[CA] I walked out of the humidor with a Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 Tubo and put it down on the table in the Cigar Aficionado lounge next to a bottle of Laphroaig 16. Managing editor Greg Mottola looked up from his laptop."You’re going to smoke that cigar with that Scotch?" he said.
Debate ensued. (This happens a lot in our smoking room.) Laphroaig is among the most smoky and heavily peated Scotches around, and Greg felt the Hoyo that I had chosen was not enough cigar to stand up to the malt.
"Do you have something else in mind?" I asked. He reached for a Cohiba Siglo V (also packed in a tube) that he had found when he was in Italy.
"OK," I said. "We’ll both drink the Scotch. You smoke the Cohiba, I’ll smoke the Hoyo. Let’s see how they work."
Peaty Scotch is remarkably pleasant at 16 years old, as anyone who has sipped Lagavulin 16 (another Islay whisky) can happily attest. The Laphroaig is new, a recent addition to the Islay malt portfolio. The 96-proof spirit (48 percent ABV) spent its 16 years before bottling in first-fill, ex-Bourbon barrels. It retails for $90 for a 750 ml bottle.
I enjoy Laphroaig, but I usually drink the 10 year old, which is extremely peaty and smoky. How would an extra six years of age change the flavor?