Van Winkle 12YO special reserve Lot B Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey with Cohiba Behike 54 (and Old Rip Van Winkle 10YO Bourbon and Dalmore Cigar Malt and Grand marinier)

I'd rather be sipping whiskey with a cigar than shopping. Such was my choice on my last afternoon in New York before heading home. Initially I tried to find something closer but it was closed and rather than go back to the Carnegie Club, I decided to find somewhere new. What a delight to have found the Soho Cigar Club! Highly recommended, great service and a fantastic vibe. You walk in and immediately you notice the nice leather lounges and we'll appointed tables, cigar smoke wafting gently through the air and a beautiful bar to the left. After installing myself facing the entrance, bar and cigar cabinet, I decided to splurge.

COHIBA BEHIKE 54 CIGAR

I'm starting with the cigar because, as you'll see, I had a lot of different things along the way. The Cohiba Behike is one of the best cigars I've had. The 54 is longer than the 52 which I've reviewed before (https://partiko.app/yippeekaiyay/eigashima-single-malt-japanese-whisky-with-cohiba-behike-52-enazejlk?referrer=yippeekaiyay) but is the same taste and flavour. This particular size is my favorite amongst the range: I get just enough more than the 52 which is a standard Robusto size and sometimes the 56 will have problems with either draw or burn. Anyway the cigar was wonderful and I enjoyed it down to the finger nail pincer held lip burning remnants of the nub.

OLD RIP VAN WINKLE HANDMADE BOURBON AGED 10 YEARS IN THE BARREL

AND

VAN WINKLE SPECIAL BARREL 12YO LOT B KENTUCKY STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY

So much has been said about Van Winkle BOURBON (a.k.a Pappy Van Winkle): how it's so rare and special because someone had supposedly stolen the reserves causing it to be in limited supply (pure unsubstantiated speculation which I pass on as hearsay for the sake of hyperbolic effect) and that it tastes so very wonderful. Well, I've tried it and it's great. Was it worth paying as much as I did for it? Meh..... Value is always in the eye of the beholder (as is beauty apparently). I had in fact ordered the 10YO first which is also pictured but they had run out and they served me the last dregs on the house (see I told you the service was fantastic). Without delay, I ordered the 12YO so that shortly after I had 2 glasses of whiskey to go with my cigar. The 10YO Bourbon is strong on the nose with honey and fruity notes but curiously very little of the corn flavour so typical in Bourbon until you sip it and it comes out but not until the woody barrel age flavour and sweetness hit you with the strong alcohol impact. Very nice for a Bourbon and I would buy it if it were more accessible.

PAIRING

The pairing was good but not spectacular in that both flavours were not changed too much but neither was spolied by the other. I would just have easily enjoyed either alone.

Moving on to the 12yo....

The 12YO is a superior Bourbon. You will have to forgive me for saying that the reason I think so is because is smells initally like a complex speyside single malt whisky. But it does and I could barely discern the distinct Bourbon flavours from the nose, instead I got a lot of vanilla oak, honey and spice, almost feint cinnamon. The taste was better than the 10yo also, so smooth and subtle, sweet honey with only a little of that corn sweetness coming through. Definitely didn't taste as close to a single malt scotch whisky as the smell did.

PAIRING

This was also a much nicer pairing than the 10YO which by now was a distant memory. The whiskey was made smokier by the cigar smoke but the smoke was made sweeter by the whiskey. There was certainly more complexity when pairing these two.

So...... I was lucky enough that by the time I had almost finished the 12YO that a nice couple from Harlem sat next to me. They were smoking Partagas série P torpedoes and we got to talking about cigars, how to light and what to pair with them. He ordered a Grand Marnier and she a glass of red wine. After some chit chat, I offered to buy them a Dalmore Cigar Malt single malt scotch whisky which we shared and paired with our cigars. He was kind enough to also let me try a sip of his Grand Marnier. The whisky paired wonderfully with my cigar and from experience I knew it would pair well with their cigars. However I did not enjoy the pairing with the Grand Marnier, the citrus taste being too overbearing on the cigar smoke and lingering too long afterwards.

A lovely way to spend a beautiful afternoon.

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