Favorite scotches to pair with?

[Joe Bloggs]

Hi everyone
Dunno if this has been posted before. Of so mods plrase close this..

Being still new to this I've discovered cigars with my favorite scotches are freaking amazing.

Would love to see some of the favorite pairings by all the brothers out there.

I'll start with my favorite blended Japanese scotch whisky nikka.. It went down superb with a RASS and PSD4.

Cheers


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[Joe Bloggs]

Lol flying start

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[The Munt]

Hi Joe, This has definitely been posted somewhere before but all the same I tried Swing scotch at my brother in laws with an Oliva Master Blend 3 and magic happened!

I later found out it was quite an exy scotch so I'm guessing magic would have happened anyway lol with any cigar, but yeah I'm no connoisseur in that department but hope it helps.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

LOl Cheers @The Munt

will look around for that other thread!

 

[daverutherford61]

Honestly, I love the Mortlach Rare old single malt with just about anything. For the sake of conversation let's go with Ashton VSG - Spellbound.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

fwiw !

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/webfeatures/show/id/pairing-the-top-five-cigars-of-2015-with-spirits-18518

 

[sweemzander]

In a general sense, I find scotches aged or finished in Sherry Casks to go really well with a wide range of cigars.

 

[LFOD]

I had a Padron 1964 Anniversary (maduro) with Lagavulin 16 last weekend. Islay's are kind of tough because they can overwhelm a cigar but this worked out pretty well. Seemed to bring out the sweetness and complexity of the whisky and downplay the peat / smoke aspects while the cigar held its own and showed some rich nutty flavors.

 

[Zmilin]

I mostly pair with rums but one scotch that always seems to work is Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

 

[LFOD]

I've been thinking of grabbing a bottle of either the Quinta or the La Santa

 

[sweemzander]

I mostly pair with rums but one scotch that always seems to work is Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

Makes perfect sense since that scotch is finished in port barrels. A nice port and a cigar is one of the magical pairings in the universe (especially a tawny)

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[CVAC085]

Makes perfect sense since that scotch is finished in port barrels. A nice port and a cigar is one of the magical pairings in the universe (especially a tawny)

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Not to de-rail, but Sandeman Tawny port is ON POINT!

 

[sweemzander]

Not to de-rail, but Sandeman Tawny port is ON POINT!

hard to go wrong with any Tawny - its the sweetness and the slight caramelization/oxidation of tawnys that works so well with any medium - full cigar.

 

[StogieNinja]

I used to recommend against drinking scotch with cigars. I smoked primarily dark, earthy Nicaraguans (Liga Privada, Tatuaje Reservas), and drank primarily really smokey, peaty scotches (Lagavulin, Bowmore). I found that the intense flavor profiles tended to compete with each other, not compliment each other.

However, as I've gotten more into medium bodied corojo and habano wrappers, and CCs, I've also grown to like more balanced scotch as well, and they tend to compliment each other a lot better. I had an El Gueguense with some Auchentoshan 12yr on Tuesday night, and it was really pleasant. Maybe not the best pairing, but it was good.

My point is, if you like the really strong cigars and strong scotch, you're not likely going to find a really complimentary pair. You'll get a lot of strong flavor with every draw and sip, but they might not mesh well. If you want to pair something, I recommend trying to pair more medium-bodied stuff as they plays more nicely with others.

 

[sweemzander]

I used to recommend against drinking scotch with cigars. I smoked primarily dark, earthy Nicaraguans (Liga Privada, Tatuaje Reservas), and drank primarily really smokey, peaty scotches (Lagavulin, Bowmore). I found that the intense flavor profiles tended to compete with each other, not compliment each other.

However, as I've gotten more into medium bodied corojo and habano wrappers, and CCs, I've also grown to like more balanced scotch as well, and they tend to compliment each other a lot better. I had an El Gueguense with some Auchentoshan 12yr on Tuesday night, and it was really pleasant.

I agree - I almost never pair a peated scotch with a cigar. An exception to this I have found is the Bowmore 15yr Darkest (sherry cask finished) - worked really well with the RoMa Craft Cromagnon I had with it.
If I end up having whiskey with a cigar, I usually go with bourbon (a bit sweeter), other than that, most of the barrel finished non-peated scotches are usually a nice pairing, though not all of the time.

 

[UnBanded]

For me, Davidoff Aniversario No. 3. Its med-full body stands up to peaty monsters, and subtle cedar sweetness compliments most full flavor beverages.. IPAs, aged rum, red wines, cognac, and bourbons/whiskey.

 

[sweemzander]

New favorite - Check out the Glenfiddich 14year. Made exclusively for the US market - aged in Bourbon barrels - finished in new american oak. If you like bourbon, but looking to try scotch - this is a great starter / transition into the spirit.
http://www.glenfiddich.com/us/collection/product-collection/core-range/bourbon-barrel-reserve-14-year-old/

 

[PetersCreek]

I mostly pair with rums but one scotch that always seems to work is Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban.

Speaking of rums, a scotch that I've really taken a liking to is The Balvenie Caribbean Cask 14. My go-to cigars are in the Padron thousand series and they pair quite well with it.

I used to recommend against drinking scotch with cigars. I smoked primarily dark, earthy Nicaraguans (Liga Privada, Tatuaje Reservas), and drank primarily really smokey, peaty scotches (Lagavulin, Bowmore). I found that the intense flavor profiles tended to compete with each other, not compliment each other.

I love my peat monsters, too and I've come to think that pair such scotches with cigars is backwards. It works better for me to pair the cigar to a peated scotch, especially light-wrapper varieties with primary notes of grass, hay, and other earthy-herbal characters.