Amrut 8 Greedy Angels II

Whisky has had an interesting effect on culture. Let’s take religion, and the use of the term “Angel’s Share”.

Before people really understood alcohol and how it evaporated, they made up an idea that the angel’s were stealing some of it. Now either they really believed this or someone who’s a lot more witty than the average person made it up. I tried looking it up however a comedy drama kept coming up and I got annoyed.

None the less, this idea that angel’s love slow aged whisky at 2% a year is fascinating. Angel’s in the Christian sense aren’t human at all. They’re creepy and weird. However through time they’ve become more human, all to the point where they steal alcohol and everyone is like “yeah, that makes sense”.

In warmer country’s this angel share is quite high. This brings us to Amrut 8 Greedy Angels II. After 8 years in India they’ve lost quite a bit to the Angel’s. What I’m saying is it’s better to be an Angel in India than in Scotland, regardless of the religion demographics. I’ve seen some people say the equivalent is a 30 year old whisky in Scotland.

Does this mean it tastes equivalent? Let’s see, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: India

Abv: 50%

Colour: 2.5Y 7/8

Nose: Malt, coconut, funk, liquorice, tangerine lassie, apple cider

Rich flavour here. Like the 10 Greedy Angel’s, we see a good melding of flavours over other Amruts. However in comparison to the 10 again, we’re finding more complex flavours.

More spice and more funk. Also I don’t know if tangerine lassie’s are an actual thing, I just got that note I get from mango ones but it was more like tangerine. I hesitate to add it, however I expect someone will point out I’m wrong somewhere.

Taste: Peach yoghurt, lime, bourbon vanilla ice cream, Wheatabix, currant

Lots of peach/sour notes, and lots of vanilla here. The last one had more of a dry, cereal note than a Champagne note. It’s different.

About the same complexity on the taste, however I enjoyed this one more. Less dry and more creamy. Which sounds grosser than it really is.

Finish: Pineapple, yeasty bread, sea air, oatmeal, oatmeal topped muffin, chocolate covered raisin

Ah, here’s the yeast. Much like when I go on a date, the yeast eventually shows up. That’s what I get for picking up at the bus station though.

Brine, lots of oatmeal, some brown sugar, and chocolate.

Flat out better than the 10 at the end.

Conclusion: I compare this one to the 10 year old quite a bit, and I feel that’s because the two are fighting for a complex whisky. While I think Amrut shines with younger malts that have really bonkers flavours, they are growing, and people will always wonder “Did he shave his head to fake the cancer?”… I mean, they’ll always wonder what an older Amrut tastes like.

In this case, I think we end up with a complex whisky. It’s not quite as great as others, as the alcohol goes lower. That said, you end up with a vanilla laden, cream filled complex whisky. And more in this vein is better. If that means we don’t quite wait 10 years next time, makes sense to me.

87/100

World Whisky review #280, India review #28, Whisky Network review #1218