CAO America Landmark Cigar and Wittekerke Belgian Wheat: Review

Win your independence from bitter tasting beer this summer with Wittekerke Belgian Wheat Beer

The Cigar
Wrapper: Connecticut Maduro & Shade Leaf
Filler: 100% ligero tobaccos from Dominica, Nicaragua, Italy, and America
Size: 6 x 60
My Strength Rating: 4.5/5

This stick sports a pin stripe look made from two different wrappers. While this does look nice I have always had this pin striped looking cigar come unraveled during the smoking experience. The flavor seems to have a solid woody and earthy quality but, to me it comes across uninteresting. It has a dryness to the mouthfeel that continues that uninteresting quality. I read it should be paired with a ‘bold microbrew’ so, I smoked it one time with a good IPA and I liked the cigar then. Now, let’s try it with a quality wheat beer.

The Beer
Wittekerke stands for White Church. See Johnny Fincioen video on Global Beer Network on the history of Wittekerke. To me this 5% abv Belgian Wheat Beer should be a wheat beer lovers dream. I love the fresh wheat style taste and the mild lemon citrus squeeze. Very refreshing on a hot summer day. My strength rating for this beer is a 4. No coriander or other spices to jam up that mouthfeel. Don’t get me wrong, I do like those beers that have that Belgian white style, but not on a 90 degree day. After this one has been in the sun, while in my glass, it still tastes good. To me cooked coriander and spices is not so refreshing in this situation. For my summer time pleasure I am buying a 12 pack of Wittekerke for that Belgian Wheat refreshing taste.

The Pairing
My concern here is that this cigar worked well with a bold IPA and this is a finesse or a more elegant type beer and it might not pair up well. The strength ratings are within range but, will the flavor profiles work. Will the wheat flavor, from the ale, that I enjoy so much work with the medium woody taste and nice earthy quality of this cigar. Or, will that slight lemon twist in the ale interfere as the flavors mingle.

It works right from the start. As I tried to figure out why, I think it is that woody and earthiness of the cigar seems to come together with a dry walnut like taste as I drink this wheat beer. This would make sense to me why I like this pairing then. I like drinking this beer with a Cameroon wrapped cigar which usually has a nutty like taste.

These two paired up well. I enjoyed the flavors of each. I think the wheat beer helped the cigar and that was a good thing.

You CAO cigar smokers (like me) head on out to the store and pick up a six pack of Wittekerke Belgian Wheat Beer and enjoy a beautiful summer day. You can thank me later!

Food pairings: Seafood such as shrimp, scallops, white fish; herb spiced chicken.

See the last posting on this ale