Dennis Steckel or as the world knows him as Amrut Fever was in town and the wonderful people at Amrut decided to celebrate their whiskies with some of us at an exclusive Whisky & Food Pairing session. Held at the city’s newest property- Four Seasons, the evening was a class apart.
With Dennis – the man himself |
Kicking off with a fun talk about Amrut’s offerings, we were then given an experience of what a blind tasting of some of the best whiskies around the world rank against each other. Based on certain criteria like their feel on the nose, the balance, body, palate and finish, we had to rate each of the whiskies over 5. Mr. Pramod Kashyap, the Marketing manager at Amrut took us carefully through each whisky and its distinct characteristics.
The 6 whiskies that we judged were a mix of the best Single Malts & blended Scotch Whiskies from the world. 3, were the classic Amrut variants- The Fusion, Amalgam and the Amalgam Peated. It definitely was a fun activity to identify which was which because one needs to identify the whisky right!
Post the reveal, we went into the best part of the evening, that was a sit down 4-course meal paired with each of Amrut’s Single Malt variants.
The Entree- was BeetRoot Chops, Peanuts, Kasundi Mustard, Green Herbs, served with Warqui Paratha and paired with a dram of Amrut Amalgam.
Course 1 |
Course 2 brought in Tandoori Mawa Bharwan Aloo- Barrel Potatoes stuffed with Cheese and nuts, served with Blue Cheese Naan. This was paired beautifully with the Amrut Amalgam Peated Malt Whisky. The smokiness of the peated whisky with a Tandoori potato did complete justice to the smokiness of the course.
Course 2 |
The third course was the Bageeche ka Guldasta- Seasonal Vegetable cooked in Tandoor, finished with Nuts, served with Biscot Roti and their signature dal- Dal Cur8. This was paired with the Amrut Indian Single Malt Whisky.
Course 3 |
The last and final course – the dessert was a ball out of the park! It was a Kashmiri Gulab Jamun and Apple Pie with Custard Apple Ice Cream, paired with Amrut Fusion, which was actually a flambe over the dish. Heaven on earth if it ever was.
Amrut for those who aren’t aware, is India’s answer to the best Scotches in the world. Rated among the top scotch whiskies in the world, it is a cut above the rest. It is often said that Amrut is so special that you only open it for the best of the occasions and is not one to be consumed at once.
So much that we had their biggest fan Dennis (Amrut Fever) talk about his collection of all the possible Amrut in the world, including, one of the 18 bottles to be ever made- Greedy Angels.
Personally, I currently own a bottle of the Amalgam that I cherish and hope to collect more!