Best Sherry & Cigar Pairings
Sherry is misunderstood. It isn’t just for cooking and old folks to drink. Like dozens of other dusty, once-dismissed spirits, sherry has undergone a renaissance. Sherry is a fortified wine produced in Marco de Jerez in southern Spain, home to the Sherry Triangle, which includes the towns of Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa Maria, and Sanlúcar de Barrameda. A microclimate, influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Guadalquivir and Guadalete rivers, includes over 3,000 hours of annual sunlight with a mix of humid and dry breezes, perfect for nurturing Palomino grapes in the chalky white Albariza soil. Pedro Ximénez and Moscatel grapes are also used to make sherry, but Palomino is the most common.
Sherry is either aged biologically – under a layer of flor (yeast), which prevents oxygen from accessing the wine, or oxidatively – with no flor, allowing the wine to interact with oxygen. Sherry is blended in American oak casks, and much of it is aged according to the traditional solera system, where younger wines are blended with older wines over time. Sherry is best stored, and served, slightly chilled and is often brought out during a meal (dry sherry) or with dessert (sweet sherry). Here are six excellent cigar and sherry pairings to consider.
Emilio Lustau, Oloroso VORS NV & Ashton Aged Maduro
A highly evolved profile of leather, walnut, and marmalade seduces the palate with marvelous fruit and umami flavors in a fine Oloroso Sherry from Emilio Lustau. Wine experts Nick Room, Harriet Kininmonth, and Matthew Horsley scored this exceptional sherry 98 points. Sip it with an Ashton Aged Maduro, the perfect cigar to pair with sweet, high-end spirits. An ultra-smooth sequence of dark cocoa, molasses, almond, maple, and black pepper leaves the palate in a pure state of bliss. Several traditional sizes are drawn from a toothy Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper over a mature blend of premium Dominican binder and filler tobaccos assembled by legendary cigar-maker Carlito Fuente.
González Byass, Apóstoles NV & Arturo Fuente Añejo
Apóstoles NV layers the palate with complex notes of dark chocolate and stone fruit alongside nutty and salty nuances with a tarry texture you’ll want to savor endlessly in a deep and resonant sherry from Gonzalez Byass. Arturo Fuente Añejo is an ideal companion thanks to an oily Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, aged in a cognac barrel, blended over a hearty interior of premium Dominican long-fillers. Notes of dark chocolate, earth, hickory, and coffee provide an ample foundation for the cigar’s natural and succulent spice.
Gutierrez Colosía Oloroso Sherry & La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor
This Oloroso Sherry from Gutierrez Colosía offers a sweet nose of walnut and figs but drinks dry and nutty throughout a tangy profile of prune and apricot with plenty of oak and hints of honey. Because this sherry is sweet but not too sweet, there is much room to marry it with the 95-rated La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor. Master cigar-maker Pepin Garcia creates substantial transitions of taste from an oily San Andrés wrapper and well-aged Nicaraguan long-fillers. Notes of dark chocolate, almond, espresso bean, and black pepper mingle with traces of coconut from beginning to end in this excellent smoke.
Harveys, Pedro Ximénez VORS NB & My Father Le Bijou 1922
A viscous and tarry Pedro Ximénez Sherry from Harveys saturates the palate with a lovely and sweet nuttiness that never dies down early. Notes of licorice, prune, and toasted raisin follow a superb nose and live up to the anticipation it creates. My Father Le Bijou 1922 offers spicy juxtaposition in a 97-rated profile of leather, earth, espresso bean, and dark cocoa. Award-winning father-and-son cigar-makers Pepin and Jaime Garcia blend Le Bijou from an oily and intense Cuban-seed Oscuro wrapper, grown in Ecuador, and a hearty blend of Nicaraguan long-filler tobaccos.
Williams & Humbert, Don Zoilo 12 Year Old Amontillado NV & San Cristobal Quintessence
A concentrated nose of sandalwood, raisin, and honey characterizes the aroma of this golden-blond sherry from Williams & Humbert. Don Zoilo 12 Year Old Amontillado NV gratifies the palate with elegant notes of citrus peel and hints of brown sugar and caramel before a briny finish. San Cristobal Quintessence lends spicy notes of molasses, cedar, cocoa, and coffee bean ahead of a round, medium to full-bodied finish. The 95-rated cigar is handmade from an oily Ecuador Habano wrapper and a well-aged blend of premium Nicaraguan tobaccos rolled to perfection in six sizes.
El Maestro Sierra 15 Year Oloroso & Padrón 1964 Anniversary Maduro
El Maestro Sierra 15 Year coats the palate with caramelly and dense notes of molasses and brown sugar you’ll want to sip slowly in lieu of dessert. This full and rich oloroso promises a long and rewarding finish you won’t regret savoring with a Padrón 1964 Anniversary Maduro. Several box-pressed classics, blended entirely from premium Nicaraguan tobaccos, envelop the palate with notes of dark cocoa, cedar, nuts, and hints of baking spices.
