Choosing the Perfect Drink Pairing for Your Cigar
When you’re choosing the perfect drink pairing for your favorite cigar, take a moment to think about why you picked that cigar in the first place. Whether it’s light-bodied and mellow or full-bodied and peppery, you chose it because you know what you like, and that’s what matters most. The only wrong way to enjoy things is how someone says you must.
The Five Elements That Affect Cigar Pairing
There are five elements to a drink pairing that affect your cigar the most. Understanding these helps refine your cigar pairings:
Acid: Brightens a drink and cuts through bold smoke - think citrus, Champagne, or crisp wines.
Tannins: An element found in red wine, aged spirits, and tea. It can leave a chalky drying sensation on the tongue.
Bitterness: You may find this in black coffee, citrus pith, or herbal liqueurs. It can pair pleasantly with medium-bodied cigars.
Sweetness: Universal in enhancing the flavors of a cigar because like salt, sugar helps other flavors taste more vibrant.
Carbonation: Intensifies the smoking experience for better or for worse, and is ultimately a matter of preference.
Complement or Contrast
When pairing cigars and drinks, you can either complement the flavors (match richness with richness) or contrast them (balance bold with bright). Think broadly and conceptually first, and then move on to the specific brands and flavors.
Pairing Guide
Light in Flavor, Less Peppery
Even with a light and creamy cigar, the flavor of the smoke is strong enough to hold its own against a wide variety of beverages, making this style quite forgiving when it comes to pairing options. Try:
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Red wine: A full-bodied and tannic selection like Goldschmidt Cabernet Sauvignon
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Whiskey: A cask-strength Bourbon like J. Henry Patton Road
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Beer: A crisp, malty, and refreshing brew like Dovetail Vienna Lager
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Bonus Round: Sparkling wines like Veuve de Vernay Brut or Gran Passione Prosecco can show off the brightness of these cigars
Light in Flavor, More Peppery
The more intense the flavor of the cigar gets, the more you have to think about the interactions of flavors. Maybe consider:
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Beer: A dark and malty beer like the Cigar City Maduro Brown Ale
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Cocktail: A citrusy and semisweet option like The Honey Badger
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Bonus Round: A simple selection like black coffee or espresso rarely fails with these cigars
Dark in Flavor, Less Peppery
The darker the cigar gets, the more you should pay attention to acid and tannins in your pairings, playing with contrasting flavors. Try:
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Wine: Bold wines with bright acidity like Bordeaux or Sangiovese
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Cocktail: Spirit-forward whiskey cocktails like the 1884 Manhattan
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Spirits: For a neat pour that will support the cigar without being overwhelming, reach for aged rum, Tequila, or rye whiskey
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Bonus Round: bright & funky fortified wines like Madeira or Oloroso Sherry pair beautifully
Dark in Flavor, More Peppery
One of the harder types of cigars to pair, look for something bursting with both sweetness and acidity like:
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Wine: Dessert wines like Ruby Port or Pedro Ximenez Sherry support the cigar well
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Beer: Dark and malty beers such as Samuel Smith Chocolate Stout or St. Bernardus Abt 12 will bring plenty of flavor while still letting the cigar shine.
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Spirits: Semisweet whiskies without a dominant oak profile like the Dalmore 12-Year Single Malt provide a delicate balance of flavors
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Bonus Round: Heavyweight cocktails like the Black Manhattan or the Grandpa's Coffee provide the perfect combination of rich flavor and bittersweet balance for intensely flavored cigars
For those dark and peppery cigars, try avoiding tannic wines like Stags’ Leap Petite Sirah or heavily-oaked Bourbons like Woodford Reserve Double Oak, as the interaction between the smoke & tannins can intensify the experience in an unpleasant fashion.
The Middle Ground: Medium-Bodied Cigars
Cigars come in a wide variety of profiles, and these examples are at the fringes of the spectrum in order to provide an introduction into how the flavors interact with your drink. In the middle are a myriad of medium-bodied cigars that aren't aggressively flavored in one way or another, giving you much more freedom with the kinds of flavors that will pair well with your drink selection. Medium-bodied cigars can still spike in the directions of peppery, creamy, nutty, etc., so as you learn more about what you enjoy, pay attention to the styles and blends when you select cigars in order to better understand your own palate.
Experiment & Enjoy
Once you know what type of flavors you are going to pair with your cigar, choosing the specific notes is entirely up to you. For example, if you decide that the smoke you have chosen will pair with a well-aged whiskey, the decision of whether you pick a peaty Scotch like Laphroaig 10-Year or a nutty Bourbon like Pure Kentucky XO is nothing more than a matter of personal preference. The more you experiment with different pairings, the more you will learn about what flavors you enjoy. Fortunately for you, the best way to learn is to pick up another cigar and order another round!