Tonight’s pairing brings Bishop Blend 2021 from Black Label Trading Company (BLTC) with my favorite stout from Lake Wood Brewing, The Temptress.
What I love about BLTC is their cigars have an amazing kick to them and the Bishop Blend doesn’t hold back. It is a closed foot, so on the light and puff I immediately tasted a very strong black pepper that is in your face. This is why I love this cigar; it demands attention at the start. For those of you that do not enjoy a full smoke, don’t worry after a few draws it turns into a smooth anise flavor with the black pepper, which pair well together. As I smoked more into the 1/3 of the cigars, there was a caramel chocolate that presented itself. This is where I began to enjoy my milk stout.
The Temptress enhanced the chocolate expresso of the cigar. For a moment I thought I was smoking a San Andres. Moving into the 2/3 section of the cigar, I cleansed my pallet, took a sip from the Stout and then took a draw from the Bishop Blend. It was amazing how I tasted an earthy leather flavor with a hint of sweetness of expresso. The retrohale was a very smooth chocolate expresso. The final stage of the cigar mirrored the first third of the cigar, but also presented a stronger black pepper on the retrohale than the first third. As I smoked more I picked up on the anise. The stout enhances the smoothness chocolate expresso in this part of the cigar. The cigar is still full bodied without the stout. Towards the very end of the cigar, I tasted a caramel raisin, but with a hint of black pepper!
FANTASTIC PAIRING
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Maduro
Binder: Ecuadorian Habano
Filler: Nicaraguan, Pennsylvania Broadleaf, Connecticut Broadleaf
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