Amrut Single Malt Cask Strength Whisky

First ever review so bear with me.

Sampled in a Glencairn with a tea spoon of spring water. The legs were thick and muscled like those of a few lady rugby players I’ve known. They were still sliding down the glass after several minutes (the legs, not the ladies!).

Colour –Medium golden brown, like properly toasted bread.

Nose : Initially quite sweet. Treacle or orange marmalade (we’re getting back to the toast again), later replaced with a spicey, perhaps peppery note and do I detect a slight nuttiness (or is that me)? Overall very pleasant, I felt the urge to smell it for a long time before tasting.

Taste, Quite sharp initially with that orange marmalade taste again, quite hot on the tongue (presumably due to the high abv) but not unpleasantly so. Later a slight spicy, peppery note comes through and lingers.

Finish: Lingers long and pleasantly with the sweet marmalade and treacle making a late return to wave things off.

Comments: This is my first Cask strength whisky, my first Amrut and my first review on this site, so memorable all round. The bottle says you shouldn't drink this if you're pregnant (so I'm pretty safe there then I think).The sweet taste and long lingering finish would make this a great Christmas and new year dram and at the risk of being ridiculed by the traditionists, it would be an excellent drink to see in the new year. And as the first dram of the new year it would certainly give whatever followed a lot to live up to.

It is a 61.8% bottling and it says on the packaging that it is distilled at 3000 feet above sea level and I must say that it certainly made me feel high (sorry to finish with another crap joke).

Cheers.

This Amrut was bottled at an ABV of 62,8% in February 2009 and has a wonderful color: full gold bordering on bronze. It creates long legs in my copita.

The nose is very expressive with leather, humus, brown sugar, orange peel, smoked ham and wonderful notes of sawdust (reminds me a bit of the corner in the DIY shop, where you can have your wooden planks sawed to measure - know what I mean?). This is by far the best nose on any Amrut I've experienced so far. Stunning!

One would expect a dram with such high content of alcohol to be extremely hot, but that is not the case. It's quite creamy with whiffs of leather and marmalade of oranges. Very fruity with a touch of smoke. Pretty well spiced with peppermix and nutmeg.

Ahhhh, the finish is extremely long on orange peel (a tad bitter, but never oaky).

This is a no-holds-barred Amrut that puts quite a few Scottish counterparts in shadow. I didn't even feel the need to add water. Recommended!