Cocktails and cigars

[Monkey Nuts]

Afternoon chaps,

As a newcomer to cigars, I am gradually finding out what a huge difference the drink that accompanies your cigar makes. I enjoy a malt whisky, and this is my normal drink of choice when relaxing with a cigar.

I also enjoy mixing up a few cocktails at home and one favourite is a Long Island Iced Tea. I tried a Long Island with a Juan Lopez Seleccion No.2 recently and for me the flavour of the drink just killed any flavour from the cigar. I switched back to my beloved Laphroaig, and everything seemed back in balance again

I just wondered if anyone enjoys this drink as much as me, and if so, what cigars will go well with it, if any??!! Or is it more of a personal palate kind of thing??!!

White Russian is another one I enjoy but after the Long Island experience I've not tried it out yet. I imagine it would be a lot more compatible in flavour - anyone tried it??

Thanks for your help!

[Soulmanure]

That's a tricky question, for taste will change from taster to taster, but I can say that my experience matches yours--I've found that bourbons nicely accompany certain cigars, as do coffee and water. However, a couple things I've figured out for myself:

Vodka goes terribly with a cigar. After trying that, I pretty think I'll stay away from the clear alcohols.

Strong drinks, such as coffee and whiskey, will overpower milder cigars, such as Cohibas and Trinidads, etc. This is not necessarily bad, but if you're after the cigar taste, I would choose a stick with a medium to strong profile.

I haven't tried them yet, but rum is, of course, the classic drink for a puro, and many enjoy a good beer. Happy experimenting.

[TJCoro]

Desert Juice!

Vodka goes terribly with a cigar. After trying that, I pretty think I'll stay away from the clear alcohols.

YIKES! I hope this doesn't include the nectar of my homeland - Tequila?


It's one of the few beverages (other than water and Mexican joe) that I enjoy with TJ's fine puros.

[El Catador]

I say old boy, Cocktails may be fine and dandy and all, but let's not forget about a good old fashioned cup of tea, what.

[Soulmanure]

YIKES! I hope this doesn't include the nectar of my homeland - Tequila?


It's one of the few beverages (other than water and Mexican joe) that I enjoy with TJ's fine puros.

Didn't think of that, but I would figure that the sweeter flavor of Tequila would be closer to rum than vodka, which, in combination with the puro, created a sort of battery-acid flavor, I what I imagine that to taste like. On that score, I think I'll avoid vodka and gin.

[neilini]

I'm very new to the cigar world,but have been experimenting with different drinks since i started.The worst was gin and tonic as it totally overpowered any taste the cigar could offer,the best for me so far-nice crisp lager like bottled becks,any islay whisky,the peaty smoky flavour really compliments a smoke i find and last time i tried rum and coke i thought the sweetness went well with the cigar i had.Oh and coffee went well with a diesel shorty i had-strong cigar though

i suppose its all personal preference though

next on my list was black russians as i thought the kahlua would work well,i'll let you know how it goes

[neilini]

sorry forgot to say theres lots more on this in this thread

http://www.ukcigarforums.com/showthread.php?t=6258

and in the bar section as a whole.lots of great advice from people with a lot more knowledge than me

[Simon-JG-hr]

Vodka goes terribly with a cigar.

I believe that the issue at hand may be more accurately described thus:

Vodka goes terribly with everything...

Don't put down gin either, a nice gin and tonic goes brilliantly with some cigars - I've found a G&T to marry quite nicely with most Punch cigars, for example. Of course, a good gin has a smooth, very slightly sweet edge to it too.

[Monkey Nuts]

Interesting stuff - thanks.

Experimenting seems to be the order of the day then - excellent!!

Don't worry El Catador I drink far more cups of tea than I smoke cigars. Now if you could get a box of 25 CC's for the price of 25 tea bags things might change a little, but until that day.........

I have a mini keg of Adnams Explorer that I will be slowly sipping later, so I'll see how that goes with the Partagas Serie D No.4 I've got lined up.....

Glenfiddich will be standing by just in case!!

Thanks for the link Neilini - I'll have a peruse through that too.

[TJCoro]

Nicely Put!

I say old boy, Cocktails may be fine and dandy and all, but let's not forget about a good old fashioned cup of tea, what.

Quite right, old man! Enjoying a cup of fine cactus tea as I type.

Didn't think of that, but I would figure that the sweeter flavor of Tequila would be closer to rum than vodka, which, in combination with the puro, created a sort of battery-acid flavor, I what I imagine that to taste like. On that score, I think I'll avoid vodka and gin.

He's got it....By George, I think he's got it!

[neilini]

theres loads in there, I've never really drank rum before but have started dabblng thanks to the advice of people off here,sailor jerry's is my next experiment it seems to keep croping up in a lot of threads along with havana club.

Still its fun chasing a dream combination but i suppose a lot of it will be down to the moment.

I drink plymouth gin normally simon and really enjoy it,i will give it more of a chance with a range of smokes.Maybe the cigar i tried with it was just far too mild to cope with it.

[daverave999]

I find it very much depends on the cigar and my mood. I've not tried a cocktail specifically, but one of my favoured soft drinks to pair with a cigar is Sprite, which can't be that far off a cocktail!

[jibjob79]

If it wet i'll drink it, if it burns i'll smoke it lol. In all seriousness i do find a gin and tonic or a cocktail that is crisp and refreshing cleanses the pallette and i enjoy the cigars more. White russians or baileys based drinks are also nice as they tend to bring out the chocolatley notes of the cigars for me.

[mackem keith]

in my opinion it really is down to personal taste everyone is likely to prefer different beverages when smoking cigars the list is endless, rum,scotch,red wine,real ale would be my personal choices depending on what cigar i choose to smoke.
cocktail wise i love to pair my smokes with a cuba libre made with Havana club anejo especial,coke and fresh lime

[Monkey Nuts]

in my opinion it really is down to personal taste everyone is likely to prefer different beverages when smoking cigars the list is endless, rum,scotch,red wine,real ale would be my personal choices depending on what cigar i choose to smoke.
cocktail wise i love to pair my smokes with a cuba libre made with Havana club anejo especial,coke and fresh lime

Well in the end, that's exactly what I did!! I was smoking the PSD4 with it and I found it to be an excellent combo - the sweetness of the drink seemed to go well with the 'power' of the cigar.

This thread makes me sound like a bit of an alcoholic, but I'm running a marathon on sunday so I'm on my best behaviour this week!!