Amrut Intermediate Sherry Single Malt Whisky

Transporting the barrels in which malt whisky is typically aged is no mean feat. The casks themselves are often made in the United States or Spain, filled with bourbon or sherry (respectively), then emptied and shipped overseas to the distillery. That's complicated enough when the distillery is in Scotland, but when you're shipping half-way around the world to India it's another story entirely.

That's the challenge which the Amrut Distillery faces when acquiring new casks from Jerez, Spain, and though their single malt whisky has been met with rave reviews, they saw a challenge to overcome. Due to the temperature changes to which the wood would be subjected on its voyage from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean, there was a risk of sulfur accumulating and later damaging the whisky.

Amrut's solution was rather novel. First, they shipped their whisky to Spain and had the coopers roll it around inside the barrel to kill any bacteria. Then the casks were sent to the distillery in Bangalore, but instead of the usual approach of first aging the whisky in bourbon wood and then in sherry, Amrut took a different approach. After finishing the whisky in the sherry butts, they then placed it back into the American oak casks for another year or so.

The result is called the Amrut Intermediate Sherry, a potentially very delicate and flavorful malt just released from the distillery. 85 cases (each containing six 750ml bottles) are earmarked for the US market, each bottle expected to sell for $134.99 in stores.