Amrut Peated 2015 Blackadder Raw Cask [MYSTERY]

Thanks to /u/xile_ for sharing this whisky with us.

Indian whisky. A decade ago the look on people’s faces when you mentioned it would be one of confusion, anger, and gas.

Never forget gas.

Even today, it’s really just whisky nerds really know that there are Indian whiskies worth drinking. Yes, the definition in the country is nonexistant and other than two companies, the others are rum with a different name.

One of those companies is Amrut. And we’ve now hit a new milestone. Independent bottlers have taken notice. So in another room, just out of my sight, we were poured Amrut Peated 2015 Blackadder Raw Cask, the best peated whisky of 2015 by the Malt Maniacs.

However they aren’t currently drinking this, I am. And it’s 2017, not 2015. So let’s see how this tastes, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: India

Bottle No: 87

Cask Ref. BA 20/2015

Bottled: March/2015

Abv: 62.1%

Colour: 2.5Y 8/10

Nose: Peat, bacon, sea air, cookie dough, molasses

Initial peat is pretty big. Obvious that the peat comes from Islay. How? The salt air, the inclusion of bacon due to the prehistoric giant pigs that lived that (that’s a lie), and the slight sweetness.

Thus I’m confused. This is peated. This smells like Islay. I am overly happy about it. Then I remember I’m in public. Glad I didn’t wear sweatpants. Which is my normal reaction to being in public.

There’s some interesting complexity here. Lots of butter, nuttiness, and sweetness. Quite tasty.

Taste: Gingerbread, raisin, apricot, brown butter, grilled pineapple

The taste is very different. If the nose said “this is Islay peat”, the taste has tropical fruit to it. The peat has evolved.

However it’s not screaming super complexity. Like it’s been hyper aged. Also the fruit keeps reminding me of the yeast that Amrut uses. It’s quite easy drinking, though not in a “smooth” boring way. More in a well developed way.

Finish: Peach, bacon, grain, pineapple, cereal, honey, molasses

The finish gives us a ton of interesting notes. If the taste was more complex, the finish has taken the step back. However the finish isn’t bad at all. It’s a ton of flavours.

Conclusion: So I figured out it was Amrut, due to the mixture of moderate complexity and the finish being less complex. There’s peat, and they do peated whisky, of which they source from Islay. Port Ellen, if I remember correctly.

However what type of cask? It’s hard. I want to say a port cask, due to some of the raisin notes. I’m incorrect, it’s ex-bourbon casks. However that’s closer than I normally do.

The whisky overall is quite tasty. It’s unique in the levels of complexity, the strength of Amrut’s yeast giving those fruity notes, and the peat not disappearing into that cocoa that older drams typically do.

I can certainly see why it was the best of 2015. This is a breath of fresh smoked air for whisky.

86/100

Guess: Amrut… something? Maybe a port cask? Peated?

Actually: Amrut Peated 2015 Blackadder Raw Cask

World Whisky review #291, India review #30, Whisky Network review #1274