Amrut’s angels fly in

Amrut Distilleries is once again pushing the boundaries of creating whisky in India. As the Bangalore distiller continues its innovative exploration of the world of single malt, it has bottled its oldest whisky.

Two bourbon casks have been matured for eight years – an unprecedented length of time for Amrut’s malts which mature relatively quickly in the unique environment of the distillery and warehouse in Bangalore – and then bottled.

This special bottling has been named Greedy Angels. “Over those eight years – in the tropical conditions of our warehouse – we lost close to 274 litres of spirit from the two casks,” explains Ashok Chokalingam, Amrut’s International Brand Ambassador. “In the end, we could only bottle 86 litres of whisky. No wonder we have named it Greedy Angels.”

When Amrut decided to bottle these two old casks – numbered 2800 and 2864 – no-one was quite certain how Greedy Angels would turn out. With the insight of his experience as Amrut’s Master Distiller, Surrinder Kumar, believed he had something very special. When invited to London, he was happy to hear what people on the other side of the world thought. At a series of blind tastings, he was greeted with the most positive of feedback. The 144 bottles of Greedy Angels have now been released worldwide. As befits the first bottling of such an old Amrut malt, it has been dedicated to celebrating the 60th birthday of Amrut’s Chairman, Mr Neel Jagdale.

On the nose, Greedy Angels is full of tropical fruits such as pineapple, red liquorice and hickory. On the palate, it is full bodied tropical fruits coupled with subtle spices and citrus notes. It has a sweet finish leaving you wanting more.

When he tasted Greedy Angels, Dominic Roskrow, the whisky writer and director of True Spirit, said: “It’s world class whisky, a small batch, lovingly crafted.”

His tasting notes continue: “Nose: A big waft of crystallised pineapple, some tropical fruits and then a spiky, spicy dustiness. Palate: Wow, first up we get red liquorice and menthol rancio, suggesting great age, and then rich syrupy jellied fruits, some mandarin, cherry lozenge and tinned strawberries in syrup. It’s a totally rounded and clean sweet whisky experience, with no flaws. Finish: Sweet, rich and relatively short – but very more-ish.”

NOTES

Amrut Distilleries

Amrut Single Malt Whisky from India was launched officially in Glasgow in 2004. Since then its reputation has grown, with its range of innovative whiskies using Indian barley from the Punjab, distilled in the tropical garden city of Bangalore at 3,000ft above sea level. Amrut Distilleries has won many awards.

In The Whisky Bible 2010, leading whisky expert, Jim Murray awarded Amrut Fusion Single Malt Whisky the title of World’s Third Best Whisky. Murray said Fusion “has to be one of the great whiskies found anywhere in the world this year”. Admitting his No 3 choice could come as a surprise to some people, he said: “The fact that it is Indian? Irrelevant, from distillation to maturation this is a genius whisky from whichever continent.”

The awards for Fusion have continued, picking up several over the years, including Grand Master of World Whisky at The Spirits Business Awards in December 2011 and World Whisky of the Year at the Malt Advocate Whisky Awards February 2011.

The distillery itself has won honours, lifting the title of Distiller of the Year in the Icons of Whisky 2011 at awards organized by Whisky Magazine. The award was made to Amrut “for raising the profile of Indian whisky across the globe and its innovations in the production process”. The Rest of the World title meant the Bangalore distillery was also one of the four contenders for the Icons of Whisky Distiller of the Year title.

In 2012, Ashok Chokalingam, Amrut’s General Manager – International Operations, was named Whisky Ambassador of the Year at the Icons of Whisky. The judges praised the hard work of Ashok and Amrut Executive Director, Rick Jagdale, since launching Amrut Malt in 2004. “The gamble and all the legwork has paid off for Ashok and Rick, with Amrut establishing its credentials as a serious award winning whisky” they said.

Amrut’s Two Continents malt whisky was named Whisky Advocate’s New World Whisky of the Year in 2012. Two Continents is made from 100% Indian barley grown in Punjab and Rajasthan, then mashed, distilled and aged in Bangalore. It was then transferred to Europe where it was aged in ex-bourbon casks and then bottled. This gives it a “rich, complex, unique, and exciting oral explosion” according to Whisky Advocate.

Amrut Peated Malt Cask Strength Whisky won Silver and Amrut Single Malt Cask Strength Whisky Bronze at the International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2008.

Amrut is now sold widely in Europe (UK, Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Spain), Canada, South Africa, Australia and the United States. It is also available in some Indian states.