Cigar Event: Ashton Cigars and Odell Brewery Pairing Dinner Pt. 4:

Alright everybody, here it is, the last pairing from the Ashton Cigar and Odell Brewery cigar pairing dinner hosted by Edwards Pipe and Cigar at d’Vine Bistro! And this final pairing was an exceptional and exquisite treat! Up until now, every pairing, from the green chili soup and San Cristobal Elegancia Imperial, to the Piri Piri with the La Aroma de Cuba Edicion Especiale #5, to the Stilton and Goat cheese stuffed Medjool dates and the Ashton VSG, have been, without a doubt, magnificent! Yet, Edwards, Odells, and d’Vine quite possibly saved the very best for last, as dessert often is.

Introducing us to dessert, d’Vine’s chef discusses the simple, yet scrumptious, Raspberry Chocolate Mousse! Made with 80 Cacao chocolate, butter, Cruzan Spiced rum, and heavy cream raspberries, this mousse stayed true to the bistro’s name and was absolutely divine! Eating this was like eating a fluffy scoop of chocolaty heaven!

Next up, Nico, who introduces us to another staple beer for Odell: Cutthroat Porter. This ebony beauty is inspired by the traditional London porters of olde. It is a dark, malty, beer that produces a great roasted flavor with hints of chocolate and coffee rolling over your tongue as though it were a fresh mocha!

Last we have Randy of Edwards Pipe and Cigar presenting us with our final smoke of the evening: the San Cristobal Monumento. An cigar crafted by the Garcia family from a blend of aged Nicaraguan leaf and wrapped in an elegant and oily Nicaraguan wrapper.

I light up my cigar almost immediately while the tantalizing Tiffany spares no time in digging into the mousse. I am blessed with a deep, rich, and satisfying flavor of this cigar as it wastes no time presenting me with strong oak flavors with mocha and a hint of almost creamy walnut and black cherry flavored coffee. Taking a sip of the beer, I am shocked at the impressive smooth and light flavor of such a dark beer. I expected a typical porter/stout bitter roasted malts flavor, but it provided me with the full-bodied nature of a porter with a light-as-a-feather character! It is only now, of course, that I take my first sinful spoonful of the mousse and let it just dissolve in my mouth. Again I am surprised me by how incredibly subtle the raspberry flavor is and just taken away by the buttery cocoa of the mousse. This left me with a moment of pause where all I could say afterward was “Oh. My. God!”

The overall experience of the San Cristobal, with the Cutthroat, and the Raspberry mousse was simply too much to describe in words. Every pairing from this evening had something fresh, unique, and startling about how well these flavors intermingled and played with each other. I never quite had so much enjoyment having a cigar, beer, and meal use my tongue as their playground, and I’m more than willing for them to do it again! Until next time and enjoy those cigars!