I have two friends who never, ever pass up an Amrut. The vast majority of my Amrut reviews come from them.
As the company has grown, it’s been good times. We’ve seen more and more out. Dennis Steckel could tell you how many, given he has the largest collection out there. So many that Blackadder came to him and had him select a cask for the Amrut Sherry Dennis Steckel Selection Blackadder. Which… colour me both impressed, happy for him, and jealous as heck.
Devoz has more Amrut reviews than me, and I’m happy to be in second place there. However if he got to pick casks due to his reviews, you could colour me green with envy and call me the incredible jealous hulk (please don’t sue me Marvel).
And for the second review we have Amrut Madeira Cask, a continuation of the original bottlings that they bring out that focus on a specific cask type, or as I call it “bait for me because casks are cool and wacky”. Madeira can be tasty, now that I don’t mistake it for Marsala all the time. Damn room mate adding it to my pasta sauce.
Let’s see how these taste, shall we?
Thanks to /u/devoz for this sample.
Amrut Sherry Dennis Steckel Selection Blackadder
Price: £310 at an auction, recently
Region: India
Bottled: 10.2019
Cask Type: Sherry Cask Finish
Cask Number: BA30-2019
Number of Bottles: 172
Abv: 59.7%
Colour: 2.5YR 2/8
Nose: Hazelnut cream, papaya, mint, fennel, lilac, cinnamon buns, white chocolate
Immediate rich, nutty note, followed by that tropical Amrut flavour, and a ton of floral/anise/mint/spice. Water adds to the complexity and brings it all together.
Taste: Orange, anise, cinnamon, hazelnut, sugar cane, butter
More acidity, less complexity, but good balance between the sweet, butter, and orange here. I’m reaching for something, though the complexity on this isn’t quite hitting the highs of the nose.
Finish: Plantain, mint, anise, brown sugar, hazelnut, chemical floral note
Again, impressive amount of flavours, nothing melding completely together but nothing throwing me off… right up until I gave it time to air out/added a bit of water and got this strong chemical floral note.
Which opens up a question…
Conclusion: Bit of trouble with the landing there. So do I drop what I’d typically give it over one note, at the end?
Hard to say. I think this is a well balanced, flavour filled Amrut. For a non-peated version it’s very tasty and I can see why it was picked.
On the other hand, that harsh note was pretty rough, and stands out with the finish.
At the end others will love this whisky more and not focus on that. Frankly I think that’s what you should do. It’s a good Amrut, a fun pick, and a solid dram.
85/100
Thanks to /u/xile_ for this sample.
Amrut Madeira Cask
Price: £ 130
Region: India
Bottled: 08.2018
Cask Type: Madeira Cask Finish
No. of bottles: 4,800
Abv: 50%
Colour: 2.5Y 8/12
Nose: Pear, peanut brittle, orange, nutmeg, plum
Fruity, nutty… Oddly less tropical fruit than I’m used to. Reminds me more of a Scotch profile versus that Amrut profile.
Taste: Orange, almond, papaya, malt, cranberry
Think one of those almond/fruit cakes that if you’re North American/European you get around the holidays. That said, my nana’s quick loaf never had papaya in it, what with her not knowing what one of those were, what with the war.
Finish: Wheat, pear, cardamom, heather, raspberry
More orange, more cereal notes (a bit rough), nice tart fruit. Really easy drinking, fruit filled whisky.
Conclusion: Nice to sip on, good fruit laden whisky. I can see how this whisky will just evaporate in your house. It has enough Abv to still that fruit/cake-y/nutty flavour. Not as tropical as other Amrut, though I think if you’re choosing among the 50% Abv. / Showing off a cask maturation OB releases, this would be the one you grab if you’re not the biggest Amrut fan (no funk or much tropical notes) but still want a solid whisky.
81/100
World Whisky review #400-401, India review #35-36, Whisky Network review #2006-7
tomoderawhisky.ca 