Amrut - The Indian Whisky, known to the world

I was trilled to hear that I was invited for a whisky tasting and the event was held in Glass house, on lavelle road. I wanted have made up my mind to take that special person for date to glass and this event has confirmed it. This has been my most knowledgeable event form me. Amrut whisky is based in our Bengaluru, I was shocked to know that I was going for tasting a set of an Indian brand single malt whisky. They have reached international market and already been sold in over 30 countries across the world. Amrut Fusion has been rated at no. 3 by Jim Murray from over 4,000 (approx) whisky he tried from across the world, with a score of 97/100. Amrut whisky actually started out as a MBA project of Mr Rakshit Jagdale, this project of his has put India in the whisky market and has shocked a lot people all across the world.

Mr. Ashok Chokalingam, Mr. Rakshit Jagdale and Mr. Vikram were from Amrut to take us through the blind whisky tasting. This was a blind whisky tasting, where there were just six glass with whisky without any identification of the brand to anyone of us. The tasting session was taken forward by Mr Ashok Chokalingam who was in fact the Whisky Ambassador for the year 2012, voted by the Icons of Whisky. He explained us the various aspects of whisky that can be briefly explained as nosing, tasting, balancing and finish, along with guessing the age and origin. Let me tell you that I got the age and origin of all the whisky (It not that easy to get it right).

To briefly say talk about the above, we identified the smell of the whisky, firstly we smelled it we one nostril and then by both and we got various smells like orange, apple, smoke, walnut, spices, chocolate, etc, this was my first time to approach whisky like this and was enjoying every bit of it. Then we actually change the temperature of the drink with our palm, this enabled us to get the different layer of whisky. This was an interesting factor that I like. After doing we taste the whisky by allowing it to move to all parts of the mouth and get the proper taste of the whisky. The whisky actually felt different on the tip of the tongue, in the mouth and the throat (it was different for the each whisky that we had). The we were asked to feel then balance of the whisky as it was in the mouth, i.e, the tongue, mouth and the throat, some of the whisky was hard of the tongue but smoothened later on and vice versa also. Then came the finish, there are basely three category i.e, short, medium and long. Finish means the lasting effect of the taste that one carries with him. We were told that the finish and the age of the whisky run parallel to each other. I also came to know that the color of the whisky does not tell the age of the whisky as the same can be tampered with also. This was what I learnt under the guidance of Ashok.

This was rating on the whisky :

1. 22/40 for Glenmorangie
2. 30/40 for Amrut Classic Malt
3. 26/40 for Black label
4. 31/40 for Jim Beam
5. 34/40 for Amrut Fusion
6. 32/40 for Amrit peated

Do note that one man's whisky might not be liked by others. I just wanted to share my experience to you just to show that at time a blind tasting can actually give you a surprising score like the one I made.

After the whisky tasting, we were served a few of the chef's choice. We were served Stuffed mini eggplant roulade, Goat cheese lollipops, Margarita pizza, Chicken fire cracker, Beef carpaccio, Lamb sliders and Fish and chips. The chef used very less ingredients in his dishes which is his signature dish.

I loved the chicken fire cracker that was Tender chicken covered in a mix of mango puree and mustard which was the most interesting combination that I have come across, this dish also tasted wonderful and the mango puree and mustard complimented each other in the most unexpected way.

If you like goat cheese then you have to try the Goat cheese lollipops. I do not like goat cheese much but did not mind the flavor lingering on my tongue for long. The saltiness in the goat cheese and the dates and jalapenos stuffing really gave and very wonderful taste.

For more information, you can contact them at

Sales inquiries:
Ashok Chokalingam ,General Manager – International Operations, Amrut Distilleries Ltd,

Tel:+44(0)191-233 6316 Fax:+44(0)191-233-6346 

E-mail: info@amrutdistilleries.com

Head Office:
Amrut Distilleries Ltd, (N.R.Jagdale Group), # 41/1, 72nd Cross, Rajajinagar 6th Block,

Bangalore, 560 010, India.

Tel: +91 80 23100402, 380, 379, 389, 23503860 Fax: +91 80 23351542

Web Site: www.amrutdistilleries.com www.amrutwhisky.co.uk