2002 Angus The Bull - a cabernet blend from Australia. Quiet dark, with a
typically ripe sweet nose. Forward, but I wouldn't call it simple. Sweet and
smooth on palate, fairly soft tannin. Great drinking now and in the near term,
which is what the maker intended. I intend to drink this up over the next year.
It should last a couple of years without problem.

And although this is not wine....

Caol Ila 18 year old single malt - not cheap at $102 Can., but this is a
special single malt! Salty seaweedy nose with a hint of vanilla, and a big
smooth malt on palate. Better with a wee drop of water, it ends very long with
a very slight bitterness and a long smoky finish. Ambrosia!

In article >,
ojunk (Bill Spohn) writes:

>Caol Ila 18 year old single malt - not cheap at $102 Can., but this is a
>special single malt! Salty seaweedy nose with a hint of vanilla, and a big
>smooth malt on palate. Better with a wee drop of water, it ends very long
>with
>a very slight bitterness and a long smoky finish. Ambrosia!

A new one to me- Islay?
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

"Dale Williams" > skrev i melding
...
> In article >,
> ojunk (Bill Spohn) writes:
>
> >Caol Ila 18 year old single malt - not cheap at $102 Can., but this is a
> >special single malt! Salty seaweedy nose with a hint of vanilla, and a
big
> >smooth malt on palate. Better with a wee drop of water, it ends very long
> >with
> >a very slight bitterness and a long smoky finish. Ambrosia!
>
> A new one to me- Islay?
> Dale
>
Yes, a nice specimen of an Islay. Cost was 90$ Can in Norway, btw.
My notes: a distinct bouquet of tar and old ropes with a honeyed
substrate. Quite raw and spirity for an 18 years old (when drunk cold from
cellar), a hint of gasoline - peat kicking in after a while. On warming
there is charcoal and sweetish peat. A rather dry, woody finish but an
enormous length, still noticeable in the mouth after 10 minutes
Anders

Dale Williams wrote:

> In article >,
> ojunk (Bill Spohn) writes:
>
> >Caol Ila 18 year old single malt - not cheap at $102 Can., but this is a
> >special single malt! Salty seaweedy nose with a hint of vanilla, and a big
> >smooth malt on palate. Better with a wee drop of water, it ends very long
> >with
> >a very slight bitterness and a long smoky finish. Ambrosia!
>
> A new one to me- Islay?
>

Almost certainly -- the name Islay is pronounced eye-lah, accent on the first
syllable.

Mark Lipton

Some malt fans swear by that stuff (Caol Ila, "cowl eye-lah" in US
phoneticization), especially fans from Britain. Well respected.

There are some distinctive or unusual malts on the market in recent years.
One that I find a novelty is Aberlour's "a'bunadh." Came at cask strength
and NV or ND (no date). Such a rich spiced-maple aroma and balsam as to
remind me of a candied apple, as traditional in US: A tart green apple with
a light coat of cinnamon-flavored melted sugar (red). Also in general, some
finisher/bottlers have been promoting mutliple-wood specialty versions.
Macallan has a dark product recently with a red label (replacing the 15yr,
I'm told) with a rich hazelnut nose. None of these is as beneficial for
people with iodine deficiencies as something like Caol Ila. (But maybe for
people with wood deficiencies. I could go somewhere with that, urged almost
hypnotically by the drone of recent spam email, but I won't.)

Your health -- Max

Bill Spohn wrote:


> Caol Ila 18 year old single malt - not cheap at $102 Can., but this is a
> special single malt! Salty seaweedy nose with a hint of vanilla, and a big
> smooth malt on palate. Better with a wee drop of water, it ends very long with
> a very slight bitterness and a long smoky finish. Ambrosia!

I had some of that at a Signatory tasting of single-barrel
bottlings earlier this year. The wee drop of water is important
to open up the scotch, the details I can't recall...

Dana