Brandy and cigars have gone hand-in-hand for many generations, therefore for this last month of December, we decided to give you our take on what we feel are the five best New Year’s Brandy and Cigar Pairings. For those of you not familiar with Brandy, it’s a distilled alcoholic spirit produced from fermented fruit juice.
Most often, the fruit is grapes—making brandy distilled wine—though apple, apricot, peach, and other fruits can be used to make brandy. It's produced around the world as Cognac, Armagnac, Sherry, and other styles of adult libations.
Philbert Rare Cask Sherry Finish & Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask
Produced in France, Philbert Rare Cask Sherry Finish is a highly popular Brandy that pours a deep amber color and has a rich sweet nose. The flavor profile consists of light floral tones of vanilla from the French oak. Toasted walnuts, almonds, red berries, and raisins.
Diesel Whiskey Row Sherry Cask Robusto cigars are produced by legendary cigarmaker AJ Fernandez using Nicaragua tobaccos aged in barrels that previously held Pedro Ximénez, 30-Year-Old Sherry. Complex and highly fragrant, this medium-bodied blend of oak, cinnamon, baked bread, earth, and the smoky sweetness of premium sherry, is sure to couple splendidly with Philbert Rare Cask Sherry Finish because both flavor profiles are astoundingly familiar to each other.
Hennessy X.O. & Montecristo Volume 1 100 Days
Montecristo Volume 1 100 Days cigars were inspired by the 100 Days chapter from the famous Andre Dumas novel called the Count of Monte Cristo. The Chapter tells the story of the Hundred Days period when Napoleon returned to power after his exile.
The stunning 100 Days Toro that we chose for this pairing, was meticulously blended by the famous Grupo de Maestros from Altadis U.S.A with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. Taking inspiration from the classic novel, after rolling, every cigar is aged an additional 100 days in aromatic cedar bins. This amounts to an incredibly smooth medium-bodied smoke with flavors of leather, wood, spice, cinnamon, and cedar.
The world-famous Hennessy X.O. Cognac reveals smooth expressions of flavorful fruit and spice, rounded by chocolate tones and a spicy vanilla finish that fully compliments, yet never overpowers the smooth tasting notes of the Montecristo Volume 1 100 Days Toro cigar.
Camus XO Borderies & Undercrown
Camus XO Borderies is a highly popular French Cognac that pours to an orange hue with mahogany highlights. The nose opens up to tones of dried flowers, prune, and some floral components.
Undercrown Box Pressed Cuadrado cigars began as a private blend for the factory rollers to enjoy while they were crafting other Drew Estate offerings. But since they were so darn good, they were released to the public. Handmade with a luscious San Andres Mexican Maduro wrapper over the finest aged Brazilian and Nicaraguan long-fillers, This perfectly square pressed gem unleashes creamy-textured notes of espresso, almond, and spice, accented with nuances of dark chocolate, and black cherry.
With a silky-smooth flavor profile in the medium-to-full-bodied range and complimentary tasting notes, we felt that the Undercrown Box Pressed Cuadrado would make for a perfect New Year’s Pairing with the fabulous Camus XO Borderies.
Martell Blue Swift & Davidoff Winston Churchill Late Hour
Davidoff Winston Churchill The Late Hour Toro is a luxurious ultra-premium cigar that pays homage to one of the most celebrated cigar lovers in history. These fine cigars feature a stunning Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that surrounds a Connecticut Broadleaf binder and long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua that have been extensively aged in the finest Scotch single malt whisky casks. Boasting top notes of chocolate, pepper, cedar, and raisins, the cigars have a mouthwatering vanilla sweetness on the finish imparted by the malt whisky casks.
Made with the finest Cognac VSOP finished in Bourbon casks, Martell Blue Swift can be enjoyed on its own, over ice, but with flavors of delicate fruit, vanilla, and plum notes with subtle sweetness, it’s a magnificently warm, and wonderful New Year’s Eve indulgence when paired with the Davidoff Winston Churchill The Late Hour Toro. Had the great Sir Winston been alive today, there’s an excellent chance that he would have loved this Perfect New Year pairing.
