The month of January has arrived, and for those living in certain states in the Northeast and Midwest, it has returned with a vengeance! When the snow starts coming down there’s only one thing to do, retreat indoors, find a nice heat source such as a fireplace, and pair our selection of Cozy Winter brews with some fine premium cigars. Even if you live in sunny Florida or some of the other warmer states, this month’s Cozy Winter Perfect Pairings will offer a very rewarding experience after a nice refreshing dip in the pool with your cigar-smoking family and friends.
Orkney Brewery Skull Splitter & Herrera Esteli Cuadrado
Orkney Skull Splitter is one of the company’s strongest beers, named after Thorfinn Einarsson the 7th Viking Earl of Orkney. Brewed in small batches in the United Kingdom, Skull Splitter is a sophisticated, satiny smooth, and full-flavored beer that calls for a bolder cigar that will complement and not be drowned out by the beer’s heady flavors of exotic spice, fresh fruit, and some citrus tones.
Complimenting Skull Splitter’s tasting notes perfectly is the Herrera Esteli Cuadrado cigar. A Cuba-inspired creation by the famed Drew Estate Company, this tasty stick is rolled in a box-pressed (6 × 44) format using a Honduran binder and Nicaraguan long-fillers and finished with a seamless, oily, Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. A deep spicy core balanced by lush notes of black cherry, leather, and cream, provides a medium-bodied experience that pairs splendidly with Orkney Brewery Skull Splitter.
North Coast Brewing Company Old Rasputin & Montecristo Crafted by AJ Fernandez Robusto
Produced in the tradition of 18th Century English brewers who supplied the court of Russia’s Catherine the Great, Old Rasputin seems to develop a cult following wherever it goes. It’s a rich, intense brew with big complex flavors of bittersweet chocolate, earth, and coffee, all punctuated with a warming brown sugar finish.
Montecristo Crafted by A.J. Fernandez Robusto cigars feature an Oscuro Ecuador Sumatra wrapper on top of a Mexican San Andrés binder, and aged long filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, and the United States. Bold, well-balanced, and creamy smooth, this magnificent AJ Fernandez creation delivers complex notes of earth, coffee, leather, and caramel, around a core of signature Nicaraguan spice.
This extra special January pairing is certain to warm the spirits and soothe the soul.
Peticolas Brewing Company Wintervention & AVO Classic No.2
A full-bodied ale meant to be enjoyed during the cold winter months with family and friends, Peticolas Brewing Company Wintervention is brewed with the best hops and high-quality malts. Brewed in Dallas Texas, this savory Ale offers warm and inviting flavors of ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and spice.
Avo Classic No.2 is more than just another smoke, rather, it embodies the luxury lifestyle. Each cigar is meticulously handcrafted in the Dominican Republic using the best estate-grown binder and long filler tobacco from the Dominican Republic covered by a beautiful blonde Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper. The finished product is creamy smooth on the palate while serving up rich nuances of leather, graham cracker, roasted nuts, and spice.
Peticolas Brewing Company Wintervention & AVO Classic No.2 is undeniably a Cozy Winter Pairing made in heaven.
Highland Brewing Cold Mountain & Oracle Toro
Cold Mountain is a very popular Winter Warmer style beer brewed by Highland Brewing in Asheville, NC. This spiced Winter Ale started as a holiday treat in 1996 and has become a tradition and a sign of the colder seasons across the Southeast. Cold Mountain pours a deep amber color with a frothy white head and coats the palate with bountiful flavors of exotic spice, brown sugar, ginger, and raisins.
Oracle Toro is a value-priced premium cigar that pairs splendidly with Cold Mountain. To create a value-priced cigar that’s certain to exceed your expectations, the company turned to none other than the famed Plasencia family in Estelí Nicaragua. To create the( 6 x 50) Oracle Toro the Plascencia’s used their extensive collection of Nicaraguan tobaccos that includes binder and long-fillers from Estelí, Ometepe, Jalapa, and Condega, covered by a gorgeous Cuban-seed Habano wrapper. Light this luxurious medium-bodied stick and expect to be greeted by rich flavors of leather, coffee, earth, and cinnamon, all backed by a spicy and peppery backbone.
Tree House Brewing Company Cozy & Foundation El Gueguense Robusto
Cozy is a Baltic Porter-style beer brewed by Tree House Brewing Company in Charlton, MA. First brewed in the Autumn of 2020 and left to condition naturally for several months in our horizontal stainless tank, Cozy emerges from aging with an incredibly smooth character and rich flavors of dark chocolate, caramel, toffee, rich dark fruit, and cocoa.
Answering Cozy’s call for a Perfect January Pairing is the Foundation El Gueguense Robusto cigar. This top-shelf cigar is a Nicaraguan puro of the finest caliber crafted with tobacco coming from a special 2011 and 2012 vintage crop, covered by a stunning reddish-brown Corojo wrapper. Full in both flavor and strength, this savory Robusto delights the palate with intensely delicious tasting notes of wood, chocolate, coffee bean, and hints of sweetness on the finish. This superb premium handmade cigar, paired with Tree House Brewing Company Cozy, offers a Winter Perfect Pairing that’s nothing short of scrumptious.
