Image from The Whisky Exchange

Back in the day when I was still very susceptible to any trend in whisky that came along, combined with professional reviews like Murray’s, Broom’s, Valentin’s and many others I thought I had found a new whisky Valhalla with Amrut. I had a cask strength version very early in my whisky ‘career’, and since then bought a bottle of the first peated version, one of the first Blackadder Amruts and a bottle of the first batch of Fusion.

Since then I’ve become a bit more picky when it comes to Amrut, partly because they increased their prices significantly (€ 45 for their first Cask Strenght, now new releases are around € 80 I think). Understandable, but they’ve priced themselves out of the ‘ah, what the heck’ range by doing so.

They’ve earned the right to do it with bottles like the Two Continents and the Intermediate Sherry Matured, but in some cases I find it over the top (think Amrut 100, and Kadhambam).

Sniff:
Complex swith a lot of different corners of the spectrum. Fruity, spicy, woody. There’s an almost savoury spiciness to it, with hints of peach skins, nectarine. It’s a bit thin though, but that might be because the bottle has been open for years.

Sip:
Somewhat thin again, but it feels oxidized instead of thinly flavoured. Scorched wood with a similar fruitiness as on the nose. I get curry spices too that make me think of garam masala, but I’m not overly familiar with that…

Swallow:
The finish has a bit more oomph to it than I expected and is a bit more alive. The complexity is very prominent here.

Before, I really, really liked this bottle and have recommended it to many people. Especially since it came at about € 35 at first. Now, after it has been open for some 4 years it’s not as good. I feel it’s oxidized quite badly which is a shame. Not truly rateable because of that.

Still, based on recollection, this is a very fine dram, and still very affordable. You just have to finish the bottle in 2 years or so. Can’t really see the problem in that!

Amrut Fusion, 50%, OB, available at € 50 at Master of Malt.