Amrut Fusion

Nose : Heavy, thickly oaked and complex: some curious barley-sugar notes here shrouded in soft smoke. Big, but seductively gentle, too;

Taste : The delivery, though controlled at first, is massive! Then more like con-fusion as that smoke on the nose turns into warming, full blown peat, but it far from gets its own way as a vague sherry trifle note (curious, seeing how there are no sherry butts involved) - the custard presumably is oaky vanilla - hammers home that barley - fruitiness to make for a bit of a free-for-all; but for extra food measure the flavours develop into a really intense chocolate fudge middle which absolute resonates through the palate;

Finish : A slight struggle here as the mouthfeel gets a bit puffy here with the dry peat and oak; enough molassed sweetness to see the malt through to a satisfying end, though. Above all the spices, rather than lying down and accepting their fate, rise up and usher this extraordinary whisky to its exit;

A real revelation, the Amrut single malt is undeniably the flagship of Indian whiskey. A major consumer of whiskey, this subcontinent is also a major producer country. However, only Amrut has the qualities necessary for its marketing in Europe. Founded in 1948 a few months after the independence of India, this company based in Bangalore in the south of the country produces a whiskey in the rules of Scottish art. Its cellars, which mainly contain bourbon barrels, are, thanks to their position (around 1000 meters above sea level) and the surrounding tropical climate, real accelerators of aging, a unique case in the world of single malts.