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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Warm the Chill with Petrus Winter Ale and a Sol Cubano Artisan Salomon Cigar

Winter Warmer with Sol Cubano Artisan Salomon

Petrus Winter Ale
I tried to hurry spring along and I found out that it didn’t work, it’s still winter. Yesterday, I spent some time with the Belgian Blonds and it was great that a Blond will still treat an old guy like me very well. Today, back to the realities of winter, my propane tanks needed to be filled (I’m at my up-north place). Now, I can sit back and enjoy this beautiful winter day with a Winter Warmer Moment – a 750 ml bottle and a large 7.1 x 58 Salomon Cigar. The timing should be perfect, for now I have peace and serenity because, in a few hours the wife will be here and the fun and serenity shall end.

The Beer
The aroma is light. The beer has a little tart green apple taste and spice working nicely with the malty sweetness. It has a dry finish that does not leave an aftertaste on the palate. The carbonation will play with the taste buds. I don’t get the full body feel that I would like to get from a winter ale. I would give this a 4 rating on my strength scale.

The last review on the Winter Warmer Series, I was not all that impressed with the Gurkha Blue Steel matchup. I give this ale a 4 rating and I am going to a 5.5 strength rating with this cigar. I think the complex flavor profile should work better with the Petrus Winter.

The Petrus Winter was a very good pairing with my turkey and smoked gouda cheese sandwich that I had for lunch today. The carbonation (this ale has it too) just danced across the palate and bubbled up along the gums. I actually liked this mouthfeel that I experienced while eating. This is a good ale to drink while eating.

The Pairing
The barber pole wrapping is flawless. The wrapping never came apart during the smoke as others (CAO American) have. The Salomon size delivers a nice array of dark fruit, nuts, and pleasing earthy quality with some nice woody undertones throughout the experience. Make sure you have the time to smoke one of these!

The Sol Cubano does help to bring up some of the mild spice and nice tart taste in the ale. Every once in awhile, I get a hint of red cherry from this cigar with this pairing, I have not noticed that before. The slight sweet tobacco taste plays well with that tartness and effervescence from the Petrus. The combination seems to have a dryness that makes me want to sip a little water along the way.

The cigar needed a little correcting as it burned pass the 58 ring gauge section. This is to be expected from this type of cigar. After that, it was smooth sailing. The ash was nice and firm with a dark gray ash. As I write this, the ash just fell to the floor! The cigar picks up some spiciness as I finish the final third of the cigar and the sweet tobacco seems to fade. But, nothing wrong with spice mixed with the nice earthy quality.

The cigar started off with a 5 strength rating and moved to a 5.5 in the main body of the smoke. Then, the cigar finishes with a 6 rating in the final few inches due to the spicy earthy tones.

Be careful pouring this ale, the carbonation loves to give you a big head if you are not paying attention, which obviously I was not paying attention. But, drinking that glass full of foam sure was nice.
The complexity of the cigar is a winner with this winter ale. So, as you look out over the winter snow grab yourself a bottle of Petrus Winter Ale and a Sol Cubano Artisan Cigar and enjoy your winter warming moment.

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