AVO La Trompeta LE12 and Johnnie Walker Blue Label: Pairing

The Cigar

AVO La Trompeta LE12

La Trompeta means the The Trumpet.  That is why they have three lighter circles on the wrapper - to represent the three keys on the trumpet.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sun Grown

Binder: Dominican Piloto

Fillers: Dominican (Ligero?) and Peruvian Seco

Size: 6.5 x 54 Torpedo

$17.99 at Smoky’s of Northville

Don’t forget that Michigan has a 32% tobacco tax

Off the Light: mild earthy start with fresh mowed grass, touch of wood and fine grind pepper.   As the smoke continues the grassy note makes me think of sea grass; the wood reminds me of alder wood; and the fine grind peppery spice is pleasing.  The mouthfeel has a smooth leathery feel.  I’ll have to give it a 5 on my strength scale on the first half of this cigar.

Second Half: the grassy note seemed to change to a lightly toasted grain, the wood tone is still pleasing, and the fine grind pepper is still tasty.  One could make the argument for a light earthy coffee note.  The overall strength rating is still a 5.  This is a quality medium smoke. 

The Scotch

Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Blended Scotch Whisky

Johnnie Walker and Sons

Kilmarnock, Scotland

40% abv

$200.00 a bottle from the Super Fine Wine and Liquor Store in Canton Michigan

Appearance: Amber – it looks just like the Gold Label – I held them side by side.  Some nice legs on the glass.

Nose: wet oak, hint of oak spice, grain, honey – the bouquet his is light overall

Flavors: nutty, grains, a sweet honeycomb and oak, (sounding like a breakfast cereal), every once in a while I get a mild ginger spice. 

On a clean palate – on another day – the flavors were pretty similar but the mild ginger like spice was consistent with each sip and it lingered on the palate for a short while.  I like it better today than the other week when I first opened the bottle.  

Mouthfeel: I get a hint of warmth on the finish when I exhale, other than that it is one super smooth Scotch.  Blue might be to smooth for its-own good.  To me this leaves a void – did I really experience anything special here except for it super smooth panache.  

The Pairing

This was a nice pairing.  This mellow Scotch did not overwhelm this tasty cigar.  The silky smooth style of the Blue was complemented with the nice leathery smooth texture of the AVO cigar.  I enjoyed having a sip of the Blue first and then a few puffs of the cigar.  The mild ginger spice mingled politely with the cigars mellow fine grind pepper like notes.   The mild honey note and grains of the Scotch circulated with the cigars interesting earthy style.  Puffing the cigar first seemed to mute the mild flavors of the Blue a tad during this exchange.