“I am the
God of Hell-Fire and I Bring You....”
Country: India
Brand: Amrut Peated - Blackadder Raw Cask Series - Cask # BA 14/2012
Type: Single Malt Whisky
Age: NAS
ABV: 62.7 %
Date: 07/05/2014
Colour: Difficult. Deep Golden with shades of Brown and Orange.
Nose: The Alcohol is very strong as could be expected. It's quite similar to a relatively young (8-10 Years) old Islay. Ardbeg and Bowmore come to mind. The strong Peat in the Amrut however is less Maritime and more Earthy. I find Smoke, Dirt, Tar, a little Shell-Fish, Barley, Straw, Oak, Vanilla, Toffee, Toast and Salted Butter, some Fruity Notes (Citrus, Caramelised Apple perhaps) and a hint of Milk Chocolate. It's strong, rough, simple yet very much to the point. I like it!
Palate: Quite a Strong and Fiery delivery thanks to the high ABV. I find lots of Spices like Black Pepper and Cardamom. I also get Straw, Peat, light Vanilla, Barley, Toast and Salted Butter, Dried Herbs, light Fruit and a hint of lightly burned Bacon. This shouldn't be your first Whisky for sure. It might scare you off for ever. I normally prefer to drink my Single Malt neat but in this case I suggest to add a little Water.
Finish: Long and Strong with Peat, Campfire Smoke from the day after, Ashes, Sweet Barley, Strong Espresso, Licorice, Black Pepper, Cardamom and a hand full of Toasted Dried Herbs.
I added a bit of Water and it doesn't change a lot. It becomes more easily drinkable. Some more Sweet Peat and Malt on the Nose and extra Peat, Dried Herbs and Cardamom on the Palate. Try it out both neat and with a drop of Water.
Rating: 88
Nose: 22.5 - Taste: 21.5 - Finish: 22 - Overall: 22
General Remarks: Amrut Distillery Ltd. has three own distilleries, one in Kerala and two in Karnataka. Its main products are Brandy, Vodka, Gin, Rum and Blended Whisky. Only a small part of their turnover is realised with Single Malts, that are mainly exported a.o. to Japan, Australia, Taiwan and Western Europe. Amrut became famous after having been scored rather high in Jim Murray's Whisky Bible, for the first time in 2005 and later again in 2010. The Peated Raw Cask I'm tasting today is an award winning Malt. Cask # BA 14/2012 delivered 282 bottles. I'm not sure of the price since it varies a lot but an average 100 US Dollars seems to be a fair estimate.
Blackadder is an Indie Bottler that was founded in 1995 by Robin Tucek and John Lamond. Their bottlings are usually Single Casks, are not Chill-Filtered and not artificially coloured. In 2000 they introduced the Raw Cask Series with Whisky that is directly bottled from the Cask without any filtration.
Blackadder is an Indie Bottler that was founded in 1995 by Robin Tucek and John Lamond. Their bottlings are usually Single Casks, are not Chill-Filtered and not artificially coloured. In 2000 they introduced the Raw Cask Series with Whisky that is directly bottled from the Cask without any filtration.
Drinking Experience Neat: Good
Conclusion: Drinking this Amrut neat is like riding on a Highway to Hell. It's Strong, it's Edgy, it's Raw and it Burns. Yet it manages to avoid going over the top. It's dominated by Sweet Peat, Spices and Herbs but has just enough Fruit and Toffee to keep it tasty. On the Palate it's really too strong to drink neat although you should try at least a few sips. But a lower ABV of around 50% would have most probably benefited the drinking experience of this Peated Amrut. But then it wouldn't have been part of the Raw Cask series of course. I loved the tasting experiment and the Blackadder Peated Amrut is a well-crafted Single Malt. I can imagine sipping a dram after a long Winter Walk. It's just a tad too strong however to consider drinking it on a regular basis.
Jan van den Ende May 2014
“And now: Scotland here I come! Next
Tasting Notes only around the 4th of June”
