Tag Archives: Indian whisky

Apr22

Amruts Greedy Little Angels….

Posted on by
Standard

Amrut today announced the release of their oldest Single malt whisky, the 8yo is available in a very limited worldwide release of only 144 bottles . I’ve had the privilege to try this Amrut and it is one of the best and unusual releases from the distillery so far……

My Notes…….

A lovely golden colour in the glass , first thing that hits the nose is the Amrut Liquorice , then a floralness interweaves with chocolate , shortbread biscuit and caramel toffee . There’s also a fruitiness (pineapples mainly amongst other exotic fruits) and a hint of fresh malt . It’s a lovely relaxed nose , one to savour for a while…….
On the palate again you get the Liquorice and the fruit , mixing with a lovely maltiness , it is quite dry and chewy as well . It does flow across the palate very well , it’s also  quite sweet , creamy fudge , chocolate and pineapple juice . The finish is medium to long with the liquorice being dominant followed by the fruit .
Another stunning Amrut , this one seems to almost be an Amrut fruit cocktail , really enjoyable and different to other expressions from this distillery .

Press Release…..

(Click on pages to see full size version)

Greedy Angels PR 1
Amrut-greedy-angels-press-2

Amrut-greedy-angels-press-3

Mar26

Amrut Featured on WhiskyCast

Posted on by
Standard

For all Amrut Fans you can catch up with Mark Gillespies trip to Amrut Distillery and a chat with Rick Jagdale on his Excellent Whiskycast site  . As always Marks Whiskycast is highly entertaining !

You can catch it at WhiskyCast.com

Apr23

Kadhambam USA Release

Posted on by
Standard

When Ashok was over in the USA recently he announced the release of a Kadhambam specifically for the US market . This one differs from the previous release in that it’s at 50% ABV and it was matured slightly longer in one of the casks . Once again it is an un-peated malt that once again has been matured in ex-rum , brandy and Oloroso sherry casks .Amrut Kadhambam

So whats it like ?

A deep Golden Syrup colour , it Seems to take a little while to open up , eventually the liquorice comes through with Shortbread and chocolate , it’s a very relaxed nose , sweet as well  . The palate has a lovely silky sweetness to it , Liquorice , vanilla , dark fruits , honey and spices . The finish is pretty much the same a continuation of the palate and is quite long .

So how does it compare to the original ? It seems sweeter on the whole than the first one , definitely more fruitier, only the finishes seem the same  , i think i may well prefer the US version due to sweetness and fruitiness . The fruitiness , i’ve been told , comes from the extra maturation mentioned earlier   .

Another excellent Amrut , The Americans are extremely lucky to be getting this wonderful dram . 

Associated Links - The Original Kadhambam

Mar9

Amrut over America !

Posted on by
Standard

The Lucky people of America have the pleasure of the company of Ashok himself over the next few weeks ! He’ll be attending a few tastings and events listed below , say hello to him from me and enjoy one of the finest malt Whiskies in the world !  

March 13 – Georgetown University, Washington DC,

MBA class, Business & Public Policy Residency

http://www.georgetown.edu

March 14 – Amrut Tasting at Jack Rose, Washington DC

2007 18th St NW Washington DC

http://jackrosediningsaloon.com

March 15 – Amrut Tasting at McArthur Beverages in Washington DC

4877 MacArthur Blvd., N.W. Washington, DC 20007 Phone (202) 338-1433

http://bassins.com/spirits/

March 16 – Amrut tasting – Crush New York

153 East 57th Street New York, NY 10022

Phone: (212) 980-Wine (9463)

www.crushwineco.com

http://www.facebook.com/CrushWineCo

March 17 – Amrut tasting event – Brian’s Wine and Liquor Emporium – New Jersey

1353 Stelton Road Piscataway, NJ 08854 (732) 985-1717

http://www.townshipliquors.com/

Amrut Scotch Tasting and Seminar – March 17, 2012 3:00-5:00pm

Come join Brian and Amrut Distillery as we host a seminar and tasting of Amrut’s world renowned whiskies. This is the perfect opportunity for any whiskey lover to learn and taste unique and remarkable single malt whiskies from India. Ranked the 3rd best whiskey in the world; come taste and see for yourself why Indian whiskey competes with the best known whiskies from around the world! Ticket Cost $19.99 http://www.facebook.com/events/244287988990118/]

March 19 – Amrut Tasting – On The Rocks Bar, New York.

696 Tenth Ave (between 48th and 49th Sts) Hell’s Kitchen

Subway: C, E to 50th St

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/On-The-Rocks/121678991228816#!/pages/On-The-Rocks/121678991228816?sk=info

March 20 – Amrut Dinner – Dandelions Philadelphia

124 South 18th Street Philadelphia, PA 19103, (215) 558-2500

http://thedandelionpub.com/

March 21 – Amrut whisky and food pairing – Fountainhead, Chicago

1970 W. Montrose Ave. Chicago, IL (773) 697-8204

http://fountainheadchicago.com/

March 22 – World of Whiskies

Binny’s Lincoln Park, Chicago, 1720 N. Marcey St, Chicago, IL 60614 Phone: 312-664-4394

http://www.binnys.com/blogs/post.cfm/binny-s-world-of-whiskies

A massive whiskey open house featuring over 30 (closing in on 40) producers. This is your chance to rub elbows with some of the top luminaries in the whiskey world and sample some special and exceptional bottlings.

March 23 – Whisky Fest, Chicago

Hyatt Regency, Chicago

http://www.maltadvocate.com/whiskyfest_chicago.asp

Ashok will be collecting the Whisky Advocate award for Amrut Two Continents being named “New World Whisky of the Year”

Last year Amrut Fusion was World Whisky of the Year

Jan12

Ultimate Amrut 4yo (Van Wees)

Posted on by
Standard

This is an Amrut from a few years ago bottled by a Dutch Retailer . Bottled as a 4yo at 61.6% , this is unpeated version (they released a peated one a couple of years later) .

The first thing that catches you on the nose is the Amrut Liquorice , then cloves and then Millionaires Shortbread (Shortbread, caramel and chocolate) . The nose fairly relaxed for the 61.6% strength but it is extremely sniff-able ! The Palate is very hot ,more from it’s strength i think ,  though it it appears quite peppery as well . Again the Liquorice is there along with the cloves , the finish is long and spicy with pepper and liquorice . Another excellent Amrut , thanks to CJ from  whiskybase.com for the sample , most appreciated ! 

Jan1

2011 in review

Posted on by
Standard

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 3,800 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

 

Not exactly record breaking but i’m happy enough !

Thanks to all who took the time to visit  and have a Happy and Prosperous New Year !

Dec29

The Amrut Portonova

Posted on by
Standard

As a Christmas treat to myself i bought a couple of the recently released Amruts , the newest one being the Portonova . The maturing of this whisky followed a similar route to one of my favourite Amruts , The Intermediate Sherry Matured ,This one was initially matured in a combination of New American Oak and Ex-Bourbon Barrels then transferred to once-used Port Pipes (imported from Portugal) and then reracked into Ex-Bourbon casks for a final period .

The Amrut Portonova

The Amrut Portonova

The Bottle comes in a new style of packaging , maintaining the wrap around front cover , it still has a style and uniqueness of the old style while occupying less of a shelf space ! I really like the new box , it certainly catches the eye but more importantly what’s the content of the whisky like ? Will i like it as much as when i tried a sample many moons ago ? Let’s see…..

Bottled at 62.1% in October 2011 (it’s marked as Batch No.1 so more to Come ? ) , The colour is remarkable , a light Mahogany with golden and ruby tinges  . Comparing it to my original sample notes the flavours match up , only the dark fruits seem more pronounced at the initial pouring , liquorice, millionaires’ shortbread (chocolate, caramel toffee and biscuit) and spices . It doesn’t nose in the low 60′s % , no battering of the nasal passage but i could sit and smell it all night…….

But i won’t…… On the palate is when you realise that it’s been in a port pipe at some stage of it’s life , luckily it’s not over-whelming (some port finished whiskies have been !) , It has everything you expect from an Amrut with a touch of wineyness / dark fruitiness at the back of the palate . The finish is delightful , long , very chewy , it just keeps giving…… and giving…….  and giving….. Fantastic ! 

  What can you say ? They just keep producing exceptional Whisky ! Though i must add i still prefer the Intermediate Sherry……

Dec29

Amrut Two Continents 2nd Edition

Posted on by
Standard

The Original Two Continents went down a storm when released nearly 3 years ago , matured partly in India then moved to another undisclosed place on the European Continent for further Maturation , it was a very limited release at 46% . The 2nd Edition has slightly more bottles (892 ) and is released at 50% . The Casks in which the 1st and 2nd Edition have been matured matured in are also slightly different .

The Amrut Two Continents 2nd Edition

Amrut Two Continents 2nd Edition

The 2nd Edition is a lovely Gold colour , almost Golden Syrup , the nose has the usual Amrut Liquorice and spices , then digestive biscuits , malt and a honeyed sweetness . On the palate it quite light at first then the spices and liquorice engulf the mouth followed by pepper and cloves . It is silky smooth and well balanced across the entire palate , the finish is long and warming with peppery liquorice .

Another cracking Amrut , the 2nd Edition is done in ex-bourbon casks rather than the ex-grain casks of the first edition , so how does it compare to the original ?

The 2nd Edition is slightly lighter in Colour , The nose on the 1st release is slightly weaker (seems 4% does make a difference….) , The digestive biscuits and Honey are more pronounced on the 2nd Edition with the cloves and spices more predominant on the !st . Getting on to the palate , the 1st has more of the Amrut taste whereas the 2nd is a lot more sweeter , the second probably more closer to a whisky from Scotland but still having an Amrut feel . There’s not a lot between the two on the finishes except the 2nd has a slightly more Digestive Biscuit / sweeter one . Both are great Amruts but it does show that Casks can make a difference , the first having a more Raw Amrut feel to it whereas the 2nd has a rounded sweeter feel to it .

Dec7

Amrut lifts Grand Master title at prestigious awards

Posted on by
Standard

Amrut Fusion was named Grand Master of World Whisky at The Spirits Business Awards in London on 6 December, 2011. Already named one of seven Masters of World Whisky by the judging panel of the prestigious event, Amrut Fusion came out as the “best of the best” in the final stage of the competition.

To read the full Press announcement Click on the link below

Amrut Grand Master pdf