Previously whilst writing a feature article on Indian whisky and reviewing the excellent Paul John whiskies, I – perhaps a little flippantly – introduced the piece by explaining and asserting that Indian single malt whisky had not previously impressed me. Prior to tasting Paul John, I had tried many expressions of Amrut over the years (my first back in 2009) and on a reasonably regular basis since. The simple truth is that I have not tasted an Amrut that made me think, “Wow, this is a great whisky.”
Of course, whilst those comments set the scene for the subsequent article on Paul John, they also simultaneously raised a few eyebrows amongst Amrut fans, not to mention the wonderful folks at Alba Whisky, who are the local Amrut distributors within Australia.
Alba’s Ian McKinlay, who will be known to many Australian readers, is a long-time whisky acquaintance whom I first met in 2007 via our common involvement in another private whisky club. You’ll see him at whisky shows and tastings all over the country as he promotes and pours the brands he distributes and represents in Australia, including Benromach, Gordon & MacPhail, Amrut, Nant, Wemyss, and Atholl Brose.
As such, I didn’t think anything was in the wind when an unassuming parcel recently arrived from Ian with two sample bottles inside and a note saying “Have a taste of these, let me know what you think.” One whisky was quite dark and seemed nicely sherried; the other was almost clear as water but was quite peaty. For now, we’ll ignore the clear, peaty whisky, as that might well become the subject of a separate article later down the track.
It’s always interesting (and healthy) to taste and assess whisky blind. Regardless of your best efforts to block out all preconceived notions or biases, you cannot critique and assess a whisky completely objectively if you know what it is. If you know its age, you will judge it on your expectations of what that age should deliver. If you know its provenance, you will instantly judge it in the context of your own previous experiences of that distillery or, worse still, be influenced by what you’ve read and heard about it from other sources. When sampling and choosing the whiskies for the Australian branch of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society, we rigidly enforce and operate under a blind tasting system so that such biases and influences are removed, and we are thus tasting and judging the whiskies in more clinical and accurate settings. In short, the whisky is judged on its own merits, rather than in the context of your own whisky baggage.
So, under these blind conditions, I poured myself a dram from Ian’s sample and set about assessing it in my usual manner. My official tasting notes are presented below, but the executive summary is that I was impressed with this whisky. Very, very impressed.
The nose was exceptionally complex. There were rich notes of oloroso that betrayed sherry influence at play during the whisky’s maturation, but the overwhelming feature was just how clean, balanced, and totally integrated everything was. I completed my notes, gave the whisky a particularly high score, and fired back an email to Ian to advise him that I really liked the whisky and thought it was spectacular. Everyone likes a point of reference or a comparison, so I also added, “It reminds me of a Macallan 12yo from the late 1990’s.” Now that’s a compliment! “What is it?” I asked, “Don’t keep me in suspense!”
Now with all that as background, you’ll appreciate Ian’s obvious delight when he wrote back the next day and revealed that the whisky I’d so acutely enjoyed was, in fact, an Amrut. Amrut Spectrum to be precise.
Spectrum is aptly named, as its maturation regime takes in a variety of oak and cask types across the spectrum. The spirit was initially matured for three years in ex-bourbon barrels before being transferred and matured for a further three-and-a-half years in bespoke, custom-built casks that – as others have described – are Frankenstein-like in nature. These finishing casks have been assembled using mixed staves from five different types of casks: new American oak with level three charring, new French oak with slight toasting, new Spanish oak with very slight toasting, ex-oloroso sherry staves, and ex-pedro ximinez sherry staves.
The result is a superbly balanced and integrated whisky. Whilst most “traditional” producers might mature their spirit separately in these different, individual casks and then attempt to blend them back in appropriate proportions to create the final vatting, this unique process by Amrut essentially undertakes the blending process directly whilst simultaneously maturing the whisky at the same time.
Notwithstanding the process, think also of the “ingredients” and their influence in this cocktail: The impact of ex-oloroso and ex-PX sherry are obvious and textbook. New virgin oak – particularly Spanish oak – can inject strong wood-like flavours and accelerated maturation development to the spirit. Think about the current new wave of virgin oak releases or finishes currently on the market; think about the French oak-finished whiskies; think about the multitude of sherry-finished whiskies; and then think about a whisky that captures and combines all of these varieties in a single bottle. Not only does Amrut Spectrum embark on this, but it achieves it with flying colours. It is truly unique and a world first.
My tasting notes – as written, when first sampling the whisky blind and not knowing what it was – are presented as follows:
Amrut Spectrum
Colour: A tantalising dark copper, bordering on mahogany.
Nose: Rancio, oloroso sherry, boozy prunes, sherry-soaked dried fruits, Christmas pudding, a touch of oak and beeswax / furniture polish. A tiny hint of phosphorous and fresh tree sap. Camphorwood, bordering on cedar. Very, very appealing.
Palate: Alcohol seems around 46% (sic), but the heat is perfect. Butterscotch. Clean sherry. Wine gums. Dark toffee, instant coffee, and milk chocolate. Incredibly complex, and yet wonderfully integrated and balanced.
Finish: Toasted buttered crumpets. Trails away at the end to leave a tiny bitterness (peanut skins?) from the oak, but nothing unpleasant. Quite resiny by the end of the tail.
Comments: This reminded me of a Macallan 12yo from the 1990’s/early 2000’s. Nice clean sherry, not too much oak on the palate (although plenty in the finish); it comes across as being neither too old, not too youthful. Just the right amounts of everything.
Amrut Spectrum is a limited release with just 1,000 bottles for the world. For readers in Australia, most outlets with an allocation have sold out, however, a very small number of bottles are left at some independent, specialist liquor retailers, with the going price around $270-$290. Contact Whisky & Wisdom if you’d like a nudge in their direction.
Many thanks to Alba Whisky for (a) supplying a sample, and (b) opening my eyes (and tastebuds!) to a whisky that I would otherwise have overlooked. I can now say I’ve tasted an Amrut I liked. No, more than that…I can now say I’ve tasted an Amrut I loved.
Cheers,
AD
PS…you might also like our article on another Indian whisky, namely the Indri Trini “Three Wood“.
Love the novel maturation process.
So simple but obviously successful by your review.
Already enjoyed Amrut fusion so have to get a Spectrum next!