Pairing Cigars & Alcohol – Musgrave Pink Gin

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.

Musgrave Pink Gin

Recently I found this nice little shop with all kinds of South African products. From spice rubs to candy, from wine to gin. Yes, gin. Not the first spirit you would think off when you think of South Africa, but it does make sense. South Africa was occupied by both the Dutch and the English. The Dutch invented Jenever, which is the origin of Gin, so that the country that was colonized by these two kingdoms would have picked up on the liquor of those two countries was unavoidable I guess.

Maurice Boon Musgrave, grandfather of founder Simone Musgrave, left Plymouth in 1949 bound for Africa to start a new life exploring and discovering the people and land of Africa. Three months on a ship with a small baby, a measles outbreak and many a day of seasickness and the adventure that would change the shape of his family had begun. From then onward an African family would take on the adventure Maurice had started. The spirit of endeavour, adventure and courage lives on in granddaughter, Simone, guardian of Maurice’s passion for the unusual. Musgrave Original Gin is no ordinary spirit – it is an artisan gin celebrated for its top notes of Cardamom, African Ginger and Grains of Paradise.

Musgrave Pink Gin is distilled with Musgrave’s signature 11 botanicals, continuing to celebrate distinct top notes of Cardamom, African Ginger and Grains of Paradise. Kafir lime leaves complement the subtle peppery notes. The spices marry perfectly to give a smooth and fragrant finish. These heights are then tamed slightly with a dash perfume and a splash of romance. Rose hips are added during the distilling process and the expressive Cardamom and obligatory Juniper contributions are softened so as not to mask the gentle perfume of the roses. A further infusion of Rosewater adds a subtly exotic perfume and flavour to the gin.

Neat

The gin is slightly pink, in the bottle it has a beautiful pink hue but, in a glass, there is less colour. The nose has a strong rose aroma, not an artificial rose aroma but a natural one. As it is a gin, juniper is not far from the scene as well, together with some spices like cardamom. The flavour is both floral and spicy, roses with cardamom and juniper, the heat of ginger and the citrus of lime, with peppery notes. Complex and the rose water gives this gin a unique flavour. This is a hard cigar to pair, as the spice and peppery notes will overpower a mild cigar, yet the complexity of the spirit will not pair well with a strong, bold smoke. This needs something complex, yet not too strong. There are two Joya de Nicaragua cigars that come to mind, the Numero Uno and the limited edition Dos Cientos. Maybe an El Rey del Mundo or a Partagas Mille Fleur or Romeo y Julieta Mille Fleur will do if you are a smoker of Cuban cigars.

Gin & Tonic

The pink colour is completely gone when I pour the gin & the tonic over a large ice cube in a Copa glass. The nose has a light rose aroma plus some bubbles from the tonic water. The other aromas from the juniper are suppressed by the ice and the water. The cocktail is refreshing and the tonic brings out more of the citrus flavour of the gin, while the rose is less pronounced. The juniper and ginger are also less prominent than in the neat version, but that was expected. The tonic also takes away some of the delicate complexity of the gin and that makes it easier to pair with a cigar. The Connecticut Shade cigars from My Father, Rocky Patel or Drew Estate will pair well with this cocktail, or any other medium bodied Connecticut Shade. A medium bodied Cuban cigar will be nice as well.

And now for the gin tonic recipe:
2 ounces of 60ml of gin

4 ounces or 120ml of Tonic water

Fill a Collins or a Copa glass with ice. Add the gin, then the tonic and stir gently.

Southside

A Southside is a classy cocktail made with mint, lemon, lime, and gin. The best way to describe it? A Mojito with gin! It’s also similar to a Tom Collins, but it’s not carbonated and has lime and mint. The oldest known printed recipe called “Southside” was from 1917. This classic cocktail is on the list of International Bartender Association’s IBA official cocktails, meaning it has an official definition and I made the cocktail using the official definition.

The cocktail has a nose of botanicals from the gin, mint and lemon. The cocktail is tart, which makes it refreshing but it’s also hard to pair it with cigars as the cigar has to be strong enough to cut through the citrus. The citrus overpowers the delicate rose flavours and thus this is not the right cocktail for this gin. So far, I say that this gin is to be drank neat. As far as pairing it with cigars, go for a strong earthy cigar. The strength will cut through the lime, and the earthiness will balance everything out.

And now for the Southside recipe:
6 mint leaves
2 ounces or 60ml of Gin
½ ounce or 15ml of Lime Juice, freshly squeezed
½ ounce or 15ml of Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
½ ounce or 15ml of Simple Syrup
Garnish: lemon twist and mint leaves
Add the mint leaves to a cocktail shaker and muddle them. Add all the ingredients and ice, shake until well chilled. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a mint leaf and a lemon twist.

Southside Fizz

A bonus cocktail, but also not really a new cocktail as it’s just the Southside diluted with club soda. The ice and the club soda suppress all the aromas except for the mint and lemon garnish. This cocktail is refreshing and less tart than the Southside due to the added Club Soda. But just like the Southside, the rose notes are missing in the cocktail and I won’t use this gin in this cocktail ever again, it is a waste. Pair this with a medium bodied cigar, something earthy, woody, or peppery will work. That covers almost seventy five percent of the cigars of the market.

And now for the Southside Fizz recipe:
6 mint leaves
2 ounces or 60ml of Gin
½ ounce or 15ml of Lime Juice, freshly squeezed
½ ounce or 15ml of Lemon Juice, freshly squeezed
½ ounce or 15ml of Simple Syrup
Club soda to top
Garnish: lemon twist and mint leaves
Add the mint leaves to a cocktail shaker and muddle them. Add all the ingredients and ice, shake until well chilled. Double strain into a Collins glass over fresh ice and top with club soda. Garnish with a lemon twist and mint leaves

Inspector X