Searching for cigar pairings other than whiskey can be a bit of a difficult task.

This post will break down some general guidelines that you can use to work out what might work as a paring, and if you can't be bothered to do that yourself, we’ll also just give you a handful of pairings that we think work.

 

The single most important takeaway from this post!

Ultimately, a cigar pairing is just a drink that you enjoy consuming alongside a cigar. If you do not like whiskey, pairing it with even the finest, award winning, Aging room Quattro Maestro cigar, will not make you like it.

If you drink 9 cans of coca cola a day, drinking it will not unlock new flavours in a cigar you hate, also, please consider switching to diet coke.  

While general guidelines and suggested pairings are a good way to start, don’t drive yourself crazy trying to find the ideal pairing, smoking a cigar is a relaxing process, you don’t need to overcomplicate it, if you find out that you love pairing a cigar with a glass of milk, go for it, but also please seek psychological help, freak.

 

Matching Strengths

When pairing cigars with beverages, their relative flavour strength (body) is something you might want to think about, If one is significantly stronger than the other, the stronger element will come to the forefront and the weaker one might get left behind a little.

For example, pairing a strong beer with a milder cigar means the beer takes centre stage, with the cigar helping to tease out some extra nuanced flavours in the beer that you otherwise might not notice. 

Similarly, a bold cigar paired with a lighter beer flips the dynamic. Here the cigar’s flavours comes to the forefront, with the beer sort of acting as a palate cleanser helping to taste nuances in the cigar.

Matching the strength of pairing and cigar helps to get the most out of both. But keep in mind, just because you’re drinking a strong beer with a light cigar, doesn’t mean you’re going to miss out in the cigar experience. Smoking is enjoyable, nicotine is nice with alcohol, squeezing out every last drop of flavour from a cigar isn’t the point, it's about enjoying the experience. 

Complimentary cigar pairings

 This guideline is straightforward, match the flavour notes in the cigar that you have with the flavour notes in the drink that you sip.

 

Using complimentary cigar pairings for flavour benchmarking

Complimentary cigar pairings can help you to taste the supposed flavour notes in the cigar as the drink gives you a benchmark of that flavour that you can directly compare.

For example, the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro Epicure has very strong coffee notes, therefore a cup of espresso might be a nice complimentary pairing for benchmarking.

Tasting the espresso gives you a very good understanding of what coffee tastes like, obviously, when you go to puff on the cigar this can help you to pick apart the flavours in the cigar and understand which aspects of the two flavours overlap.

 

Accustoming the palate

Conversely depending on the strength of the pairing, drinking a paring with very strong notes that overlap with your cigar can help to accustom your palate to a specific flavour allowing the other flavours to shine through.

For example, the Joya De Nicaragua Cinco De Cinco is, as far as non flavoured cigars go, incredibly sweet, by pairing this cigar with a sweet drink, such as a cider or one of those fancy chocolate stouts, this can help accustom your palate to sweetness in general, allowing you to pick out the other flavours present in the cigar.

 

Contrasting cigar pairings

Image shamelessly stolen from CookSmart

A contrasting cigar pairing, as the name implies, involves matching a cigar with flavours that differ significantly from those of the drink, or vice versa. This approach isn’t just about opposites attracting, it’s a way to either balance or amplify specific elements in both the cigar and the drink, bringing forward nuances that you otherwise might not notice.

For instance, pairing a bitter pint like a Pale Ale with a cigar allows the salty or sweet notes in a cigar to counteract the bitterness, allowing the citrus notes of the drink to shine through more clearly.

Likewise, in a salty beer, like the Birra Moretti sale di mare, the salt enhances the cigar’s sweetness, creating an interesting new flavour experience, that elevates both the drink and the smoke.

By contrasting flavours, you can uncover new flavours in both your cigar and drink, making both more enjoyable, at the same time. 

 

Pairing Beer with cigars

When it comes to pairing a cigar to a beer, a general rule of thumb thrown around in the cigar world is to “match the colour of the cigar to the colour of the beer,” which is a clever notion at face value, until you look at the colour of beer and the colour of cigars and realise that the only real overlap is with stouts and pale lagers. The real art lies in balancing flavours, and whether you choose to complement or contrast, the right pairing can elevate your experience.

 

Cigars to Pair with Stout 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stout is a beer made with roasted malt, resulting in deep, roasted flavours. If you're drinking stout, you're probably drinking Guinness. If not, you're likely confident enough in your choices that you don’t need pairing advice.

 

Complimentary cigar pairings for stout:

To match those rich, roasted notes, look for cigars with similarly bold profiles. The cigars shown below generally are these, roasty, sweet and medium to full bodied (flavour strength).

 

Click on each one to find out more!

Drew Estate Undercrown 10th Anniversary Robusto	Joya De Nicaragua Cinco De Cinco Robusto	Joya De Nicaragua Cuatro Cinco Reserva

 

Contrasting cigar pairing for stout:

For a lighter counterpoint, try something with creamier or subtler flavours to balance the stout's heaviness. Generally the lighter Connecticut wrapped cigars have creamier and lighter flavours, perfect for a contrasting pair.

 

Click on each one to delve a bit deeper into their tasting notes! 

Joya De Nicaragua Numero Uno L'Ambassadeur	Perdomo 10th Anniversary Connecticut Robusto	Drew Estate Undercrown Shade Robusto

 

 

Cigars to Pair with "British" Lager

Much like most things labelled "British," such as the artefacts in certain museums, these lagers aren’t actually British. Still, these are the lighter, bitter, fruity, and malty beers often found in pubs, think Heineken, San Miguel, or Stella Artois.

 

Complimentary cigar pairing for lager:

Lighter cigars with Connecticut wrappers enhance the sweet and creamy elements of these lagers.

 

Click on each one to find out a bit more!

Joya De Nicaragua Cabinetta Corona Gorda	Joya De Nicaragua Clasico Seleccion B	Leon Jimenes Prestige Corona Tubos

Contrasting cigar pairing for lager:

To add depth, contrast the lager’s lightness with a bolder cigar featuring richer, darker flavours but still remaining light enough to avoid drowning out the flavours of your pint. 

Click on each one to find out more!

Alec Bradley Black Market Punk	Caldwell The King Is Dead Manzanita	La Arora Principes Long Filler Maduro Robusto

Cigars to Pair with Mexican Lager

Picture this: a summer day in the park with a case of ice-cold Coronas, Sols, or—god forbid—Desperados. Mexican lagers are crisp, refreshing, and perfect for warm weather.

 

Complimentary cigar pairings for Mexican Lager:

While lighter cigars will probably compliment a light Mexican beer well, the stronger skunky flavours in Mexican beer can hold up to the scrutiny of a stronger cigar a little better than a lager generally will. The Casa Turrent 1880 Claro Lancero shown below is a Mexican cigar, regardless of flavours, surely that's a match made in Heaven.

 

Click each one to find out more!

Casa Turrent 1880 Claro Lancero	Charatan Panatella	La Arora Principes Long Filler Claro Robusto

 

Contrasting cigar pairing for Mexican Lager:

To shake things up, pair these lagers with cigars that pack a punch of complexity and richness. The cigars shown below all pack a punch of deep dark roasty, toasty, chocolatey, coffee notes.

 

Click each one to find out more!

Alec Bradley Black Market Esteli Punk	A.J. Fernandez Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Maestro	Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro Epicure

Cigars to Pair with IPA/APA/Any other fancy, expensive, bitter, floral, pint of beer

If you are reading this I assume that you know what Pale Ales are, and what they taste like, I also assume that you are screaming through your screen that Pale Ales, India Pale Ales and American Pales Ales are completely different and I'm an idiot for not knowing the difference, be that as it may, when compared to lagers, these are quite similar in terms of bitterness, hoppyness and strength of flavour overall.

When I talk about all of these beers, I am assuming a bright hoppy citrusy beer, if you don't like that, I apologise.

 

Complimentary cigar pairings for IPAs / APAs:

To compliment and match the citrusy hoppy experience of an IPA or APA, the cigars chosen below are medium to full body (flavour strength) to hold up to the strength of the beer, and share some the these citrus and floral notes.

 

Click each one to find out more!

La Flor Dominicana El Carajon	Joya De Nicaragua Cabinetta Corona Gorda	Joya De Nicaragua Cuatro Cinco Reserva Especial Petit Corona

 

Contrasting cigar pairing for IPAs / APAs:

For a cigar that complements the boldness of an IPA while introducing flavours you won’t typically find in the beer alone, consider the following options. These cigars offer subtle notes of chocolate, leather, and coffee, robust enough to stand up to your drink of choice without overpowering it.

 

Click each one to find out more!

Alec Bradley Prensado Corona Gorda	CLE 25th Anniversary Robusto Cigar	Alec Bradley Black Market Punk

 

A nice conclusion to wrap this up.

Wow! That was dumb, a lot of the information available about this topic contradicts itself, every cigar that you can find will either compliments or contrast any drink you can pair with it. Basing the cigar you pair with beer on the wrapper and beer colour, on a surface level sounds smart but not when you take into account these contrasting pairings.

Ultimately pairing a cigar with a drink boils down to finding a drink that you like, finding a cigar that you enjoy, at your discretion, enjoying these two products together, if you would like to consume them separately, you can do that too.

 

CIGARS ARE NOT COMPLICATED; YOU NO NOT NEED PREREQUISITE KNOWLEDGE TO PUT LEAF SMOKE IN YOUR MOUTH

 

If you like the idea of working out your own cigar pairings check out our full range of delicious little rolls of dried leaves.

Click Here for

the Full Range