June 2014 - Cigar And Whiskey

Weekend Pairing: Alec Bradley Fine & Rare/Red River Rye

The Alec Bradley Fine & Rare was released late fall of 2012. I knew that I wanted to find one right off the bat, primarily drawn to it because of it’s interesting band and perfect torpedo voetbalschoenen sale shape. After a few weeks of searching I finally found one, and it was as impressive in person as it had been in the promotional pictures.

And then I promptly put it into my humidor and forgot about it until this week.

I decided to pair the cigar with a bottle of Red River Rye which has recently come into my possession. The Red River Rye is a Texas whiskey that I had not been familiar with before physically receiving the bottle. Nevertheless, I love a good rye and hell, I’m from Texas so I was willing to try this pairing untested.

I went with my preferred method for the whiskey: two fingers with one large ice cube. I gave it a try before lighting the cigar and found it very rich with hearty notes of caramel, cinnamon and woodsmoke. This was not a timid whiskey, but I trusted the Fine & Rare to hold it’s own.

For a second after first light, I was afraid I was wrong. The Fine & Rare came out of the gate with a grassy, hay-like flavor that was billiga Nike fotbollsskor dominated by the character of the Red River Rye. However, after that initial taste dissipated it become much more hearty, with a black-pepper and cedar flavor mingled with leather. Taking a puff immediately after a sip of whiskey really brought out the woodsy flavor and subtle sweet notes in the cigar smoke.

The second part of the cigar continued to deepen, and added little touches of dulled cayenne spice while keeping the primary flavors introduced in the first third. the Red River Rye at this point became sort of a flavor highlight, brightening those more potent cigar flavors and enhancing the more subtle notes.

If the second third signified a deepening of flavor, the final third saw it touch bottom. Now the wood had melted into a maple-syrup flavor, and the cayenne had fotbollsskor webshop transformed into black pepper. It was rich and delicious, made all the more decadent by the Red River Rye, which was now singing in perfect harmony with the cigar, complementing it perfectly.

This ended up being a delicious pairing the whole way through. The cigar performed almost perfectly (minus one small tear in the wrapper that occurred when I pulled off the band – it was no big deal) and the whiskey was top-notch. Although I think it would be difficult to find a 2012 Alec Bradley Fine & Rare nowadays, I believe you should definitely try out the Red River Rye at your earliest opportunity!

Rocky Patel 50th Anniversary

Let me come right out and say this: I have had mixed feelings about Rocky Patel cigars almost since I started smoking.

That is not to say that I haven’t enjoyed some of their cigars, but I had not discovered anything that blew me away. I also experienced a fairly significant amount of inconsistency in construction and performance that have sort of steered me away from the brand despite it’s popularity.

I say all this because when I was told by a trusted source that the Rocky Patel 50th Anniversary was a spectacular cigar (in his words, “one of the best cigars I’ve ever had”) I was a bit skeptical. Nevertheless, I filed the information away, and a few weeks later billige fotballsko Nike when I saw a box of 50th Anniversary cigars at a local vendor I picked one up despite the slightly exorbitant price tag ($20.00 in my case).

The cigar itself is, admittedly, pretty regal. The wrapper is appropriately thick with just a hint of tooth that gives it a pleasantly rough feel like stingray boots. The color is uniform and the wrap is perfect with only a few pronounced veins and tight construction. The band is attractive, if a bit garish for my taste, with a bold “RP” inscribed on an orange bed surrounded by a simulacra of round diamonds. If you are looking for something that will announce your stick from across the room, this is the band for you.

Pre-light I got notes of oak and dried cherries. First light revealed these to be the dominant flavors, and they continued to mingle throughout the billige fotballsko på nett på first third. They were lightly interspersed with sweet notes, though they were fleeting and difficult to pinpoint. Think sparks of vanilla.

The second third gradually slacked off the sweetness to present the woodsy flavors in full force. These were highlighted by a gradually growing white pepper flavor that added a counterbalance to the majesty of the oak. Towards the end of the second I got a taste of leather.

That leather taste grew to rival the wood in the final third, adding back in a sort of deep, fruity sweetness like aged dates. These chaussure de foot Nike pas cher actually became a bit tart towards the finish of the stick, like the dates had been given a light coat of blackberry jam. It was a luxurious flavor.

Throughout the smoking experience the cigar performed very well, with no burn issues to speak of. Smoke production was medium-heavy and overall very complimentary to the aesthetics of the cigar.

I was impressed with the Rocky Patel 50th Anniversary, to the point that I will probably have to reintroduce Patel sticks into my lineup. That being said, I don’t think that they are quite worth the price I paid. Pick one up if you get the chance because this is indeed an excellent cigar, and increasingly hard to find this far out from its release.