The Best Cigars for Thanksgiving Dinner
With Thanksgiving upon us, you may be wondering what cigar would pair best with your feast. After all, nothing caps off an incredible dinner like a great smoke. Instead of recommending specific cigars (which we can do in the store), we want to recommend certain qualities to look for in a cigar, and then you can make your decision from there.
First of all, think about what you will be eating. Turkey? Ham? Think of the dominant flavors in your meal, like the sweetness of the cranberry sauce, or the savory zest of the stuffing. You can go through each dish and identify the primary flavor, and see what the overall palette looks like.
Once you know what you’re eating, think if you’d rather complement your meal’s flavors or contrast them. If your meal is big on sweet flavors, you can choose a cigar with chocolate, coffee, or raisin notes to add to that, or contrast it with wood, earth, or leather.
If you’ll be having a post-meal drink, such as a dessert wine, cocktail, or coffee, keep that in mind as well. A great cigar is the perfect mate for a little after-dinner scotch, so concentrate on that pairing more instead of the food. If the scotch has a lot of peat, go for a stronger, bolder cigar. If it’s a light scotch, perhaps try a lighter wrapper cigar, something with a little leather in the taste.
Luckily even if you’re not a cigar connoisseur, most smokes go well with good food, good drinks, and good company. Be adventurous with your pairings, and always ask if you’re unsure of what to expect out of a particular cigar. Best wishes to you this Thanksgiving season!