By
George Brozowski
Have
you ever dreamed of living on an island? That thought
conjures up romantic visions, warm beaches, glowing sunsets,
and tequila sunrises. Well, it ain't that way on the western
shores of Scotland where the Island of Islay is located, although
they do have their romantic moments. The winds tend to blow
in from the West across Scotland from the Atlantic Ocean and
that just happens to be where they first encounter the Island
of Islay. If you're more of the rugged type and love that
wind in your face feeling, this just might be the place for
you. As an old Scottish saying goes; "there's no such
thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes". And if
you enjoyed that little ditty here's a Scottish poem you might
enjoy:
It
rained and rained and rained and rained,
The average was well maintained;
And when our fields were simply bogs,
It started raining cats and dogs.
After a drought of half an hour,
There came a most refreshing shower;
And then the queerest thing of all,
A gentle rain began to fall.
Next day 'twas pretty fairly dry,
Save for a deluge from the sky.
This wetted people to the skin,
But after that the rain set in.
We wondered what's the next we'd get,
As sure as fate we got more wet.
But soon we'll have a change again,
And we shall have..... A drop of rain
All
that weather and those sea waves might produce some interesting
Scotch Let's see: first up is the Bowmore Islay Single
Malt Small Batch Scotch Whisky. It is a very pale
golden honey in color. A light touch of smoky, salty peat
starts off a delicate nose, followed by a hint of oak and
vanilla. On the palate, the saltiness comes forward immediately,
followed by smoky peat then that oak and vanilla. All of this
combines into a spicy, citrusy, bourbon like flavor that dominates
the mouth. The finish is medium in length leaving a vanilla
salty sweet taste in the mouth. This is an interesting and
layered scotch, although not overly complex. The saltiness
is well balanced with the sweetness and smoke. It's certainly
a light flavored sipper that might just go really well at
that favorite bar on the beach but that beach really should
be located somewhere way down south where it's nice and warm.
Next
up is the Bowmore Islay Single Malt 15 year Old Scotch
Whiskey. The color of this scotch is almost a maple
syrup brown as compared to the previous scotch. The smoky
peat comes right up first in the nose, followed by a light
sprinkling of sea salt, followed by oaky bourbon.
This
nose is rich and deep. The palate is thick and creamy and
deep with the flavor of the smoky peat, vanilla, bourbon,
oak, salt and chocolate- yes, chocolate. And let me tell you
salt and chocolate are one of my absolute favorite combinations,
and this scotch handles that combination beautifully. The
finish is long allowing all those flavors to melt together
and please the palate for a decent amount of time or until
the next sip which just might come before the first one disappears
completely. This is a complex scotch with a decent degree
of depth and flavor and just might be the scotch to drink
at the bar on the storm tossed Scottish shore. Either way,
you won't go wrong with these two.
The
Bowmore Single Malt Small Batch is around $40.00
per 750ml bottle.
The
Bowmore Small Batch 15 year Old sells for
around $45.00 to $64.00 per 750ml bottle, so shop around to
get the best price.
For
more Rants & Raves click
here.
www.bowmore.com/
