Three Amruts in Three Casks

Mao from My Annoying Opinions sent me three four year old whiskies from Indian distillery Amrut aged in three different casks. These are apparently European releases that are not available in the U.S., but I thought it would be interesting to compare the impact of these different casks. These were all distilled in 2009, are four years old and go for around $90.

Amrut Single Cask, Bourbon Cask, Cask 3445, 60% abv

This has a nose of raw oatmeal. The palate is sweet, slightly soapy and a bit funky. It's definitely got some raw grain, young whiskey notes. The finish is malty with some fruit notes. Water brings out more malty notes on the palate. This is a decent malt but nothing exciting.

Amrut Single Cask, Port Pipe, Cask 2712, 59% abv

This one has peat on the nose with some light wine notes; they come together like burnt sugar or toffee. The palate is a heavy blast of peat with some cocoa and vanilla notes in the background. It grows sweet as it goes down, and the finish is sweet wine with peat. I'm not generally a fan of port finishes, but I liked this one. The wine notes from the port contrast well with the peat.

Amrut Single Cask, PX Sherry, Cask 2701, 62.8% abv

The nose has very light sherry notes and more of that oatmeal. The palate is sweet and fruity at first then develops some maltiness.  The finish is mostly malt.  The sherry influence on this is present but pretty light. A few drops of water does very well with this one, bringing out some stronger sherry notes on the palate along with some sweet vanilla notes.

All of these were good. I thought the port pipe cask was the most interesting, though I doubt I'd pay $90 for any of them.    

Also be sure to check out the My Annoying Opinion reviews of the Amrut Bourbon, Sherry and Port casks.