Pairing Cigars & Alcohol – Knob Creek 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.
Knob Creek Rye
Knob Creek is an American brand of Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced by Beam Suntory (a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan) at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, Kentucky. It is one of the four Jim Beam small batch bourbon brands targeted for the high-end liquor market. Its siblings in the line are Booker’s, Baker’s, and Basil Hayden’s. The first Knob Creek bourbon was introduced in 1992, named after nearby Knob Creek Farm. It shares the same general formulation as Jim Beam, but is aged and packaged differently.
Knob Creek Rye is a 100 proof (50% ABV) straight rye whiskey bearing the Knob Creek name was released in 2012. This is the first Knob Creek whiskey not to carry an age statement, instead being advertised only as “Patiently Aged”. In the United States, rye whiskey is, by law, made from a mash of at least 51 percent rye. (The other ingredients in the mash are usually corn and malted ) It is distilled to no more than 160 U.S. proof (80% abv) and aged in charred, new oak barrels. The whiskey must be put in the barrels at no more than 125 proof (62.5% abv). Rye whiskey that has been aged for at least two years and has not been blended with other spirits may be further designated as straight, as in “straight rye whiskey”.
Neat
The nose of the Knob Creek Rye in a Glencairn glass is rich. Ginger, menthol, caramel and herbs with the signature rye and some oak. The spice of the rye shines, it coats the whole mouth without overpowering everything. There are also some buttery notes, vanilla and brown sugar. The long finish is spicy, peppery with some oak. A creamy cigar, a stronger Connecticut Shade, preferably with a Honduran Connecticut Shade wrapper would pair nicely, but something with a Corojo wrapper and it’s nutty characteristics would be nice as well.
In a rocks glass, the nose is milder, less outspoken. But the characters of the nose are still the same as in a Glencairn glass, just less outspoken. The ginger is stronger when you drink the rye from a rocks glass, as is the spice and white pepper from the rye. The creamy vanilla and sugar notes tone everything down with that peppery, spicy and oaky finish. I would like to pair this with a Maduro or Connecticut Broadleaf cigar for some added sweetness.
Old Fashioned
As always, orange dominates the nose with a little hint of the rye spices. The rye spice works very well with the added sugar, but the bitters kind of disappear in the spice of the rye with the buttery vanilla sweetness and oaky peppery finish. This cocktail will go well with most medium bodied or stronger cigar. I paired it with a El Gueguense Corona Gorda by Foundation Cigars and that was divine.
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.
Colonial Ties
Created by Eric Alperin owner of the Varnish in downtown Los Angeles, this drink is not only a play on the American Trilogy cocktail but also a continuation of the colonial story in the glass featuring America’s first Whiskey, Rum. Rum in America was probably the first spirit distilled and a by-product of the sugar industry set up in the Caribbean which carries with it the legacy of slavery in this country. Every great drink should tell a story, this one is kind of a sequel.
Even though the glass is only rinsed with absinth and the spirit isn’t actually in the cocktail, the nose is all about that alcohol. Lots of liquorice. The spice of the rye and the sweetness of the rum pair well together without compromising each other’s character. The orange bitters provide depth and a bit of a citrus twang. This is a spirit forward cocktail, something I usually don’t prefer, but this cocktail is not bad at all. The strength of the cocktail demands a stronger cigar though, fuller bodied but I wouldn’t go for a cigar with Maduro sweetness nor something creamy. Woody of nutty cigars would be the best pairing in my humble opinion.
And now for the Colonial Ties recipe:
1 ounce or 30ml of Rye
1 ounce of Jamaican rum
2 dashes of orange bitters
1 brown sugar cube
1 bar spoon of club soda
2 dashes of absinthe
Rinse a double rocks glass with the absinthe and pour the liquid out. Add the sugar cube with the club soda and muddle the sugar. Add the spirits and a big ice cube. Stir until sufficiently chilled.
Inspector X
