A Cigar and Ale Review: Montecristo White and Poperings Hommel Ale

The Cigar

Wrapper: Connecticut-seed Ecuadorian Shade Grown

Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan

Size: 6x54

My Strength Rating: 5

I use to smoke a lot of these back when they came in that high quality box and not that cardboard cigar box they come in now. Well, it is not because of the box that I do not smoke as many of these cigars; it is because there are so many other quality cigars to go around. I have to admit I still like this cigar. It is kinda plain. It is not a complex smoke. It is one dimensional and that is not always a bad thing. You don’t always have to have bold spice, coffee and earth to be a good cigar. This smoke is solid cedar. If you want to know what cedar tastes like pick this cigar up and you will know what cedar is like. The smoke is consistent all the through. No bitter notes. It does not really change strength ratings during the experience. And, paired with the right beverage this can be the perfect smoke. With that said, I plan to pick up a few more to be ready for some good summertime pairings. Here is one of them.

The Ale

Poperings Hommel Ale is brewed by Brouwerij Van Eecke. The ale has a 7.5% abv and is a Belgian IPA. For those of you who are afraid of the big bold IPA’s that have that super bitter grapefruit taste that will destroy your taste buds for the remainder of the day – don’t worry, this is a very pleasing IPA.

The aroma should turn you on - for the ale of course. The sweet grainy aroma hits my nose every time I pop that cork on that 750 ml bottle. Once in the glass I still get the sweet grain, as well as, some nice herbal notes and pure freshness. The taste is very crisp and has a wonderful hoppy, lemon citrus flavor. Don’t worry, nothing overpowering. The floral-rosy edges start to build and as the ale warms up some nice and very light sweet malty undertones come into play. To me this is a perfectly balanced IPA. Poperings Hommel is now always in my cellar.

The Pairing

This is a perfect pairing. The cigar brings that cedar woody flavor to mingle with the citrus, floral, and bready profile of the ale. The mouthfeel is pure delight. The high carbonation and dry citrus texture of the ale is very pleasing with this cigar. I have not had that experience with other American style IPA’s. It is almost impossible to pair a cigar up with those bold bitter grapefruit bombs. But, then I have not paired them up with this cigar – hum – I’ll have to give it try.

Read another posting about Poperings - with dinner plans