We’re back to India today, to try something quite new from Amrut: a triple-distilled single malt. Triple distillation is mostly associated with Irish whiskey, as most Irish distilleries use this process to distil their whiskey. If you want to learn a bit more about that process, I talked about it here. Ireland is not the only country where triple distillation is used however, as some Scottish distilleries, Auchentoshan or Springbank – for its Hazelburn brand – for example, also distil thrice their spirit before filling it into casks. But today, it’s Indian triple distillation, so let’s taste and review the recently released Amrut Triparva.
Amrut Triparva Review
Triparva is Hindi for “in three parts”, a direct reference to the triple distillation, also shows with the three stills and the quite explicit mention “Triple distilled” on the label of the bottle. Triparva was released a little more than a year ago, end of 2020. The batch 1, the only one released for now, is a non-age statement expression bottled in August 2020 at 50% ABV. It seems to be unchill filtered and uncoloured. Batch 1 had an outturn of 5400 bottles, and you can still find some between 110€ in several Dutch shops to £140 / 155€ in the UK and in France.
Colour:
Auburn.
Nose:
Very fruity nose. Exotic fruits: papaya, passion fruits, ripe mango, but also fresh figs and juicy apricots.The youth is noticeable with some glue but that’s to expect. Vanilla pods, mint, coconut shavings, white chocolate, barley water and custard cream. The alcohol is quite there too.
Dilution adds syrup to the fruit salad and slight lactic notes.
Palate:
Spicy arrival, with a nice slightly waxy mouthfeel. Crystallised ginger plays around with a fantastic fruit salad made with manga, pineapple, apricot, peach, pear, melon. Fresh mint leaves, but also some crisp oak bitterness, I think there were first-fill or virgin casks in the cask recipe. Vanilla again, honey, Werther’s Original caramel, and dried coffee crema inside your cup the next day.
With water, it’s sweeter and less spicy, slightly more bitter too. But still very good.
Finish:
Pineapple and ginger, crisper oak notes than on the palate, milk chocolate. Quite long with a nice warmth.
Comments:
For a first time using triple distillation (and probably the first time ever in Asia), this is a huge success. We have an exotic (and less exotic) fruit explosion, some freshness with a bit of mint, some restrained youth, some restrained wood too (though I’d have liked even less wood on the finish), this is excellent. So if you order a dram at your whisky bar or a bottle even at your liquor shop, you won’t be disappointed.
