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| To most people when you mention whisky their first thought is of the cool, damp, mountains of Scotland, or even the green plains of Ireland and after a little thought they might remember the vanilla kick of American Whiskeys. For true whisky lovers the sultry Japanese whiskies probably won’t be too far behind, but a high-quality single malt from the Indian subcontinent is probably not on the top of anyone’s list, and yet maybe it should be. Clearly I’m not the first, by a long way, to discover the joys of Indian whisky as leading whisky expert, Jim Murray in his 2010 edition of The Whisky Bible named the Amrut Fusion the “World’s Third Best Whisky”.
The history of the Amrut distillery itself is surprisingly long; it was formed in 1948 (a year after India’s independence) by J.N. Radhakrishna it originally produced rums and brandy and in fact it was not until the 1980s that Amrut started producing single malt whiskies. The name Amrut is taken from an Indian legend about a golden pot created by the gods that aptly enough contained the Elixir of Life.
The Amrut Fusion is so called because it is a blend of two malted barleys; an unpeated Indian barley and, Scottish peated barley that is shipped over to Bangalore. These barleys are turned into mash and distilled at the Amrut distillery. They are matured separately and once they have reached their peak, they are blended together into bourbon casks and left to marry. The whisky is then bottled at 50% alcohol by volume without chill filtration. |
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Tasting Note
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| The Amrut Fusion is rich and malty on the nose with aromas of raisins, honey and a hint of smoke. The palate is intense but, for a whisky bottled at 50%, the alcohol is surprisingly well integrated and is balanced by the flavours of vanilla, dark chocolate, and a lovely tangy orange note. The finish is very long and amazingly smoky with the peated barley really shining through.
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