Cigar Library
Alcohol Articles & ReviewsAuthor: Billie
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 has the 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. They were kind enough to sponsor Cigar Inspector with samples so we can write about pairings.
Y Bét Chocolate Vodka
This vodka isn’t a regular production vodka from the Snowdonia distillery unlike the Y Bét Premium Welsh Vodka and the Y Bét Rose Double Beet Premium Welsh Vodka. It is a limited-edition distillation with only 200 bottles made. If you’re a fan of flavoured vodka, grab a bottle while you can, they are available at the Foragers website at the moment of writing this article.
The chocolate comes from a single estate in the Amazon region of Peru. The spirit is made with a double maceration and triple distillation. This leads to a subtle luxurious taste and an elegantly chocolatey nose. The abv is 40%. The International Wine & Spirits Challenge 2022 judges awarded this vodka with 90 points and a silver award.
I tried the vodka first in a Glencairn glass. The aroma is strong and it’s full on alcohol, almost like paint thinner but with a hint of milk chocolate. The flavour has more chocolate than the aroma, it’s quite dominant. The alcohol is strong and it’s burning the throat like any vodka or strong spirit does. Because of this strength, I would choose something full flavoured with some strength to stand up to the power of the vodka. I can imagine this to go well with a coffee flavoured cigar such as the Tabak Especial, Java by Rocky Patel of a PDR Dark Roast. Coffee and chocolate is a good combination.
Vesper
When mixed with the Foragers Yellow Label gin and Lillet Blanc this becomes a very clear cocktail with a mild golden hue from the Lillet Blanc. There is a strong alcohol aroma, but that’s no surprise with the alcohol forward cocktail. On the nose, the vodka is overpowering the aroma of the gin. This drink has a very dry mouthfeel with a slight bite. At first there is no chocolate flavour and it tastes a lot like the Vesper that I made with the Y Bét Premium Welsh Vodka. But after a while, when the cocktail warms up a bit, a mild chocolate flavour shows up.
But since it tastes a lot like the Vesper with unflavoured vodka my suggestion is the same. I would pick a slightly stronger cigar but due to the quite neutral flavours of the cocktail this one can be easily paired with almost every cigar, palate wise, just make sure it’s strong enough to stand up against the ABV. So, I would not pick anything with a Connecticut Shade wrapper, unless it’s one of the modern “not your grandfather” Connecticut Shade cigars like the Jas Sum Kral Zlatno Sonce.
And now for the Vesper recipe:
3 ounces or 90 ml of Foragers Yellow Label Gin
1 ounce of 30 ml of Y Bét Chocolate Vodka
½ ounce of Lillet Blanc
Lemon peel for garnish
Put all the ingredients, minus the lemon peel, with some ice in your shaker and shake for 10 to 15 seconds. Double strain into a martini glass or a coupe glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
Martini
This is a classic, and it can be made with either gin or vodka. The gin version is stirred not shaken as gin is a more delicate spirit but the vodka version can be shaken and that’s what I did. It’s also the Martini from the James Bond movies, although you’d expect that a British special agent would drink Gin as that’s a British spirit. This Chocolate vodka martini looks classy, sophisticated. The aroma is the same as the vodka neat, with a little added citrus from the lemon peel. It has a strong alcohol aroma. When tasting, it tastes like chocolate with a strong alcohol bite, the mouthfeel is dry. Honestly, this is not a cocktail I would drink again. I had a vodka martini in the past and there is a difference in the flavour due to the chocolate. This version is way more chocolaty and that works well for a cigar pairing. Chocolate is a flavour that is tasted in cigars every now and then. I would pair this with a thinner cigar, as that would fit the classy sophisticated look. Maybe something from RoMa Craft such as the Aquitaine Pester Muierilor or the Alec Bradley Magic Toast Robusto as that cigar has a chocolate flavour profile and would enhance the chocolate from the cocktail. For the Cuban smokers, a Cohiba Siglo II is a nice pairing.
And now for the Martini Recipe:
2 ounces or 60ml of Y Bét Chocolate Vodka
1 tbsp dry vermouth
olive or lemon peel, to garnish
Stir the vodka, dry vermouth and a little ice together or put them in a cocktail shaker to combine. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Serve with an olive on a cocktail stick or a twist of lemon peel.
White Russian
The cocktail was made popular in the late 90s due to the blockbuster The Big Lebowski with Jeff Bridges where it was the favourite drink of ‘The Dude’. This creamy cocktail doesn’t look to appetizing to be honest. It smells like creamy coffee with some vanilla notes. The chocolate in the vodka goes really well with the creamy texture of the drink, and the vodka makes it stronger than Baileys Irish cream of which the flavour reminds me a bit. The mouthfeel is creamy, like melted ice cream of a watery milkshake. It’s a nice boozy desert drink after a good meal, and what goes better with a nice coffee, chocolate and cream desert after a good dinner than a nice, creamy cigar with a decent body. Something with a woody profile would be amazing. Nothing too peppery or too strong is my suggestion. Flor de Las Antillas, Undercrown Maduro Flying Pig, that kind of work, or a nice Ramon Allones Specially Selected.
And now for the white Russian recipe:
2 ounces or 60ml of Y Bét Chocolate Vodka
1 ounce or 30ml of Marsette Monsoon Coffee Liqueur
1 splash heavy cream
Add the vodka and coffee liqueur to a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with the heavy cream and stir.
‘Inspector X’