Profiling is Important When Pairing

Profiling – To Maximize Your Pleasure

During the holidays my wine guy sold me a few bottles of sparkling wine. I told him that I was preparing a big fruit table with a dark chocolate fountain in the middle and some shrimp and cheese as well. He said, “you have to get this sparkling wine to go with that.” He was right, of course. A nice wine with a little Granny Smith Apple taste to it and it paired up well with the appetizers. I then tried the same wine with a desert and wow, I got that pucker power hit to the palate. This was not good.

When pairing up your cigar with a beverage it is important to profile. In this article, I am going to look at ‘taste’ and not the body or mouthfeel, if you will. The tasting notes need to be considered, so you can help maximize your pleasure.

I was looking for a summertime pleaser pairing. I came across an ale that mirrored some of the qualities of one of my favorite cigars. I described them this way, “Flavor: Nothing overwhelming here and that is a good thing on a nice summer day. There is no overwhelming bitterness or sweetness. The undertones of each are complex in their mild-medium styles, which offers you a pleasant social experience.” And, it worked. Sometimes, matching up with the same profiles can backfire. I have found that to be true more so with complimentary fuller styles, they become too overwhelming paired up.

This is the fuller-side collision, sometimes on purpose (research!), when trying to get the fullest flavored experience possible I have paired up that strong spicy, peppery ale with a strong spicy, peppery cigar. Oh yeah, it worked – taste bud overload. Have lots of water handy in this situation. Too much alike can be a bad thing.

Here is another good tip - when you have not had the beer before or it has been aged and you don’t know what you may get, take a few sips before lighting up a cigar so, you can pair them better.

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. 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.
I like to try to minimize the experience of taste bud overload or neglect. So, if you have said it before while smoking a cigar and a beer, “This cigar does not taste right. Or, this beer sucks.” Just remember, it was not the beer or the cigar, just taste bud neglect. They did not match up well together and you did not think about that beforehand. I have done it before where I am enjoying a particular beverage and then I go to the humidor and pick out a cigar without thinking about the pairing. I light up the cigar and think to myself, ‘this does not taste right for some reason.’ I then blame it on the cigar or I think there is something wrong with the humidor or maybe the stars where not aligned properly. I smoke the same cigar (fresh one) the next day and wow, now this one tastes right. Must have been a bad cigar, right? No, I did not pair the flavors and they collided.
Flavor profiling is important to do to help maximize your pleasure.