Amrut “Fusion”, 50%, $50
Balance, complexity and surprising maturity for its age—these are the defining characteristics for what is the best Indian whisky I have ever tasted. Amrut is doing some great things, and this whisky just elevated them to a new level. Combining Indian malt and peated Scottish malt, this whisky shows a sweet side, but is never cloying, with rich caramel, vanilla custard, fruit cocktail in light syrup, balanced by vibrant—almost floral—dried peat smoke, delicate white pepper and a hint of tropical fruit (toasted coconut, pineapple). Soothing, lingering smoke finish. I look forward to more great whiskies from Amrut. (Available in the U.S. in February, 2010)
Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 89
[...] John Hansell reviews “Lady Luck” from Compass Box. He also tastes the very reasonably priced Amrut “Fusion.” [...]
It was a pleasure to taste their range at World of Whiskies last year, the night before WhiskyFest Chicago. It’s been a while, but I seem to remember thinking “fusion” was the least of them; that said, I take John’s review to be spot on: this is good whisky. Good for them for bottling at appropriate strengths, too.
The pace of maturation in that environment amazes, and seems to me to provide good evidence that place does matter in the process. I think it would be interesting to know more about the distinctive features of their Indian malt. I suspect whisky chemists find their results intriguing.
I tasted those whiskies the same night too, and it was my first taste of Fusion. I was told by Amrut that the Fusion coming out now is not the same as the one we tasted at Binny’s the night before WhiskyFest Chicago. I thought both were very nice, actually.
That’s interesting. I agree that the earlier Fusion was very nice. I’d like to rewind and taste them again, but what I seem to remember is some characteristic in the Indian malt expressions (cask strength and 46%) that got lost when “fused” with the peated malt. I don’t know…I’ll just have to try them again.
The comment about location seemed worth making because of an exchange I had with a certain brand ambassador once, who claimed that location didn’t matter really at all. What matters, he claimed, is just the ingredients and equipment (basically). Isn’t the response to that something like, “You mean to include water in that, right?” (He went on to claim that “un-chillfiltered” is really just a gimmick, because so few can tell; I can’t accept that because of perceptible differences in viscosity and resultant mouthfeel…But he’s a brand ambassador, for baby Jesus’s sake!)
Anyway, the pace of maturation in that Indian environment, along with the Indian water and barley, seems really interesting to me.
I am SO hoping we get this here. I’ve been looking forward to it for ages, and shipping to Georgia is always… problematic (with the blue laws being what they are).
Place HAS to matter in the process when you’re talking about a place as far south ad India. Look at the difference we experience in the aging process between Scotland and Kentucky, and multiply that a couple of times below the equator!
Place doesn’t matter? Hogwash! Go India!
I talked to someone amazing helpful at purple valley. they say it will probably be in some the north east states in march. I was added to a email list to be notified. They told me all states aren’t included because it’s hard to meet each states regulations.
PLSE TELL WHERE I CAN BUY AMRUT FUSION AT BHUBANESWAR ,DO E MAIL THIS INFO. THANKS
I got to know about it from the Whisky Bible. Amrut should not be shy to market this product in India, where genuine single malt drinkers abound. Great innovation in using peated malt.
[...] the whisky is being imported. For now, there’s only a handful of places to find the delicious Fusion, among other offerings. You can find them here, according to the Importer’s [...]