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!