The Smoke: 5 Vegas Miami M5. This guy weighs in at a hearty 5.5 inch by 55 ring gauge. This cigar is wrapped in a dark Cuban-seed, Nicaraguan-grown Corojo wrapper and filled with a blend of Cuban-seed, Nicaraguan-grown ligero long-fillers. Retail price for this smoke ranges up to about $10, but it can be had on cigarbid for considerably less.
Mostly positive reviews of this smoke, which almost universally mention the spice/pepperiness that seems to be the signature calling card of the Miami line. Other flavors include leather, earth and wood. While some reviews put this smoke in the full-bodied category, others claim its more of a medium or medium-to-full. Either way, this cigar is apparently well-liked, especially for its price point of about $3 when bought by the box on cigarbid.
The Wine: 2007 Baco Noir by Girardet Wine Cellars, Roseburg, Oregon. This wine is often overshadowed by Oregon’s pinot noirs, but it is fast becoming a favorite. This hybrid of European and American grapes was originally crafted as an experiment aimed at producing a grape that had built-in resistance to phylloxera, which had devastated European grape crops in the 1880s. Such hybrids eventually fell out of favor, but the baco variety – named for its creator, Francois Baco – is still grown in cold regions due to its unusual resistance to cold winter weather. The grape is grown in the American Midwest and the East, and up into Canada’s Ontario province. The Girardet baco is the only example of it out West (so far as this author is aware of.)
Described alternately as a “medium to full-bodied wine with aromas of ripe cherry with flavors of dark fruit and spice” or “rich, lush, dry and suffused with baco noir’s signature scent and taste of blueberry and plum” or “a floral bouquet heavy on lilac and violets as well as dark chocolate and honey,” this wine seems to have something in it for everybody. Many tasters, as well as the wine’s makers, note a spicy, almost peppery finish to this wine, which retails at about $25.
Perhaps the vineyard says it best: “Incredibly drinkable with a luscious mouth feel.”
The Combination: First, let me say that I am not new to either this cigar or this wine. I discovered the joys of baco a couple years ago and fell in love. I am traditionally a pinot guy, having lived in the heart of Oregon’s pinot country for many moons. About the only wine that I esteem as much is this baco.
As for the cigar, I enjoy pretty much the entire 5 Vegas line, and the Miami is one of my favorites. I enjoy the extra body to it, as opposed to the Gold line which is, frankly, so mild as to be just about tasteless. Not so, the Miami.
I begin this pairing by spending a few minutes with the Miami without any beverage at all, just to soak up the flavor profile. I quickly take note of the pepper/spice of this smoke. It is a pleasant flavor, almost savory, and it brings to mind perhaps the key reason I chose this as the first pairing to review: Both wine and cigar have peppery notes in their flavor profiles.
After about five minutes of this, I am ready to sample the baco. I pour some into a stemless Riedel glass and admire the aroma. Then I take a swig. First, I should note that I usually pour a freshly-opened wine through my Vinturi wine aerator, as this enhances the flavors by essentially speeding up the breathing process. This time, however, I did not do that. I was unprepared for it, as I sat on a wicker chair on my front porch for this evening’s smoke.
The reason I mention this is that the first aromatic mouthful of wine sends the alcoholic vapors shooting up into my sinuses and out the nose. (I’m sure there’s a better way to describe this, but I can’t think of the right word…effervescence? No, that’s from bubbles. I don’t know, but let me assure you, it’s not a bad thing, it’s just my way of describing that first swig of wine that hasn’t yet mellowed properly in the glass.)
The interesting thing is, I had a draw on the cigar just prior to that first swig, and thus, some residual aroma from the cigar also went shooting through my sinuses, hand in hand with the wine. It is almost what I would imagine it would be like to exhale the smoke through the nose, something which I have not mastered yet. The overall experience, in a word….luscious!
My next observation: The flavor of the wine is stronger than that of the cigar. When I take a draw on the cigar shortly after a swallow of wine, the cigar’s flavors are very clearly complemented by the wine, which imparts a background of fruity flavors. The situation is a little different when taking a sip of the wine shortly after a draw on the cigar. The cigar’s flavors are not as readily apparent. However, I blow some smoke into the deep Reidel tumbler and proceed to drink. As my nose enters the glass and I bring in the wine, the smoke asserts itself and the coupling is nice.
About a third of the way through, the spiciness of the cigar mellows, while the peppery finish of the wine remains. But a short while later, at about the halfway mark, I pour my second glass of the baco and notice that, with the extra time to breathe, the wine has mellowed as well. The spiciness is a little less noticeable, allowing the fruit flavors to come out a bit more. I taste cherry and plum, not so much the blueberry that other tasters have noted. As for the cigar, I taste leather and wood (earth?) notes. It is still savory, and the flavor is enhanced when I take a draw immediately after a sip of the baco.
Thus far, this is proving to be a fantastic pairing.
Venturing into the final third of the cigar, the spiciness seems to be bumping up a bit. However, I am unable to determine if that is because of the blend, or whether the wine itself has mellowed to such an extent that it is allowing the cigar’s flavors to overwhelm the wine. I notice less and less impact of the wine on the cigar. That luscious backdrop of fruity flavors is not as noticeable.
Important observation: This combination packs a punch. The cigar is definitely on the stiffer end of the medium-to-full spectrum. As well, the wine is about 14 percent alcohol by volume, a little meatier than standard. Together, the impact on my physical presence is quite relaxing. As I note to my recording device, “I wish I was in a hammock.”
At about the hour-and-a-half mark, my wine is gone – the remainder of the bottle has been claimed by my wife, otherwise I would have drank it – and the cigar is about ready to be nubbed out.
Conclusions: This pairing was basically what I had hoped it would be. The flavors were complementary and enhanced both the drinking experience and the smoking experience. It was interesting to see the changes in both the cigar and the wine over the course of the smoke, and how changes in one impacted the other…in this case, in a positive way. In the end, this tasty pairing left me with a slight buzz and a relaxed grin. I would recommend this pairing to anybody. And I look forward to doing it again.
No comments:
Post a Comment