Pairing Cigars & Alcohol – Thinkers Jerusalem Dry 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 had the now discontinued Diplomatico series. 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 gin, rum, vodka and liquors, and bottle whisky. But other brands pair well with cigars as well.

Thinkers Jerusalem Dry

I like it when products come from countries you don’t expect. Of course, sometimes there is a good reason why certain products come from certain countries due to geographical or environmental reasons, but as far as spirits go, I like it when you run into a spirit from a country where you don’t expect that product from. Think about whisky from Belgium, brandy from South Africa, gin from The Philippines or Norway etcetera (I name these as I tasted Belgian whisky, South African brandy and Filipino and Norwegian gin for this series of pairings). So when one of my friends was travelling to Jerusalem for business and brought back a bottle of Thinkers Jerusalem Dry gin, I was over the moon. Israeli gin, that was new to me.

Thinkers is a very young distillery in the heart of Jerusalem. The company founders are not stuck in the old way of thinking with family recipes and traditions, handed down from generation to generation, and use their distillery also as a laboratory to create new ways to distil. They also put a lot of thought and science in the shape of the bottles according to my friend, who did the distillery tour, although he forgot the explanation from the founder, most likely from trying too many cocktails with the two different types of gin and two different types of vodka that Thinkers produces. They also have a bourbon (distilled in the USA, bottled in Israel) and are working on other spirits such as whisky and rum. The Thinkers Jerusalem Dry is a classic London Dry style of gin with an ABV of 42%.

Neat

My friend, who brought the bottle, was raving about this gin so my expectations are high. I read this is a very classic style dry gin, so I think I know what to expect. And I get what I expect on the nose. Juniper with ethanol, but not crazy strong. The gin itself is also as expected, a juniper heavy gin with some anise and coriander. A little spicy, but very smooth. It is a very pleasant gin, but it won’t make my personal top 5 because it lacks a bit of character for that. Since it’s a smooth gin, it will go well with a lot of cigars but I would not recommend a powerhouse. Something non-offensive, friendly. So, no Liga Privada but a Herrera Estelí Brazilian Maduro, no Le Bijou 1922 but a Flor de Las Antillas.

Gin & Tonic

The ice in the cocktail kills all the aroma, so there is nothing to say about the nose. The cocktail is smooth, which is not a surprise, but the slightly acidic undertone is something I did not taste when I drank the Thinkers Jerusalem Dry neat. It works wonders with the bitterness from the tonic and it’s well balanced. I must say, adding some ice and tonic does change the gin a lot and in a positive way. It is a very refreshing summer drink and because of the citrus I would not pair this with a mild cigar, it needs a little body to stand up against the citrus. But too strong a cigar would overpower the cocktail. Maybe a Rocky Patel ALR if you can find them, or a West Tampa White robusto.

And now for the gin tonic recipe:

2 ounces of 60ml of  Gin

4 ounces or 120ml of Tonic water

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

Bennett

The Bennett is a cocktail that was first found in a book called ‘Cocktails by “Jimmy” Late of Ciro’s London’. Who Jimmy is, nobody knows. The original recipe didn’t ask for sugar and was made with an Old Tom style gin, but the popular version of this cocktail is a 2015 rendition by Meaghan Dorman, who worked at The Bennett in New York at the time. She replaced the Old Tom style gin with a dry gin and added some simple syrup.

The combination of angostura and lime make this cocktail flamingo pink/orange in colour. The angostura bitters are also noticeable in the nose just like the juniper and the lime. The 2 dashes of bitters don’t sound like much but they have a huge impact on the cocktail. More than the lime juice and the simple syrup. The bitters overpower the acidity of the lime, but in a good way. The simple syrup balanced it all out and the juniper and herbal characteristics of the gin provide a nice base. Due to the bitterness, I would pair this with a stronger cigar with sweeter notes, nothing to earthy or too coffee. I would be looking for a maduro leaf, such as the Oliva Melanio Maduro Churchill or the Island Jim Maduro #2. For Cuba its easy as there are only two maduro options, either Cohiba or Partagas.

And now for the Bennett recipe:

2  ounces or 60ml of gin
¾ ounce or 22½ml of lime juice, freshly squeezed

½ ounce or15ml of simple syrup
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
Add all ingredients into a shaker and shake until well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass or Nick & Nora glass.

Inspector X