Amrut Cask Strength - Bottled May 2006
Forefather of Greatness
0 1094
Review by @MaltActivist
- Nose23
- Taste24
- Finish23
- Balance24
- Overall94
Show rating data charts
Distribution of ratings for this:
Everyone knows I have a soft spot for Amrut whiskies. It is easily in my Top 3 distilleries of all time. Not because it's from India (where my wife and so many close friends are from). And not because it's brand ambassador and Whisky Icon of 2012, Mr Ashok Chokalingam, is a dear friend.
It is actually because they ensure that the local community benefits from gainful employment. They employ scores of women to work in their distillery even though they can quite easily automate the process and save a ton of money.
But they choose not to. And for that they will have my undying respect.
Now add to that extremely lofty work ethic the ability to produce some of the most delicious spirit the planet has ever seen and you will begin to understand my infatuation with this little giant of the whisky industry.
Don't ask me how but some how I managed to snag the holy grail of Indian whiskies: the first ever cask strength Amrut ever released. A beautifully complex young 'un that has been first matured in virgin oak and then in first-fill bourbon.
So intense is the transfer of flavor from the bourbon barrels that, before I fact checked with Ashok himself, I was quite convinced that there was some sherry involved in the making. But that's not the case.
This is a gorgeous cask strength spirit served at 62.6% and bottled in May 2006. My sample is from a brand new bottle.
Nose: Cadbury chocolate. Hint of smoke. Caramel. Oak. Red grapes. Red berries. Clove. Black pepper. Red apple. Demerera sugar. Touch of salt. There is a sweet earthiness to this whisky with the spices in the fore. A few drops of water will make it even more spicy. Tremendous.
Palate: Clove. Chocolate. Fudge. Cinnamon. Garam masala. Red grapes. Caramel. Burn oak. If I didn't know any better I would think there was some sherry involved. Almost PX like. But now I know it's the virgin oak. Powerful stuff.
Finish: Long. Oily. Cinnamon. Oak.
As with all Amruts the magnificent oak almost always plays a central role. Such is the case here as well. This is one cracking dram which I'm quite privileged to have gotten my hands on.
And you know the best part? I'm meeting Ashok next week and he has no idea I'm going to serve him this.
Find where to buy Amrut whisky
Lovely, @MaltActivist. Buddies with Ashok? Super. Ashok is not only a cool guy, but he is extremely knowledgable and articulate about whisky at the biochemical level...and he is in line to be the next Amrut Master Distiller. Several of us took a master class from him in Toronto in May 2014.
I am about as enthusiastic about Amrut as you are. Wonderful whiskies, almost every single one of them.
As very much as I love Amrut, I do hope that their example leads to more and more new hot climate distilleries turning out similarly excellent products in a very few years. Waiting around 15 or 20 years for aging stock from Scotland is quite a drag, when product of Amrut's quality can be produced in 5.