Philip Ili Barake
First Class Pairing
My dear readers, it brings me great pleasure to present to you the following pairing, which I consider to be very elegant and suitable for connoisseurs in the world of spirits.
To begin, I would like us to prepare our senses with an Espresso made with Guatemalan beans, developed from the graf ting of an Arábico tree and Robusta roots. This graf ting process creates a very special coffee bean with unique characteristics derived from the high altitudes of Guatemala and the toasting process, which gives the beans their elegance and distinctive flavor. The resulting coffee is of high quality, great flavor and well balanced in its level of acidity.
Now that our palates are saturated with the elegant taste of the coffee, we are now going to light up our hand-picked cigar. For this occasion I have chosen one from the Liga Privada - Unico Serie Feral Flying Pigs, which showcases fine aged tobacco, including a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, a Brazilian Mata Fina binder and Nicaraguan filler. The cigar is a Double Figurado with a 60 ring gauge and 140 mm in length, which will give us approximately 1 hour of smoking pleasure. Feral Flying Pig gets its name from the curly “ tail ” that makes it a very peculiar and very striking cigar.
With cigar in hand, it is now time to search for the ideal companion. In this case, I have chosen a rum that is one of my very own personal favorites for its distinct characteristics in the rum world. This rum has a very long, smooth finish and has one of the best price points in the market. This rum that I hold in best regards is El Dorado 15 Year Old from Guyana, a country which is also well known for its high quality Demerara sugar. This rum features characteristics that are rarely known and utilized nowadays; both the climate and proximity to the Demerara river make the aging process so unique.
The cigar, with its robust intensity and aggressive strength, will need the full support of this rum. As the cigar continues to burn two-thirds of the way, it begins to unfold some incredible aromatic notes. As we sample the rum, it brings forth notes of dried fruits, roasted almonds, dark chocolate and a hint of vanilla; while the cigar on the other hand brings forth notes of freshly ground coffee, as well as, dark chocolate.
The blend of both the rum and the cigar is so unique that you will have an amazing experience for close to an hour, as you take a virtual tour of the Demerara valley atop a f lying pig. Enjoy!
Philip Ili Barake
Cigar Sommelier
Philip@GotRum.com