It’s official. I just got the press release in today and posted it below. If you haven’t tried these whiskies yet, you should. I particularly like the Fusion.
————————————————————————————————————————–
AMRUT SINGLE MALT WHISKY USA LAUNCH
This week marks the inaugural launch of Amrut Single Malt Whisky in the USA. The first shipment is expected to hit retail shelves in New York and New Jersey where the following award winning five expressions of Amrut Single Malt Whisky will be available in limited quantity:
Amrut Single Malt Whisky
Amrut Peated Single Malt Whisky
Amrut Single Malt Whisky Cask Strength
Amrut Peated Single Malt Whisky Cask Strength
Amrut Fusion
Amrut Fusion was named “third finest Whisky in the World” by Jim Murray in the 2010 Whisky Bible, where it was awarded 97 points.
Amrut Single Malt is produced by Amrut Distilleries, the Bangalore based company which introduced the first single malt from India to the UK in 2004.
Amrut’s Indian barley comes from the Punjab and the distillation takes place in the tropical garden city of Bangalore, located 3000 ft above sea level. The barley from Scotland, used in production of Amrut’s Peated Malts, is also distilled and matured in Bangalore. After they have reached their peak, the whiskies are bottled without chill-filtering to reflect the depth and finish of the whisky.
Whisky connoisseurs will be able to purchase Amrut Whisky at fine retailers in New York including, Astor Wines & Sprits, Park Avenue Liquors, Acker Merrall & Condit, and Ehrlich Wine & Spirits. In New Jersey Amrut will be available at Bayway World of Liquor.
Retail availability will follow by mid- April in Massachusetts at Julio’s Liquors and Federal Wine & Spirits, in Chicago at Binny’s Beverage Depot and at The Party Source in Kentucky.
The full line of Amrut whiskies are imported into the US by Purple Valley Imports USA.
For further information: Raj Sabharwal, VP Sales & Marketing, Purple Valley Imports USA. raj@purplevalleyimports.com. Tel: 704 497 2493.
I have never tried these. How much peat does the Fusion have?
Not a lot. Amrut Peated is 23ppm, but as it’s a very young whisky the peat comes thru as it were a higher ppm. There might be as much peat in the Peated Amrut as there is in10yo Ardbeg and Laphroaig. At least thats how it tastes to me. Amrut Fusion is more on the wavelength of Highland Park as I taste it.
I can only recommend Amrut. I particular like the way it’s nonchill filtered, it somehow different than “normal” unchillfiltered whiskies. To me it seems to be MORE unchillfiltered. I don’t know if it is, but thats the feeling I get when drinking it. I found the the Fusion extremely complex for its age, and for a person who at most picks up 3-4 notesin a whisky I easily found the double in this and with a wider variations
Americans..you got something to look forward to
/Macdeffe
Steffen, Thank you for the info. That sounds right up my alley. I definitely look forward to trying it.
Cheers.
I have a bottle of each of the cask strength Amruts and they are definitely worth a try. Every time I have a dram, the first thing that really hits me is how different it is from Scottish single malts. There is something very fruity and fresh about it…like a cask strength cherry pie!
The peated definitely tastes like more than 23 ppm.
Haven’t tried the Fusion yet, but it is on the hit list.
Cheers,
Derek Stewart
Vancouver, BC
I got to try Fusion in Europe a few weeks ago and it is great stuff!! I am looking forward to exploring it more once it reaches the US. John – is that an exhaustive list of retailers in the NY/NJ region?
Amrut had better be worth the hype when I taste it because I haven’t seen such a gush of positivity from the community (all over– not just on this post) since I don’t know when– But then, I guess that’s what blind tastings are for.
I think there’s 3 reasons it’s hyped
1. It’s from India. It’s surprising and who can say they wouldn’t be prejudiced about whisky from countries that we never knew about ?(whiskywise that is)
2. It’s young. Normally I wouldn’t expect too much from whisky 4-5yo
3. It’s cheap
Taking the 3 points above into consideration most will say they get a lot more than they expect when trying it for the first time. So people get surprised by this, and they talk about it. A hype ?
If you expect it to be the best whisky you ever tasted (it might be for a few) you’d be dissapointed thou, but I’ll just say :
It’s Indian, It’s young, it’s cheap and it’s a very good range of whiskies
Macdeffe
So the hype I hear and the resulting high expectations I have for Amrut are a consequence of the low expectations that others had before they tried it? Kind of neat there.
LOL yes, we are all puppets
/macdeffe
I have to say, I am looking forward to trying this bottle. Amrut better hurry up and get to Florida. ^_^
I think if you combine the quality of the whiskies (especially Fusion) with the price (due to their young age), they really are good, affordable whiskies.
That’s great news. I’m glad to see these nice affordable whiskies make it overseas.
The whiskies that Amrut have produced mature very quickly in the climate that they are situated in, We did a blind tasting at The Whisky Exchange with all the lines and 2 well known scottish single malts. I was not surprised to find that most of our experienced clients were well off the mark at guessing which was which. We were lucky to have the Two Continents bottle as well, this won the most votes at the end of the event with the peated and Fusion coming in 2nd and 3rd. The scottish malts came in 7th and 9th respectively. These lines mature quick but even in that time they take on enough character to rival any good scotch. The quality shines through and is most enjoyable.
Has anyone seen these on the shelves in NJ yet? How much does the Fusion retail for?
I’ve asked around in nyc and they are saying early to mid April…keeping my eye out.
so how much is it expected to cost?
[...] Amrut has finally launched in the U.S. Looking forward to trying it. [...]
Just got a bottle of the Fusion and looking forward to trying a dram tonight.
finally got my hands on a bottle of amrut fusion. $60ish from astor wines in nyc. the irony, of course, is that this indian single malt is not sold in india–otherwise i would have had my parents, who are visiting next month, bring me the whole range to try. but that’s neither here nor there for now.
i just poured myself a hefty dram of the fusion. i was sceptical about the hype (and also prejudiced against indian whisky–i say this as an indian) but man, this is really quite good. smoky and sweet on the nose and a cascade of flavours on the palate. i don’t know if others had this experience, but i’m tasting something new with each sip, and a different note seems to dominate each time–dark chocolate, malty sweetness, toffee; the peat is present but not at all overbearing. the finish doesn’t quite live up to the second act, but this is quite the ride. should have ordered two bottles.
the closest reference point i can think of for those who are interested in such things is probably the ardbeg uigeadail, but you wouldn’t mistake them for each other. i did not add water–i’m curious to see how it will change when i do.
I’m kind of fan of Glen family (glenfidich,glenlivet etc.). Is it close to same flavor and taste? Any idea when it’l be available in north carolina area?
We’re hosting a tasting of the Amrut line in Dallas, Texas this evening! Lots of skeptical whisky drinkers are signing up to be the first in town to know what young Indian whisky is all about!
Darn! We don’t get Amrut in India !! Oh well, I’ll have to live with Glenfiddich.