Man O’ War Salomon Cigar and Calabaza Blanca White Ale: Tasting

Calabaza Blanca is from the Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales Brewery in Dexter Michigan. This ale is barrel aged and bottle conditioned according to the front label on the bottle, so there should be no argument about that. The ale pours a good looking two finger head of white foam. The color is a clear pale yellow. There is some nice lacing on the glass and the aroma is definitely citrus and coriander.

As my taste buds get ready for a dose of coriander I am not surprised with the smack of citrus rind tartness and coriander spice. This leaves me thinking of a big Granny Smith apple taste of tart green apples as well. The fine carbonation and little watery edge, helps to keep the palate clean. There is a nice lingering tartness that plays on the aftertaste though. This is a nice interpretation of a Belgian wit bier.

The Cigar
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: 7.1x58
My Strength Rating: 7.5 during this pairing
Now, this was not a planned pairing – this is how it all came about. I opened my small table top humidor that houses my salomon sized cigars and said, what should I smoke tonight? Then, I saw the Man O’ War sitting there with a nice crack in the foot of the cigar. The other day I did a little repair work on this one. I have a bottle of confectioner’s glue that is great for repairing cigars that are broken. The minding looked good so, I head off to the beer fridge. I said to myself, pick the first beer that I look at. (Nobody else listens to me so I talk to myself) Bam, just like that I see this bottle. I don’t know if it was the light blue artistry on the label or the blond bending over and Tiger Woods is playing in the Masters this weekend that took my eyes to this bottle but, it was in my hand and I was heading out to the cigar room in my garage.

This stick has a solid robust profile of oak, spice, coffee and medium-full earthiness.

The Pairing
I have to admit, I would not pair these two up thinking about the taste profile of this ale and the solid oaky taste of this cigar along with the coffee and spicy notes. But, these two do not really interfere with each other. I think it is the spice profile in each that brings these two together. The herbal hop bitterness of the ale is balanced with the coffee bitter of the cigar. The oaky nature of the cigar has some game to play with the tart citrusy notes of the ale.

During this pairing I am thinking of the taste like this: take a lemon wedge and bite it and that is the aftertaste I am experiencing from this ale.