Cigar Humidification – Separating Opinion from Science I’ve been challenged to do a piece on cigar Humidification and help us all separate facts, opinions, superstitions, and bad habits from each other. Bring your comments over to our Discord for further discussion: https://discord.gg/EYQ5UVYS . I’m sure I’ll see a few there after this! Humidity – What is it? The full term that we’ll be looking at is relative humidity, typically expressed as a percentage of a temperature. The reason is that this is not an absolute measure, which would require much more accurate tools to read. So, as temperature changes, the humidity will change relative to the temperature. The chart below will show us some general information, including where mold growth will begin and where you’ll see condensation on surfaces, usually windows, first if your humidor has them. So what is our goal with humidifying cigars? We are attempting to create a microenvironment that most closely resembles the tropical environments where tobacco is processed, aged, and rolled into cigars. The most general rule of thumb is to keep this environment as close to 68%rh and 68*F. We will discuss later why that is and possible exceptions or modifications to this rule, but it is the general best practice. So how do we create that environment? First, we’re looking for a stable environment. Ideally, a spot for your humidor that won’t be receiving direct sunlight, and won’t be directly under an aircon vent or above a floor vent. Best in an internal wall corner. The next thing we need to address is temperature. If you have mini splits and can comfortably keep that room at 68 degrees I envy you, sir! For the rest of us using a portable temperature gauge placing it in that spot and monitoring it a…
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:…
Double Pairing of Crowned Heads Four Kicks LE 2021 with 2016 Jaboulet Crozes Hermitage Les Jalet and Milam & Greene Triple Cask Bourbon Straight Blend Often times you’ll come across a cigar that you’ll want to pair with multiple drinks. The Four Kicks LE 2021 by Crowned Heads fit this category. I knew that with its profile it was a cigar that I wanted to pair with a full-bodied red wine and with a blended whiskey. For the wine I chose the 2016 Crozes-Hermitage Les Jalets by Paul Jaboulet Aîné and for the whiskey I went with the Triple Cask Bourbon Straight Blend from Milam & Greene. Cigar: The Crowned Heads with its Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper open up some some coffee notes along with some leathery and earthy notes both on the cold draw and the initial draws. The coffee notes while subtle at first slowly build up and the earthy notes become more prominent over the leather notes, reminding me of a dusty dirt pathway while hiking through the woods. The back of the draw brings out some sweet cooking spices, nutmeg, and hints of white pepper that was also present on the retro-hale. Wine: The 2016 Crozes-Hermitage Les Jalets by Paul Jaboulet Aîné was an absolute joy to drink. I had the opportunity to taste this Syrah from Rhone for the Wine Society of a local Wine and Spirits shop. In tasting this, I was able to enjoy the wine by itself, with some food, and then finally with a cigar. The bouquet has some subtle hits of citrus along with some earthy barnyard notes. Reminding me of walking through a barn and out into an orchard on a spring morning. This experience continued on into the first tasting of the wine with the citrus notes…
Pairing: Still Austin Cask Strength with RomaCraft Intemperance Bourbon: This bourbon hits many points in color, texture, aroma, and notes. For this pairing, we’re going to focus on the tasting notes.For me, it has incredible texture and oils with a long finish. It opens up with buttery honey notes that remind me of graham crackers that I snuck from the kitchen. There are also some subtle coffee notes and black cherries as the body opens up and finishes strong with spice that will linger and linger. Cigar: RomaCraft has made its name well known in the cigar world with its smokes. The Intemperance fits the bill with strong earthy and leathery notes with black coffee notes and some black ground pepper at the back end. Pairing: When paired together, the smoke brings out the coffee notes in the Bourbon and enhances the pepper to the front that stays with you throughout the sip. The experience is the same when taking a cigar draw after a sip. The honey and fruity notes of the Bourbon bring out a creamy note in the smoke that wasn’t as strong before while also enhancing the pepper notes at the back of the draw.This is a very enjoyable pairing that I would recommend. #explorethepairings
Clos De La Butte Muscadet paired with a Mil Dias LE 2021 I was challenged the other day to pair a cigar with white wine. Let me tell you that my experience with white wines is still minimal, but I’m not one to avoid many challenges. Upon accepting this challenge, I had to approach it a little differently than I have other pairings and chose a white wine, learned about the grape, and then chose a cigar I was familiar with. For this pairing, I chose the Clos De La Butte Muscadet from Eric Chevalier. The Muscadet is a lighter-bodied dry white wine which presents a challenge in pairing because you don’t want the cigar to overpower the notes of the wine. The cigar I chose for this pairing is the Mil Dias LE 2021 from Crowned Heads. So, let’s get into the notes and see how this turns out for us. Wine: The Muscadet opens up with a nice bouquet with Oakey, grassy notes that also have subtle floral and fruity notes. On the palate, the wine opens up very crisp with strong citrus notes and a bit of acidity, refreshing on a hot summer day. As the body opens up, you may notice that a bit of the Oakey grassy notes is present with hints of green apple and pear, bringing you a nice medium finish to close out. Cigar: The Mil Dias has long been one of my favorite cigars, so for me, there wasn’t any question about choosing the LE 2021 for this pairing. The cold draw on the cigar has a lot of leathery notes, reminding me of opening a brand-new pair of boots you just got home from the store. On the initial draw, I got some creamy, nutty notes similar to cashews with…