Pairing Cigars & Alcohol – Jack Daniels Rye
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.
Jack Daniels Rye
There is no American whisky more famous than Jack Daniels, but the company makes more than the classic No.7, the bottle that everyone knows and is even a fashion statement nowadays. We have written about the Jack Daniels No.7, Jack Daniels Tennessee Apple and the Jack Daniels Overproof before, now it’s time to explore the Jack Daniels Tennessee Rye
Introducing rye whiskey made Jack’s way. Crafted with their 70-percent rye grain bill, natural spring water from their own Cave Spring Hollow, and Jack’s time-honoured charcoal mellowing process, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye is a whiskey that could only come from Lynchburg, Tennessee. Master Distiller Jeff Arnett and the whiskey makers of the Jack Daniel Distillery have created a unique rye that’s undeniably spicy and complex yet sipping smooth. It might be one of their first new recipes in over 150-years, but if you know Jack, you’ll know Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye.
Neat
As always I try this in both a Glencairn glass and a rocks glass. First the Glencairn. The nose is interesting, fried ripe banana, lots of sweetness and some grain. There’s a hint of cocoa too. The fruit doesn’t really show up in the flavour, there’s more of a dark spice and chocolate flavour without tasting too much like chocolate if you know what I mean. It has notes but not exactly the flavour. There’s a hint of apple pie as well with a long spicy finish with oak and black pepper. This with a nice cigar with a Maduro or Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper for some sweetness will be an amazing pairing.
The nose is milder and less complexed in a rocks glass, while the drink itself is hotter. And with that I means it burns a bit more without really burning your throat. It has a bit more of a bite than in a Glencairn. The pepper and dark spices seem a bit stronger but I would still recommend the same cigars. Something on the stronger side with a sweeter wrapper. Something like the Arturo Fuente Añejo series.
Old Fashioned
The nose, as expected, is orange due to the orange peel but with the nice sweetness of a rye. The few drops of bitters and that one sugar cube really change the flavours of the drink. The bitterness is clear and brings depth to the whisky, or should I say whiskey since it’s American? The sugar doesn’t completely balance the bitterness. And when I say bitterness I don’t mean that in a negative way. A nice earthy and relatively strong smoke will pair well. For Cubans you come into the range of the Montecristo No.2 while in the new world you should look towards the EPC Pledge.
And now for the Old-Fashioned recipe:
1 sugar cube
3 dashes of bitters
2 oz or 60 ml of whisky
orange peel
Put the sugar cube in a highball glass, add the dashes of bitters and a splash of water. Muddle the sugar cube.
Add ice and the whisky. Stir for 10 seconds, then add an orange peel.
Green Point
The Manhattan cocktail emerged in the borough of its namesake, New York City, circa 1880, and since its inception, it has inspired numerous variations, many of which have become classics in their own right. Among these variations are cocktails paying homage to other NYC boroughs, such as the Bronx and the Brooklyn. Delving even further into this cocktail family unveils a third tier of recipes representing specific neighbourhoods within those boroughs.
One such variation is the Greenpoint, a twist on the Brooklyn cocktail (comprising rye, dry vermouth, maraschino liqueur, and Amer Picon). Originating from the iconic Milk & Honey bar in NYC, bartender Michael McIlroy crafted the Greenpoint in 2006, naming it after the Brooklyn neighborhood. While maintaining the fundamental structure of spirit, vermouth, liqueur, and bitters, the Greenpoint introduces a couple of alterations. It substitutes sweet vermouth for dry and replaces the bittersweet maraschino and Amer Picon with yellow Chartreuse, a French herbal liqueur.
The nose has the lemon from the garnish, but also the botanicals from the Chartreuse and the sweetness from the Rye. This is a spirit forward cocktail; all components contain alcohol so I’m expecting a strong drink. Spirit forward cocktails aren’t my favourite but let’s see if this Green Point will change my mind. This is a tasty cocktails, the sweetness of the vermouth plays well with the flavours of the rye, while the bitters create depth. The Chartreuse botanicals give this cocktail complexity. I would pair this with a stronger cigar with either woody or earthy notes.
And now for the Green Point recipe:
2 ounces or 60ml of Rye Whiskey
½ ounce or 15ml of Yellow Chartreuse
½ ounce or 15ml of sweet vermouth
1 dash of Angostura bitters
1 dash of Orange bitters
Lemon twist
Add the rye whiskey, yellow Chartreuse, sweet vermouth and both bitters into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled.
Strain into a coupe or cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Inspector X
