Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva GT20 and Heaven Hill BiB

Last Friday, I was looking forward to heading over to my local brewery to enjoy an evening cigar under the trees and listen to some live music. All while enjoying a good beer of course. That afternoon they announced that it was too hot to listen to music outside and cancelled the event. Disappointing, but I reverted to my usual spot on the deck. I took a chance and put some blues on the speaker – outdoors music despite their warning. 

I've had some Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva GT20 sitting on the humidor for about 8 weeks now. Though somewhat impatiently, I've giving them some rest after purchase at a Drew Estate event at my a local shop. After some indecisiveness standing in front of the whiskey shelf, I finally selected the Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon to complete the pairing.

The Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva GT20 is a 6 x 54 box-pressed stick. The Nicaraguan Maduro binder is smooth and glossy though somewhat unevenly colored. With both Nicaraguan binder and filler, it promises to be a robust smoke. The GT20 was created to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva. The blend used is the same as the original Antaño 1970 but the filler leaves were aged for more than five years. 

As suspected the smoke starts off robust with notes of cedar, espresso, and roasted nuts. The finish, and the retrohale, boasted white pepper spice. The cigar threatened to go out several times, and succeeded once, requiring a number of touchups to keep it going strong. The burn line got wavy at times never got out of hand due to the required lighter hits to keep a full burn. The GT20 is a full-bodied smoke from start to finish, and despite the attention needed by the burn, a quite enjoyable smoke.

Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond is a 7 year aged 100 proof bourbon. The pour is aromatic as caramel, vanilla, and oak waft from the glass. It's a flavorful sip with moderately intense oak and baking spice mixed with the oak and vanilla. Some tobacco and dark cherry join the finish. A pleasant caramel sweetness lingers for a long finish on the palate.

The Heaven Hill BiB has been an allocated item and hard to come by in our State (mis)managed stores. Just recently I noticed that VA ABC had removed the bourbon from their allocated list. That's a relief as this is an enjoyable bourbon, and at under $50, a bargain as well.

Cheers!