Cigar & Rum Pairing
As I wrote a couple of months ago, I’ve moved to a magical place in the deep South, a Regional Capital along the Strait of Magellan. I am referring to, of course, Punta Arenas, a beautiful place with extreme weathers that can easily go from warm and sunny to snow or horizontal rains in less than 24 hours! It is a bit unusual but also fascinating. Once here, I decided that the first cigar I would smoke for a pairing would be the “Cabo de Hornos” (Spanish for “Cape Horn”) from Fuller Cigars. While I have used cigars from this brand before, my decision to use this particular one was based on paying homage to the name, given my current location. This is a Robusto, it has a mild to medium strength, it is made with tobacco from the Dominican Republic. Because of their intensity, these cigars have come in handy in the past, to pair with “plain” rums with typical profiles, such as caramel notes and mild oak (from barrels that have been reused many times).For this pairing I selected a Bristol Classic Rum, specifically the Port Morant Demerara Rum, distilled in 1999, which makes it a 15 year old Guyanese rum, bottled in the UK. It has a very similar profile to the rum I want to produce in this part of the world, except that I want to age it in this region, we’ll see how that turns out!
It is now time to cut the cigar. I reached for a double-guillotine cigar cutter, since I want to have a better draw. Before lighting the cigar, however, I decided to take a sip of the Port Morant 1999: it has a high congener content, heavy alcohols and “heads”. I can already foresee that this pairing will be dominated by the rum throughout, but let’s see how it actually unfolds.
I lit up the cigar with a butane lighter, since it was impossible to use cedar sticks due to the wind. Surprisingly, the cigar started with a medium intensity, whereas in the past I had always perceived it as lower/milder. This could be good, to improve the chances of a better pairing with the rum, although I’m not very optimistic. The draw is excellent, the cigar burns evenly and the ash has a good color too.
As I smoke the first third of the cigar and pair with the rum, the clash is clear and my fears have materialized: the rum overpowers the cigar, begging for a more intense blend of tobaccos. Even if I change the order between puffing the cigar and sipping the rum, in either case the rum wins, but this is still the first third of the cigar.
As I approached the second third, I had to remove the cigar’s band, since it covers the middle of the cigar and it is better to take it out now than to experience burnt paper fumes later on! The tobacco’s intensity is starting to come across more, but the rum has not diminished its presence, still dominating the pairing with its heavy alcohols. I can say that, during the second third, the pairing is closer to being more “mainstream,” but my taste buds ask for a stronger cigar. I knew this could happen, but I still had to try it. One should never settle with other people’s reviews or comments, it is always best to form our own opinions.
I must say that, even though the result was anticipated, I still had to do this pairing, my first one in this new location, using an aptly named cigar, it was simply epic. I will work on additional pairings, this Winter I will even organize a smokers’ club, for the local residents, so that I can continue educating and training people in the world of tobacco and rum.
It was definitely a unique experience, worth repeating. I hope that everyone can visit this part of the world someday, I’ll be here waiting with good cigars and rums!
Cheers!
Philip Ili Barake
#GRCigarPairing
