Amrut Double Cask 2017 ed.
Whisky : Amrut Double Cask 2017 ed.
Country/Region : India/Goa
ABV : 46%
Cask : Ex-bourbon & Port Pipe
Age : 5 Years (5/2012-6/2017 & 3/2012-6/2017)
Tasting : Neat in a Glencairn @ LMDW Singapore
Nose : Stewed seaweed; the sweet ocean and savory earthy notes of squid luʻau. There are almost starchy sweet notes of potato, yam, or taro baked in an earthen oven. Almost a bit of hot clay and smoke.
Palate : Roasted vegetables; parsnips and potato give just a bit of crispy sweet caramelization but are otherwise earthy and savory. Stewed carrots another variation on the same sort of subtly sweet vegetable notes. Hot sun baked red dirt.
Finish : Medium to long, those savory earthy and herbal notes slowly fade.
Score : 7
Mental Image : Hot afternoon preparing for an evening shoreside luau; earthy smoke rises from the imu carrying with it the aroma of caramelizing meat and veggies.
Something Better : Laphroaig 20+ Year (more herbal, more funk, longer finish)
Something Similar : Paul John Peated Select (similar earthen oven, more oily, more tobacco/leather smoke)
Something Worse : Amrut Peated Single Malt (more citrus, more salt & iodine, less complex)
Notes : I adore Amrut and I have had very few negative experiences with Amrut single malts. Yet, I always hesitated a little bit with this bottle: the price and the attenuated abv. left me wondering if it was really a good value or if it was just another limited edition outside my normal price range. I loved the idea, but was not sure I could justify it. I was more than ready to roll the dice and tp try a dram of it though and when I saw the bottle sitting on the shelf at La Maison du Whisky Singapore, I knew it needed to be in my whisky flight.
Curiosity satisfied. I loved this. The baked earthen oven and caramelized vegetable notes hit my right in the savory spot. The unpeated Indian malted barley and the peated Scottish barley are in perfect harmony in this bottle. One brings savory spices, the other sweet peaty smoke, each furthering the complexity of the dram. The whole scene takes me straight to a beachside “Baby’s First Luau,” hanging out with parents and friends in the shade, salty ocean in the air, food slowly cooking.
