Pairing Cigars with Rum Tips (Plus, 10 Recommendations)

Cigars and Rum Pairing

Pairings may be an excellent method to improve the flavor of a cigar. Discovering the proper meal or drink to pair with your smoke may help you create an exceptional flavor experience by bringing out nuances and finding complementing notes. Rum is a comprehensive and exciting family of beverages frequently regarded as ideal cigar matching options. While most rums and cigars go well together, these are the most incredible combinations to explore. Good rum with a good cigar may take you to a state of pure joy. The only thing you need to understand is that the secret is in the careful combination of flavors and fragrances. All of this is paired with an understanding of how and why various profiles interact with one another. When mixing rum and cigars, one should always consider the similarities. Both are the product of meticulously grown ingredients subjected to lengthy periods of maturing and mixing. Cigar rolling, like rum making, is built on a foundation of craftsmanship and traditions that predate all previous generations.

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Some Rules for Pairing Rum and Cigars

As a result of these guidelines, a fundamental notion for rum and cigars would be to pair:

  • Dark rum with full-bodied, rich cigars that have sweet and smoky notes.
  • Spiced rum paired with medium-bodied cigars with spicy or woody aromas.
  • Light rum with modest cigars, with softer or fainter flavors.

10 of the Best Cigar and Rum Pairings

#1 Flor de Caña 18 Year Old Centenario Rum and Ashton Aged Maduro Torpedo Cigar

Flor de Caña is Nicaraguan rum that has earned Double Gold awards at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2006 and 2008. This 18-year-old rum is rich and well-aged, with chocolate, spice, caramel, nut, vanilla, and allspice flavors. The Ashton Aged Maduro, a medium-bodied cigar that can hold its own when coupled with this rum, is the ideal complement for Flor de Caa, especially in terms of flavor. The Ashton Aged Maduro contains touches of sweetness that complement the inherent sweetness of the rum. As you smoke, chocolate, spice, and maple notes emerge, blending well with the rum’s sweet and spicy aroma.

#2 Padrón 80 Years & Flor de Caña 12

Let’s get ready for this all-Nicaraguan lineup. Grab an earthy Padrón 80 years, a filled, spicy perfecto with nutty, chocolatey, and coffee and cedar flavors. Combine it with the semi-sweet, oak-barreled Flor de Caa (Flower of the Sugar Cane) 12, a Nicaraguan rum with a bit of peppery edge that tells me I’m drinking something special. The number ’12’ denotes the age of the oldest rum in the bottle. The ’18’ is more well-known, but I think it’s a touch too creamy for this cigar. There are notes of nougat, almond, caramel, and a lot of sherry. The finish has a caramel undertone and an oaky fade.

#3 Ashton Heritage Puro Sol Corona Gorda & Santa Teresa 1796

It’s the early hours of the morning, and you intend to smoke again after supper. Let’s start with something tasty yet light on the palate. The Ashton Heritage Puro Sol has a lot of taste but not much punch. This well-balanced smoke will be improved by the Venezuelan Santa Teresa 1796 Ron Antiguo de Solera, the ideal aperitif rum, with an Ecuador Habano wrapper around Dominican filler cultivated in the sun. While Santa Teresa does not carry a vintage,’ solera’ implies that the rum is combined with varied ages of production, in this case ranging from four to 35 years. This mixture is then matured longer, producing a relatively light and dry rum, which is not too sweet, with a woody scent and notes of honey and leather that pair nicely with the cigar’s chocolate and caramel.

#4 Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Robusto & Brugal 1888

This is a Dominican contrast study. The Don Carlos line has a mildly sweet finish with rich wood notes, espresso, and chestnuts. In between puffs, drink the exquisite Brugal 1888, dehydrated, double-distilled nectar made with rum aged four to fourteen years and aged in American white oak barrels used for bourbon and then in Spanish sherry oak casks. The dried fruit and vanilla shine through, but the drink stays nearly tannic (from all that oak) and a bit grassy due to the lack of sugar (a procedure known as ‘dosage’).

#5 Oliva Serie V Melanio Torpedo & Appleton Estate 21

When you first tried this cigar, its flavor and richness just expanded and swelled, especially when paired with a glass of super-premium rum. The Melanio is a box-pressed Nicaraguan beauty that combines pepper, caramel, and wood notes smoothly creamy. The Jamaican Appleton Estate 21 is a high-priced indulgence. Although it is a mix, each rum is at least 21 years old. That results in a complex spectrum of tastes coming through. You will receive orange peel, chocolate, and coffee. That is when you should add an ice cube or a splash of water to the glass to bring out the rum’s richness.

#6 Admiral Rodney HMS Princessa Rum and Davidoff Nicaragua

HMS Princessa is produced from a combination of rums aged between five and nine years in bourbon casks. That is an excellent introduction to the Admiral Rodney collection, with flavors of raisins, vanilla, honey, Caribbean spice, wood, and crème Brulee. Combining it with Davidoff’s trip to Nicaragua resulted in a rich puro mix of Estel Ligero and Visus primings, as well as Ometepe Visus and Condega Ligero. Meanwhile, the binder and wrapper are both made of Habano Jalapa tobacco. It’s a flavorful and adaptable cigar that may savor various events and combinations. Indeed, it works particularly well with rum, and its gourmand palate complements both naturally-aged and mature expressions.

#7 Rocky Patel Sun Grown Maduro Robusto & Pampero Aniversario

The Nicaraguan filler is encased in a dark Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper. It’s overflowing, earthy, and rich, with coffee, maple syrup, pepper, cedar, and a lovely chocolate finish. You’ll need rum that can withstand the pressure. The initial sip of this Venezuelan rum may be a little harsh, but it quickly transforms into a superbly complex combination of ginger, clove, cinnamon, and even a trace of black tea. It would help if you got some lemon, but you’re more likely to receive spice from the rum, which will also bring out the kick in the cigar with this combo.

#8 Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva and Diplomático By Mombacho Cigars

Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva is a refined and sophisticated sipping rum made from the best sugar cane honey. It is gently distilled in old copper pot stills and matured in tiny wood barrels for up to twelve years. Its unusual body combined with exceptional balance has made it a reference for rum enthusiasts and fans worldwide. Diplomático rums are manufactured from sugar cane molasses and sugar cane honey; molasses make light rums, while sugar cane kinds of love are used to create more complex rums. The distillery obtains molasses with a high sugar percentage but low ash content and viscosity.

Mombacho Cigars’ Diplomático is different from the other cigars on this list. While may have made several to match with rum, this is the only one created mainly for one rum. Indeed, Ron Diplomático collaborated with Mombacho to develop lines that complement their emotions. Mombacho cigars are mostly Nicaraguan puros. On the other hand, Claudio Sgroi deviated from this tradition to create the ideal combination by including an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. Each vitola’s composition has been subtly altered to pair with different rum blends. The Robusto, which pairs well with the Reserva Exclusiva, is our particular favorite.

#9 Brugal Leyenda Rum and Plasencia Alma Fuerte

It comes as no surprise that Plasencia’s Alma Fuente is included. Its smells of leather, anise, and cinnamon combine beautifully with a well-chosen rum. We suggest rums that are full-bodied and flavorful. Mount Gay’s English-style XO rum from Barbados is another option. Brugal’s Leyenda, on the other hand, is relatively easy to pair with most cigars.

Brugal Leyenda is aged in two stages: first for six years in American white oak barrels that previously held bourbon, and then for five years in Spanish red oak barrels that formerly held oloroso wine. It features fruity notes like dates, figs, sultanas, plums, and peaches, as well as a sweet complex perfume dominated by honey and woody sherry, indicating its exclusive aging in the cellars over time. With honey and red fruits, it’s smooth and delightfully balanced.

#10 Havana Club Máximo Rum Extra Añejo and Rocky Patel Grand Reserve Toro Cigar

This Havana Club Máximo Rum Extra Añejo premium drink comes in a gorgeous handcrafted crystal decanter and is believed to be the tastiest rum ever manufactured. On the other hand, Rum Experts think it’s worth the price tag because of the exquisite flavor that each sip of this rum provides. It is pretty complex, beginning with wood, smoke, dried fruit, and coconut flavors. It evolves into a woody taste with vanilla, dark chocolate, and dried fruit notes. The Máximo Rum Extra Aejo concludes with a pleasant spice note. This rum requires a cigar that can match its intensity and flavor, and the Grand Reserve Toro comes close. The Máximo Rum Extra Aejo, a medium cigar, will not be swamped by the rum, but it will not disguise any of its subtle tastes. As you smoke this cigar, you’ll taste a variety of flavors, ranging from dried fruit and chocolate to wood and leather. With a variety of comparable or complementary flavors evident in both the rum and the cigar, this pairing has the potential to be fantastic.

Cuban Cigars & Cuban Rum

With both sugarcane and tobacco grown in Cuba, the Cuban equivalent of “meat and vegetables” may as well be “rum and cigars.” Naturally, Cubans are real lovers of both goods – and understand what it takes to find the perfect taste combination. These are both complementary to one another and, when combined, produce flavor frenzy. Coincidentally, the sugar cane for the rum and the tobacco is cultivated in similar, if not identical, places — may this be why they complement each other so well? With more great-tasting rums on the market than ever before, now is a perfect moment to begin combining cigars and alcohol.

A classic combination of Cuban cigar and rum is Conde de Cuba 15-year-old Extra Anejo Dark and H. Upmann Half Corona Cigar. This 15-year-old aged rum from Cuba (of course) boasts a rich range of aromas, beginning with traces of caramel before expanding into notes of praline, dark chocolate, and roasted coffee. And in the meantime, H. The Upmann Half Corona cigar, with its creamy coffee overtones, is an ideal companion because of having creamy coffee notes.