Cigar & Rum Pairing
Old Days
A few weeks ago I celebrated my birthday, it was a very quiet day, since it landed on a Monday and, even if I could take the day off, most friends would not be able to join me. Instead, my best friends stopped by the bar and we had a few drinks, very quietly. One of my friends, David (a cigar and culinary afficionado), with whom we did a pairing a few years ago, gifted me a Wide Churchill (55 x 130mm) from Romeo y Julieta. This is a format introduced by the brand in 2010, the same year I competed in the Habanosommelier contest in Cuba, where I won and created memories that I will treasure for the rest of my life.
I did not smoke this habano when I received it, instead I saved it for this pairing with Ron Zacapa XO. This rum has not been aged for 25 years, as some people suggest, but it is a blend of different aged rums that are finished in French, ex-Cognac barrels. The taste is very good, not as sweet as Zacapa 23, suffice it to say that Zacapa 23 can be used in mixology, to create many of the cocktails we’ve done pairings with, whereas Zacapa XO is best enjoyed neat or with ice.
I lit up the cigar after a straight cut with a double-bladed guillotine, since it is a very thick cigar, true to its name. The draw was very good, not hard at all, and the first third was full of warm aromas and subtle touches of Cuban tobacco. Meanwhile, the rum was also a bit warm, with an intense oak finish, resulting in a well-balanced first third, very reminiscent of my pairings in Cuba: I was much younger and inexperienced, and was eager to absorb everything, such as, pairings between Habanos and Armagnac. The experiences were overwhelming, but I remember how happy I was, with all the steps and flavors.
When the first third of the cigar was nearing completion, I recalled that in my second competition in Cuba, I had an Old Fashioned made with two rums: one was a Smith & Cross Navy Strength, a 100% pot still rum at 57% ABV, which needed to be chilled in a mixing glass. The second rum was Ron Zacapa XO, which I poured directly into the glass when the first cocktail was finished, garnished with an orange peel to accentuate the oils and aromas. All of this reminded me of humidors and cigar boxes, with all the wooden notes, the core of my first years in Cuba.
While I was smoking the cigar and enjoying this pairing, a friend of mine approached me at the bar as he was on his way out (he normally likes to play on the arcade machine that we have near the exit). He told me that his brother smokes cigars and was an avid fan of Habanos. It was a pleasant conversation and his brother joined us via telephone and, as it turns out, we already knew of each other but had never met in person. I quickly reached for another snifter and poured some rum for my friend and, while he said it was tasty and finished the entire glass out of respect, it was not his preferred beverage.This is what pairings is all about: recalling old times, old friends and old stories. Sometimes it is hard to re-live those experiences until you have a rum or a cigar that ignites those special memories. In my case, the pairing helped me re-live exquisite experiences from my past, so much so that I continued enjoying the memories even while I laid in bed that night. These are the ideal experiences, especially if you can find something as memorable as a box of the first cigar you smoked: invite the friends with whom you created that first memory and you’ll see how a simple pairing will evolve into a special night.I hope you are able to re-live experiences from your past, you’ll enjoy them more than you can imagine. I truly hope so.
Cheers!
Philip Ili Barake
#GRCigarPairing
