Why Cigars and Champagne Pair Well

Why Cigars and Champagne Pair Well

For the perfect pairing of champagne and cigars, you can feel luxurious and still meet the budget that makes you most comfortable.

“Remember gentlemen, it’s not just France we are fighting for, it’s Champagne.”

-Winston Churchill (Famous Cigar Aficionado and Prime Minister)

 

The cleansing power of the bubbles in Champagne enhances the flavor of the cigar and it’s reduced alcoholic content, as compared to hard spirits, can offer a higher degree of aromatic perception and finesse. While a white wine might fight with the savory (umami) aspect of a cigar, a bubbly can have a refreshing, cleansing effect on the palate.

 

The carbonation in champagne adds another layer of strength to sparkling wines. The acidity of sparkling wines – which is remarkable – is one of the great pairing elements, making it the perfect match for many types of cigars.

 

Cigars are just as nuanced as wine. The flavor profile should change as you smoke it. Bourbon and whiskey can overwhelm the palate, rather than provide contrast, and a crisp Champagne pairing can provide a well-balanced smoking experience.

 

For the perfect pairing of champagne and cigars, you can feel luxurious and still meet the budget that makes you most comfortable. In this blog, I want to elaborate why champagne and cigars can be a great companion and lend a few pairing suggestions.

 

The Montecristo White Churchill delivers a smooth and complex medium-bodied smoke with notes of vanilla and a creamy nutty finish. The cigar’s complexity and depth make it an obvious choice for the outstanding Pol Roger Champagne. This Champagne has a soothing expression that balances with those of the Montecristo. Notes of baked yeasty bread, white peach, and floral bouquet from the Champagne unite with the vanilla and nuttiness of the cigar.

 

Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne offers rich layers of complex flavors of cream and sweet honey with a mild-bodied profile.  Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut is a natural pairing with a Perdomo. With a fine effervescence and impressive profile of apple, lemon, lime, and honey notes, Moet & Chandon is a smooth, crisp Champagne with a richness that fills the finish on a clean and bright note. Moet & Chandon's subtle toasted character of apple and honey imparts harmony when paired with the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne.

 

Piper Heidsieck Champagne Brut ’98 is an elegant champagne choice, complete with notes of tobacco and leather and has a Wine Spectator rating of 92. Undercrown Shade Gran Toro is a well-balanced, mild to medium-bodied blend with notes of spice, nuts, and cream with a slightly sweet finish. The masculine flavors balance each other in this pairing.

 

Showing sophistication and style, the nonvintage Taittinger Brut La Française Champagne delivers stunning richness while exhibiting an excellent overall balance. Smoke and toast accents lace raspberry, lemon and apple blossom notes in this firm, aperitif-style Champagne. My Father No. 3 Cremas is made of select premium Nicaraguan tobacco grown at the Garcia’s family farm in Estelí. The oily Habano-Rosado leaf wrapper imparts that feeling of silk that we all crave in our cigars. The full-bodied My Father Cremas has notes of spice and earth and just the proper amount of Nicaraguan tobacco sweetness to balance and poise that accents the flavors of a flute of Taittinger Brut La Française.

 

Nearly a decade of delicate rest makes Perrier Jouet Belle Époque 2008 an ideal match to a premium aged cigar. The champagne’s soft body is graceful, crisp and complex. Alluring bouquets of white-flower and plum blossom juxtapose the pleasant fervor of spices, pepper, and apricot a Padron 1964 reveals. A pairing this pronounced needn’t be presumptuous.

 

Happy New Year and don't’ forget to Relax and Revel!

 

Try out the following with one of your favorite mild to medium smokes:

 

January Cocktail of the Month

Red Velvet

Ingredients:

2 oz. Chilled Lindemann’s Framboise Lambic

½ oz. Crème de Framboise

2 oz. Chilled Prosecco

1 or 2 Raspberries for garnish

Rosemary sprigs for garnish

Directions:

In a chilled pint glass combine the first three ingredients. Pour into a chilled flute and top with the Prosecco. Garnish with rosemary skewered raspberries

Cheers!

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