Amrut Peated Cask Strength Batch 51

My first foray into whisky Asia (for review, anyway, I’ve had a handful of drams of Japanese and Taiwanese whiskies) and a Cask Strength one at that. I suppose I might prefer to have had the standard proof peated Amrut before, but I like the idea of considering it as its own product rather than a version of another. Anyway, here we go. 

Amrut Peated Cask Strength, India Single Malt, 62.8% ABV

Minutia: Distilled from Scottish peated malted barley and matured in India in oak barrels for some amount of time. Bottled in July 2019 as part of batch 51. Enjoyed neat in a glencairn.

Color: Russet, Muscat; 1.3.

Nose: Dusty spice. Nutty.

Taste: Hot and spicy, similar spices as in the nose.

Finish: Smoke cuts through the spice, spice lingers a bit. Long.

This isn’t entirely off-putting, but as is it’s not for me. Even with water I still found it incredibly hot and that heat and spice remained very present even after the palate was feeling diluted. I’m not super motivated to try this again, but it’s worth noting this was reviewed with covid. I haven’t noticed any compromises in my senses of smell and taste, but given an easy enough opportunity I’d give this another shot. At any rate, it’s not enough for me to write off Indian whisky, or even Amrut, and further exploration is warranted.

Score: 71

Musical Evocation: Drudkh – “Indiánská píseň hrůzy”