Cigar Derby Series Wrap-up

The La Gloria Serie R Maduro jumps out of the gate for a quick lead.  Signature Collection Sun Grown starts off a little slow and makes a big move at the ½ mile point in the track and takes the lead.  The San Miguel Torpedo has a good start; settles in just behind the leader and the Camacho Maduro settles in third place.  At the halfway point La Gloria starts to fad and Signature takes the lead.  Camacho stays in third but, The San Miguel makes a big move and starts to pass the others on the outside.

All four horses are right there at the wire.  One right behind the other.  It looks like a photo finish for first and for third place.  The two battling for first – Signature Collection and San Miguel and it turns out that the San Miguel takes first place and the Signature Collection Cigar just got nosed out for second place.  The 25-1 odds on horse San Miguel Wins!  For third place the two favorites battled it out and the Camacho Maduro just nosed out the La Gloria Serie R.   

First Place: San Miguel

Second Place: Signature Collection Sun Grown

Third Place: Camacho Maduro (old label)

Fourth Place: La Gloria Serie R No. 5 Maduro

Click here to read the Series Set-up

Camacho Maduro (old label) paired with Paulaner Salvator Double Bock

Cigar Derby Series - Click here to read about the set-up

The Cigar

Camacho Maduro (old label).  I gave this cigar 3-1 odds to win this Series.  

Cigar Profile: solid earthy style with rich soil and toasted sweet grains; black tea; medium body; smooth feel; this is a fairly simple and easy smoking cigar

The Beer

Paulaner Salvator Double Bock

Paulaner Brauerei

Munich, Germany

Paulaner.com

7.9% abv

11.2oz bottle

$10.99 a six pack

Appearance: shiny bronze body with a one finger bone white head that leaves no lacing

Aroma: baked caramel nut muffin;

Flavors: sweet caramel nut raisin muffin; light spice maybe from the alcohol or hops; light brown sugar;

Mouthfeel: sweet up front and mid; light spice on the back; medium body on the front and medium-medium-full body on the finish; I’ll place it at 6 on my strength scale; light alcohol warmth;

To the Point: a nice to very nice Double Bock; pleasing and easy to drink; damn, I want a muffin now, this beer can get a bit too sweet to me but, it is not cloying type sweet; one bottle maybe two of these and I am fine.

The Pairing

The first thing I notice is that the earthy rich soil style of the cigar tempers the overall sweetness of the Double

Bock.  The rich soil and black tea of the cigar mingles nicely with the caramel, light brown sugar, and raisin nut muffin notes of the Bock beer.  This horse settles into fourth place right out of the gate and all the horses (cigars) are neck and neck. 

When I sip the Paulaner Salvator first, the sweetness of the Bock stands out and plays with the toasted sweet grains and black tea of the cigar.  The more I experience this pairing the more I like it.  Coming down the final stretch of the track this horse is right in the middle of things.  This race is a lot closer than I expected.  On a photo finish this horse just noses out the La Gloria Serie R No. 5 Maduro for third place.  All of these cigars were right there at the wire and I have to say there was only a head of a horse difference between the first place horse (San Miguel Torpedo) and the fourth place horse (La Gloria Serie R No. 5 Maduro).  

San Miguel Torpedo paired with Paulaner Salvator Double Bock

Cigar Derby Series - See Cigar Derby Set-up

The Cigar

San Miguel Torpedo: Review

Wrapper: Sun Grown Sumatra-seed from Ecuador

Fillers: Esteli, Jamastran, Ometepe

Size: 6 x 52 box press

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 Beer

Paulaner Salvator Double Bock

Paulaner Brauerei

Munich, Germany

Paulaner.com

7.9% abv

11.2oz bottle

$10.99 a six pack

Appearance: shiny bronze body with a one finger bone white head that leaves no lacing

Aroma: baked caramel nut muffin;

Flavors: sweet caramel nut raisin muffin; light spice maybe from the alcohol or hops; light brown sugar;

Mouthfeel: sweet up front and mid; light spice on the back; medium body on the front and medium-medium-full body on the finish; I’ll place it at 6 on my strength scale; light alcohol warmth;

To the Point: a nice to very nice Double Bock; pleasing and easy to drink; damn, I want a muffin now, this beer can get a bit too sweet to me but, it is not cloying type sweet; one bottle maybe two of these and I am fine.

The Pairing

This is a big surprise to me.  This is one nice pairing.  During this horse race this cigar settles in second place just behind the leader right out of the gate.  The musty white pepper and spicy cedar notes from the cigar seemed to be tamed a bit from the sweet Double Bock.  The cigar is very pleasing during this pairing.  Coming around the final turn and heading into the final stretch this horse is making its move and at 25-1 odds this could be big.  That sweet caramel nut raisin muffin with a touch of light brown sugar is also tamed from the cigars earthy yet wooly like mouthfeel.  The spice from the cigar brings out the spice of the Double Bock for a satisfying experience.  This horse is nose and nose with the Signature Collection Sun Grown coming down to the wire.  Stay tuned to see what happens.  

Signature Collection Vintage 2004 Sun Grown and Paulaner Salvator Double Bock: Pairing

I continue the Cigar Derby Series with the Signature Collection Cigar and Paulaner Salvator.  I gave this pairing 4-1 odds to win this Cigar and Beverage Matching. 

Click here to read the Cigar Derby Series set-up

The Cigar

Signature Collection Vintage 2004 Sun Grown

Wrapper: 8 year old Ecuadorian Sun Grown

Fillers: Nicaraguan  

Robusto 5.7 x 50

Yes, it looks like a Toro

Flavor Profile of the Cigar: this cigar has a very nice woody style; firm cedar spice, oak and alder wood come to mind; a nice dose of musty white pepper mixes in with some dry fall leafs and a mild nutty note that can remind you of almonds; I’ll say it’s medium at best – 4.75 on my strength scale.

The Beer

Paulaner Salvator Double Bock

Paulaner Brauerei

Munich, Germany

Paulaner.com

7.9% abv

11.2oz bottle

$10.99 a six pack

Appearance: shiny bronze body with a one finger bone white head that leaves no lacing

Aroma: baked caramel nut muffin;

Flavors: sweet caramel nut raisin muffin; light spice maybe from the alcohol or hops; light brown sugar;

Mouthfeel: sweet up front and mid; light spice on the back; medium body on the front and medium-medium-full body on the finish; I’ll place it at 6 on my strength scale; light alcohol warmth;

To the Point: a nice to very nice Double Bock; pleasing and easy to drink; damn, I want a muffin now, this beer can get a bit too sweet to me but, it is not cloying type sweet; one bottle maybe two of these and I am fine.

The Pairing

I am halfway through smoking this cigar and I have not written a thing during this pairing.  I puff on the cigar and sip the beer; I sip the beer and puff on the cigar; I keep on keeping on to see what I think.  Does one really affect the other?  Not much; at first thought.  And, that is not always a bad thing and that is what I am thinking about.  Sometimes that is a boring thing and sometimes you get to experience the quality flavors of each for what they are and that is a good thing.  I believe it is a really good thing here. This horse is slow out of the gate and trails the field of this four cigar race. 

The woody notes of the cigar mingle so gently with the sweet caramel nut raisin muffin style of this beer.  The light almond note of the cigar fits in just perfectly here.  The musty white pepper is also a nice fit with the beers light spice on the back of the palate.  The cigar does cut some of the sweetness of the Bock Beer down a notch. This horse is making up ground on the La Gloria Serie R Maduro and the rest of the field.

I think this is terrific.  It is smooth on the mouthfeel; it is pleasing in flavor; it is overall a great pairing and these two were meant for each other.  I believe the beer transfers some of that muffin profile over to the taste of the cigar and circulates with those woody tones for one super pleasing experience. This horse is now neck and neck with the lead at the halfway point of the race.

If you want to maximize your experience – this pairing is it.  Right now I have to say this is a winner.  Wait!  I have two more cigars to pair with this beer.  Right now it is a close race between the La Gloria Serie R No. 5 Maduro and this Signature Cigar but, the Signature I think beats the La Gloria by a head.   

La Gloria Serie R No. 5 Maduro and Paulaner Salvator Double Bock: Pairing

For the month of May I am doing the Cigar Derby Series.  Click here to read about the set up. 

The Cigar

La Gloria Serie R No. 5 Maduro

Size: 5 x 54

I have always enjoyed the Serie R Maduro in the 5 and 6 size. 

Flavor/Mouthfeel Profile: the cigar starts off with some green peppercorn like spice mixed with a dark roast coffee note.  Overall, a firm earthy mineral soil like style, dark roast coffee that is espresso like, the peppery spice fills the back of the palate and linger on the aftertaste with that firm earthy tone.  

To the Point: the No. 5 is a solid robust smoke and it is like you can taste the soil that the tobacco plants were grown in.  I really like this stick and I like the La Gloria No. 6 Maduro even more for it seems to have a smoother style. 

The Beer

Paulaner Salvator Double Bock

Paulaner Brauerei

Munich, Germany

Paulaner.com

7.9% abv

11.2oz bottle

$10.99 a six pack

Appearance: shiny bronze body with a one finger bone white head that leaves no lacing

Aroma: baked caramel nut muffin;

Flavors: sweet caramel nut raisin muffin; light spice maybe from the alcohol or hops; light brown sugar;

Mouthfeel: sweet up front and mid; light spice on the back; medium body on the front and medium-medium-full body on the finish; I’ll place it at 6 on my strength scale; light alcohol warmth;

To the Point: a nice to very nice Double Bock; pleasing and easy to drink; damn, I want a muffin now, this beer can get a bit too sweet to me but, it is not cloying type sweet; one bottle maybe two of these and I am fine.

The Pairing

I thought this cigar would be a great fit for this Double Bock and that is why I gave it 3-1 odds to win the Cigar Derby Series this month.  That sweet muffin style of the beer is knocked down a notch while paired with this cigar.  The firm earthy style of the cigar brings out some of the earthy yeast in the bock beer.  This horse jumps out to the lead right our of the gate. The green peppercorn from the cigar helps to bring out the light spice in the beer.  I think this cigar brings out a milk chocolate coffee flavor in the Salvator Double Bock.  At the halfway point in this horse race the other horses are ready to make their move. This is a pretty nice medium-full bodied pairing. This might not be the best cigar for this beer but, it is going to be hard to beat.  Comeback to visit the Cigar Blog to see what happens with the other cigars (horses) in this first ever Cigar Derby Series.  

Cigar Derby Series

For the month of May I am going to pair up four different cigars with the Paulaner Salvator Double Bock Beer. 

Here is the Cigar line up:

La Gloria Serie R No. 5 Maduro – Size: 5 x 54 – Odds: 3-1

Signature Collection – Odds: 4-1
San Miguel – Size: 6 x 52 – Odds: 25-1

Camacho Maduro (old label) – Odds: 3-1  (camachocigars.com)

I add the links, to the above cigar pairings, as they are posted. 

I going with 25-1 odds for the San Miguel because of the cigars cedary spice, black pepper and wool like texture will be too much for this Bock Beer.

The two cigars with the maduro wrappers should be a quality match with this sweet Bock Beer.

The Signature Collection has a good woody profile and should be a nice fit.  I can’t see anything that would be a negative for this pairing.  I just can’t see it being a better pairing than a maduro cigar. 

This looks like a three horse race here.  If I was a betting man I would pick the Camacho Cigar to win; followed by the La Gloria and then the Signature Collection.  I like the San Miguel Cigar but, I don’t think this is the beverage to maximize the experience.