Bourbon

Whiskey & Cigar Pairings

A while back Anthony at CigarsCity.com reached out to gauge my interest in writing a whiskey and cigar pairing article.  I’m not really a cigar smoker, as I’ve only had a handful of them over the years.  Cigars and whiskey pair together really well, as they share a lot of similar tasting notes.  They seem to have been made for each other.  Anthony offered to send over a few cigars.  In the spirit of research, I thought, “Why not?  Let’s do it.”

From the start, I decided to stick to American whiskies for these pairings.  I either picked a whiskey that shared one or more of the tasting notes with the cigar, or a whiskey that would compliment the cigar.

Rocky Patel Fusion

This medium-full bodied cigar had cocoa, pepper and earthy notes, and uses an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper.  I tend to get a cocoa note from some older whiskies.  Here, I paired this cigar with Elijah Craig 18-year.  It’s sweet woodiness and long finish fit nicely with the slightly spicy Rocky Patel Fusion.

My Father Connecticut

A milder stick that uses Connecticut Shade as its wrapper, My Father Connecticut was described to me as earthy and nutty, with a white pepper note.  With that description I went straight for Basil Hayden.   The bourbon, produced by Jim Beam, has a high percentage of rye in it’s mashbill.  It’s also bottled at a low 80 proof.  It paired with My Father Connecticut beautifully.  Neither overpowered the other.

Camacho Ditka Signature

Anthony threw this cigar in the mix because Mike Ditka once coached the New Orleans Saints.  God, I still can’t erase that image of Ditka and Ricky Williams in a wedding dress.  Anyway, this stick features Honduran Criollo as a wrapper and is medium to full bodied.  Tasting notes here are black pepper, cream and fruit sweetness.  I had to find something that can stand up to those big flavors, and went with Pikesville Rye.  This 110 proof offering from Heaven Hill has a beautiful sweet and spicy combination of flavors, and is strong enough to handle the Ditka Signature.

Crowned Heads Jericho Hill

In terms of strength, Crowned Heads Jericho Hill sits right in the middle of the pack as a medium-bodied cigar.  It uses Mexican San Andres as its wrapper, and carries cocoa, buttery notes with earth and honey.  I paired this stick with Blanton’s.  The whisky is nicely rounded – not too sweet, spicy or woody.  Again, attributes that didn’t compete with the cigar, but rather complimented them.

Montecristo Platinum

Full-bodied, Montecristo Platinum features strong wood notes and some sweetness.  A cigar with a personality this big deserves a giant bourbon, and there’s no stronger bourbon readily available than Booker’s.  It’s vanilla and barrel char notes compliment the cigar’s flavors without overpowering.  My favorite pairing of the bunch.

Thanks to Anthony at CigarsCity.com for the cigars!

 

Michter’s US*1 Bourbon Whiskey Review

Michters Bourbon

Going into this review, I was under the impression that Michter’s simply sourced their whiskey.  For clarification, I reached out to Joe Magliocco, Michter’s president, earlier this week.  Here’s what he had to say about the subject:

“…you have been tasting our distillate. We have been producing our own whiskey (our mashbills, our yeast selection, our barreling strength, etc.) for over a decade at a Kentucky distillery that had excess capacity. Effectively we were a chef cooking in someone else’s restaurant kitchen before he could afford his own. Now that we have our own distillery in the Shively section of Louisville, we are continuing to use the same recipes to make the same distillate.”

Michter’s has recently filled their first barrel with distillate produced at their new distillery.  Theoretically, we shouldn’t see much, if any, change between what’s being bottled now and whiskey distilled at their distillery in Shively.

My sample bottle is from batch #15F545.  This expression is bottled at 91.4 proof, which is stronger than all the whiskies in their standard lineup.  There’s no age statement provided, so it’s at least four years old.  The label also states this whisky is a small batch.  That’s a term with no real definition.  However, according to their website, Michter’s states their batches of bourbon are comprised of no more than 24 barrels.  

An initial blast of burnt caramel starts things off here.  Beyond is a dab of rye spice and a very slight herbal note.  The entry is sweet, with creamy caramel and vanilla icing taking charge, while some rye and cinnamon play underneath.  The filtration Michter’s utilizes does keep this bourbon on the mellow side of things, all the while maintaining a medium body.  Slight barrel char and sweet grain finish things off, with a little spice on the finish.

All things considered, Michter’s bourbon is probably my favorite of their standard lineup.  This is a solid pour, especially at the $40 asking price.  It’s not overly sweet, not too spicy and, dare I say it, a pretty balanced whiskey.  A tip of the hat to Michter’s for this release.

8/10
(Note: A review sample was provided by Michter’s.)

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection 1838 Style White Corn Bourbon Review
Photo courtesy of Woodford Reserve

Photo courtesy of Woodford Reserve

Autumn means one thing for the folks at Woodford Reserve – the release of a new Master’s Collection.  For this year’s release, Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Chris Morris played around with grains, in this case, corn.  In a throwback and homage to legendary whisky makers Oscar Pepper and James Crow, Morris is utilizing white corn instead of the traditional yellow corn.  Pepper and Crow used white corn back from the late-1830s to the 1850s.  Additionally, according to the press release, Morris was able to “develop and bring to life a recipe Pepper and Crow might have used.”

Nosing this bourbon, I can immediately tell this isn’t the standard Woodford Reserve.  I get sweet corn grits and what seems like a young oak note – similar to what I get on some craft whiskies.  All over a bed of toffee and ginger snaps.  The whiskey is slightly spicy upfront, with buttered corn and lemon pudding dominating, followed by a touch of toffee.  The finish here is all black pepper, and becomes dry rather quickly.  The body here feels a bit thin, especially for a 90.4 proof bourbon.

I always applaud experimentation.  Sometimes it works.  Other times it doesn’t.  However it is always interesting.  This year’s Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection can best be summed up as interesting.  Don’t go into it expecting a Woodford Reserve-like bourbon.  It’s different and interesting, but I think it might take some folks time to fully warm up to this one.  Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection 1838 Style White Corn carries an SRP of $99.

7.5/10
(Note: A review sample was provided by Woodford Reserve.)