Friday 10 January 2020

Whisky from...? India

Next in my little series on Whisky from...? is India. I think most of us have tried one of the excellent dram's from Paul John but what about any of the other distilleries in the country?


Located near the southern city of Bangalore is Amrut, distilling since 1948, their first single malt, the first from India, was released in 2004.



Of Amrut's three distilleries, the main one was built in 1987, they use a mixture of locally grown barley and imported Scottish peated barley, maturation is a log quicker due to the climate so most bottles are sold as NAS.



They distill a number of whiskies...



 Indian Single Malt Whisky a 46% NAS


Distillery notes: Nose: Distinctly confidant liquorice-bourbon notes with near perfect bitter-sweet balance; burnt honeycomb and toffee also abound. Taste: Outstanding richness and sheen to the enormous barley-oak sweetness; again there is a big bourbony cut to the cloth with all the liquorice and molassed sugar normally associated; but the barley adds that extra dimension. Finish: Long, wonderfully layered oak offering variations of a sweet dry theme; a touch silky with some cream toffee at the death.
My thoughts:
Appearance:  A lovely dark fold in the glass, swirls stick to the glass and fall as thin slow legs.
Nose: Although not a high ABV, the alcohol hits you immediately. There's some green apple and a little citrus too. A little oaky spice comes through after a little while in the glass.
Palate: Smooth oily arrival with a nice kick of spice. The apple and citrus from the nose is there along with a little toffee. It's very mouth coating, surprisingly so! A few more sips reveal hints of chocolate and ginger spice.
Finish: Warming, slightly sour citrus and a small hint of smoke. The oak spice comes through on the finish and lingers for a while.
Overall: A nice easy drinking dram, not complex but the 46% helps elevate it above cheap standard drams from other distilleries. It's fairly cheap and easy to get hold of - worth a try!

Thanks to @WhiskyRover for the sample swap!

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