Amrut Portonova (62.1%, OB, 2016)

• Category: Indian single malt whisky
• Origin: Amrut Distillery
• Bottling: Official
• ABV: 62.1%
• Cost: £84.97

What they say:

More woody experimentation from the folks at Amrut, maturing the Portonova first in a combination of new american oak and ex-bourbon barrels, then moving it to refill port pipes and then back into ex-bourbon casks. It combines the traditional vanilla and coconut flavours with the rich fruit you’d expect from a port cask for an interesting mix.

Tasting Note :

NOSE : A Thick pudding of a nose; fruit and caramel have merged into one slightly over-oaked soup; burnt apple pie

TASTE : This is essentially a port pipe sandwich…. and it shows. The spicy, jammy fruit is interwoven through any amount of caramel while the oaky saltiness gets the taste buds both salivating and puckering until you run dry

Finish : Long, massive oak with quite evident traces of the virgin barrels now detectable. And more of a cocoa hue as it progresses. At last some muscovado sugars arrive to supplant the berry fruits

What I say:

Amrut aged in all sorts of casks but most importantly a little time spent in Port pipes where at least some of the colour and flavour may derive. Presented at cask strength – due to the climate in India maturation of whisky often results in a lot of evaporation and also due to the differential loss of alcohol and water into the atmosphere ABV may either increase or decrease! It also matures a lot quicker than Scotch due to the large temperature changes both daily and seasonally.

Colour:

Umbrous golden brown with a ruby red highlight (12/20) quick medium-sized tears leave finer legs

Nose:

Spiced, black & szechuan pepper, allspice, cocoa powder, toffee, molasses, bourbon-like (possibly the virgin oak cask influence?), jammy red fruits and black fruit jelly, banana and coconut, orange oil/essence and zest

Taste:

Jammy fruits, redcurrant jelly, chocolate/mocha coffee, raisin, fudge, toffee, bourbon biscuits. With a little water it becomes spicy and with more (finally) creamy toffee and vanilla, banana and light gingerbread

Finish:

Long, wine gum sweeties, fruity

Overall:

Nice, not as integrated and Port heavy as I would have liked in backbone/structure but plenty of the better elements from the Port pipes were here on a rather nicely bourbon-matured base. Needed water, a lot – so great value for money too as there is easily a litres worth of drinking out of a 70cl bottle.

Score: 85/100

Don’t take my word for it:

TOModera’s Whisky Reviews Amrut Portonova

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