This frozen Sunday afternoon in Calgary in November, made me long for the summer days, and decided that a Moscow Mule should be in order with our recently acquired 2016 Montecristo No. 4… What a better way to start my new 33 Cigars Tasting Notebook?!
My husband, Louis, agreed that should be a good pairing and left it to me to make the drinks…
Looking at the empty copper mugs and the crazy snow outside, I thought that the whole thing felt kind of depressing, and I needed to add some warm color to our drinks: I should improve the Moscow Mule recipe with something red, like frozen berries and a touch of sweet red vermouth. That should do the trick I thought…
Needless to say, Louis was not fond of it, but sure finished the drink stoically, and after that asked for a traditional Moscow Mule
As for me… I absolutely loved it!! The Montecristo cigar paired stunningly with the tartness of the berries. The vermouth, mingled with the ginger beer, brought surprising flavors out of the cigar… The familiar coffee taste was there the whole time, but black pepper, Cardamom and popcorn flavors surfaced and made the old familiar Montecristo seem like an entirely new cigar… in an almost Twilight Zone-ish kind of way
And that’s how my new 33 Cigars Tasting Notebook was started… Did I mention that I am a beginner cigar smoker living among very serious cigars smokers? I need all the help I can get 😉
and to my very pleasant surprise, it fits perfectly in my new Smok’n Gear Cigar Travel Case.
Cheers,
Alice Batonyi