islay in the sun

if there is any single malt one should taste at least once, it has to be an islay.
just like if you ever need to visit one island, i think it must be hawaii.
or cuba. so make it two islands one has to ever visit.
so it is with islay single malts. and caol ila - which is gaelic for the sound of islay - is one of the better islay single malts. just like laphroaig.
have seen the bottle around in various duty-free outlets but never got round to getting one until a discussion with the high-school sweetheart some time last year. she swears by it and would not try any other single malts.
a trip back from bangkok provided the perfect opportunity to get a bottle of caol ila 12 year old for consumption.
okay, the label is actually better than the photo here as the entire bottle was kept in an ice bucket during a party december 2006.
now that was a party all right. the food was excellent - thanks to a great italian-trained chef and the company wonderful. enough said as that would make me yearn for more of the food and the company that night.
anyway, the caol ila is said to be one of the lighter of the islays with one of the extremes being the much-beloved laphroaig and also the range of bowmore single malts.
a pale gold, this islay single malt has a honeyed peaty nose with some floral notes.
the 43 percent alcohol by volume caol ila has a sweet, smoky and seaweed taste with a cigar smoke and peppery finish.
very nice. definitely a must in any single malt collection.