Porto in smoke

The land of Portugal abounds with wealth: fierce sun and ruby grapes, exciting but bloodless torrada – and a smooth porto. Fortune only withheld one companion of passion to this land – tobacco. That is probably the reason why the breast swells with such dreamy sadness and heart-rending sorrow when confronted with this combination: porto and a cigar. Sad and sweet. Like passionate and impossible love. Like the Portuguese fado songs.

Portwine Porto Cruz
PORTO CRUZ TAWNY

A cranberry/cherry-coloured drink with a sweet cherry sheen, a well-balanced fruity aroma with nutty shades and a harsh, rich taste, even with discernible tones of mint and pepper. It is made of the best wines from the Doro valley.

PORTO CRUZ COLHEITA 1992

Pomegranate-coloured wine with cranberry sheen, it has a delicate aroma of cherries with woody and vanilla tones and an extractive taste with pronounced acidity. It has a long aftertaste with undertones of fruit pits and lollipop.

PORTO CRUZ VINTAGE 1982

A drink of rich ruby colour with sweet cherry shades. Its subtle, somewhat rough aroma is dominated by fruity and farmyard tones, with a touch of spiciness. A strong tannin taste surprises with its softness and rich bouquet.

PORTO CRUZ BLANK

It is the colour of a golden peach, due to its white grape origin. Its delicate aroma reminds of dried apricots and persimmon. Its rich taste in no way suffers from sugariness thanks to pronounced freshness and pit bitterness.

CIGARS AND RESULTS

BOSSNER DOUBLE CORONA (Dominican Republic)
A light brown cigar with a thin smooth wrapper, it is distinguished through a rich spectrum of “pre-smoke” aromas. With the cigar yet unlit, it allows one to discern a discreet odour of dry sawdust, coffee tones, a smell of wine cellar, and a strong aroma of leather. The gustatory sensations from an unlit cigar are not overwhelming: a hint of sharpness, nutty bitterness, and woody/grassy overtones. When lit, the aromatic intensity of the cigar is somewhat lower than when unlit, but for all that, it still provides a great deal of interesting shades. Put together, they paint an aromatic landscape of early autumn: a tree sprayed with rain, the last fresh leaves and bitterness of withering herbs. Quick burning and moderate aftertaste create an impression of fugacity of the experienced sensations.

Porto Cruz Tawny
This is a case when a marriage of two outstanding products brings out the worst in them. The drink tastes sour; the cigar, bitter.








Porto Cruz Colheita 1992
The porto’s fruity bouquet is finally brought out in full: it imparts sophistication to this duo; it is a perfect partner for the cigar’s spiciness. The sweetness of the drinks offsets the bitterness of the cigar.







Porto Cruz Vintage 1982
The cigar suddenly becomes aggressive, literally blasting away the fragile flavours of porto.









Porto Cruz Blank
Plain and sweet porto smoothes over the ruggedness of a rough and harsh cigar. And yet they fail in their marriage.








VEGAS ROBAINA FAMOSO (Cuba)
This smooth oily cigar has a lovely reddish colour and a strong and rich bouquet of flavours. Even unlit, the cigar displays a rich palette of aromas, with spicy, honey and barnyard tones readily recognized. The cigar has a salty sharp pre-lit taste. When lit, the sharpness remains, and it is joined by a touch of bitterness and a hint of fruitiness. During smoking the aroma does not fail to deliver on its pre-smoke promise of variety. It is also rich in fruity, farmyard, floral shades. Its even burning and lingering aftertaste make it possible to enjoy the flavours of this rather strong cigar to the full.

Porto Cruz Tawny
The porto gives an appropriate accent to the spiciness of the cigar, adds fruity notes. But, unfortunately, the tannins of the cigar and porto, acceptable separately, when brought together, make this combination incompatible.







Porto Cruz Colheita 1992
The combination brings the porto’s acidity into sharp focus, which mars the general impression. In the aftertaste the drink totally dominates the cigar.








Porto Cruz Vintage 1982
It is even difficult to say which benefits more from the marriage, with both the taste and aftertaste fusing in perfect harmony in this combination.








Porto Cruz Blank
The cigar undoubtedly dominates the stage, but the porto provides a worthy contribution with its sweetness and clearly pronounced fruitiness.







MONTECRISTO №3 (Cuba)
A brown cigar, not too dark, with a smooth dull wrapper and round cap. Unlit, it seems to hide the richness of its aromas, offering nothing but a faint neutral tone of wood. Its pre-smoke taste is slightly more intense. It has a good tobacco basis and a slight pepper taste. In the course of smoking, the cigar unreservedly demonstrates its nature. Burning evenly and at a perfect rate, it provides no distractions from the appreciation of the sensations it gives, from its rich and intense bouquet of flavours. Spices, wood and barnyard shades set the tone. The aroma also features a chocolate note, which renders it piquant. The taste is distinguished through extreme sharpness and a touch of bitterness. The cigar’s body is a notch above average.

Porto Cruz Tawny
Bad combination. The cigar becomes too intense, even heavy.










Porto Cruz Colheita 1992
A lustreless union. The cigar acquires an almost unpleasant harshness.









Porto Cruz Vintage 1982
A rounded, full aftertaste of porto mellows the pepperiness and sharpness of the cigar, and imparts depth and intensity to the drink itself.








Porto Cruz Blank
Soft, pleasant, an unobtrusive combination. The powerful cigar yields not an inch, but its roughness is smoothed over thanks to the bouquet of white porto.







PortWine
WARRE’S 2000

An elegant, full-bodied, finely balanced port wine. It has a rich bouquet featuring aromas of black currant and ripe brambleberry. Its tannins are smooth and very pleasant. It has an impeccably pure and fine taste.

WARRE’S 1985

An excellent specimen of a well-balanced and full-bodied wine of 1985 vintage. It demonstrates a rich bouquet of fruity aromas with undertones of figs and spices. The aftertaste highlights floral aromas and a pleasant tanniness.

DOW’S 1998

Wine with a deep and dark ruby colour. The aroma displays spicy notes typical of the year and deep tones of brambleberry and black currant. The taste showcases a balance of blackberry tones and a hint of tanniness.

DOW’S 1983

Wine of a superior quality produced in a small quantity. It is characterized by a splendid purity of fruity aromas with undertones of walnut and almond. It is a fresh, silky and superbly balanced wine.

GRAHAM’S 2000

A rich port of a noble magenta colour. Its aroma highlights full-bodied tones of bramble liqueur and blackcurrant jam. Its taste centres on sweet grape notes. It has an excellent capacity for development. Its maturing potential is twenty years.

CIGARS AND RESULTS

NICARAO TORPEDO (Nicaragua)
A reddish cigar with a wrinkled thin wrapper, perfectly rolled; it has a regular cone-shaped cap. Its pre-smoke gamut of flavours is not particularly striking. It is not difficult, however, even for an inexperienced smoker, to read in it pepper, barnyard shades and hardwood notes.

With the very first whiffs taken, the cigar demonstrates a considerable strength, a notch above average, which it will keep up practically to the finish, letting up a bit at the very end. The aroma is dominated by earthy shades touched with spices and farmyard tones.

Warre’s 2000
A fortunate union in terms of strength and texture: the freshness and sweetness of porto mellow the cigar by toning down its harshness and power. Yet the aroma suffers as a result of such a combination: the earthy tone of the cigar, when superimposed over the fruitiness of the porto, becomes tanniny and green, with acidity and bitterness surfacing.





Warre’s 1985
The combination is balanced in terms of flavours, yet it is marred by green tanniness.









Dow’s 1998
A very successful alliance in terms of strength and texture: the sweetness and freshness of porto smooth over the roughness of the cigar. At the same time, it does not render its companion excessively tanniny or grassy green. The aroma is dominated by the cigar, which chokes the fruitiness of the porto.





Dow’s 1983
This is an acceptable combination in terms of strength, texture, and aromatic gamut alike. No new shades appears, but the available ones do not drown each other.








Graham’s 2000
An outstanding union. Thanks to the porto’s youth, energy, and good balance, the maturity of its tannins, the cigar’s aromas are refined, with additional shades coming to the surface such as mushroom; the aftertaste “stretches out”.






PUNCH ROYAL SELECTION №11 (Cuba)
A red-brown cigar with a shiny smooth wrapper and a rather tight roll with a nice round cap. When unlit, it has a complex multi-layered aroma of spices, flowers, mint, mushrooms and cheese parings, and a rather bitter taste of softwood.

The cigar comes to its top strength right away, yet it never rises above average. The taste is dominated by an earthy tone; it is offset by slightly salty, nutty and piquant spicy overtones. It has a full-bodied rich aroma; one-third into the cigar, this is joined by farmyard and fruity tones, with touches of candied cherries and fried meat.

Warre’s 2000
A solid combination of power and aromas, but the tannins that “stretch out” too much and render it less than enjoyable.









Warre’s 1985
This combination, excellent in its strength, brings the spotlight on the harsh tannins, with an earthy tone coming to the foreground, too.








Dow’s 1998
The combination is a tad rough, with tannins too much in the focus. Yet the richness of the composition of flavour and a lasting aftertaste more than compensate for these shortcomings.







Dow’s 1983
A somewhat hard combination, but nicely balanced in terms of strength. The cigar aromas are subdued by the porto’s pronounced fruitiness.








Graham’s 2000
Despite the harsh taste, the aromas of the cigar and porto, when brought together, produce a lovely and satisfyingly rewarding sensation.







CARLOS TORAÑO EXODUS 1959 GRAND CHURCHILL (Honduras)
A dark cigar, with a rather insipid taste before being lit. But for all that, it puts you in mind of bark, bread and gingerbread. Its pre-light aroma is crowded by peppery, fruity and farmyard components. As soon as it is lit, the cigar gives you a thrill with its softness and evenness. A fine aroma, with a woody/resinous focus, which gradually grows more sophisticated, with an earthiness and a clearly perceived spiciness appearing in it; two-thirds into the cigar, the nose becomes pregnant with balmy tones and an undertow of tropical wood. The strength barely reaches mid-level.

Warre’s 2000
The tannins in the porto overshadow communion with the cigar, but thankfully fail to acquire a jarring green sheen. The happy combination came about as a result of the porto’s fruity nuances marrying the cigar’s woody/resinous notes.







Warre’s 1985
An extremely fortunate union in every respect. It is distinguished through its good balance, softness and the rare synergy of its aromas. Particularly appealing is the emphasized exquisitely balmy tone.







Dow’s 1998
It would have been a winning combination but for an excessively harsh porto.









Dow’s 1983
The combination is dominated by the porto, with the cigar deprived of its body and its aroma for all intents and purposes blanketed out. Tannins to excess.








Graham’s 2000
This alliance, a winner in terms of strength and texture, amazes with its rich aroma. It features fruity, spicy, woody, balmy and – to a lesser degree – barnyard and fumey tones.