Pairing Cigars & Alcohol – Tanglin Orchid Gin

Cigars and alcohol. Two luxury products that go hand in hand, and sometimes even meet on business level. Aging tobacco in whisky, rum, or cognac barrels is a practice several brands do to achieve extra flavour to the wrapper for certain lines.

The famous bourbon brand Maker’s Mark has their own cigar, sold in tubes with the signature wax coating. Drew Estate works with Pappy van Winkle and used to make Kahlua cigars. Mombacho used to have the Diplomatico series but Mombacho no longer exists. General Cigars works with Sazerac, which resulted in Fireball cigars, Weller by Cohiba and collaborations with Buffalo Trace. And there is the Diesel Whisky Row, a collaboration with Rabbit Hole Distilleries. Fratello Cigars also sells craft beer.

Most famous are probably the Cuban collaboration between Martell Cognac and Cohiba. Dominique London, the European retailer with more than 20 shops in the UK, Belgium, Switzerland and the Canary Islands takes it one step further. They bought a distillery in Wales and produce whisky, gin, rum, vodka and liquors.

Tanglin Orchid Gin

Tanglin Gin emerged from a desire to pioneer, to experiment, and to take a chance. The very first batch of Singapore’s Gin was created on the 1st of July 2018. Since then, the distillery has been relocated to the heart of the Tanglin neighbourhood, once home to many spice plantations. 

This is their ‘O.G.’, their first and original expression. Singapore’s first-ever gin is modern, smooth, with the pine of juniper unmistakably present. Its herbaceous flavour notes derive from classic gin botanicals with the addition of Vanilla Planifolia Orchid and an unexpected spice: Amchoor.

Awards:
• 2023: GOLD – San Francisco World Spirits Competition
• 2022: GOLD – San Francisco World Spirits Competition, SILVER (90 POINTS) – IWSC London
• 2021: WINNER – The Gin Guide Awards, GOLD – The Asian Spirits Masters, GOLD – The Gin Masters Asia

The distillery currently offers Singapore Gin, Black Powder Gin, Tanglin Triple Tangerine and Singapore moonshine as well. The Tanglin Triple Tangerine has piqued my interest and I’ll try to score a bottle of this gin for an article one of these days.

Neat

The botanicals in this gin include traditional London Dry-style ingredients like Macedonian juniper, Bulgarian coriander, angelica and Java pepper (cubeb), alongside the more unique whole vanilla beans from India, amchoor (dried green unripe mango) and homegrown oranges The gin is herbal on the nose with slight citrus. The juniper really shines through. The first flavour is quite herbal with some floral sweetness but once the gin warms in your mouth the flavours become complex with a sweet vanilla and creamy finish. This will go well with a stronger Connecticut Shade cigar to enhance the creaminess but a mild cigar will be overpowered by this nice gin.

Gin & Tonic

The botanicals of the gin are in the nose but largely diluted by the tonic and the ice. The citrus really shines through when this gin is mixed with tonic, and it makes this version quite refreshing. But to the citrus notes limits the kind of cigars that pair well with this. I paired it with a nice aged L’Atelier and that worked well. A smooth yet strong cigar will work well, with some pepper and earthy notes.

And now for the gin tonic recipe:
2 ounces or 60ml of gin

4 ounces or 120ml of Tonic water

Fill a Copa or Collins glass with ice.
Add the gin, then the tonic and stir gently.

Wibble

The original recipe asks for pink grapefruit, I could not find those, maybe it’s not the season, so I used red grapefruit which is slightly sweeter than the pink version. There isn’t much on the nose, just some red fruit and citrus. The drink itself is confusing. It has the bitterness that comes with the grapefruit, but also the sweetness from the rich simple syrup, orange liqueur and the sloe gin. The botanicals from the Tanglin gin give the cocktail complexity and depth while the lemon juice adds some sourness that goes well with the fruity flavours of the orange liqueur and the sloe gin. I like this cocktail, even though it confuses me. This cocktail doesn’t need a strong cigar, a medium bodied cigar will do, preferably with some complexity. Don’t overpower this cocktail with a strong cigar, you’ll ruin it.

And now for the Wibble recipe:
1 ounce or 30ml of gin

1 ounce or 30ml of sloe gin
1 ounce or 30ml of (pink) grapefruit juice
⅓ ounce or 10ml of lemon juice, freshly squeezed
⅓ ounce or 10ml of orange liqueur
⅓ ounce or 10ml of rich simple syrup, 2:1
Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice.
Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass or Nick & Nora glass.

Inspector X