Gurkha Beauty Cigar and Peninsula Cellars 2010 Dry Riesling

The Wine

Peninsula Cellars 2010 Dry Riesling

Peninsula Cellars

Traverse City, Michigan, USA

Old Mission Peninsula

12.5% abv

$15.00 a bottle

Appearance: yellow crystal

Aroma: soon as I opened the bottle I knew I was going to like it.  First off I did not smell straight out lemon.  I am soooo tired of lemon.  A lot of the beers I had this summer and spring had a lemon note, some stronger than others, and then when I would have a white wine guess what note was prominent you got it lemon.  So, I had to read this bottle first before opening and I did not see the word lemon.  It did had lime but, no lemon.  Back to the aroma: tropical fruit all right; mango, white peach, Fuji apple, pineapple acidity,

Flavors: apple, green apple, summer stone fruit, touch of tangerine and a dose of lime. 

Mouthfeel: crisp notes, there seems to be an ever so slight watery edge that hits the tip of the tongue but, right after that ‘tip’ it is nothing but dry baby. 

The Cigar

Cigar Pairing: I would say, be careful on some medium to medium-full and me personally I would not pair it with a full bodied smoke.  I would go for the mild to mild-medium smoke that has an elegant feel to the smoking experience. 

I have two in mind; CAO l’anniversaire Cameroon and a Gurkha Beauty.  I am going to do the Gurkha Beauty for I can see on the blog here that I have not had this stick since October of last year.  Let’s do it up!

Wrapper: Connecticut seed – Ecuadorian

Binder: Dominican

Fillers: Nicaraguan

5 year old tobaccos

Size: 6.5 x 56

Smoking Profile: mild, smooth, semi-creamy, light oaky wood notes, walnut meat, and a earthy tone develops in the final third of the stick.  This cigar is all about its mouthfeel than the flavor profile.  This cigar reminds me of oatmeal – smooth, mild, creamy and bland on the flavor.  This cigar is like oatmeal to me in that every once in a while it sure hits the spot.  After all it has been 10 months since I smoked a Gurkha Beauty.

The Pairing: interesting … very interesting … the light oak and walnut notes really don’t intermingle with the flavors of this Riesling.  Now, I do like it when the flavors intermingle and either collide or really work well together.  It gives me something to write about … but, here … nothing.  No interplay, no mingling, intermingling or co-mingling.  The best thing about this is I get all the flavors of the wine and then when I puff on the cigar I get all the flavors of the cigar.  This is still a very good pairing.  I am enjoying the experience.   Wait WAIT!  There is an effect.  The mouthfeel!  This Riesling is on the dry side of town, that light lime citrus note lingers on the palate and it is nice to drink a water along the way.  Well, while smoking this cigar with this wine I have not had a sip of water and I am three-quarters of the way done with this cigar.  This cigar actually seems to refresh the palate while drinking this white wine.  I don’t know if I ever had this experience before where the cigar refreshes the palate from the beverage.