National Rum Day

Never one to miss a celebration, I was happy to lend my support to National Rum Day on Sunday. After we enjoyed an afternoon hike through a local Battlefield park, I decided to pair a rum with my Sunday cigar. I had a bottle of Don Q Oak Spiced Rum in the cabinet, which was paired with a Hamlet Tabaquero Solomon from Rocky Patel Cigars.

I'm not a regular rum drinker. This bottle was purchased for a specific recipe we were trying, but I've since enjoyed it occasionally on the rocks with a cigar. The spiced rum has notes of brown sugar and cloves, over a sweet vanilla and oaky base. The 90 proof bottling is smooth and eminently sippable.

The uniquely-shaped 7⅝" x 58 perfecto is always a pleaser. I had it a few times and enjoy both the flavor, and the fact that is is simply a nice looking cigar. The cigar is tapered its entire length, and sharply closes to a small tip at the head. The first bit hits with a kick, and then the flavors open up as more filler comes into play. The blend consists of a San Andrés wrapper, a Nicaraguan filler, and a combination of San Andrés and Brazilian Mata Fina double binder. Creamy sweetness, milk chocolate, cedar, earth, and oak all come through. Nearing full body by the end, the two hour smoke is a pleasure.

The smoke, and a few pours of rum done, I marked the weekend complete. I was as prepped as I can be for another week of "the grind," all in anticipation of the next weekend!