Today the trend in pairing Havana cigars with certain drinks has gone from being almost exclusively brandy, whiskey or rum to being capable of pairing Cuban cigars with a wide variety of elements that provide us with very pleasant sensations.
The classic and recurrent phrase in our language “coffee, glass and cigar” took for granted that after-dinner meals in our country offered us pleasant minutes in which the three aforementioned distillates were almost obligatory and it was assumed that these drinks were the only ones that met the right requirements to obtain rich sensations.
But as the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy assures us, a pairing is the “union, analogy or conformity with which some things are linked or match each other”, which is why in modern times this combination of different elements has diversified exponentially in order to provide splendid flavours in the mouth.
That is why when years ago someone tried to explain that they favoured Havana cigars with a cocktail, be it Habana Club 7 and Coca Cola or a good Gin and Tonic, more than one would cry foul at such “heresy”, but times have evolved and have shown us that our Cuban cigars can be perfectly paired with these types of drinks, wines, good cavas, coffees or chocolates.
Years ago, I myself began to pair them with chocolates, and some people were surprised, but the truth is that this combination of flavours and aromas is a true delicacy, as some of the winners of the world Habanosomellier competition, such as the director of Kike Dacosta’s restaurants, Manuela Romeralo, have shown.
The same surprise and stupefaction when some illustrious aficionados travel to Cuba and observe how the old Havana smokers enjoy dipping the head of their Habanos in the coffee they are drinking, before continuing with their aspirations.
In recent times, and it is already a marked trend, Havana cigars can be paired wonderfully with sherry wines such as Palo Cortado Península, East India and Pedro Ximenez San Emilio, from bodegas Lustau; high-class pacharanes such as Mena; cocktails in which some fragrances are diluted with some distillate or with the same wines that have accompanied us throughout the lunch or dinner.
A few years ago, the Argentinian bartender Tupac Kirby surprised the jury and the audience at the final of the Habanos Perfect Twist contest with a presentation in verse of his cocktail “Habemus Habano”, made with a base of light Cuban rum (Havana Selection of Masters), carob liqueur, coffee and walnut liqueur, designed to combine with a high-strength Habano such as the Partagás Serie D No 4.
The fact that the wine at a table of several diners is not finished by the time we arrive at the dessert table, and therefore by the time the cigars are lit, makes some aficionados consider continuing with the open red, as I have done on numerous occasions.
In reality, the pairing, or conjunction of flavours and aromas is present in the best temples of world gastronomy, trying to unify bitter, sweet, acidic or spicy notes with foods and raw materials from very different origins.
I myself have performed an exquisite pairing in the circle of businessmen in Seville with Le Hoyo du Deputé de Hoyo de Monterrey, which with its 110 millimetres in length and its 38 clamp provides honeyed, sweet notes with some slightly bitter touches, which those attending the tasting could pair with a cocktail made with rum and Coca Cola and orange essence, and along with it they tasted some toasted nuts with salt and a bowl with a cream of Gorgonzola, Mascarpone and pistachio powder.
This shows us how clearly under the umbrella of Habanos&Armonia we are capable of combining in the mouth the rich flavours of Cuban cigars with the most diverse materials that the human being can reconcile.
