高分阿穆特

Solo tasting - a surprise from Bangalore

Amrut 'Intermediate Sherry Matured' (57.1%, OB, 2010)  This one was first matured in bourbon and new oak, then in sherry, then in bourbon again. Interesting, especially the way the distillery ‘treated’ the sherry casks.They ordered casks from Spain but instead of letting the suppliers burn sulphur into them – which I believe is the normal procedure – they shipped cases of Amrut CS to Spain and asked the Spaniards to fill each butt with some whisky and then roll them, so that the distillate would protect the wood from bacteria and mould during transportation from Jerez to Madras and then Bangalore. 

What’s funny is that with my friend and winemaker Olivier, who does it with some of his own wine casks, we had already told several Scots that they should do that with their own spirits, so that they could avoid the dreadful sulphury notes. Not sure they ever followed our advices, as it’s a very expensive method! But let’s try the result now… Colour: deep gold. Nose: it’s sherried but not that much. Notes of cherries, raspberry, kirsch, a little orange liqueur, rosehip tea... Maybe old roses as well. All that is very clean, fragrant... Notes of raspberry ganache. With water: more spices from the wood, ginger and lemon balm. The oak was quite active here. Mouth (neat): rich and creamy, very appealing, sweet, more aromatic than the “average” sherried malt. Notes of Turkish delights, rose water, orange marmalade... Very pleasant spiciness (star anise, cinnamon). Again, it's very clean, almost a little zesty. With water: very nice citrusy notes and many spices. Most unusual but perfect. Liquorice, pepper, ginger and marmalade. Finish: long, on the same notes, with a faint saltiness and maybe a little peat. Comments: this new style is impressively to my liking. Perfect first fill sherry without any cloying elements, and no single traces of burnt matches/rubber whatsoever. SGP:553 - 91 points.