Cigar pairing with beverages enhances the tobacco blend’s present flavors or reveals hidden features like buried riches. However, mixing the wrong cigar with the sour drink increases the chances that neither the cigar nor the glass will taste wonderful. Identifying the perfect balance where your cigar’s quality and taste characteristics connect with the strength and flavor character of your beer is the secret to pairing a quality cigar with a superb beer. While whiskey is usually the drink of choice for what to drink with a cigar, beer is unquestionably the hidden hero of drink and cigar combinations. However, because beers may be challenging to pair and are sometimes more divisive than cigars, it might appear daunting to know which cigars fit with specific beers. We know a fair number of beer connoisseurs who also enjoy fine cigars and would never separate the two. While this is a question of personal opinion, we feel that a palate-cleansing drink may frequently help your sense of taste when you’re enjoying a superb cigar. We all know that beer is usually carbonated, and it may go well with a broad range of cigars.
Best Way to Pair a Cigar and Beer
Light vs. Dark Wrapper
The colors vary from Double Claro (the lightest) to Oscuro (the darkest) (a deep brown color). That is one of the beer and cigar pairings that appears to be focused on looks, but it’s more than that. The younger the cigar, the lighter the hue. That indicates that reduced maturation time for Double Claros, and the smells would be more fresh and acidic. Because of the extensive age process, and Oscuro cigar will have a richer, fuller taste profile. Another thing to keep in mind is that the color of the wrapper can be a strong predictor of the cigar’s strength.
Pale vs. Dark Beer
The beer’s appearance is also essential since it reveals the tastes and scent. Light beers, such as Pilsners and Blonde Ales, are often quite pleasant and straightforward to drink, with a faint odor. Darker beers, such as Porters and Stouts, are often heavier in alcohol, taste, and texture. Because they have a denser body and a more decadent scent, they are the ideal partner for full-bodied cigars because they are more evenly matched in boldness.
Malt vs. Hops
Water, hops, yeast, and malted barley are the primary components in beer. In terms of flavor and scent, the amount of each of these four components makes all the difference. Because of the substantial usage of grains, malty beer tends to be on the sweeter side. The higher the amount of maltose generated in the mash, the sweeter taste after fermentation. These are fragrant beers with a richer mouthfeel and solidity. Several aromatic beers are sweet in flavor and are best coupled with a cigar with similar flavors and power. Hops contribute to the crisp finish and most of the bitter taste of beer. There are alternatives to the norm, but hop-forward beers are often bitter. They are best coupled with medium to full-bodied cigars, like a Cohiba cigar, to balance the intensity and scent.
Recommended Cigar and Beer Pairings
Try Pairing a Mild Cigar with a Pilsner
Pilsner is a gentle pale lager with a clean, delightful flavor. It was first produced in Pilsen (Plze), which is currently in the Czech Republic. The beer was invented in 1842 by the brewery that would become known as Pilsner Urquell, and it was an instant hit. It didn’t take too long for brewers throughout Bohemia to embrace the style. Bottom-fermented beer with lightly kilned malted barley and the low alcohol content is by far the most common kind of beer in the world today.
#1 Montecristo and Bitburger
Pilsner is one of the most recognized beers available. It is a spicy lager with a pale hue, and an assertive hops taste. Bitburger is a premium pilsner that can be picked up at a local liquor store or enjoyed at a bar. Montecristo cigars have a mellow, sweet, and somewhat grassy flavor that pairs well with the hops in a pilsner. The Connecticut Shade wrapper of the cigar emits a smooth taste that satisfies without being overpowering. If you want a mild cigar and a very palatable beer, that is the combo to try.
#2 Half Acre Pony & Camacho Connecticut
A superb premium cigar pairing demands a beautiful craft beer; thus, the flavorful Camacho Connecticut Toro cigar is paired with Half Acre Pony for this Perfect Pairing. Half Acre Pony is a Pilsner — a German-style beer manufactured in Chicago by Half Acre Beer Company that provides citrus, lemon rind, mild grass, mint, grain sweetness, and some dryness towards the finish. Camacho Connecticut Toro is an exquisite medium-bodied cigar ready to provide you with a highly complex smoking experience. Its matured tobaccos from Dominica and Honduras make it smooth and creamy, with undertones of chocolate, damp soil, caramel, and naturally sweet tobacco. The Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper then adds a dash of pepper and spice to give it a bite.
#3 Two Roads Ol' Factory Pils & Oliva Connecticut Reserve
Two Roads Ol’ Factory Pils, brewed by Two Roads Brewing Company in Stratford, Connecticut, is a German-style Pilsner that we combine with the extremely popular Oliva Connecticut ReserveChurchill cigar. Ol’ Factory Pils blend traditional German and American hops and malts. The outcome is varieties of lemony hops backed by bready malt, toasted cereal, some spice, and faint hints of ripe banana. Manufactured by Nicaragua’s largest listed growers, Oliva Connecticut ReserveChurchill features a stunning golden-brown Connecticut wrapper surrounded by the Dominican Republic’s finest aged tobaccos. Its pleasantly smooth flavors of coffee, leather, cream, and just the right spice notes are mellow to medium-bodied in intensity.
#4 Victory Prima Pils & Montecristo Volume I: 100 Days
Victory Prima Pils is a crisp yet unique Pilsner beer made with German hops that impart bright flavors of floral and spice, supported by citrus and lemon characteristics. This fantastic blend provides a highly complex sipping experience, which is improved with the ideal handcrafted cigar, the award-winning Montecristo Volume 1: 100 Days Toro. This exquisite Monte is medium-bodied in strength and delivers up complex notes of coffee, wood, and zesty spices; all supported up by natural tobacco sweetness throughout.
#5 Dogfish Head My Antonia & Undercrown Shade
My Antonia’s Dogfish Foam pours a somewhat hazy gold with a large frothy white head. Its delightful smell and taste notes include sweet bready malts and hops, backed by a citrusy finish with a bittersweet aftertaste. These bright and matched tasting notes, blended with the varieties of cream roasted, nuts, warm spice, and honey, make an Ideal Pairing that you’ll want to savor time and time again.
Try a Medium-Bodied Cigar and Pale Ale
Pale ale is a commonly consumed beer style that is hop-forward with a malty taste, golden to amber in color, and moderate in strength. Pale beers made with pale malt and ale yeast sits between black stouts and light lagers. They’re flavorful but not overpowering, making the style highly approachable. The first pale ales were made in England, inspiring the American craft beer sector. Malty English beers, balanced American brews, Belgian session ales, and hoppy IPAs are examples of the style.
#1 Founders All Day IPA & Ashton Classic
In Founders All Day IPA, a mellow and complex blend of malts, grains, and hops yields a character optimized for great daily taste with a clean finish. At the same time, Ashton Classic is an exceptional companion with an iconic flavor of roasted cashews, cedar, coffee with cream, and a hint of black pepper.
#2 Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra & Perdomo Champagne
Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra is prominent yet balanced, designed to provide different scents without introducing bitterness. Pine, citrus, pineapple, and grapefruit flower scents, with a significant, dry, and earthy aftertaste with a hint of malty sweetness. Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne is a light-bodied smoke with a golden-blonde Ecuador Connecticut wrapper leaf and an all-Nicaraguan inside binder and filler tobaccos. Perdomo is handcrafted to a high level in Estel, Nicaragua. Notes of nuts, white pepper, and wood give a creamy, flexible finish that is perfectly calibrated to complement Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA’s forest-and-fruit-like flavor.
#3 Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA & San Cristobal Elegancia
Dogfish Head, 60 Minute IPA, is a follow-up to the brand’s earlier 90 Minute IPA. Based on an old-school vibrating football game, a delicate vibrating technique gives the beer a constant stream of hops, imparting taste and complexity without overpowering bitterness. Floral flavors of orange peel and pine lead to a crisp, peppery, and effervescent finish. The San Cristobal Elegancia cigar is made with a golden Ecuador Connecticut wrapper leaf and a creamy, nutty, woody, and sweet blend of superior aged Nicaraguan tobaccos. Notes of cedar and almonds continue into a white pepper finish that pairs perfectly with Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA’s vibrant and somewhat bitter flavor.
#4 Warped Flor Del Valle and Citra Ipa
The Warped Flor del Valle Sky Flower Lancero is a Nicaraguan puro wrapped in a gorgeous Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 wrapper and was made in the famed Casa Fernandez facility in Miami, FL. Rich taste notes of white pepper, earth, raisins, coffee, and creamy cream were generated by this medium to full-bodied smoke. With the Lancero size, I was able to pair this smoke with two Citra IPAs, which enhanced my smoking experience with each puff and sip. Lemon peel, tropical fruits, gentle pine resin, and a hint of honey bound are some of the flavor characteristics you could notice while sipping a Citra IPA. The Citra IPA, like the Warped Flor del Valle, is medium-bodied but pleasant. This match was one of my faves out of all of the pairings given since it was soothing, and the Citra IPA complimented the Warped Flor del Valle flawlessly during the entire time smoking Kyle Gellis’ flavorful smoke.
Try a Full-Bodied Cigar and Stout
It is a dark, full-bodied beer popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. They are more potent variants of mild ales. There are other varieties, including oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. Stout beer is produced entirely of barley grain, with no additions used in the manufacturing process. As a result, this is a high-quality beer. It is favorable to the health of individuals who consume modest amounts of beer.
#1 Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout & La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor
The name Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout is a mouthful. The rich, frothy, and highly sought-after small-batch stout offers a luscious combination of vanilla, oak barrel, caramel, and chocolate aromas, as well as an excellent viscosity for sipping. With its dark and oily San Andrés wrapper, La Aroma de Cub Mi Amor is paired with a meaty interior of aged Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos collected from select Garcia family estates. Before a sweet, lingering finish, notes of crushed black pepper, almonds, freshly ground espresso beans, and maple enchant the palette.
#2 Guinness & Ashton Aged Maduro
Guinness’ innovative draft system uses a combination of nitrogen and carbon dioxide to provide a creamy, malty, and smooth flavor. When there isn’t a tap nearby, cans of Guinness are outfitted with a nitrogen “widget” to retain the churning of tiny bubbles and the narrow strip of tan creaminess that rises to the top when poured in a pint glass. Ashton Aged Maduro is a similarly recognized and best-selling profile. A succulent Connecticut Broadleaf tobacco embraces a beautiful blend of aged Dominican binder and filler tobaccos. Dark chocolate, black pepper, molasses, and maple notes complement the velvety espresso-and-coffee-bean flavor of Guinness well. The dark tastes are polished, savory, and just slightly longer, yet with a pleasant and refined texture.
#3 Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout & San Cristobal Ovation
Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout has a full-bodied, rich, and virtually black character produced from highly roasted grains and balanced by the milk sugar (lactose) used in the brewing process. Notes of malted chocolate, caramel, raisins, and burnt fruit blend in this rich, smooth, and creamy beer. A glossy San Andrés wrapper leaf is extensively aged and drawn over a magnificent interior of quality Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. A profile of sweetened hickory, leather, espresso, and silky spices entices the palette throughout a robust, creamy finish. The rich, luscious solidity of Ovation and Duck-Rabbit combine in a beautiful after-dinner cigar-and-stout pairing that might be a feast in and of itself.
#4 NightShade by Drew Estate and Imperial Stout
Drew Estate has been responsible for some of the most inventive and best-selling mixes on the market in recent decades. The firm has risen to become Nicaragua’s leading manufacturer of handcrafted cigars. The company’s most recent product, NightShade by Drew Estate, is an intriguing new addition to the brand portfolio. The cigars are expertly rolled in the company’s sophisticated La Gran Fabrica Drew Estate facility in Nicaragua and feature a dark, oily Connecticut Habano wrapper surrounded by an Indonesian binder and aged long-fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Expect a robust, intense smoke with velvety smooth overtones of chocolate, black pepper, espresso, and undertones of dried fruit in three popular huge ring sizes and one iconic old-world Torpedo.
Night Shade torpedo was combined with your favorite Imperial Stout because they each have similar taste elements and are full-bodied in their own right. Chocolate, black pepper, espresso, and undertones of dried fruit are flavor elements that run throughout the NightShade. Although the primary fragrance of an Imperial Stout is malt and fruit, the taste notes you’ll notice when drinking one is chocolate, coffee, burned grain, and dried fruits.
#5 Tatuaje Havana VI Verocu and Milk Stout
Long-time partners Pete Johnson of Tatuaje and Jose “Pepin” Garcia created the Tatuaje Havana VI Verocu. Pepin Garcia oversaw the production of this special edition Nicaraguan puro at the My Father facility in Nicaragua. Because the Tatuaje Havana VI Verocu No. 3 is so restricted and unique, we matched it with a Milk Stout, which isn’t generally a “go-to” beer for the ordinary beer drinker. A Milk stout differs from other stouts merely by being brewed with lactose. Lactose is a form of sugar milk that does not ferment in the beer’s yeast, giving it the sweet taste note you can notice while drinking a milk stout. The medium-bodied Havana VI Verocu No. 3 offers exquisite taste notes of coffee, cream, almonds, and spicy spice on the finish. The flavor characteristics of the Tatuaje Havana VI Verocu are similar to the flavor notes of a milk stout.
Bonuse Recommendations: Blonde Ale and Double Bock
#1 Davidoff Grand Cru Series and Blonde Ale
At first appearance, our next match appears to be incredibly excellent. The Davidoff Grand Cru Series Toro is paired with a crisp Blonde Ale. With spring in full force and summer just around the corner, this combo is one you should attempt to enjoy outside with some good friends while the sun shines. The Davidoff Grand Cru Series Toro is wrapped in a gorgeous Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, with Dominican Republic tobaccos serving as the binder and filler.
They opted to combine the Davidoff Grand Cru Series with a Blonde Ale since they are light and refreshing. Sometimes you want a nice little afternoon treat, and the Grand Cru Series Toro with a Blonde Ale is the thing! While smoking this medium-bodied beauty, you’ll notice flavors like nuts, wood, sweet caramel, and spice. When you take a sip of your favorite blonde ale beer, the sweet maltiness, caramel, and hops flood your mouth.
#2 Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 2 and Doppelbock
Tobaccos from Brazil and Nicaragua make up the wrapper, binder, and filler of the 6 x 54 Espiritu Series No. 2 Toro. This medium to full-bodied gorgeous-looking stick on the backend contains taste notes of earth, black pepper, dark roast coffee, and cinnamon. That’s why we at JR determined a Doppelbock would be the perfect beer to pair with the Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 2. Like Espiritu No. 2, the perfume of a Doppelbock will fill your nose with chocolate and dried fruit. When you take a sip of this delicious black beer, though, you’ll notice extra flavors of toast, wood, and char—making the Doppelbock and the Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 2 an unbeatable cigar and beer combo.
Personal Choice for Pairing Cigars and Beer
To get the most joy and flavor from you cigar, we’ve provided these recommendations and tips for pairing cigars to help you out. Of course, this isn’t a be-all end-all list. There are an almost unlimited number of pairing your can try and enjoy. For most people, it will come down to enjoying your favorite cigar with your favorite beer during a barbecue or after a round of golf. Whatever you enjoy is the best pair.
