Matching Your Cigar with a Quality Beer

Maximize Your Pleasure

Here I sit at my vacation place in the tip of the thumb of Michigan enjoying another fine day consuming two of my favorite products – beer and a fine cigar. Of course any beer and any cigar is not going to work with me, I have a passion for flavor from both of these pleasures. In my beer refrigerator, back home, I will have around 30 different beers to choose from and my cigar humidor carries about a thousand cigars. Why the variety? I just don’t know how I will feel or what I want to experience on any given day and my wife believes me – so I am staying with that story.

At my favorite cigar store I have been asked, “What wine will go good with a cigar?” Wine is another of my vices. Whether wine or a quality Belgium beer you need to match your cigar to the beverage for maximum pleasure. As stated, on the global beer web site, under ‘Beer 101 – Belgian Beer & Cigars,’ “…tasting depends on many factors: the cigar you smoke, your personal taste, what you have eaten before.” Let me add, what beer you are drinking or going to drink and if you are eating during consumption or not.

In this article let me try to explain my approach to Cigar and Beer pairing, so you can maximize your pleasures. I will first explain my point scale system and then my word description approach.

I try to think of taste in a zero to ten scale, zero being very mild to ten very strong and robust. Start charting your taste on different cigars. Rate them from zero to ten. For example, for me a Don Lino natural or a Macanudo would score a zero for very mild. A Camacho, in general, would score 9 or a 10, with me. I would do the same for the beer as well, a zero for a domestic beer especially ‘light’ beers and then a 9 or 10 for my porters and stouts. Once charted, I would know my taste number and I would go two numbers in either direction for matching. Now, I am ready to pair my beer with a cigar to match.

If my beer is a 4 on this scale I want my cigar to be within two points from this tasting. This gives me a range from a two (mild) to a 6 (medium). The beer flavor will not be lost in this range. Whereas, if you chose a cigar with an 8 score (fuller), it would over-power the beer and the flavor would not be maximized. So, if I was smoking a cigar that was an 8, I would select a beer that would be a 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10.

Let’s take a look. The Wittekerke Belgian Wheat Ale: I would score as a 4, on the mild side of medium, a very pleasant tasting wheat ale that would be wonderful on a very hot day indeed. Also, I do not get any strong spicy flavors from this beer, just pure wheat beer pleasure. So, I do not want too strong of a cigar where it overwhelms the beverage or a too mild of a cigar where I lose the smoking pleasure. A nice balanced Camaroon cigar or a Connecticut wrapped cigar would do. So, I enjoyed my Wittekerke with a Leon Jimenes camaroon 300 and it was magical.

The other day, I enjoyed my Piraat Ale with a Don Lino Africa Kiboko, a 6.5 x 58 ring gage beauty. The full flavor of the cigar was paired perfectly with the hearty flavor of the Piraat. Which reminds me – it is time to fill the chalice one more time.

I just showed you how to play the numbers game, let’s look at the words used to describe your Belgian Beer.

The words used to describe a beer are very important when reading up on tasting notes, especially when you have not had the beer before. The Augstijn is described as spicy, malty and fruity. When I opened my 750 ml. (aged a few years) bottle I was picking up an aroma of tropical fruit. Then, the first few tastes, yes, it was citrusy up-front with an underlying sweet spice taste. I could think of some flavored cigars that would go nice with this ale but, I don’t do flavored cigars. Something from Drew Estates or Acid Cigars could work well with this ale. Here is another good tip - when you have not had the beer before, take a few sips before lighting a cigar up so you can pair them better. The key word description here was ‘fruity.’ The day I had the Augstijn I was at my vacation place so my cigars where limited. I usually carry 20 to 25 different cigars with me to spend the week-end or week. I selected the Man O War Torpedo for its ‘full spice and woody undertones.’ With the citrus ale taste, I was thinking that an oak smoked cheddar cheese would go well with this and that got me to the Man O War with its oaky woody notes.

Is the Gulden Draak triple ale able to go with a cigar? Yes! You hear about the toffee or caramel sweetness to this delicious ale well, coffee like flavors should go well here then. A medium to full bodied ale needs a medium to full bodied cigar. The point system needs to work but, we are also playing the word game. I go to my humidor and select a Padilla 68 Salomon, a beautiful 7 X 58 cigar. This cedary-woody but, sweet, yet earthy cigar, with a hint of coffee should do the trick. Yes, it’s a perfect match! For those of you who do not indulge in a quality cigar, that is too bad. For, drinking this ale all by itself can be overwhelming with the sweet, desert like style. So, a quality cigar should take the edge off – and it does.

Now, let’s review. Using the point scale to chart your taste on fine Belgian Beers and cigars will help you to maximize your pleasures. Using the word description approach will you help to find compatibility. Respect your beer and cigar. Don’t set yourself up for that collision in taste. By matching up the taste you will maximize your pleasures in life.

Enjoy the experience, Bruce