La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Maduro and Bell’s Cherry Stout: Pairing

The Stout

Bell’s Cherry Stout

Bell’s Brewery, Inc

Comstock, Michigan, USA

Bellsbeer.com

7% abv

12oz bottle
$16.99 a six pack

Packaged on 10/4/11

Stout brewed with Michigan cherry juice

The few beers that I have had with cherries added to the mix I have not truly enjoyed. So, let’s see if Bells can pull it off.

Appearance: black body with a toasty tan one finger head that leaves very little lacing if any.

Aroma: to me there is not much on the nose, I do pick up the cherry juice, but the stout notes seem relaxing

Flavors: oh yes, the cherry flavor is pleasing with a stout background giving it some body. The flavor reminds me of a coffee cherry blend. The coffee note seems medium in strength.

Mouthfeel: smoother than I expected, some nice stout like bitterness but not powerful, lingering cherry and roasted notes on the palate.

My Strength Rating: 6 – medium-full overall to me

To the Point: leave it to Bell’s to do it right with the cherry flavor. I cannot think of one beer with cherry added to it that I would drink again but, I would do this and good thing since I bought a six pack. I think the wife may even like this stout and she does not like too many types of stout.

The Cigar 

La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Maduro

Wrapper: Brazilian Habano
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic

Size: 6.5 x 54

Off the Light: little spicy and earthy from the start.  Deep soil earthy tone with a grassy/grainy note with a white and black pepper mix swirling around.  The cigar has a good medium body mouthfeel here at the start.

Pairing: The Bell’s Cherry Stout reminds me of a coffee cherry roast blend.  This stout goes well with this Air Bender.  The cigars earthy style of soil, grass, and grains mingles perfectly with the stout’s upfront cherry profile.  The stout’s smooth and tasty mouthfeel is a nice complement to the cigars smooth mouthfeel yet light peppery taste. 

Mid-Point: the mid-point brings a ‘black and tan’ coffee tone that reminds me of the medium-roast black and tan coffee from Biggby Coffee.  The soil, grass, and grainy earthy tones of the cigar continue along with a tasty mild white and black pepper mill mix.  The texture is smooth while the earthy tones coat the palate.  I’ll have to give it a 5.5 on my strength scale. 

Pairing: during the exchanges between these two fine products the big cherry profile of the stout seems to transfer to the flavor profile of the cigar.  Take a couple of sips of this stout then, swirl it around the palate and then take a few puffs of the cigar and you will experience this exchange.    

Down the Stretch: the cigar picks up a little bitter bite during the final third but, nothing that detracts from the taste.  The earthy style is a bit more roasted.  The soil is deeper and the grains are toastier. 

My Strength Rating: 6 – just making into the medium-full range.  The final third brought it up to the 6 rating. 

To the Point (cigar): a good quality smoke but, is it worth the $14.00 a stick price?  Well, probably not.  It is worthy to try one or two sticks. 

Cuba Libre Cigar and Hopslam Ale: Review

The Ale

Hopslam Ale

DIPA – Double India Pale Ale Style

Bell’s Brewery

Comstock, Michigan, USA

Bellsbeer.com

10% abv

Packaged on: 12/2011

Appearance: slightly hazy golden orange body with a big white head that leaves tons of lacing on the glass.  As they say, “female hops give the best head.”

Aroma: just opening the bottle is a pleasure to the nose.  That sweet citrus smell you get when you cut open a Ruby Red Grapefruit. 

Flavors: tasty grapefruit just like the nose.  Sweet Ruby Red and some usual tart grapefruit notes, a floral hop note, and I am going to say a sweet floral note as well, Now this is a balanced IPA

Mouthfeel: smooth, almost creamy feel, the alcohol does not stand out (be careful it’s 10%), moderate bitter bite on the finish,

My Strength Rating: 7 – this is on my high side of medium-full.  I was expecting an extremely full IPA here.

To the Point: if you can get someone to sell it to you, good luck, buy it if they do. 

The Cigar

Cuba Libre

Wrapper: Corojo
Filler: Jalapa Valley
Size: 5 x 50  box pressed

I think this was one of those CI special sizes

This cigar has notes of earth, nut, and toast. The earthy notes come across as mossy and mushroom on the first half and soil and mineral earth on the second half. The toasty notes are white bread like. There is a mild almond nut like taste that floats around. The texture is smooth and almost creamy.

I think this cigar should be a no brainer to pair with Bell’s Hopslam. 

My Strength Rating: 4

To the Point: This cigar is nice when you pair it up with the right beverage.  I have smoked this stick by itself before and it does seem a little boring to me then.  This cigar should pair well with some white wines, lighter to medium bodied reds and a variety of beers.  Overall, it’s just an average cigar. 

The Pairing

I was right!  Just tell my wife, please.  The almost creamy mouthfeel of both of these just come together for a very pleasing experience.  The Hopslam justs make this cigar better than what it is.  The cigar does not change any of the tasty flavors of this IPA.  This could be one of the better cigars to pair with an IPA.

I was planning to do another beer review later, after dinner, but I think I am going to do this pairing again tonight while I watch the Red Wings and some college basketball.  Week before March Madness at the time of this review.