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Amrut Shows Us How To Finally Get An Orange Inside A Whisky Bottle

Amrut NaarangiEver tried to fit an orange into a whisky bottle? It likely doesn’t fit (trust me on this). Amrut Distilleries out of India however, who we covered the other day with their release of that nation’s first decade old single malt, is aiming to get an orange, or at least the flavor of it, into the bottle through an innovative technique which may raise a few eyebrows among traditional whiskey drinkers.

The Indian distillery has just unveiled a new bottling called Naarangi, which gets its name from the Hindi word, Naarangi, which means “orange.” It is described as the “only single malt whisky ever produced in the world to have expressions of orange, which brings forth a new level of experimentation to the malt world.” How does it do this? Here’s how, in Amrut’s own words:

EU regulations for malt whiskies state that adding anything to a whisky disqualifies it from being called a whisky; however, Amrut who had been contemplating adding orange notes to whisky, have developed a novel solution to create Naarangi, which meets all EU guidelines. To produce this whisky, Amrut procured Olorosso Sherry from Spain and matured wine along with orange peel in it for a period of three years. The oranges for this were sourced from the tourist haven, Madikeri located in the picturesque Western Ghats of India. The wine and orange peel concoction was let to mature for 3 years in Bangalore, lending the barrel a unique orange essence.

The wine and peels were then spilled and the barrels were filled with a 3-year-old matured single malt whisky and allowed to mature for 3 more years. In this period the barrels have lent the Orange characteristics to the whisky creating a pioneer in the single malt.

Fascinating, no? Not really a flavored whisky in the traditional sense, but instead one getting its orange essence from the barrel itself. Should you want to get a hold of this, it may be a little tough, as only 900 bottles, all at 50% ABV, are being made available in Europe, Asia Pacific and Canada. No price was mentioned.

“The whisky is not dominated by the orange but remarkably balanced out,” said Ashok Chokalingam, GM – International Markets, Amrut, in a statement. “The finish is of subtle orange notes while in the middle ground you can find the traditional Amrut signature.”

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