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KWM Whisky Advent Day 2 - Amrut Fusion

Posted on November 21, 2022

Welcome to KWM Whisky Advent Day 2!

Today, day two's whisky is from Amrut, India's first export quality whisky which has been well known and respected by malt whisky connoisseurs for some time now. Even thought the distillery has been operating since 1948, it only started producing whisky in the 1980s and when it launched its single malt in 2004, it was only for export markets.

Amrut is an enormous family owned firm that sells over 50,000,000 bottles of spirits a year consisting of rum, gin and vodka as well as whisky. The Amrut single malt was first launched in Scotland, because the product is an homage to Single Malt Scotch. Because it is not distilled, matured and bottled in Scotland, it is just a Malt Whisky, the term Scotch can only be applied to Scotch Whisky. Amrut was introduced to the Indian market in 2010 and is now available in more than 20 countries around the world.

Amrut uses barley grown in the northÂ of India near the Himalayas, malted in Jaipur and Mumbai and finally distilled in Bangalore where is also matures in casks. Bangalore's climate supercharges the maturation of the whisky, and while most Scottish distilleries lose 1-2% of their spirit to evaporation (the Angel's share), Amrut loses 8-10%. After just 3-4 years most casks have lost a third of their volume. The distillery's oldest release to date, Greedy Angels 10 Year, would have lost 80-90% of its volume before it got to bottling.

For the Advent Calendar we selected Amrut Fusion, which is one of the distillery's most respected whiskies. Bottled at 46% without colouring or chill-filtering the whisky is produced from a recipe of 75% unpeated Indian malt, and 25% peated Scottish malt.

Amrut Fusion - 46% - Andrew's Tasting Note: Nose: butterscotch and pecans, juicy malt and a touch of gentle peat; fresh picked oranges, a faint hint of melon, beeswax and green garden notes; wet coffee grinds and some baker's chocolate; Palate: creamy, very honeyed (more beeswax), juicy malt and loads of white chocolate ( it is sweet); the darker peat, coffee and chocolate notes are there but balanced along with some crisp smoke and gentle peat; the palate remains fresh, fruity and layered with late spices and more butterscotch; Finish: light and lively but long with fading sweet notes and fruits; Comment: tasting this is a reminder of how much I enjoy this whisky, it is truly superb." - $75.99