Cigar and Rum Pairing
Orange Toast
Dear readers: there are times when the simplest things, the ones you have readily at-hand, are the best ones for a pairing, especially when you are trying to enjoy the mandatory time at home. For this reason I opted for items I had around the house, I selected a relatively young French rhum from Rhum Dillon, a “Tres Vieux” from the island of Martinique. It is a very clean rum, with subtle aromas, with well-incorporated cask notes but with reduced aromas of vanilla. If you don’t have this particular rum, look for something that does not have a very intense oak dimension, the key is to use the rum as a canvas. I also selected Rhum Orange from Santa Teresa, a rum-based liqueur at 40% ABV, with a very well-defined orange character. This product disappeared from the market for a while, but importers are starting to carry it again in their portfolios. If you don’t have this rum, you can substitute it with an orange liqueur, especially if it is sweet.
Tres Vieux Rhum Dillon and Rhum Orange
Which recipe should we use? You can get a clue from the name of this month’s article. I prepared it in a Martini glass, using a ratio of 2:1, meaning two parts of the Rhum Agricole (60 mL) and 1 part of Orange Rhum (30 mL). Add both to a shaker or large mixing glass, add large ice cubes and stir for around 1 minute, then add a few drops of orange bitters, if you have any around, not a big deal if you don’t.
The secret –and the reason behind the name of the cocktail- is that the garnish is half a slice of orange that is slightly toasted or charred. I used a traditional Chilean bread toaster but you can use a skillet or even a grill, the idea is to quickly produce our own version of the dried oranges used by bartenders. By toasting the orange we’ll be adding burnt-caramel notes not found in the dried orange, which works wonders with this cocktail, just make sure you don’t go too far with the toasting, otherwise those notes will be the dominant ones in the cocktail, and we don’t want that.
The cigar I selected for this pairing is a Super Toro (6 x 60) from Perdomo, from the Reserve Champagne 10th Anniversary, with a very classic Connecticut Ecuadorian wrapper and a well-defined medium-strength body typical of Nicaraguan tobaccos. My cigar had a very good draw and the flavor adhered very well to its technical composition.
Cigar Perdomo
It is a simple cocktail and an excellent cigar with a medium-high intensity and with elegant notes throughout the entire cigar.
I hope you are able to carry out this pairing. Without a doubt, the toasted orange garnish makes the cocktail and, after a few of these drinks, you’ll be toasting all your friends!
Philip Ili Barake
#GRCigarPairing
