Understanding your personal pairing preference
It’s time to marvel at the wonder of truly understanding your own cigar pairing preference
Pairing cigars with your favorite beverage is about personal preference. Often you will hear someone say that you can’t pair cigars with red wine or beer or even Bourbon, but what they mean is that it is not their personal preference to do so. Pairing any type of flavors together is about achieving balance. First and foremost, it’s important to keep a notebook for your combinations. It doesn’t have to be a lot – just the key flavors and sensations. A flavor wheel can help you and they are easily found for all types of whiskey, as well as cigars. This can help you with pairings later.
When approaching a whiskey and cigar pairing, it’s important to have a flight of at least three whiskeys available to pair with a given cigar. This is because pairing whiskeys with cigars brings new complexities due to whiskeys’ strong flavors. A whiskey that ordinarily is sweet and fruity might turn unexpectedly spicy in combination with certain cigars and vice versa.
When starting out, try to avoid high-proof whiskeys as they tend to muddle your palate a bit. Ideally 80-100 proof whiskey is best, but some 105 or 110 proof work nicely.
The conventional wisdom tells you to pair a full-bodied cigar with a full-bodied whiskey and a light-bodied cigar with a light-bodied whiskey, but this is a recipe for either an overwhelming or underwhelming combination. Look for flavors that complement each other: spice notes with candy notes, or earth notes with coffee notes. This will offer a level of balance that is difficult to achieve with cigars and whiskey, thanks to their strong flavors.
Try a puff of the cigar followed by a sip of the whiskey and really think about the flavors you are experiencing. How do they differ from the standalone flavors when they are in combination? Next try a sip of whiskey followed by a puff of the cigar. Is it enjoyable together?
Take a few notes with each whiskey during the beginning, middle and end of the cigar, as the cigar’s flavors will change and the whiskey will open up.
Once you get the hang of the process, you will begin to notice that you can make predictions about how certain pairings will come together. There will still be surprises, but for the most part your confidence will grow as you learn how to enjoy the very strong personalities of whiskeys and cigars together.
Remember above all else, it’s about what you like and not what someone tells you to like. Figure out the combinations that suit your palate best and go from there.
LIGA PRIVADA NO. 9 AND BARDSTOWN BOURBON CO. THE PRISONER FINISHED BOURBON
Liga Privada is the top of the line from Drew Estate cigars. The name literally means “private blend” and the blend consists of a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Brazilian Mata Fina binder and Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. It’s big and bold yet well balanced. The major notes in the flavor profile include rich cocoa, espresso and cedar. It pairs so beautifully with Bardstown Bourbon Company’s The Prisoner Cask Finished Bourbon, it’s almost as though the two were perfectly made for each other. The smoke brings the bold fruit notes from the wine barrel racing to the forefront, but not so much that you can’t tell you’re drinking a Bourbon. The Bourbon mutes the espresso notes in the smoke, giving the cocoa and cedar notes a chance to shine.
JOYA DE NICARAGUA CINCO DECADAS DIADEMA AND WESTWARD SINGLE MALT WHISKEY
Simón Camacho and Juan Francisco Bermejo fled Cuba in 1968, settling in the Esteli region of Nicaragua. It was there they founded the Nicaragua Cigar Company, which would later be called Joya de Nicaragua. This cigar was originally made to honor Joya’s 50th anniversary in 2018, but fortunately it is still on the market. The wrapper is Nicaraguan, but the binder and filler tobaccos are a secret blend the manufacturer has not released. The flavor profile is easy to get along with; it’s earthy like a forest full of conifers with a misty rain. Together with the Westward Single Malt it embodies the Pacific Northwest, bringing forward the toasted cereal, honey and apple notes in the whiskey. The whiskey coaxes toasted notes out of the smoke for a pairing that is easy to enjoy.
L’ATELIER LAT56 AND LARCENY BARREL PROOF BOURBON
L’atelier cigars are blended by Pete Johnson, who also happens to be the founder of the Tatuaje brand of cigars. They are made by the Garcia family at the My Father factory, located in Esteli, Nicaragua. This cigar is made with an Ecuadorian Sancti Spíritus wrapper, which interestingly happens to be a hybrid of Criollo and Pelo de Oro tobaccos, and Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. The majority of the flavor profile consists of sweet café au lait complimented by a hint of black pepper. By pairing this together with the Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon, the smoke makes the stone fruit and leather indicative of Heaven Hill’s wheaters pop, while also carefully dialing up the spice notes from the barrel. You will notice that the Bourbon flattens the pepper note while delicately highlighting the sweet café au lait notes of the cigar.
VIAJE C-4 AND JIM BEAM DOUBLE OAKED BOURBON
Viaje, which means journey, is a small cigar company founded by Andre Farkas. The company specializes in the creation of small batch cigars with the stated purpose of being able to control the quality and consistency of the production, while providing consumers with a boutique cigar experience. This cigar is a Nicaraguan puro with a Nicaraguan Corojo Maduro wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Main flavors include sweet coffee, without the bitterness of an espresso roast, cedar and leather. There’s also a nice vanilla note that plays well with Bourbon. When paired with the Jim Beam Double Oaked Bourbon, the smoke quickly dials up the honey notes, while carefully highlighting the green apple and floral notes indicative of Jim Beam. The Bourbon plays nicely with this cigar without overpowering the existing flavor profile.