Cigars are „in“ again. In America smokers clubs are springing up out of nowhere and even here the good old cigar is socially acceptable again and has become a sign of the times. More and more women are tending to smoke a good cigar after a meal – the cigar as a status symbol for powerful men has had its day. A cigar with your dessert? Why not? Wine and cigars are believed to be the ideal partners – try it out for yourself. It can be the start of a beautiful friendship. Cigars are prized as the perfect compliment to sherry, port and madeira. The similarities in aroma and flavour, such as notes of spice and cedarwood plus caramel, promise a certain harmony. Cigars combine best of all with sweet wines. This is explained by the fact that the complex aromas of cigars are carried by the smoke and that the main substance nicotine leaves a bitter taste on the tongue. Full-bodied sweet wines with high alcohol balance this the best. Consequently the most frequent first choice is a glass of port, but medium dry sherries also fit the bill with their lively character.
Not all cigars are the same of course. They all have one thing in common and that is, shape, although this may vary from short to long, fat to thin and angular to rounded. Each cigar has a different name, a different colour and a different weight and they all taste different. The most important classic cigar type is cylindrical in shape and has a rounded head and straight bottom. And it was known even before the days of Churchill that cigar smokers could actually be younger than 75 years old. By the way, you can recognise experienced smokers by the way they allow brief pauses when they are smoking – this gives their sensory cells a chance to rest and they can then look forward to the next pleasurable puff..