The Stogie Guys

First, let me acknowledge that a steak is not a “spirit” according to any reasonable definition of the word. Still, steak accompanies a cigar in such an excellent way that I feel perfectly comfortable including steak in our Spirits category with scotches, bourbons, and rums.

While I don’t usually smoke a cigar while eating a steak, a well-cooked steak and a glass of wine are pretty much always the prelude to a cigar. Something about the savory nature of a steak and a glass of wine (a good Rhone, Bordeaux, or California cabernet) just begs for a good cigar.

To that end, I’ve been cooking steaks for a while now and I have a few tricks that make my steaks extra tasty (and worthy of an after-dinner cigar). What follows are my personal tips.

Most important is picking the right steak. While filet mignon is a great cut of meat (especially at a steakhouse), when I’m cooking I prefer a ribeye or strip steak, both of which have more fat (and thus more flavor). Steaks are graded on their marbling, and while Prime are the best cuts (and the most expensive), Choice cuts offer excellent quality for the price (the next level down is Select). A good Choice cut at least one inch thick is perfect.

Next, season your steak with salt and pepper. Let it get to room temperature before you cook it (this is important), then liberally apply course salt and pepper just before cooking.

Forgo the grill and instead use a combination of a cast iron skillet on the stovetop and the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees and simultaneously heat up a cast iron skillet, the hotter the better. Brown each side of the steak for a few minutes (until it begins to blacken) in the dry, hot skillet (without butter or oil). Then finish it in the oven until it firms up (only a few minutes is needed if you like your steaks medium-rare like I do).

Pull it out of the oven quickly then let it sit for five minutes. It will continue to cook while you wait. The result is an excellent, tender, flavorful steak that’s blackened on the edges while still rare and juicy in the middle.

Accompanied with a nice glass of fine wine, there is no better prelude to a good cigar. Cooked right, it’s as good as any steak you’ll have at an expensive steakhouse and it’s the perfect introduction to a fine medium- or full-bodied cigar with a scotch or bourbon.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

As the weather gets warmer, I increasingly find myself pairing my after-dinner cigars with a glass of well-aged rum. Zaya Gran Reserva 12 Year and the Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 are two staples in my liquor cabinet, but recently I picked up a particularly exceptional rum.

Even older and more limited than the Zacapa 23 is the XO. The XO is blended from solera-aged rums ranging from 6 years to 25 years and generally sells for around $90 (though you should shop around because I’ve seen prices range from $60 to $110).

Like the Zacapa 23, the Centenario XO is a blend of rums made from virgin sugar cane juice aged in Zacapa’s “House in the Clouds” distillery 7,000 feet above sea level, in Guatemala. The rum is aged in a combination of American bourbon, sherry, Pedro Ximenez wine, and cognac barrels.

The result is a thoroughly complex, smooth rum that’s dark bronze in color with long legs. The nose is a combination of oak, molasses, citrus, and spice.

But it’s when you take your first taste that you really appreciate what an exceptional spirit the Zacapa XO is. Powdered cocoa, toffee, orange peel, banana, and cinnamon are all apparent in this exquisitely balanced and smooth rum. The finish lingers with plenty of molasses and a touch of spice.

All in all, this is an excellent rum that’s perfect with a fine cigar. (Try it neat or with a maximum of a single ice cube.) Cuban smokes, with their earthy sweetness, go great with Zacapa XO. So do spicier Nicaraguan and Honduran cigars (though really you’d be hard-pressed to find a good cigar that wasn’t an enjoyable pairing).

While I’m not sure the Centenario XO is worth twice the price of the Zacapa 23, it certainly is a fine rum. If you’re a fan of Zacapa 23 or Zaya, you should find a way to try the Ron Zacapa Centenario XO at least once.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

The world can be split into two types of people: those who know about Pappy Van Winkle bourbon and those who don’t. Say “Pappy” around those who know, and they’ll start talking about how they procured a rare bottle or the time they saw it on a shelf at a bar. Everyone else just gives you a funny look and says, “Pappy what?”

Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve bourbon (some of the oldest bourbon around at 15, 20, and 23 years) is notoriously difficult to find. If you’re lucky, you might get on a waiting list for some of the rare nectar, which pretty much never makes it to a store’s shelf because it’s always sold out in days.

Still rare, but not as impossible to find is the Van Winkle Special Reserve, which at 12 years old is still old by bourbon standards and sells for anywhere from $50 to $90. Called “Lot B” (even though nothing they make is called “Lot A”), the Special Reserve uses no rye, but instead uses wheat along with a majority of corn that’s required to legally be called a bourbon.

The resulting bourbon is bottled at 90.4-proof and deep copper in color. The nose features butterscotch and vanilla. The bourbon starts out with oak, caramel, toasted corn, vanilla, and just a hint of nutmeg and pepper spice. There’s also plenty of heat from the 45.2% alcohol content. It’s thick on the palate with a long, soft finish that features citrus and oak.

Perhaps not quite as extraordinary as the older Pappy Family Reserve lines, the Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year is certainly an excellent spirit. It has the depth of flavor to stand up to even the most full-bodied cigar. So if you’re on the waiting list for the older and rarer Pappys, you could do far worse than the Van Winkle Special Reserve 12 Year Bourbon. It’s one of those special spirits that every bourbon fan should try at least once.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys

[Editors’ Note: The following is written by Martin, a friend of StogieGuys.com who lives in Scotland and writes at WhiskyCritic.com.]

Oh dearest, dearest pocket. I sincerely hope you can forgive me once more for digging too deep, collecting the very last you had to offer, for no reason other than my own decadence. Forgive, and recover. I’m sure most, or at least many, fellow whisky lovers of less than unlimited means will have been in a similar situation at least once: You know you shouldn’t buy something, but equally you know that there is absolutely no chance of you not buying it.

Well that’s the situation in which I now find myself. I was in the shop the other day to pick up a couple nice beers and, as I approached the till, my eye immediately went to the lovely selection of whiskies stashed behind it—the sneaky buggers always know how to get you, don’t they? Put yummiest stuff by the till and any flesh and bone human is instantly rendered unable to do anything but make an unplanned purchase.

That is basically the unnecessarily long story of how I ended up buying a bottle of Aberfeldy 21 Year Old, at just over £90 ($140) for the bottle.

I had been wanting to try it for quite some time and my local pub hasn’t had it in stock, so my basic line of reasoning (ever so refined, as always) was, “Why the heck not?” With my quite considerable expense in mind, expectations were high. The nose on the toffee-colored spirit didn’t disappoint, presenting a bouquet of flowers, oak, and an exotic sweetness which I can only describe as somewhere between Brazil nut and coconut. So far so very good. The palate is light and has a bit more kick to it, starting off with a pinch of spice, followed by heathery honey, oak, and sweet citrus—which I suppose might make it orange, though I’m not sure I actually want to be that precise about it. Oh well, too late now! As for the finish, it’s basically long, dry, and carries a mild spiciness all the way through, and it’s delicious.

The question which will undoubtedly be on everyone’s mind at this point (assuming you all share my exact thought pattern) is: Was it worth the ninety-odd pound? The answer is yes, and no, and maybe, and oh I don’t know! I don’t have any regrets because it is a delicious whisky—very nicely balanced, very drinkable, all in all very pleasant. But then again, it is a quite expensive whisky, and I can’t say that I wouldn’t be able to get an equally nice bottle for half the price. It’s a tough call, but if you like a light, well-balanced, slightly sweet and spicy whisky, and it’s within your price range, then I’d say go for it.

-Read more from Martin at WhiskyCritic.com.

photo credit: The Whisky Exchange

I’m often on the lookout for a bourbon to try, bourbon being my go-to spirit in the winter.

Johnny Drum Private Stock caught my eye the last time I was at my liquor store. I decided to pick up a 750 ml. bottle since the price was right. At about $30, the cost places this 101-proof spirit comfortably between the lower-end bourbons and the most expensive bourbons. For me, this middle ground is the most fruitful to explore.

Most of the information I wanted to learn about Johnny Drum Private Stock could be gleaned from the label or the tiny pamphlet that comes affixed to the bottle’s neck. Without even browsing the web, true or not, I discovered that the spirit is named for a young lad who served in the Civil War as a drummer boy. “At the end of the war, legend has it that Johnny returned home to settle amongst the rolling bluegrass knobs of his native Kentucky, where he staked his claim among a beautiful spring,” reads the pamphlet. “Johnny soon learned the importance of finding a way to convert his excess corn crop into a profitable item…and it wasn’t long before Johnny’s determination produced an exceptional bourbon whiskey.”

Today, Johnny Drum Private Stock is produced by the Johnny Drum Distilling Company of Bardstown, Kentucky. It is charcoal-filtered and aged for 15 years before it is packaged in wax-topped bottles. (That wax, by the way, is pretty darn hard to get off, and underneath is a disappointing plastic screw top.) The spirit is a dark reddish color in the bottle and amber when poured in a glass. It has a very faint honey aroma with a buttery creaminess. I found very little spice on the nose and virtually no alcohol bite—all of which makes this bourbon seem very approachable based on first impressions.

Sipping the Private Stock neat, the first thing you notice is the tingly spice on your lips and the front of your tongue. As this spice lingers, a smooth sweetness moves in that’s reminiscent of toffee and nougat. There are also some charry burnt notes present that add balance. But the overall affect is fairly light and vanilla-like for a bourbon.

This lightness makes Johnny Drum Private Stock quite versatile as a cigar companion. In my experience, it works well with both fuller-bodied maduros and milder Connecticut-wrapped smokes. I think the Illusione cg4, for instance, pairs really well. But I encourage you to pick up a bottle and do some experimenting of your own.

–Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys

Cigars and scotch go together like peanut butter and jelly, but rarely is the connection so explicit as with Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve. According to Dalmore’s website, “the body and character of this extraordinary expression is the perfect complement to a fine cigar.”

You might remember the discontinued Dalmore Cigar Malt (an excellent value at around $50), but this new Dalmore Cigar Malt Reserve is a different whisky. The old Cigar Malt, 40% ABV and made with 60% sherry casks and 40% bourbon casks, was discontinued, allegedly in part because some consumers either thought the scotch only went with cigars or was somehow made with tobacco. (The original Cigar Malt has, depending on who you ask, been rebranded as, or slightly changed to become, Dalmore’s Gran Reserva.)

The new Cigar Malt Reserve is similar to the original, but with a few notable changes, mainly that it ups three things. First, it goes from 80-proof to a slightly stronger 88-proof. Second, it increases the percentage of Oloroso “Matusalem” sherry from 60% to 70%. Third, the price is considerably higher at $120 for a 750 ml. bottle.

The new Cigar Malt Reserve pours a deep amber color. The nose is heavy, with toffee, chocolate, roast cashew, and a hint of the Oloroso sherry.

I tasted the whisky neat and found it to be similar on the palate to its profile on the nose. There’s oily roast nuts, sweetness from dry cocoa and toffee, and plenty of wood and earth. More subtle is a hint of citrus, black pepper, and perhaps some fermented maduro tobacco. The finish is long with lots of wood and fleeting spice.

I can see why this is billed as a “Cigar Malt” as it does indeed pair well with a fine cigar. It also feature more flavors (wood, earth, pepper, chocolate, toffee, etc…) in common with cigars than any whisky I’ve ever tasted. And it pairs with a wide range of cigars, from oily maduros to spicy Nicaraguans to subtle Cameroon-wrapped Dominicans.

For me, the result is an excellent scotch that is best appreciated neat with a good smoke. It’s also a unique, gritty, character-filled blend; not at all peaty, but also not overly sweet or light. Beyond those admirable attributes, the proud connection with cigars certainly makes me inclined towards the Cigar Malt, even if the price might make it a rare indulgence.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Dalmore

Bulleit has been making bourbon since 1999, but its rye is a new and welcome development. Introduced last March, Bulleit Rye is a new twist on that classic American spirit, rye whiskey.

Bulleit is most notable for it’s high rye content. In order to be a rye, a whiskey must use at least 51% rye mash, supplemented by corn, barley, and wheat. Bulleit surpasses that minimum by leaps and bounds with 95% (the highest of any production rye), with just 5% barley.

The result is a whiskey full of character that is quintessentially rye. It has a deep copper color with a nose of fruit, toffee, and oak.

On the palate, the Bulleit Rye Whiskey really begins to shine. It has the spice I’ve come to expect from rye, but not the overwhelming amount that you’d think a spirit made with 95% rye would. Instead, it’s a remarkably balanced, somewhat dry combination of crisp apple, pepper, wood, rock sugar, wood, and toffee. The finish has sweetness, nuts, and woody pepper.

All in all, there’s everything to like about the Bulleit Rye, including the price, which is a most reasonable $25. For that price, the balanced, complex rye is a tremendous value.

The complex spice makes for an excellent accompaniment to a cigar. Spicy Honduran smokes (like the CAO OSA or Humo Jaguar) and earthy Nicaraguans (like the Tatuaje Brown Label or Padrón 1964) go equally well. Spicier Dominican smokes like the Fuente Opus X and La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero also make for a good pairing.

No matter your choice of cigar, whiskey fans—whether bourbon aficionados, Scotch connoisseurs, or rye enthusiasts—should give the Bulleit Rye a try. It’s the rare combination of cheap, tasty, and unique, which has quickly made it a staple in my collection.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys