Perdomo ESV 2002 Torpedo Maduro and Cave Spring 2008 Riesling Icewine: Pairing

The Cigar

Perdomo Estate Seleccion Vintage 2002 Torpedo

Tabacalera Perdomo

Wrapper: Nicaraguan broadleaf sun-grown

Fillers: Nicaraguan

Size: 6.5 x 54

$9.50 a stick

Off the Light: first couple of puffs soft soil and then it builds to a strong almost burnt coffee note, crisp fall leafs, campfire.  As the smoking experience continues past the first inch the notes are still robust in style but have settled from the ‘strong almost burnt’ notes.  The earthy tones of crisp fall leafs and twigs seem to be leading the way with a medium spicy coffee note, campfire, fine grind pepper mill mix, and a long lingering robust finish.  My Strength Rating: 8

Mid-Point: the earthy tones are still up front to me, the coffee note seems smooth now, there is just a hint of the fine grind pepper mill mix, and the sweet pink peppercorn seems to be on the finish.  My Strength Rating: 7

Down the Stretch: just like the mid-section. 

To the Point: when making your selection make sure to get a stick that is almost black in appearance.  The dark brown wrapper is not as tasty in my humble opinion.  A very good maduro smoke otherwise. 

The Icewine

Cave Spring 2008 Riesling Icewine

Cave Spring Icewine

Cave Spring Cellars

Jordan, Ontario, Canada

Cavespring.ca

10% abv

100% Riesling

Appearance: golden crystal with nice legs on the glass

Aroma: light bouquet, sweet pear

Flavors: honey dipped white summer fruit – apple and pear; golden raisin; very light lemon twist on the finish

Mouthfeel: silky smooth, nice icewine syrupy feel coats the palate and lingers on the palate with a touch of lemon twist – the kind you just rub on the rim of a glass.

To the Point: a must buy for icewine drinker.  This is a sipper – just like all icewines.  One or two ounces and that is it – the sugar content is way too high to drink more – believe me.   

The Pairing

This is going to be an interesting pairing.  A full-medium bodied cigar with bold notes and a sweet icewine with mild flavors and a medium body due to the syrupy like consistency.  This could be a good contrast or total crap. 

This cigar would make for a good after dinner smoke and this icewine is a great dessert wine. 

After a few puffs of the cigar I take a sip of the icewine.  Wow, what an effect.  The icewine just smoothed out that robust style of the cigar.  The toasty earthy tones, medium coffee, and spicy style of the cigar mellowed out the mouthfeel in just one sip of this sweet icewine.  What a great contrast. 

I then take a couple of sips of the Cave Springs Icewine and then introduce the cigar – the sweetness that coats the palate lingers while I enjoy a few puffs of the cigar.  The sweet white summer fruits mingle ever so gently with the toasty earth, coffee and spicy style of the cigar.  I think it even mellows out the strength rating of the cigar.   

This is two thumbs up for me on this pairing.

San Miguel Torpedo and Tri-City Fortunato: Pairing

The Cigar

San Miguel Torpedo

Wrapper: Sun Grown Sumatra-seed from Ecuador

Fillers: Esteli, Jamastran, Ometepe

Size: 6 x 52 box press

I have not smoked one of these since March 2011 when I bought a five pack.  I enjoyed the cigar (see review).  This past week Cigar International had a special price of $39 for 20 sticks so I bought two bundles (trusting my own review).

Taste Profile: the cigar starts off with a strong peppery style.  As the smoking experience continues the musty white pepper is full and an earthy note develops with some wood.  The texture is wool like for the peppery notes dance on the tongue during the aftertaste.  The earthy note reminds of dry soil and the wood seems like cedar. 

To the Point: I am glad I bought these for the crazy low price of 2 bucks a stick. 

The Ale

Tri-City Fortunato

Belgian Trappist Ale

Tri-City Brewing Company

Bay City, Michigan, USA

Tricitybrewing.com

7.5% abv

24.8 IBU’s

Appearance: murky brown with a two finger beige head

Aroma: musty and earthy yeast; light; not much else

Flavors: earthy yeast, earthy grains, dirty caramel, slightly nutty, dark fruit like – a little fig, there is a slight tart note that reminds me of a non-descript citrus rind

Mouthfeel: for 7.5 abv the alcohol does not stand out … making it easy to drink; almost a creamy feel; low carbonation; lightly sweet – lightly tart;

To the Point: not a bad Trappist Ale, for the price (compared to a real Belgian Trappist: double or triple the price) it is do-able.  I would try this again to have something different. 

The Pairing

The earthy styles of these products work well together; the white peppery profile of the cigar adds some character to this pairing.  Nothing special here on this pairing but, once again it is do-able.  

Crown Royal Reserve: Review

The Crown Royal Distilling Company

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Blended Canadian Whisky

40% abv; 80 proof

Appearance: crystal amber

Aroma: very faint, sweet grains and caramel

Flavors: very light sweet grains, caramel, touch of oak

Mouthfeel: typical Crown – very smooth, clean, light warmth

To the Point: looking for ultra-smooth … this is it. This reminds me of Johnnie Blue but with some flavor and without the price. I can only see doing this on the neat side because it is sooo smooth. This should pair well with any cigar.  

Oliva Serie V Melanio Torpedo and Founders Dirty Bastard: Pairing

The Cigar

Oliva Serie V Melanio Torpedo

Wrapper: Cuadorian-grown Sumatra

Fillers: Ligero from Nicaragua, Condega and Esteli, Jalapa

Size: 6.5 x 52

$13.50 a stick in Michigan

Smoke Profile: Nice dose of black pepper, tasty grains, mellow and somewhat creamy coffee (coffee with milk undertone).  The cigar does start off strong and mellows a bite as it moves to the mid-section and finishes with a robust style (some burnt notes). 

To the Point: I like this full-medium style cigar.  This Torpedo is not as full as the Robusto size. 

The Ale

Founders Dirty Bastard

Scotch Style Ale

Founders Brewing

Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Foundersbrewing.com

8.5% abv

50 IBUs

I got these two bottles from my neighbor up-north.  I think it costs around 12 or 14 bucks a six pack – but, don’t trust me here – just a guess. 

Appearance: murky brown body with a nice tan two finger head that leaves some lacing on the glass.

Aroma: lightly toasted caramel, earthy grains, a little toffee coffee tone

Flavors: the seven varieties of imported malts give you layers of rich tasty notes, some sweet grains, toasted caramel, hint of oak, a swirl of that toffee coffee note, light spice (mild green peppercorn like) probably coming from the alcohol and hops,

Mouthfeel: rich, very light fizzy carbonation feel, earthy, light bitterness (I expected more), the alcohol does not stand out that much to me but has a little alcohol warmth on the finish,

The Pairing

This is a great pairing.  The black pepper note from the cigar brings the light peppery spice of the ale up a bit and I like that; the light creamy coffee undertone of the cigar mingles with the hint of toffee coffee note of the ale; the ale has a rich style to the taste and the cigar helps to manage that; 

Oliva Serie V Melanio Robusto and He’brew Funky Jewbelation: Pairing

The Cigar

Oliva Serie V Melanio Robusto 

Wrapper: Cuadorian-grown Sumatra

Fillers: Ligero from Nicaragua, Condega and Esteli, Jalapa

Size: 5 x 52

Taste Profile: full black pepper spice off the start.  The peppery profile continues to be front and center with some earthy tones in the background.  By the mid-point the black pepper spice calms down some and the earthy style plays a bigger role.  The spiciness of this cigar gives it a full-medium feel overall to me.   

The Ale or Ales in this Case

He’brew Funky Jewbelation

The Chosen Beer

A blend of 6 ales aged in 73% Rye Whiskey Barrels and 27% Bourbon Barrels

Here are the six ales from Shmaltz He’brew line-up: Jewbelation Fifteen aged 3 months; Vintage Jewbbelation aged 9 mths; Bittersweet Lenny’s RIPA aged 1 mth; Origin aged 14 mths; Reunion Ale ’11 aged 7 mths; Messiah aged 14 mths.

Shmaltz Brewing Company

Shmaltzbrewing.com

Saratoga Springs, New York, USA

9.8% abv

$12.99 a bottle

1pt. 6oz bottle

I just might have to do a glass of Crown Reserve with this beer.

Appearance: black body with a good two finger dark tan head that leaves some nice lacing.

Aroma: sweet grains from the bourbon and whiskey barrels; dark roasted malts, dark fruits, dark chocolate like,

Flavors/mouthfeel: what a mix a flavors and mouthfeel; the sweet mixes well with the bitter; fig juice, sweet grains, light spice from the rye, semi-sweet chocolate, low carbonation, light syrupy feel, nice lingering coffee bitter note lingers on the palate; medium-full to me … I’ll give it a 6 on my strength scale. 

To the Point: a very tasty ale, the ale builds some body as it warms up, the aroma is pleasing and the flavors interesting, a must try for those who like dark ales. 

The Pairing

Both of these are in the medium-full range with the cigar leaning toward the fuller side and the ale leaning toward the medium side of town.  The spiciness of the cigar blends well with the dark fruit and dark roasted notes of the ale.  

Kristoff GC Signature Series Double Toro and Gouden Carolus Noel: Pairing

The Ale

Gouden Carolus Noel

Het Anker

Mechelen, Belgium

11.2oz bottle

$19.99 four pack

10.5% abv

Appearance: Brown body with a light tan head

Aroma: black licorice, sweet fancy raisin, coffee,

Flavors: the black licorice stands out to me … reminds me of Smith Brothers Licorice Cough Drops, then the coffee hits the palate and then hints of sweet fancy raisin, fig, and a touch of chocolate.  I do not notice the alcohol.

Mouthfeel: low carbonation, very light bitter note hits the mid palate if you are paying attention, black licorice and a light roasted coffee with milk lingers on the aftertaste.  Body weight seems to be medium-full.  That 10.5% abv does not even seem to be a factor so, watch out.   

My Strength Rating: 6 – just making it into the medium-full range. 

To the Point: I have never had this beer before and when I took a quick sniff and a sip … I thought what did I waste my money on … this is just plain old sweet, sweet and sweet … well … it also has some weird flavor.  Then I said, I need to review this … let’s do it and get it over with.  After thinking about what I smelled and what I was actually tasting I then started to like this Ale.  After all … I love black licorice (the good stuff) this is not your cheap sweet Swizzler type licorice.   Not for everybody but, if you think about what you are drinking and understand … then you may like it … if you like licorice. 

This was an interesting tasting for I went from hating it from the first sip to thinking about it and trying to understand it and eventually liking it (maybe really liking it).

On beer advocate it scored a 90 with 419 reviews.  I would have guessed it to be in the 70’s.  I don’t know if I am ready to say it is exceptional nor am I going to say it is average. 

The Cigar

Kristoff GC signature Series Double Toro

Kristoff.com

Wrapper: Brazilian Maduro

Binder: Cuban Seed Honduran

Fillers: Cuban Seed Dominican, Cuban Seed Honduran, Cuban Seed Nicaraguan

Size: 6 x 60

Off the Light: a bit airy, coffee … mild coffee, light dry vegetation.  As the smoke continues, the coffee note stays on the mild side; a mild forest floor tone cultivates with a little dry earthiness, dry leafs are still present and a hint of wood builds.  (Earth, leafs, and wood = forest floor)  There is a touch of sweet tobacco swirling around the other notes.  The cigar held a good inch and a half gray ash.  Mild-medium here at the start.  I’ll give it a 3 on my strength scale. 

Mid-Point: by the halfway point the cigar builds to a 4 which is still a mild-medium smoke on my strength scale.  The coffee reminds me of a mild-medium roast with milk and this has moved to the front; the forest floor tones follow now; the wood note makes me think of a light sweet yet spicy cedar;

Down the Stretch: Getting down to the last couple of inches and the cigar starts to move to the medium range.  The coffee is a nice medium-mild roast; the forest floor notes are starting to become a little burnt but still tasty.    

Thirty years of smoking cigars and I have never dropped a cigar right into an ashtray – butt end right into the ashes and I did just that.  A little spit on the finger and it wiped off pretty good. 

To the Point: I have not reviewed the Robusto yet but, I smoked one the other day and I enjoyed it and I think it was a little fuller than this big boy. 

The Pairing

I liked this pairing.  The licorice flavors of the Ale melded with the earthy and mild coffee tones of the cigar.  They worked well together and did not interfere with each other.   I would like to smoke a fuller bodied cigar with this ale

Ave Maria Barbarossa Churchill and Flying Horse Royal Lager Beer: Pairing

The Beer

Flying Horse Royal Lager Beer

Bombay Breweries

Bangalore, India

1pt 6oz bottle

$3.69

4.7% abv

Appearance: light-bright golden lager body with a very thin white head

Aroma: grainy malts, bread like, crisp and clean

Flavors and Mouthfeel: crisp and clean in feel, sweet grains, bready, mild hops must be doing their job to keep the sweetness in check, light body, mild carbonation

To the Point: an average to slightly above average lager, easy to drink,

The Cigar

Ave Maria Barbarossa Churchill

Size: 7 x 48

Flavor and Mouthfeel Profile: forest floor mossy like tone with a dusting of white pepper off the light.  As the smoke continues the oak starts to show up and add some strength to the earthy tones.  There is a slight nutty note that swirls around the other flavors.  The cigar has a dry smooth leathery texture.  This cigar is pretty consistent throughout the smoking experience.

To the Point: I have to admit that I like a cigar with a good oaky presence.  I guess that is why I like the Ave Maria line-up.  I have not found a size in their line-up that I don’t like.   

My Strength Rating: 5.5 – the oak and the dry smooth leathery texture

The Pairing

The Flying Horse Lager does not add much to the tasting experience.  It does help with the overall mouthfeel while smoking this cigar.  Well, the light sweet grains of the Lager seem to manage the medium oaky note of the cigar.  The Lager refreshes the palate after puffing on the cigar.  One could call this a boring pairing or let me call it … an easy experience.  Not all pairings are wow.  You have to have experiences like this to know what a wow experience is like.