Pairing Cigars & Alcohol – Bols Amaretto
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. 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.
Bols Amaretto
Amaretto is an Italian liqueur with an almond taste although there aren’t any almonds in there. The almond flavour comes from apricot kernels, burnt sugar, the essence of seventeen herbs and spices and absolute alcohol. According to the legend, a young widowed innkeeper gave the artist Bernardino Luini a bottle of brandy with apricot kernels in it as a thank you for using her as a model for a painting, and Amaretto was born.
Lucas Bols N.V. is a Dutch public company in the business of production, distribution, sales and marketing of alcoholic beverages. It claims to be the oldest distillery brand in the world. Its brand portfolio consists of Bols, Galliano, Vaccari, Pisang Ambon, Gold Strike and a large group of Dutch jenevers and liqueurs. It produces about 3 million cases a year, with yearly revenues exceeding 95 million euros. Recently another Dutch alcohol giant, Nolet, best known for Ketel One vodka, bought over Lucas Bols.
Neat
The nose is almond and marzipan, sweet and tasty with a hint of dried apricot. This is liquid marzipan, and I happen to love marzipan. For me, this is better than the better-known Amaretto DiSaronno. So rich, with the perfect amount of sweetness, toasted almonds, a little bit of spice, caramel and all with a creamy undertone. The finish is long with a biscuit and marzipan. I would not pair this with a cigar to be honest, but if I would I’d pick something slightly spicy or nutty. Something with a Cameroon or Corojo wrapper.
Screaming Orgasm
All you need for this cocktail is Amaretto, Irish Cream, Vodka and Coffee liqueur. With some whipped cream to add as a garnish on top. So, it is a pretty simple cocktail to make with pretty standard ingredients.
The Irish cream adds to the creamy chocolate flavour while the coffee liqueur adds to the coffee taste as well as the creamy flavour. Vodka, tends to be a rather tasteless liquor, typically just adding an alcohol bit on the backend of whatever drink it is added to.
The nose is dominated by the Irish cream. That is also the main flavour, with a little bit of coffee and marzipan. The vodka provides a slight kick with the milk and the cream adding a thick creamy feel, adding to the Baileys. Since this is such a creamy cocktail, I would stay away from a creamy cigar. I would go for something with a Corojo wrapper for a nutty flavour.
And now for the Screaming Orgasm recipe:
1¼ ounce or 37½ml of Vodka
1¼ ounce or 37½ml of Coffee liqueur
1¼ ounce or 37½ml of Amaretto
1¼ ounce or 37½ml of Irish Cream
1¼ ounce or 37½ml of cream
1¼ ounce or 37½ml of full fat milk
Shake all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and then strain into a hurricane glass filled with crushed ice.
Alabama Slammer
The Alabama Slammer might be the most ’70s of all the bright and fruity 1970s cocktails. Its base blend of amaretto, sloe gin and Southern Comfort stands in total defiance of what one would expect from a staunch Southern sipper.
The nose is marzipan, almond and some orange. The cocktail is surprisingly balanced. I can taste the sweet almonds from the amaretto, the berry from the sloe gin and the citrus from the orange. The Southern Comfort adds some strength and depth to it. It’s a fantastic summer cocktail, it doesn’t feel too strong yet it packs three shots of alcohol. I can see myself sitting outside in the summer sun sipping this drink and puffing on a nice Cohiba Robusto or a Joya de Nicaragua Red Robusto, a Foreign Affair by Luciano or something similar in the medium strength region.
And now for the Alabama Slammer recipe:
1 ounce or 30ml of Southern Comfort
1 ounce or 30ml of Sloe Gin
1 ounce or 30ml of Amaretto
2 ounces or 60ml of Orange Juice, freshly squeezed
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the liquids. Shake well. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
Come Here
Come Here is delightful standard cocktail. Layered with 30ml coffee liqueur, almond liqueur (amaretto) and almond milk.
Since the amaretto is the top layer, it’s also the main aroma in the nose. The cocktail is nutty and sweet, marzipan but diluted by the creamy (unsweetened) almond milk. The almond milk enhances the almond flavour though. The coffee liqueur hasn’t hit yet, that will be the finish. Once the coffee flavour mixes in with the almond and marzipan, the flavours get extra rich and decadent. This is a nice after dinner cocktail and will go well with a cigar with a chocolate flavour profile.
And now for the Come Here recipe:
1 ounce or 30ml of Coffee Liqueur
½ ounce or 15ml of Amaretto
2 ounces of 60ml of Almond Milk
Fill a rocks glass with ice and add the booze, first the coffee liqueur, then the almond milk with the amaretto on top. You’ll get the best results if you pour the second and third layer over the back of a spoon.
Inspector X
