Cigar & Rum Pairing
Sweet Old Fashioned
As all of you know very well by now, I love the Old-Fashioned cocktail technique applied to rum. I’ve tried with several different approaches and have been pleasantly surprised by some of them. One such recent surprise was that of refreshing/infusing the ice with coffee, then using that ice to make the cocktail. The coffee-flavored ice greatly contributes to the cocktail.
For this pairing, instead of using an espresso, I opted to refresh/infuse the ice with a coffee rum liqueur. There are several brands you can chose from, hopefully you’ll find options that use sugarcane alcohol, which is a great starting point.
This is the recipe I followed for the Sweet Old Fashioned:
- 2 ½ oz. Zacapa 12 Ambar
- 1 oz. Flor de Caña Coffee Liqueur
- Angostura Bitters
- Fresh slice of Orange, as garnish
Sweet Old Fashioned pairing
As I explained earlier, you will need a cocktail shaker or a large glass, fill it up with ice and then add the coffee liqueur. Stir the ice with a bar spoon (or a long spoon) for approximately 30 seconds. Pour out the coffee liqueur, saving the infused ice for the cocktail.
You can now proceed and prepare the Rum Old Fashioned with the Zacapa Ambar, do not stir the ingredients in the ice too much or you’ll have a watered-down cocktail. Remember to add a few drops of Angostura Bitters before transferring the cocktail to the serving glass. Finally, garnish with a fresh slice of orange, to get the refreshing citric notes that are perfect for this preparation.
For the cigar I selected a Robusto (5 x 52) Natural Lote 23 from Perdomo, from the Estelí Valley, Nicaragua. This is a tobacco that comes from a new parcel, the leaves are then aged between 4 and 6 years, resulting in a creamy character, medium body with hints of peanut, coffee and dried fruits. This geographical area produces three different wrappers: Connecticut, Maduro and Natural, this last one is the one we’ll be smoking in this pairing.
Sweet Old Fashioned pairing 2
The wrapper is exquisite, well-worked and with a natural toast. After cutting and lighting the cigar, I noticed that the draw was excellent, which magnified all the notes I perceived prior to the lighting.
Some notes were enhanced more than others during the pairing, such as, the coffee notes and the orange peel, this last one being a combination of dry orange peel and fresh zest from the garnish. To sum up, the pairing was very well rounded where neither the cigar nor the cocktail dominated.
As I progressed from the first to the second third of the cigar, I noticed that the transition was very smooth and seamless, the cigar kept balancing the cocktail with its warm notes and hints of dry fruits. It is truly a simple and enjoyable pairing, perfect for a dinner party with friends. I hope you are able to recreate it at home.
Cheers!
Philip Ili Barake
#GRCigarPairing
