Whisky : Amrut 8 Year Ex-Jaggery Rum; Kensington Wine Market Cask Selection

Country/Region : India

ABV : 60%

Cask : Ex-Jaggery Rum (Cask 317)

Age : 8 Years (Distilled October 2009, Bottled July 2018)

Nose :  Beautiful rich tropical fruit juice and maple syrup.  Brown sugar and caramelized banana start the path into tropical fruit land.  Jackfruit, guava, mango, and sweet pandan follow not far behind.  A lovely bit of buttery pastries, maybe pancakes, keep this dram feeling like breakfast.

Palate :  Lovely oily mouthfeel— almost syrupy in its viscosity.  Grassy sugar cane, palm sugar, and maple syrup give the dram a sweet rich profile.  Pickled mango, shredded green papaya, and ginger stem bring some of the fruity aroma into the palate, but the tropical fruit notes all have a sweet and salty pickle bite.  Bit of pasty comes through near the end, buttery pandesal or pao dulce.

Finish : Lingering fruits with subtle spice and a drizzle of caramel.

Score : 7

Mental Image : Pancakes and guava syrup.

Something Similar : Arran Bothy Quarter Cask (similar sugar cane/tropical fruits, more oaky vanilla/cream)

Something Similar : Ardmore 12Y SMWS 66.141 (similar sugar cane and tropical fruits, heavier smoke)

Something Worse : Port Dundas 28 Year, DL’s OP (similar pancakes & syrup, more berries/sugars)

Notes : I cannot believe this spent eight and a half years in the cask at Amrut.  It was so juicy— there was no hint of it being over-oaked and it had none of the astringency that older Amrut sometimes pick up.  This was a beautiful balance between cask, climate, and the Indian barley.  I think KWM really lucked out with this cask, it is simply brilliant.  It was so good that I am actually surprised it was not picked up for an Amrut Greedy Angels release— it was certainly old enough and the quality was top notch.

I loved this— though, the wife called it a ‘lesser Arran.’  It did remind me of a beautiful first fill ex-bourbon Arran; it had a lot of similar fruity notes with a faint earthiness, though this dipped deeper into fruit syrup notes than Arran typically does.  So if you are a peat monster like my wife, you may find this a little one dimensional— if you love drams with strong tropical fruit profiles then this might be perfect for you.  

I thought it took to water pretty well, a few drops cut down on the salt and pastry near the end to further underscore the fruity sugars. I would also recommend, as with many Amrut or any younger single malt aged in a hot climate, to give this plenty of time to breath.  Oxidization can really help tamp down hot spirit notes and round out some rough edges on the malt so that one can more easily get down into the delicious palate of flavors.