Romeo Y Julieta Habana Reserve and Short’s Brewing The Magician: Review

Short’s Brew - The Magician - Dark Red London Style Ale

The Ale
Short’s Brewing Company is in Elk Rapids, Michigan. The ale is described as, toasted caramel, raisins, toffee and slight roasted chocolate with very light hop. (shortsbrewing.com/)

It has a nice reddish-brown appearance, in the sun, with a thin head that disappears fairly fast, with very light to no lacing to speak of. The aroma seemed a little light, sweet toffee and bready. I liked the toasted caramel and dry dark fruit notes. The ale does have a good dryness and light bitterness on the palate that makes me think of an English Ale. But, the way the roasted and toasted malts and hops mingle it also makes me think of an Oktoberfest beer. To me there is a nice watery edge that helps to refresh the palate from the dryness of the ale. Now, on the aftertaste, on the gums, I taste a little dark raisin. The moderate carbonation helps to add to the dry style to the taste, otherwise with more carbonation along with the nice little watery edge would wash the palate clean. For my strength rating on this ale I will have to go with a 4.5 or 5.

The Cigar
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran
Size: 6 x 56
My Strength Rating: 5.5/6
I enjoy the earthy style of this cigar. It also has some nice spice and light pepper that plays on the tongue. Some people talk of a slight sweetness from the smoke, but I think I get a little herbal spice were they say sweet. Now, the manufacturer of this cigar markets it as a full flavored cigar, fuller than other Romeos - sure. Full of flavors – Okay. But, to me this is medium. During this pairing it was an easy 5.5 on my strength rating. The cigar on its own I think reaches to a 6 strength at times.

The Pairing
I like this pairing. The solid earthy and light spice notes of the cigar comingle well with the roasted and toasty malts of the ale. Any sweetness from the ale takes a back seat during this pairing. For awhile I was trying to figure out if there was a solid woody style to both the ale and cigar. I seemed like a light oak taste.

The rich smooth tobaccos of the cigar, along with its earthiness, seem to bring the taste of the ale up in taste profile. And, the nice little watery edge and moderate carbonation refreshes the palate. This was an enjoyable pairing.