It’s been said before, but the fact that ‘world whiskies’ are upping the ante in terms of quality pretty much all over the world, is probably the best guarantee we have for scotch to be kept on their toes. Scotch whiskies, a multibillion export market, which, it has to be said, could allow itself a fair bit of complacency for years and even decades as they pretty much had the game to themselves. That comfortable position is changing rapidly and drastically and to keep their throne, the Scotch whisky industry is now pretty much forced to always keep one eye over their shoulder to keep track of what’s happening elsewhere. Be it close to their own borders in England, Ireland or Scandinavia, or all across the world, in Australia, India and everywhere in between. I’ll argue that one of the first ‘new ‘ countries to stick their nose at the window, was India. And one distillery in particular is responsible for this.
I’ve reviewed this very whisky back in 2021, so, to bring you up to speed, I’m summarizing here some of the background story I shared previously.
Amrut, founded in 1948, started producing single malt for the domestic market in the 1980’s, but didn’t release it as such. For the first years, they just took their single malt product and blended it with alcohol distilled from sugarcane – staying close to what a lot of Indian ‘whisky’ actually is: a blend not just from malt or grain, but from sugar cane or molasses. Upon discovering that a few years of maturation in the Indian climate made their product similar to the profile of Scotch whisky 3 times older, they decided to give it a crack and started releasing Amrut as a single malt in the early 2000’s. Soon, around 2004, they aimed to go international with their Amrut single malt. Releasing their products overseas, and in Scotland in particular, proved to be less evident though, as initially it was greeted with a lot of scepticism (and dare I say: snobbery?). But, giving credit where credit’s due, along came ‘The Hat’. Jim Murray, ‘in tempore non suspecto’, was probably the first to give Amrut some attention and praise, shortly followed by John Ansell of The Whisky Advocate. This really set the wheels in motion. These days, Amrut is well established as a brand not just in most European markets, but more or less everywhere in the world. Therefore, I feel they can be rightfully seen as one of the pioneers of the contemporary globalization of whisky.
Amrut Fusion. 50% ABV, NC, UCF, app. €45-€60
Amrut Fusion is made using both local Indian barley and imported Scottish barley, usually (lightly) peated. As with most Indian whisky, Amrut releases most of their bottlings as a NAS, but it’s safe to assume that the bulk of what they release has been matured somewhere between 3 and 5 years. Bearing in mind that The Angel’s Share in the Indian climate means that roughly 11-13 % of maturing stock literally vanishes into thin air every year, that’s actually a very decent age to bottle the spirit. On to the whisky…
Nose
Things start of citrus notes, vegetal – grassy and ever so slightly farm like. Gentle mineral and solvent notes with linseed oil, lime stone and rock salt. Nothing shy here, pretty firm and robust in fact, with soft bitter and sour notes of barley sugar, grainy/cereal notes and dried spices and -fruit, with an earthy-salty touch. Let it sit and come back to it after 10 to 15 minutes and there’s some wet wood and a waxy-oily sensation. The overall impression on the nose is rather dense and oily with vanilla and (heather) honey. A few drops of water and there is a clear fruity citrus note, alongside a funky- grainy element. Pretty busy, pretty complex, pretty solid so far.
Palate
The palate arrives with a bit of a prickly, peppery note. Immediately after that there’s this gentle farmy, waxy and wood touch. Overall quite funky-earthy-grassy, not miles away from the Campbeltown signature style even. The body delivers as well: medium-full, very clinging, somewhat dense and viscous. Mid palate there’s a very soft peaty-smoky element joining the party, with quite some vanilla and nuts and again the dried spices. With added water the mineral, sour notes come out, accentuating the smoke.
Finish
The finish is warm and clinging, dominated by the spices and wood notes.
Final thoughts
Layered and complex, busy (in a good way). This, in short, is a good whisky, close to being a very good whisky, even. I also think it’s probably the closest you’ll get to drinking a Campbeltown whisky, without actually drinking a Campbeltown whisky. Nonetheless, it manages to maintain its unique character and provenance, with that signature spicy, funky note I’ve come to find originates from the 6-row barley used in many Indian single malts. This is one of few non-scotch whiskies that’s making regular appearances in my cabinet, as it ticks all my boxes: decent value, decent ABV, tons of flavour. 84/100
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