thing was a thrill to sniff for an hour. There was nearly no chance the palate could meet the sniffer, so I wasn't disappointed when it was merely very good. I'm happy to enjoy a B-grade palate with an A-grade nose. The absence of aggressive American oak on the palate was very impressive. Were this Amrut one-fourth its price......

Availability - There may be a few dozen retailers in the world with a bottle
Pricing - $800-$1000
Rating - 90

Amrut Spectrum 004, US Release

Of all the Amrut gimmicks, this one seems like the most fun: Purposely build a cask out of multiple cask types, then fill it up with whisky and watch what happens. I'm surprised Amrut beat the Scotch industry to it.

There should be an asterisk on this bottling, though. It's made of staves from four different types of casks: new French oak, ex-oloroso, ex-PX and new American oak. It is not made up of four "different oak woods", or at least there's no additional detail given other than what had seasoned the staves. In fact there are only two types of oak listed on the bottle's labels: French and American. American oak makes up the vast majority of whisky casks, including ex-sherry, for cost and structural purposes, so it's likely that American oak makes up three-quarters of each Spectrum cask.

An interesting, and educational, experiment would be to age whisky in each of these four separate cask types in the same corner of the warehouse as the Spectrum casks, then blend or marry the four cask types' contents together, then compare the results of Spectrum and this other "Four Wood" creation. Perhaps someone would learn something.

And in case you were wondering, yes, Spectrum is only finished in the custom casks. I'm not sure if I should be grumbling about that. Time to find out.

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: minimum 3 years

Batch: 004 (It's a James Bond joke. Get it?)

Maturation: first aged in ex-bourbon casks, then finished in casks made with the aforementioned four stave types
Outturn: 1,800 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? ???
(from a bottle split)

The whisky's color is very very dark. The nose leads with roasted nuts, specifically walnuts and cashews. Then coffee beans and a hint of dried currants. Later it's carob bark, mint leaves and maple candy. What's extraordinary about the palate is that it's nothing but espresso upon the first two sips. That's it. Then gradually comes salt, dried cherries and limes. Honey, wood smoke and toffee pudding. The PX starts to take over, as do plenty of tannins. There's also a significant musty oak note, just to keep the drinker on his or her toes. The espresso shows up in the finish as well. Then limes, brown sugar, grape jam, honey and pencil shavings. It grows sweeter with time.

Going into this, I knew the spirit was only present to deliver the product in a liquid medium. The result, the piles of tannins and sherries, is......Fun. There's something exceptional about its thumping shifts and volume. One moment it feels like a 40 year old sherry cask, the next moment it's a gloppy PX-finish, then it's honeycomb, then it's coffee. Does it ever come together as one piece? Maybe in the nose, which is subtle compared to the rhinoceros-playing-piano palate. The price, though. Jeez. That's wackier than the rest.

Availability - a few specialty European and American liquor retailers
Pricing - Europe: $300-$350 (ex-VAT); USA: $400-$500. Yes, you're reading that correctly.
Rating - 89 (that's some good wood)

Amrut Two Continents, batch 03 (2017 bottling)

In contrast to the mix mastery of Kadhambam, Amrut Two Continents is aged solely in refill ex-bourbon barrels. The hook for this release is its maturation in two climates. It first percolates in India, then waltzes(?) in Europe. They don't say where in Europe, just "Europe". Northern Finland's climate is slightly different than the South of France, so it kinda matters.

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: minimum 3 years

Batch: #03 (2017)

Maturation: refill bourbon casks
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? ???
(from a Columbus Scotch Club event)

NEAT
Timber! It's actually not that oaky on the nose, but there is an early note of freshly split logs. After that, the nose stays simple. There's hay, anise, apple and butter. It's kinda blendy. The perkier palate leads with simple syrup, pear juice, ginger and hazelnuts. Black peppercorns help things from getting too sweet. It gets smokier with time, though also picks up a notebook paper note. The moderate length finish is big on ginger and chiles, with smaller notes of acidic citrus and bitter smoke.

DILUTED TO ~40%abv, or <1 teaspoon of water per 30mL whisky
Less oak on the nose. Smokey ham, grass, apples and cardamom. Yet the palate gets woodier and more tannic. Papery and peppery. Smoked nuts and lemons. The finish is much quieter. It's tangy and tannic with acidic citrus and black pepper.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Batch 3 came out in 2017 with, curiously, a lower abv (46% versus 50%) than batch 2, and has more muted reviews online. I did not know this when I tried it head-to-head with yesterday's Kadhambam. But the Kadhambam really is in a different league.

This batch of Two Continents has that rawness and oakiness found in many/most American "craft" whiskies, though it pulls it off better than the Yanks. I do think the oak holds it back or at least removes something vital and lively found in most of Amrut's releases. It's still a reasonable whisky, but the regular CS, the peated CS and Fusion are all more enjoyable at much lower prices.

Availability - Many specialty European and American liquor retailers
Pricing - Europe: $80-$110 (ex-VAT); USA: $110-$140 (har har)
Rating - 81 (neat only)

Amrut Kadhambam, batch 05 (2017 bottling)

It's Amrut Time! Again. I knocked out nearly a dozen Amrut reviews in 2016 and 2017, but none in 2018. I'm remedying that with three consecutive Amrut posts this week, with each whisky enjoying a 2017 release. So exciting!

First up is Kadhambam, batch 5. As odd as Kadhambam's cask combo sounds, it seems like an inevitable experiment. Amrut makes brandy and rum, so they have those leftover casks. They've done sherried releases, so those casks are on hand as well. Just their luck, the mix works.

I thought Batch 3 was grand and strange. In my review, I was worried that Kadhambam had been retired. Batch 4 came out in 2013, and as of 2016 there was no sign of the next round. Alas, there was another.

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: minimum 3 years

Batch: #05 (2017)

Maturation: ex-Oloroso sherry butts, then Indian brandy casks, then Indian rum casks
Alcohol by Volume: 50%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? ???
(from a Columbus Scotch Club event)

NEAT
It has a big bright nose with lots of dried fruits, especially apricots. There are green apples, lemons and barley. Hard toffee and earthy cocoa. It picks up a pineapple juice note after 10 minutes. The palate is warm but not hot. Tobacco, dried cherries, brown sugar and just a hint of plum wine. A tiny bit of tannin, along with cinnamon and nutmeg. It finishes with citrus, brown sugar and toffee. Mild tannins and mild pepper.

DILUTED TO ~46%abv, or ½ teaspoon of water per 30mL whisky
The nose narrows, but also focuses intensely on toffee, cinnamon shisha and lime juice. Meanwhile, the palate shifts while keeping its breadth. It's creamy, fruity and spicy. Tropical fruit punch with cinnamon and chili oil. Brown sugar, oranges and cumin. The finish has oranges, honeydew and a little bit of salt, while holding onto its decent length.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
Another great batch. While this one doesn't hit batch 3's heights, it is more stable and approachable, with the casks behaving more harmoniously. It also feels a little more mature than most of the other Amrut's I've tried, perhaps due to its calmness and lower heat level. It works with or without water, your choice.

On a side note, batch 5 seems to have had at least three bottlings: two in 2016 and one in 2017. This is the 2017 bottling, FWIW. The series does seem to have caught a second wind, and is now up to batch 8. I hope the batches maintain this quality because I look forward to owning a bottle, one of these years.

Availability - Many specialty European and American liquor retailers
Pricing - Europe: $70-$100 (ex-VAT); USA: $120-$160 (har har)
Rating - 87

The Rum Dummy drinks Amrut Indian Whisky, Jamaican Rum Cask Finish (Blackadder)

I like rum. When Mr. Diving for Pearls sent this whisky to me, I reminded him I only review rum. Then I smelled it and understood.

I don't like whisky for two reasons:
1. Online whisky people. Scotch fans make bad financial decisions, then brag about it online. Bourbon fans are angry. Do happy people drink whisky?
2. Whisky is not rum.

This label says whisky:

This stuff was released by that company that sprinkles mustache stubble into every bottle.

Why.

Diving for Pearls sent me two samples. One said "61.2%abv", the other "Diluted to 45%abv".

The only thing I like less than whisky is an adjective, so this review makes me, er, nervous.

"61.2%abv"
Nose - It's not whisky. It's Hampden. Olives, brown sugar, honey, orange oil and tire rubber. Vanilla.
Palate - Very sweet. Hot. Dunder and soot. Ginger. Wood, vanilla and jalapeños.
Finish - Very sweet. Lemons, olives, brown sugar and vanilla.

"Diluted to 45%abv"
Nose - Mt. Gay levels of sugar and caramel. Cinnamon bread, cardamom, orange oil and cloves. Disappears quickly.
Palate - Foursquare? Olives, molasses, vanilla, flowers and American oak.
Finish - Sweet, tingly, vanilla-infused rum.

This is good because this is rum.

This is not a complaint, but, um, Blackadder knows that the rum must be poured out of the barrel in order to call it an "ex Jamaican Rum cask", right?

If you like Hampden or Foursquare, then this w****y won't be the worst thing. But this cost $150. That's the worst thing.

NOT WHISKY RATING: B

Amrut Portonova, batch 15

The first whisky from last week's event was this Glen Keith.
The second whisky was GlenDronach Cask Strength, batch 6.
The third whisky was Amrut Portonova, batch 15.

I've enjoyed just about every Amrut single malt I've tried. Aside from the loony prices on the Blackadder bottlings, cask strength Amruts are much cheaper than cask strength Kavalans, and (in my unpopular opinion) often of better quality. The Portonova is my favorite of the Amrut releases. See here for my raves on batch 1. It was my pleasure to introduce this Indian single malt to the ladies and gentlemen who attended the tasting. Sure enough it was the attendees' second favorite of the set, next to the GlenDronach. Would I feel the same???

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India
Age: minimum 3 years
Batch: #15
Maturation: first round in American oak, second round in ex-port casks
Alcohol by Volume: 62.1%
Chillfiltered? No
Caramel Colorant? ???

NEAT
The nose is very sniffable considering the big ABV. The port character is more reserved than I expected. Yes there's mixed berry candy and pipe tobacco, but there's much more ginger candy and toffee. The palate is also not too hot to sip. Here the port is almost silent. Instead there's ginger, clove, nutmeg, tart limes, chili oil and a defined barley note. Its long, warm finish is lightly sweet, with plantains and limes. Some tingly spiciness.

WITH WATER (~50%abv)
Hmm, more American oak in the nose. Maple syrup, vanilla extract, ginger beer. Dates, dough and chocolate malt. The palate is very peppery, as in peppercorns and chili peppers. Moderate herbal bitterness and earthy notes. It's definitely not sweet, though the finish does pickup some sugar. And vanilla and pepper. Shorter overall.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
Now the nose is all bourbon cask. Caramel, vanilla and brown sugar. Okay maybe a hint of prunes. Ginger beer. Not much has changed in the palate compared to the 50%abv version. Maybe some more grain action. The finish is all pepper and cinnamon.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
I do like this batch, but it's nowhere near batch 1's quality. It's one of the rare Amruts that feels its ~3yo age. In fact, once water is added, it feels a little like "craft" whiskey, under-matured but with lots of extra oak. Thus I don't recommend diluting it, despite its high alcohol content. It also feels like it's missing an extra dimension from the port casks.

With all that being said, it's good whisky. It's very approachable and its youth presents some fun spicy notes throughout. It would serve well as a winter warmer if one's looking for such a whisky. If this stuff were half the price in the US, I'd even consider getting it.

Availability - easier to get in Europe than the USA...
Pricing - ...and it's cheaper there too. $70-$90 (w/o VAT or shipping) in Europe, $130-$140 in the US
Rating - 84 (neat only)

Single Malt Report: Amrut 4 year old 2009 single ex-port pipe #2712

I never thought I'd type this, but I'm enjoying port cask aged whisky to the point where I'm actively seeking it out.  I have been rescued from the crippling Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban Experience!  ANYWAY, I reviewed a 4yo 2009 ex-bourbon cask on Tuesday and a 4yo 2009 ex-PX cask on Thursday.  Today it's a single ex-port pipe Amrut, but this one is peated.  I adored the first batch of Portonova, now lemme see how this one fares.

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: 4 years (June 2009 to August 2013)

Cask #: 2712

Maturation: ex-port pipe
Bottle count: 357
Alcohol by Volume: 59%
Sample obtained via a swap with My Annoying Opinions.  Thanks, MAO!

NEAT
For those interested in color, this one is by far the darkest of the three single casks.

The nose is malty with a side of lemons and limes.  Mellow peat and hay meet milk chocolate, caramel, and buttery oak.  After 15 minutes of air, it opens up further.  Seaweed, band aids, and pencil shavings.  Geraniums, lemons, and honey.

The palate is hotter than the PX cask's.  At first the peat arrives as ash and cinders, alongside a light raspberry and strawberry jam note.  It grows port-ier with time, and really improves.  It's earthier and picks up some cigar tobacco.  But then the dark berry notes arrive alongside a little bit of hot fudge.  It feels dark, if that makes any sense.

The biggest notes in the finish are the cigar tobacco, ash, and dark berries.  Small notes of fudge and herbal bitterness float behind.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
Now the nose starts off with maple syrup and a chunk of American oak.  More limes than lemons.  The peat has become farmier, and there's now a hint of bacon.  Lemon pepper and dried berries in the waaaaaay back.  Kind of Springbankish at times (vague!).

The palate gets earthier and leaner.  Maybe silkier in texture.  Mild sweetness, mild woodspice.  Molasses, malt, and a hint of red bell pepper.

The finish is spicy and peppery.  Mild malt, sweets, and earth.  Peat cinders linger.

THOUGHTS:
This one needs some air, but it's my favorite of the three single casks.  The palate and nose are true pleasures once they open up.  The port character doesn't ring out very loudly and there are a lot of US oak notes in the nose, so I wonder if (like yesterday's PX cask) this was also a finish.  The combination of the oak(s), wine, grain, and peat work very well together no matter what the story is.  I prefer it neat; it holds up with some water though it becomes a different whisky.

Again, of the three, this one would be the bottle I'd buy, but......it is the most expensive, despite being the same exact age as the others and having the highest bottle count.  I'll pass it up at this price, but had it gone for the same price as the ex-bourbon cask I'd have happily bitten.

Availability - Europe only, and it's getting tough to find
Pricing - 80-100 euros
Rating - 88

Single Malt Report: Amrut 4 year old 2009 single ex-PX sherry cask #2701

On Monday, I reviewed the Amrut 100 release.  On Tuesday, I reviewed one of their single ex-bourbon casks.  Today, it's a single ex-Pedro Ximenez sherry cask.  It's the same age as the ex-bourbon, but the cask size is different.  The ex-bourbon cask (#3445) produced 172 bottles, while today's cask produced 301.  If this was a sherry butt, then WOW it lost a lot of liquid, and thus strengthens the stories about the thirsty angels of Bangalore.  Or does it?  More on this below...

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: 4 years (June 2009 to August 2013)

Cask #: 2701

Maturation: ex-PX sherry cask (and maybe something else)
Bottle count: 301
Alcohol by Volume: 62.8%
Sample obtained via a swap with My Annoying Opinions.  Thanks, MAO!

NEAT
The nose leads with raspberry jam, brown sugar, roses, and dried cherries.  Give it a few minutes and out comes some mild fudge notes and menthol and some vague hints of the cinnamon and ginger spirit character.  After 15 minutes, a big rich vanilla bean note takes over.

The palate is not as hot as expected, reading less like ethyl and more like chili oil.  In fact it's very peppery: hot pepper sauce and the biggest red bell pepper note I've ever tasted in a whisky.  Some grilled zucchini too, believe it or not.  Sugary raisins around the edges.  Some fudgy notes after some time in the glass.  A slight earthy rooty thing in the middle and tart limes in the back.

The finish is fudgy and sweet and hot.  There's pineapple juice, mint, black peppercorns, as well as the tart limes and raisins from the palate.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
Any sign of the PX has totally vanished in the nose.  There's lemon, caramel, vanilla, and roses.  Hint of mint, hint of malt.  Okay, maybe a touch of chocolate and raisins.

The palate picks up more black peppercorns and loses most of the red bell pepper.  There's also toffee, malt, and a hint of the PX in the background.

The limes are less tart now in the finish.  Nutty brown butter, toffee, soft bitterness, and a near absence of sweetness.

THOUGHTS:
In the comment section of MAO's review of this very bottle, he and a commenter discuss the likelihood that this whisky was actually only finished in PX casks.  Meahwhile, the bottle's label only references the "Px-sherry" part.  If it really was only finished in the sherry cask, then Amrut pulled a GlenDronach.

I didn't know about this when I took my notes, but I was fascinated by the very strong American oak influence in the nose.  I also noticed that the PX barely showed up in the palate and then almost totally vanished altogether when water was added.  Thus I would not be surprised if this whisky was the result of two or three ex-bourbon casks having been dumped into a PX cask for a finish.

Nonetheless, I really liked this whisky.  The nose, with and without water, was appealing and the palate was peppy and fun.  Somehow the vegetable notes worked in its favor.  I enjoyed it more than the bourbon cask and the fourth batch of Intermediate Sherry.

The price on this whisky is 10-20euros more than the bourbon cask of the exact same age.  If it's more expensive due to the sherry cask, then maybe the label's missing "finish" was no accident.

Availability - Europe only, and it's getting tough to find
Pricing - 70-85 euros
Rating - 86

Single Malt Report: Amrut 4 year old 2009 ex-bourbon single cask #3445

After reviewing the '100', I'm going to move away from the gimmicky Amrut releases and focus on a few official single casks.  Today's is a unpeated single malt pulled from an ex-bourbon cask, so it's pretty straightforward.  The regular unpeated cask strength release is hot but quite decent, so I do have my hopes high-ish for this one, even though the whisky is all of four and one-third years old.

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: 4 years (June 2009 to September 2013)

Cask #: 3445

Maturation: ex-bourbon barrel
Bottle count: 172
Alcohol by Volume: 60%
Sample obtained via a swap with My Annoying Opinions.  Thanks, MAO!

NEAT
Lots of fruits and florals in the bright nose -- mangos, oranges, peach skin, and honey.  There's also some cinnamon bread, halvah, and crystallized ginger candy.  It's hot, but not as much as I expected from the high ABV.  Sometimes it noses much older, like a good 12yo bourbon cask of single malt Scotch.  Other times it feels young especially with the cinnamon and ginger.

The palate is hotter than the nose and feels younger as well.  There are notes of honey, almonds, and brown sugar, as well as hints of bread yeast and cayenne pepper.  Some salt around the edges.  Cinnamon and grain notes in the middle.

The finish is never overly sweet, though does have a pleasant tingly heat.  It's a bit tannic at times.  Nutty and slightly savoury with salt and cherry syrup.

WITH WATER (~46%abv)
The nose seems to get more candied.  Cherry lollipops with honey and flowers.  Starts to feel a little newmakey with cinnamon, ginger, and grain notes.

The palate gets blander, tighter, sweeter, and more tannic, the main notes being honey, nuts, barley, and cinnamon.  A small spicy bite shows up here and there.

Lots of honey in the finish, as well as ginger and peppercorns.

COMMENTS:
This is best served neatly.  Though the palate doesn't live up to the perky complex nose, it doesn't really fail in any way either.  It's still better than the majority (or all?) of the four year old unpeated single malt scotch out there.  As has been mentioned before, it's a heck of a balancing act aging spirits in the Bangalore heat, so there's a good reason they bottle stuff young.  This cask lost 42% of its contents in just over four years.  So yeah, they can age it for a couple more years, but what would remain?  Literally, what the heck would be left?  Something rich or an empty barrel?  In any case the price on this single cask isn't terrible compared to a certain Taiwanese distillery, so the quality-price-ratio isn't bad.  I look forward to more of their single casks...

Availability - Europe only, and it's getting tough to find
Pricing - 60-ish euros
Rating - 84 (neat rating only)

Single Malt Report: Amrut 100, batch 2

Ah, the Amrut gimmickry.  Though it seems to consume its entire range, in some cases their production choices aren't that unusual.  They have a peated and a non-peated release as well as cask strength versions of both.  That's doesn't seem too nutty.  Amrut Fusion is a blend of whiskies from two different countries, something that's been done by Canadian, Japanese, Scottish, Irish, and American companies.  Intermediate Sherry and Portonova are just whiskies with partial maturation in ex-sherry and ex-port casks, something that's prevalent in scotch.  Kadhambam is sort of a kitchen sink / garbage pail whisky with all sorts of casks involved.  Jim McEwan did the same with his execrable Black Art series and Longrow did so with their (more successful, in my opinion) old CV.  What really works for those Amruts is the resulting whisky.  It tastes good.

And then there is the Amrut 100.  Why is it called '100', you ask?  The whisky was finished in 100 liter virgin oak casks, it is bottled at 100 UK proof (57.1%abv) in 100cL (1 liter) bottles, and each country that carries it gets all of 100 of said glass vessels.  I would have loved to have seen them age it for 100 months as well, but apparently that didn't make it into the Grand Gimmick Budget.  To make matters even better, the General Manager of Amrut "is pretty sure this latest Amrut single malt will be another perfect collectors' item."  Oh geez.  How about we drink it instead?

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: minimum 3 years

Batch: #2

Maturation: first in ex-bourbon casks, then in 100 liter new oak casks
Limited release: 100 in the US, 600(?) worldwide
Bottle: 38 of 100
Alcohol by Volume: 57.1%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? ???
Sample obtained via a swap with My Annoying Opinions.  Thanks, MAO!

NEAT
The nose is very buttery with large notes of caramel, mint extract, and wet cardboard.  It's grassy with hints of lavender and lemon peel.  The smoke is almost buried beneath the oak.  Ethyl.

It has a nice thick mouthfeel.  The hot palate holds notes of vanilla, black pepper, salt, and granulated sugar.  Smaller notes of tropical fruit punch and limes float about.

The finish is a little fruitier than the palate. It's sweet and peppery with a citric tartness. Moderate levels of vanilla and cardboard linger.

WITH WATER (~50%abv)
More smoke and more lavender on the nose.  It's still buttery and full of caramel.  Some pencil shavings and moss as well.

The palate picks up a metallic note and more limes.  Buttery chardonnay with black pepper and Red Hots candies underneath.  A little bit of malt shows through, countered by vanilla and notebook paper.

It finishes floral and peppery with mild cassia cinnamon notes.  Tree bark and pencil shavings in the background.

WITH MORE WATER (~43%abv)
The oak mellows out in the nose, thank goodness.  All that's left are faint vanilla shadows.  Meanwhile grapefruit, fresh ginger, and menthol characteristics evolve.

Lots of ginger in the palate.  Then cinnamon, vanilla, notebook paper, and a light bitterness.

The finish is mildly sweet with a gingery tingle.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
This one didn't do it for me, though it does improve considerably as more water is added.  The cardboard, paper, and butter notes intrude aggressively as the casks themselves sound off much too loud.  Half-sized new oak barrels in Bangalore must be very difficult to manage so I can imagine this was quite an undertaking but the end result isn't for me.  The peat reads best with a little bit of water, but then vanishes with more hydration.  More fruit (or something!) would have been appreciated.

MAO liked this one more than I did.  Sku and Serge also liked a version of the 100, but I think they reviewed the first batch.  I will say that we all agree 100 takes water well.

Okay, I'm burnt out on these multi-maturations.  The next three Amrut reviews will be all single casks.

Availability - Scarce
Pricing - two US stores have it for $170, European stores have it closer to $110
Rating - 79 (with water only, low-to-mid-70s when neat)

Single Malt Report: Amrut Portonova, batch 1

If you're keeping score:

Amrut Fusion, batch 29 on Monday

Amrut Kadhambam, batch 03 on Tuesday

Amrut Intermediate Sherry, batch 4 yesterday
Amrut Portonova, batch 01 today

If the Intermediate Sherry is Amrut's sherry sandwich, then Portonova is their port sandwich.  First the whisky is aged in ex-bourbon casks (and maybe some new oak casks).  Next, after an unspecified length of time, that's dumped into first-fill port pipes.  And then, after an unspecified length of time, that whisky gets dumped back into ex-bourbon casks.  (How about that for cut-and-paste!)  Not much dilution on this one as it's bottled at a booming 62.1%.

This is from Portonova's very first batch.  There have been at least four batches so far.  My Annoying Opinions and I did a pair of sample swaps last year, the contents of which inspired this Amrut series (continuing next week!).

Distillery: Amrut

Region: Bangalore, India

Age: minimum 3 years

Batch: #1

Maturation: First: ex-bourbon or new oak casks; Second: first fill ex-port pipes; Third: ex-bourbon casks
Alcohol by Volume: 62.1%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? ???

NEAT
Nose -- Granola with dried blueberries and Big Red gum at the start.  Very grapey and floral, though that's matched by some soil and (maybe?) a hint of peat.  Strawberry maple syrup and dark cherries.  Sometimes it feels like Amrut Fusion + new oak.

Palate -- Plenty hot, but less so than the lower ABV Immediate Sherry from yesterday.  It's like a cask strength port.  Lots of sweet grapes, berries, and apples.  Ah, those chocolate jelly rings that we used to eat during Passover ('cuz they're pareve).  Tart fruit (apples and blackberries) notes develop midground after some time.  A nice herbal, earthy bitterness settles in at the back of the tongue.

Finish -- Dark bitter chocolate.  Earthy and chili pepper spicy.  Some tingly lime notes.  Sugary grapes and raspberry candy (those jelly rings, again?), though it's less sweet than the palate.

WITH WATER (~50%abv)
Nose -- SO MUCH CHOCOLATE: fudge, cocoa, milk chocolate bars; yet it's still very floral (blooms, not perfumes).  Raspberry candy.

Palate -- Much mellower, less sweet, maybe even a tad malty.  More spices from the oak(s).  The berries and grapes remain, but now it's their essence rather than their sugars.  That good earthy bitter note remain as well.

Finish -- Malt, oak tannins, and dry red wine merge into a whole.  It's very earthy, almost peaty again.  Lingering notes of cinnamon and chili powder.

COMMENTS:
This is excellent.

Okay, maybe I'll write a little more.  Something about this whisky reminds me of the also excellent Ballechin Port Cask Matured single malt.  Actually, if you take that Ballechin and bump it up to cask strength then it would probably be pretty close this one.  This is enormous, rich, and delicious.  And I swear it's a little peaty too.  Highly recommended to those folks who like a little port in their whisky.

This specific batch drew a very positive review from MAO and won a bunch of awards from the Malt Maniacs in 2011.  What I cannot tell you is that the rest of the batches are this good, because I haven't had them, and there will always be batch variation.  That's what keeps me from running out and getting the newest edition.  Also, it's expensive.  But if you can find batch 1 you're in for a big treat.

Availability - This specific batch has probably sold out. The newest batches are available at many specialty retailers in the US and Europe.
Pricing - current batches run $105 to $150(!) in the US, $80-$115 in Europe
Rating - 90