AMRUT FUSION - JIM MURRAY

 

ARTICLE ON AMRUT FUSION  :

JIM MURRAY – WHISKY CONNSIOUR

  

There are many things India is famous for and single malts were not on that list. In the past few years, however, an Indian single malt has emerged as one of the treasured whiskies in the world.

an Indian single malt has emerged as one of the treasured whiskies in the world. The rather unlikely name of this brew is Amrut Fusion. In 2010, whisky connoisseur Jim Murray declared the Bangalore single malt the world's third-best whisky in that year's edition of his annual Whisky Bible. This liquid gold was also the only Indian single malt to make it to the shelves of Harrods' Whiskies around The World section in October 2011. 

 

Currently, Amrut Fusion is sold in 22 countries, including the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore and South Africa. 

 

Amrut was launched in Mumbai in November 2013 and they are also set to launch their rum called Two Indies soon.

Amrut Fusion Single Malt rated one of best three whiskies in world” splashed in the media across the world in September 2009 causing tremors (and some hiccups) in the whisky world.

AlC / Vol.: 50%
Colour: Golden Yellow
Tasting Note :
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 absolutely 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.

 

JIM MURRAY experience in AMRUT FUSION tasting :

• Nose – Sweet, varnish, smoke, tannin from oak, clean, mild peat

• Taste – Oily, mocha, smoke, sugar, oaky

• Finish – Medium long

• Impression – Jim shared how ‘well balanced’ the whisky is with its different elements

Experience – Jim extolled the use of quality wood however (not sure if others caught this) did later admit an ‘inconsistency’ with this whisky. Which remains my ‘beef’ with Fusion – either quality control issues at the distillery or massive incompetence and neglect in storage before it makes it to our table. Even after our blind sampling a couple of years ago when we went ‘Yuck!’, I’ve had very mixed experiences with Amrut Fusion ranging from ‘passable’ to ‘no way’ to ‘tolerable’ to ‘ok’ and back to ‘average at best.