Cigar & Rum Pairing
I have selected Alec Bradly cigars for pairings in the past and, for this one, I selected a Punk, it is a Petit Corona (42 x 108mm) that has the appearance of being smaller, I would dare say that the ring size is smaller.
This Honduran cigar is produced by Plasencia Cigar. It is sold in a box that is one of my favorites in the market: it looks like a munition box. The filler is comprised of tobaccos from Honduras and Panama, the binder is Ecuador and Sumatra seed and the wrapper is dark Nicaraguan. What a blend of tobaccos, worth trying it for sure. Let’s see what type of pairing we can put together to bring out the best from the cigar and the drink!
The cocktail I chose for this pairing is the Rum Negroni. I am not a fan of the classic Negroni, but the idea of a version made with Rum offers me a glimpse of hope.
How do we go about preparing this cocktail? We start with a Rocks glass with a few ice cubes, we then add a shot of espresso and we stir well, such that the glass is chilled and all the surfaces are coated with the coffee aromas. Set this glass aside and prepare a typical Negroni, but substituting the Gin for Rum.
The classic Negroni is made with equal parts Gin, Vermouth Rosso and Campari, garnished with an orange peel. For the Rum Negroni, I selected a Cuban Rum, Santero 11 Year Old, from Nauyú, Chambas, Ciego de Avila, Cuba.
Prior to starting the pairing, I tasted the Rum by itself, and I struggled to believe that it is 11 years old. Yes, it is balanced, a classic light Cuban Rum, but it closely resembles the Rums with an average age of 7 years. I could be wrong, but this is how it comes across to me from the start.
What makes this Rum Negroni more acceptable to me than its Gin counterpart, is the fact that in the original cocktail, the combination of Campari and Gin come across as being more medicinal and I prefer cocktails where the barrel-aging notes come across more deliberately, I find the latter ones better for the pairings.
Regarding the cigar, it is sold with a band and then a wrapper on top of it, which has to be carefully removed.
Corona cigars, with a 42 gauge or smaller are usually easy to light, aside from the usual care not to burn the wrapper. Unlike many cigars of this size, however, this one had a wonderful draw, it wasn’t tight like many that I remember, it burned evenly and the tobacco notes during the first third of the cigar complimented the cocktail very well.
The dominant flavors were herbal and mint, which seamlessly combined with the subtle bitter notes from the cocktail.
As I approached the second third of the cigar (still burning well), the pairing started to lean more towards subtle notes of clove, with dry fruit and cinnamon undertones. It was a very well-balanced pairing, where the tobacco’s intensity never exceeded the medium level, which was perfect for the Rum Negroni. It is a very appealing pairing, the cigar comes across truthfully, without being muted by the cocktail, which keeps its character throughout the smoking session.
This is definitely a pairing worth remembering and repeating. Knowing that it will last between 20 and 30 minutes makes this an ideal digestif after a late evening feast, when time is limited.
Cheers!
Philip Ili Barake
#GRCigarPairing
