Philip Ili Barake
Rum & Cigar Pairing
For our first pairing I suggest having dinner among friends or family. Afterwards, as we bring out the coffee (ideally brewed from Arabica beans), we will accompany it with candied orange peels, which will help build up the citric acid level in the palate, something that will work wonder fully with the coffee.
But the evening does not end here, next we’ll bring out a creamy cigar with a medium intensity, which will serve as the foundation for the rum. The cigar I’ve chosen for this occasion is a Rocky Patel Torpedo Vintage 1999, with a light Connecticut shade wrapper and a subtle composition of Nicaraguan and Dominican filler. The creaminess of the cigar is the perfect canvas for the rum and, for this pairing, I’m suggesting Pyrat Rum XO Reserve, which has well-defined raw sugarcane notes with delicate hints of citric mandarin emanating from its ephemeral vapors, making it the perfect partner for this evening.
I have personally tried this rum and believe that it will pleasantly surprise many of our readers thanks to its flavor payload, especially as we smoke the first 2 /3 of the cigar and we are still recalling the candied orange peels we savored at the beginning.
I hope you enjoy this pairing and that you are able to come up with additional pairings of your own.
Philip Ili Barake
Cigar Sommelier
Philip@GotRum.com