Kaisersozei
Evolving Lead Gorilla
I'm a beer drinker. Love the stuff. Even brew my own. But I usually struggle to find a good beer/cigar pairing, so I normally drink just water during my usual weekend smoking sessions. Just for kicks, I decided to enjoy a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine with an AF Rothschild Maduro tonight. It was a very pleasant match, so I thought I would review the pairing:
The cigar was toothy and solid, with a nice sheen to the dark brown wrapper. I used the "3 matches" technique to light it (well, the "4 matches" technique because I burned my fingers on #2, but who's counting...?) The Cameroon wrapper imparted its distinctive sweet spice straight from the start, and the cigar had a creamy/earthy flavor for the first third.
Now, a barleywine is a special kind of beer, relying on a heavy malt/bitter hop blend. Bigfoot is no exception and the beer complimented the flavor of the cigar. Unfortunately, the cigar overpowered the hop aroma which I enjoy in my beers.
Man, look at all that freakin pollen on my smoking table!
At the midpoint of the cigar, chocolate notes moved to the forefront. Added to the fruity notes of the Bigfoot, I was reminded of those Chunky candy bars with raisins & nuts. (Anybody remember those?
They were awesome!) It was a wonderful combination, and remained through the last third of the cigar which turned predominantly nutty.
Overall, this was a terrific combination for me (despite losing the hop aroma.) I enjoyed how the sweetness of the malt and the bitterness of the hops brought out the full character of the cigar. I will definitely experiment with other cigar pairings.
The cigar was toothy and solid, with a nice sheen to the dark brown wrapper. I used the "3 matches" technique to light it (well, the "4 matches" technique because I burned my fingers on #2, but who's counting...?) The Cameroon wrapper imparted its distinctive sweet spice straight from the start, and the cigar had a creamy/earthy flavor for the first third.
Now, a barleywine is a special kind of beer, relying on a heavy malt/bitter hop blend. Bigfoot is no exception and the beer complimented the flavor of the cigar. Unfortunately, the cigar overpowered the hop aroma which I enjoy in my beers.
Man, look at all that freakin pollen on my smoking table!
At the midpoint of the cigar, chocolate notes moved to the forefront. Added to the fruity notes of the Bigfoot, I was reminded of those Chunky candy bars with raisins & nuts. (Anybody remember those?
They were awesome!) It was a wonderful combination, and remained through the last third of the cigar which turned predominantly nutty.Overall, this was a terrific combination for me (despite losing the hop aroma.) I enjoyed how the sweetness of the malt and the bitterness of the hops brought out the full character of the cigar. I will definitely experiment with other cigar pairings.