Crombé is a wine and whisky supplier in Kortrijk, Belgium. Their whisky responsible (Bert Coorevits) and his Malt Maniac friend (Bert Bruyneel) selected this cask of Indian Amrut, filled in 2004 and bottled last year, a few days short of its fifth birthday.
Amrut 4 yo 2004 (52%, OB 2009 for Crombé,
bourbon cask #2930, 221 btl.)
Amrut 4 yo 2004 (52%, OB 2009 for Crombé, Nose: full of apple pie and cinnamon. Warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Lovely really. On a second level: spicy honey, pears, yellow flowers. Heather as well. Less candied than you would expect from Amrut. This is more like gingerbread than plain vanilla cake, if you know what I mean. It already shows the complexity of a much older Speysider (yes, at nearly 5 years old).
Mouth: starts on Amrut’s trademark mix of vanilla and fruits (apricot and pear, melon maybe). It’s quite oily and slightly waxy. Again some ginger, cinnamon and white pepper, but the superiority over other Amruts is a little less evident here. Still very good.
Finish: clean, sweet and spicy with added hints of liquorice.
Outstanding at this age, and the best Amrut I’ve had so far (although I’m eager to try the new Amrut Double Cask). I still don’t get why it didn’t win against the Compass Box Spice Tree in the Battle of the Stunners.
A few bottles left, I’m told. Around € 50.
Score: 88/100