Gingerbread Stout, A Veritas Cigar, and The Sun

While completing some morning chores on a cloudy day, I would occasionally see the sun breaking through the clouds. Those sightings would give me hope for a later smoke on the porch. When the time came for that anticipated break, the temperature was in the mid-60°, and what I'll optimistically call partly sunny. That'll do.

I've had a Veritas Torch San Andrés in my humidor for a couple of months and decided it might make a good pairing with the beer I was planning to enjoy.

Around this time each year, Hardywood Park Brewing releases its Gingerbread Stout, along with several variations of the beer with different additions. We recently picked up a variety pack contain four of the many variations on the theme the brewery produces at different times. For this outing I was sipping the classic Gingerbread Stout.

The Imperial Milk Stout comes in at winter-perfect ABV of 9.2%. The beer is rich with flavors of milk chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon and ginger. The initial sweetness and spice flavors give way to a roasted bitterness in the finish. The mouthfeel is creamy and the flavors lingers on the palate.

The Veritas Torch San Andrés smoked is a 6 x 50 Toro. The cap is finished with a tight pigtail twist. The cigar features a San Andrés (obviously) wrapper with Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The smoke is creamy and copious, with notes of chocolate and nuts. 

I've smoked several cigars in the Vertias portfolio and have always found them to be flavorful, well-made, enjoyable smokes. And each time I smoke one I think I really should seek out more. So many cigars, so little time.

The Gingerbread Stout and Veritas Torch was an exceptional pairing. The flavors complimented each other quite successfully. I'm looking forward to more winter cigar and stout pairings in the coming months.

Cheers!