Amrut distillery

Region: India

Location: Bangalore

Status: Operational (owned by Amrut Distilleries Ltd)

General whisky characteristics: Rich, herbal, aniseed

OB - Original Distillery Bottlings

Amrut, 46% ABV

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Nose: Aniseed, coriander and a bouquet of other herbs.

Palate: Aniseed and hints of citrus. Also smooth and pleasant. The initial flavour is short, but it quickly returns with lots of aniseed and citrus.

With 3 drops of water: Much more spicy and aggressive.

Overall Impression: A good whisky and when I used this in an international tasting, it won the accolade of 'Best Whisky' from a majority of participants.

Amrut Portonova, 62.1% ABV

Matured in New US bourbon casks, then finished in Port Pipes

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€ (just! €75)

Reviewed as part of MMA 2011

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Glowing dark oak - rich amber

Nose: Rich toasted walnuts and almonds, traditional wax furniture polish and then aged oak with slight wood smoke, or is it just lightly scorched wood?

Palate: Very floral aged oak, in fact I'm reminded of a springtime Alpine meadow in full bloom behind rich oak, dark fruits and liquid marzipan.

Finish: Long rich and repeating

Overall Impression: Wow, amazing and quite excellent.

Amrut Intermediate Sherry, 57.1% ABV

Matured in New US bourbon casks, then Oloroso for 1+ year, then finished back in bourbon casks

Bottled for Whisky.com.TW (Taiwan)

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Treacle toffee with a coppery tinge

Nose: Rich with suggestions of figs, prunes & mild coffee.

Palate: Creamy mouth-feel but still with a gentle peppery tingle. Flavours of dark fruits translate directly from the nose as does the suggestion of coffee but it's mild, perhaps more like that chicory coffee essence from my youth (Camp coffee in the UK).

Finish: Very long with that suggestion of coffee.

Overall Impression: Did you really have to remind me of that Chicory coffee essence? OK; it's not at all bad, in fact quite enjoyable.

Amrut Greedy Angels, distilled 3.10.2004, bottled 15.11.2012, 50% abv

Bottle No.70 of 144

Typical cost of this bottle; Unknown

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Bright yellow gold

Nose: Initially filled with hints of woody bread dough. The woodiness fades over time as hints of damson develop. Yes, bread dough and damson, nice.

Palate: Filled with fruitiness and no bread dough as it explodes with suggestions of cherries, damsons and plums.

Finish: Very long with cherry and damson.

Overall Impression: A delightfully fruity whisky, this time with the richer flavours of cherry, damson and plum. I love it.

Amrut Rye, 50% ABV

Original cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Chestnut with an amber tinge

Nose: Very aromatic, fragrant, sweet with hints of candy floss and also sweets (candy) reminding me of a childhood sweet shop. Also a suggestion of marzipan.

Palate: Lots of childhood memories here of brandy snap at the fairgrounds of my childhood but also reminiscent of the sweet stands at Christmas markets with fruit sticks dipped in mild chocolate and those cocnut sticks also dipped.

Finish: Extremely long

Overall Impression: Sweet, fragrant, light, I love it.

Amrut, Double Cask, Casks filled 25.7.2002 & 27.2.2003, bottled 27.2.2010, Casks 2874 & 2273, 46% ABV

Sent to me as a sample to try blind

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Spiegelau

Colour: 18 carat gold

Nose: Initially earthy, but not quite farmyard. Slightly aromatic straw, bordering on aromatically bitter, although the background comprises something almost sweet.

Palate: Smooth and warming, more sweet than the nose with a little hint of coconut.

With 3 drops of water: Slightly more farmyard on both nose and palate

Finish: Medium

Overall Impression: This is only my second Amrut and I found it totally unlike my first one (above).

Amrut, Double Cask, , 46% ABV

Casks 3451 (Ex-Bourbon) & 3802 (PX Sherry)

Casks filled June 2009 & May 2010, bottled Aug. 2016

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Teak with a coppery tinge

Nose: Very aromatic and rich with suggestions of figs, prunes and damson alongside a distinct nuttiness.

Palate: That rich fruitiness from the nose carries onto the palate but now it has a quite toasted character and is accompanied by hints of dark chocolate.

Finish: Long and toasted

Overall Impression: Most ofthe character here would appear to be from the PX cask, but that's no bad thing. RIch & toasted? Very nice.

Amrut Herald, Cask 2868, 62.4% ABV

Matured intially in India, then transferred to Helgoland (Germany) for further maturation

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Dark oak, light amber

Nose: Oooooh, this is BIG! Lots of nuts, figs, prunes, aged wood, then a freshness reminiscent of aniseed, but not quite. Maybe pineapple and a little mint in there too?

Palate: Quite spirity with hints of fruit schnaps or grappa, but with the addition of lots of wood and dark fruits.

With 4 drops of water: The nose is even richer with cloves and nutmeg alongside rich and spicy wood.

With 4 more drops of water: Even more spiciness on the nose. The palate is smoother and deeper with some caramelised banana joining those delicious spices.

With 5 more drops of water: The spices on the nose are now reduced and quite subdued whilst the wood is increased and becomes most prominent, although a delightfulyl smoky ham also develops. The various spices of the palate are also reduced which enables more fruit to come through as I find raspberry, apple and blackcurrant in abundance.

Finish: Long and spicy, but with more fruit when water is added.

Overall Impression: I like this. I like this even more with water, plenty of it too.

Amrut Herald 2013

Advance cask sample, matured 4y in India then 4y in Helgoland

Typical cost of this bottle; Unknown

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Rich yellow gold

Nose: Quite sweet and fruity with oodles of character. Suggestions of rich oakiness develop with time in the glass but that fruitiness always remains. In fact it now hints of light citrus, specifically pineapple with an accompanying suggestion of passion fruit.

Palate: This is also very fruity but at what seems to be a high abv it's asking for a drop of water

Splash of water: The nose has developed much more of that pineapple-iness which also extends onto the palate as the woodiness has completely gone now.

Finish: Very long without the water and only slightly shorter with it.

Overall Impression: A fruity and very 'clean' whisky with oodles of citrussy pineapple reminding me of my childhood olde worlde sweet shoppe in the days before packaging when everything was displayed in open jars and bought by weight. Excellent.

Amrut Single Cask, distilled June 2009, bottled August 2013, 62.8% abv

PX Sherry Cask No.2699

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Bright amber

Nose: Baked jacket potato oozing with butter. Maybe baked potato skins? Then growing more woody and fruity. Lovely.

Palate: Lots of dark fruitiness and nuttiness (think English Christmas cake), a big tingle too which comes over as almost explosive. Yes, I love it.

Finish: Very long and slightly dry.

Overall Impression: Rich, solid, almost explosive. Delightful too. This is my kind of whisky.

Amrut Single Cask, distilled June 2009, bottled August 2013, 62.8% abv

Bourbon Cask No.3437

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Dark golden

Nose: Immediately floral with an earthy twang. Then some lightly musty oakiness and fruitiness reminiscent of red berries. Is that the faintest hint of smokiness in the background too?

Palate: An expansion of pretty well everything from the nose, except that it's not really so floral on the palate.

Finish: Very long.

Overall Impression: A really quite different or unusual cocktail of aromas and flavours which, like a good orchestra, are all in perfect harmony.

Blackadder, Amrut, bottled Oct. 2010, 62.7% ABV

Cask No.BA12/2010, matured for 6 months in Scotland, bottle 164 of 195

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€ to €€€€€

Reviewed as part of MMA 2011

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Rich and bright (21ct) gold

Nose: Initially aromatically leafy but this develops further into a light rubberiness with a smoky fruitiness. This is what I call a true outdoors or countryside whisky with lost of ruggedness that reminds me of a walk along the Cornish coastal cliffs. Even the delicate flora of such a walk develops on the nose of this Amrut after further time in the glass.

Palate: Very creamy mouth-feel with an immediate explosion of apricot and peach which then fades slowly to be replaced by redcurrants. There's lots of fruity wood too.

Finish: Very long with a fruity tingle right on the front of the palate.

Overall Impression: What an excellent whisky.

Blackadder, Peated Amrut, bottled 6.2012, 62.7% ABV

Cask No.BA14/2012, "Raw Cask" series, bottle 244 of 282

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€ to €€€€€

Reviewed as part of MMA 2012

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Rich and polished oak

Nose: Just a hint of spent match or even that blue firework touchpaper being lighted. This fades gently to what I can only describe as fruity aged pier or possibly Atlantic jetty, which all means salty, maritime woodiness. Eventually there's even a hint of those extremely popular German "Ungarisch" flavoured crisps.

Palate: That spent match initially translates to the palate but it's quickly followed by a very intense earthy smokiness.

Finish: Very long and equally intense continuation of the palate.

Overall Impression: A generally good whisky, but somehow I'm left wondering what may have been without the spent match and with a little more depth and complexity.

Blackadder, Amrut, bottled 6.2013, 62.3% ABV

Cask No.BA17/2013, "Raw Cask" series, bottle 236 of 236

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€ to €€€€€

Reviewed as part of MMA 2013

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Pale amber

Nose: Quite floral, maybe even lightly perfumed but with some accompanying quite solid, earthy and musty nuances. All rounded-off with something faintly herbal in the background.

Palate: My first thoughts are of something surprisingly fruity on the palate, followed by lightly herbal pepperiness which quickly expands and then fades back to leave the initial fruitiness again.

Finish: Long, nay very long with a lingering light pepperiness.

Overall Impression: A lovely cocktail of fruitiness, pepperiness and a je ne sais quoi herbal-ness. Very nice indeed.

Blackadder, Peated Amrut, bottled 6.2013, 63% ABV

Cask No.BA18/2013, "Raw Cask" series, bottle 229 of 268

Typical cost of this bottle; €€€€€ to €€€€€

Reviewed as part of MMA 2013 (winner of "Best Peated Whisky" Premium category)

Glass: Classic Malt

Colour: Pale amber

Nose: Oooh, this is rich, strong, musty, maybe in an old delapidated warehouse kind of way. All this just gently unfolds and expands over time and eventually suggests a few lingering casks in hidden corners, plus cardamom seeds .... mmmmm, nice.

Palate: This is very mouth-filling, possibly mouth-coating with a rich herbal woodiness and suggestions of exotic fruitiness whilst being quite solid and earthy. I like it, lots.

Finish: Long and earthy.

Overall Impression: I really love that mixture of musty warehouse on the nose followed by herbal woodiness and exotic fruitiness on the palate. A very good whisky indeed.