Amrut Intermediate Sherry

Rating: 19/23 N: There's a lot of malt on the nose and syrupy sweetness. With them comes some surprising vegetal notes that then merge into some strong sherry cask character. I definitely get some nutty, lemony oloroso. There's something more on the juicy, floral red fruit side as well, but it's hard to place and it could be some of the full malt coming through. I smell a bit of wood too, but not a tremendous amount. As it sits in my glass, that malty sweetness turns into caramel and a bit of dried fruit in the range of raisin or currant comes through. I also start getting a little bit of orange peel as this opens up and balances. The vegetal funkiness comes under control better. P: Immediately malty and vegetal with a bit of a youthful sweetness - though not a rough or brash profile. There's some heat, but it isn't harsh. That Amrut sort of waxiness hits pretty quickly and it sticks around, enhanced by the oloroso nuttiness and lemon. There's a bit of prickly spiciness throughout with some faint cloves, ginger, and cinnamon at points. I get moments of salt and brine as well. The sweetness starts turning more fruity and some wood starts coming out along with it before morphing the malty aspect of the sweetness into caramel a bit. This is not nearly as sweet, full of fruit, mellow, and floral as GlenDronach 15. This is more funky like it has a bit of Glenfarclas life to it. It has a much bigger oloroso bite to it than the likes of Lismore 21 and there's also a greater syrupy sweetness to it. Those casks really show through here, kind of on the borderline of what I would consider to be hedonistic and what seems like just too much sherry. Glenfarclas 105 is way funkier, grassier, and more herbal with some rougher youthful spirit characteristics. F: This might actually be the high point. The palate has some elements that haven't fully cohered, but the finish mellows them so they come together nicely. The wood really comes out more, without tasting overly assertive. There's still a nice amount of sweetness from the fruit, blending into the malt, blending into the caramel. That all is tied into the wood by the nuttiness. The wood then fades into that tart waxiness. It really tastes like a mature, well-executed product. - Conclusion - This is challenging at first, but it balances out over the course of a half pour or so. Don't just take a sip of it. There is no question that this beats Glenfarclas 105 by a solid margin. This is more in the GlenDronach 15 and Lismore 21 range. This is a tough call to make from a sample, but I don't see how I could go below a 17 for this. On the high end, I can see a 20, or just maybe a 21. I'm torn between an 18 and a 19 right now. I gave Lismore 21 a 19 and I'm more confident in that score than I am in the 18 I gave GlenDronach 15, so I'll give this a 19 as well. I have one more sample that I'm looking forward to trying side by side with my bottle of Amrut Kadhambam (yet another 19), once I open that bottle. Thank you @PBMichiganWolverine for unearthing this bottle and opening it to share a sample!

Nose - (w/o water) Hot, sharp tropical fruity heat, cayenne spiced grilled pineapple, sweet habanero heat, faint sweet baking spices, cloves. (w/ water) Greatly reduced heat, more strawberry/cherry preserves, less tropical.\ Taste - (w/o water) Hot sweet heat, white pepper burn/tingle, sweet dried red berries, intense tropical sweet, grilled pineapple (w/ water) Softens the heat, adds a creamy yet drying mouthfeel, more rounded/balanced berry/tropical fruit vibe. Finish - (w/o water) Long lingering red berry sweet, hint of maple syrup, heat fades fairly quickly, grilled fruits (w/ water) Long lasting pear/red berry mixture, very faint bitter like that of pineapple char. Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - As I expected, this one comes out of the gate a bit hot. A tiny bit of air time in the glass makes it more tolerable and this odd sweet spice note I get slowly fades a bit with some time. Sherry influence is there w/ bright red berry influence and is mixed with what I get as their standard very tropical hot malt. Oddly enough the hot heat fades fairly quickly. Like other Amruts that I've tried, this greatly benefits from a tiny bit of water as it softens up the hot heat a bit and rounds out everything nicely. It is quite easy to add too much and make it muted pretty quickly though, so use a dropper if you can.

This is really unique whiskey. Those guys in Bangalore really got creative and turned the notion of cask finishing upside down. It's a pretty complex maturation. They first matured in bourbon casks, then shipped the spirit to Spain (why?!? seems more expensive...but, maybe to avoid contamination). Then the spirit was matured in sherry cask, on site in Spain. It was shipped back to Bangalore, India. Then matured in bourbon again. So...was this all worth it? In my humble opinion...YES. Nose is red fruits, like raspberry and strawberries. Taste doesn't let down...it's more of candy fruit and that house flavor of Amrut---licorice. And the finish is spicy cardamon and ginger...I almost felt as if I was having the typical chai we make at home every morning. This is really well made, and they went the distance in a complex maturing scheme. It also doesn't show it's youth. Maybe because the climate in Bangalore is close to 100 degrees all year, and maturation is faster. This feels more like a 15 year old. Highly recommended!

What a fantastic whisky this is. Its just perfect. The Amrut Intermediate Sherry is one of their older expressions (about 6yo) and it is called that way because it is first matured in ex-bourbon casks, second it goes into sherry butts and finally the whisky is finished in virgin oak casks, so the Sherry is the "intermediate" one. Bottled at 57.1%abv, chesnut color. On the nose the rollercoaster begins. Tamarind, guava, prunes, molasses, quince, maraschino cherries, orange marmalade, champagne soda, orange cake, port, and wine from a church. It is just amazing. On the palate, more red flavor madness: cinnamon liquor, liquorice, orange peel, cane, cherries, peanut butter chocolate. Aftertaste delivers something totally different. Lots of minerals, spicy, pepper, sherried port, cinnamon and the sauce used to glaze the pork. Overall, this is an amazing dram, an incredible experience. Super sweet and spicy, the higher abv is present in fluent tasting and aroma notes. Just buy it. My score: 100/100.

Sophisticated and fun...This is another stunner from Amrut. Smells like a sherry bomb, and finishes with an impressive bouquet of spices. It as if every sip starts out red-vine licorice and travels into old-fashioned black licorice. This bottle will be hard too reach past, and I’m glad there seems to be adequate supply out there in my area. If looking at the experience profile of this on a chart, I would expect to see a "bow-tie." This is a thrilling whisky with dramatic swings. 5.0 - go out and buy all of the stock you can find. 4.0 - must buy at least one bottle before you die. 3.0 - solid, must try at a bar, or mooch from a friend. 2.0 - didn't like it, you may. 1.0 - you may have the palate of my dog, and he licks his own ass.

I need to figure out if I need more of this before it's gone. Nose - There is just something about Amrut. It's dusty, it's oakey, it's sweet, but there's something so complex and different. Sherry notes are here but they're just up front. The mid and finish are all about this oak that's been roasted, spice I can't figure out, and malt that makes no sense. I get some vanilla, some oak spice, a hint of cherry with sherry notes, Taste - super oakey and spicey with vanilla, charred black oak notes, toasted barrel, some chocolate, and you know I don't normally spell this out but there's a huge amount of European oak. I need another bottle of this badly. So badly.