Review #196 - Blackadder Amrut Raw Cask
A local tasting even last year introduced us to a range of Amrut whiskies, and this was one of the standouts: a Raw Cask bottling from Blackadder. Like all Raw Cask bottlings, this is totally unfiltered after it's drawn from the cask - there's plenty of sediment and char sitting at the bottom of the bottle.
Amrut was actually the first distillery to produce single malt in India - it's located in Bangalore, and was founded in 1948. The name comes from Sanskrit, and can roughly be translated into 'nectar of the gods' - quite a name to live up to, then.
They don't tell us what type of cask this was aged in, but it does have a nice, rich natural color, as well as a mouth-watering strength of 62.1% ABV. There's no age statement, either, but we're guessing that it's relatively young, at least under 8 years old, due to the hot climate in India, where this ages.
Blackadder Amrut Raw Cask
India - Single Malt
Current Locally Available Price: USD 219 (2024)
Age Statement: NAS
Strength: 62.1% ABV
Details: Not chill filtered (totally un-filtered), no color added; cask BA33-2022, 209 bottles; bottled December 2022
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 2 months; bottles at 50%, 80%, and 70% (blind tasting) fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Rich, sweet, and oaky - there's caramel and a bit of chocolatey malt, and some brown sugar; char and wood smoke are accented by an earthy smell and hints of leather; mild fruits of orange seeds and blackberry are here, too.
Palate: The mouthfeel is thick, and this is strongly flavored - very oily and oaky, with tons of baking spices like caramel, brown sugar, clove, and vanilla. As it opens up, a very strong Chai tea spice note develops; dry oak and wood smoke come in behind that, and there's an accent flavor of leather again.
Finish: Medium-long, warm but not overly hot, with lots of oak notes again. Cinnamon, tannins, wood smoke, and some sweeter brown sugar are all present; little hints of red fruit and toast waft through. Like the palate, given more time, strong Chai tea spices develop in the aftertaste.
Final Note: A raw experience with strong flavors, but the alcohol is well-integrated in the whisky despite the high strength. It's a little bit simple, with one-lane baking spice and oak flavors, but it does those quite well; that Chai note in the palate and finish is probably the strongest we've found in a whisky.
Unfortunately for the value rating, despite this being a very good whisky, these limited bottlings often command a bit of a premium, and this is no exception. Over $200 is the price we've generally seen online, which is quite steep, but for a rare bottling of a world whisky at cask strength, it's not surprising.
Our Average Rating: 7.5 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 4.98
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