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.
