Onyx Geometery: A F1 car kind of coffee The Story: This review has a long backstory to bring you up to speed. I have to take you back into my past and the evening Bible studies I attended in college. You have to know that finishing college was a hard time for me. The academics are fairly straightforward. The schedule was not really a problem. It was that I’m not the best at social interactions. However, during these Bible studies enjoying coffee was a reprieve; also as I have said before, it is when I learned to appreciate coffee beyond the caffeine. One of the brands that kept coming up during this time was Onyx. So I have to thank the leader of that group Corey Woodard and the rest of those guys. It was for me what an Opus X or Old Forester birthday bourbon is for you all. What does everyone do when you have a goal like this? Well, you look at prices and wait till it is the right time to buy. That time is now right, and I got a box of Onyx Geometry. I have brewed and sipped it, so let’s dive in to this coffee together. Technical specs: It is a blend of washed coffees from Ethiopian and Colombian coffees. It comes in a gorgeous pink box embossed with a floral design and a skull. Inside is a plain brown bag with a skull in the lower corner. I chose this coffee because it is listed as a medium roast with sweet and fruity notes, which sounded pleasant in my grey matter. It is self-described as a balance between traditional and modern. I brewed this for the last week in a Cemex and once in a French Press. I paired this with 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
Ardbeg An Oa paired with Honor Among Thieves from Sinistro Cigars. I have been a fan of both Sinistro and Ardbeg for some time, so it only made sense to do a pairing of an expression from both. I had my first Ardbeg Whisky about five years ago, the Ugidail. From then on, I knew I would be hooked on their expressions and had to try more. My first Sinistro was Mr. White, and that quickly spread out to other blends they had and eventually the Honor Among Thieves. Upon choosing this pairing, since I was familiar with both blends, I concentrated more on the pairing and how they interacted with each other. We will explore Sinistro’s Honor among Thieves and Ardbeg’s An Oa for this pairing. Cigar: This blend from Sinistro with its Brazilian Maduro wrapper opens with some cocoa, grassy notes on the nose, and cold draw. These notes continue into the first third of the cigar, with the cocoa transitioning into milky chocolate notes and nutty cashew notes remaining throughout the smoke. The cigar finishes strong with white pepper notes that are even more prominent at the back and retro. Scotch: What draws me to Ardbeg is its presence of a smokey bouquet that doesn’t overpower the earthy forest pine notes. The smokey peaty notes continue at the front of the sip and smooth into a charred toasted marshmallow flavor that reminds me of roasting marshmallows on the campfire. The An Oa has an oily buttery feel in the mouth and finishes strong with some white pepper notes. Pairing: The cigar brings out cherry notes at the front, toning down the smokey notes to a subtle presence while strengthening the pepper notes at the back, reminding me more of red than white pepper. The Scotch brings out…
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…