Whisky: Amrut 6 Year (2014) for K&L

Country/Region: India

ABV: 60%

Cask: Oloroso Sherry

Age: 6 Years (Distilled 2014, Bottled 10 June 2021)

Nose: Very sherry, dried fruits, musty old incense, leather, hints of lemon and lime, black cherry, plum sauce with cinnamon and brown sugar.

Palate: Medium-bodied, oily, plum sauce, cinnamon, pepper, dried fruits, hints of coffee and leather, spirited at the end with sweet peppers.

Finish: Medium-length with pepper, dried fruit, and vanilla.

Score: 6

Mental Image: À bientôt ma chérie.

Narrative & Notes: The aroma was bright and heavily sherried with classic dried fruits, leather, and plums. A mustiness— or even a dustiness— lingered behind dried fruits with leather and hints of lemon and lime, almost as if an occasional spritz of Sprite hung in the air. The aroma was hefty and sticky, like a plum sauce spiced with cinnamon and sweetened with dark brown sugar. The palate was medium-bodied with a lovely oily smoothness and sweet-spicy notes of plum sauce, cinnamon, pepper, and dried fruits. Toward the end were hints of coffee and leather with a spirited heat lingering through the finish. Water brought out more fruits up front, an undercurrent of coconut and tobacco at the end, and tamed some, but not all, of the spirit. The finish was medium length with a touch of heat and drying astringency as well as cracked pepper, dried fruits, and vanilla.

Water— this dram required a hefty scoop to settle and unleash its fruited bounty. A few drops were enough to transform the palate into something much fruitier with apricot, and plums emerged from the rich spiced plum sauce at cask strength. Water brought out a lovely undercurrent of coconut and surfaced more vanilla bean, which lingered on the finish and complimented a more cohesive set of tobacco notes. This was definitely a dram that called for experimentation, as a few drops opened up additional notes, but it took quite a few to kill the spirited heat that washed out some of the back end.

I have long been a big fan of Amrut and their various malt styles. I am not as big a fan of pairing the excellent Amrut malt with a heavy sherry influence— though I know there are many fans of the style. That is okay; a distillery should appeal to many different people and palates. So, if you like sherry and are not afraid to experiment with water, then heavily sherried Amrut such as this single cask for K&L is worth consideration.