cigars are nefast for peat???

[Tom]

hi everyone.
2 months ago i quit smoking, but i loved some cigars before and i still smoke those (since i quit smoking i smoke more cigars but anyway).
now, since a couple of months i have the greatest trouble in detecting peat in my drams. this is not a small problem as i am a peatfreak. the top of it all was two days ago when i ordered a cask strength dram and didnt say a brand, so the bartender poors me one and doesnt tell me what it is, after a while i ask him, is this an arran on CS?? it was a ardbeg uigadaele!!! i did smoke a cigar just before. so i think cigars simply neutralize peat? can anyone please confirm this??i mean, the uigadaele is not slightly peated.
if this isnt the case, then surely something must do this as i used to be able to filter even the smallest amount of peat in any dram.
it is mainly peat however, the other taste/flavors/aromas i still get but peat dissapears completely. at any rate it was very interesting to drink laphroaig without peat, but i've had it now, i want peat. god knows i need peat. (to hpulley: thats why i didnt open the darkest yet, would be a shame to try that now)

[hpulley]

I used to smoke pipes, cigars and cigarettes (though rarely at the same time ) but it'll soon be nine years since I smoked anything and I won't be going back to it any time soon unless armageddon is approaching. I don't think I could keep off of cigarettes if I even tried a cigar or a pipe now. Anyways, back then I was not much of a scotch drinker (on the rocks once in a while, mostly Canadian Whisky, Brandy and Cognac instead) and smoking definitely dulled my tastebuds at the time.

Not just smoking nullifies peat, peat nullifies peat too! Sometimes my nose goes off peat for a while and the smoke too from too many peaty scotches so I lay off them for a while and it comes back.

Harry

[Frodo]

Personally, I do like the odd cigarillo and bourbon on occasion. They do seem to complement each other in my opinion. And I don't smoke anything else.

Frodo

[Laphroaig]

Not for nothing - but what cigars are you smoking?

Personally I tend to stay away from Islay strong points when having a cigar.

Although - Laphroaig is my namesake - and I do find that Cohiba Robustos and Esplendidos are good matches. I'd tend to stick with smoother creamier sticks if going with something like Laphroaig.

If you are smoking tar heavy tasting cigars I can imagine that your drink is ruined.

It might be wise to stick with a Bruichladdich or something with some fruit forward flavors as opposed to trying to comPEAT cigars against whiskies.

[Tom]

usually in the club i have an expencive one like Griffin,Romeo & Juliette,Davidoff or something, but at home i smoke real cheap ones as its not really for the taste but more to help me quit smoking.
as you smoke cigars aswell, have you ever encountered the same?
also i read somewhere else in the forums that Harry has the same problem once in a while and then you just dont drink for two weeks, is that right?
at any cost i am now putting down on cigars to 2 cigars a week to see if it changes, and i stay away from peat for awhile now too.
there's no way in hell i can go without a dram for two weeks.

[Swanny]

I agree it depends what you smoke. Personally the best ever combination was my favorite Whisky and my favorite cigar. I had never tried them together until I read in "Up in Smoke", by J futrell and l linder, a favorites list from a famous Paris hotel, that this was a combination ( :idea: ).
Have you tried smoking cigar and whisky together? I live in Brazil now an really enjoy a good 12yr old blend with my favorite Brazilan cigar an [color=darkred]Angelina[/color] .
I find a Speyside goes well with Cuban too; Mortlach anybody.

[Laphroaig]

Swanny raises a good point. I did assume you meant you were smoking and drinking at the same time. Like having a cigar (while) enjoying a dram or two. Is that correct? Or are you saying that after having smoked a cigar - you don't find your whisky to be as peated say the following day?

Any rate I often hear people recommend power-house cigars against power-house whiskies. It's been my experience that this is not necessarily the formula for a match made in heaven.

I'm by far no expert on this or any subject, so please take my comments to be that of my experience and mere opinion and not that of a clinical expert.

1) I'd identify what it is you are trying to experience. In that are you trying to find a cigar that compliments your whisky more so than a whisky that compliments your cigar? Which one is more important to you - the cigar's taste or the whisky's?

2) With both, as mentioned, I'd try to identify those that compliment each other as opposed to conflict.

As is the case with life in general, as you experiment you are likely to run into way more conflicts than compliments on your journey. Don't give up. . . Then again if you are quitting a habbit, maybe "Don't give up" is a poor choice of words on my part!

[Tom]

um yes ofcourse i did my favorite is a mild longfiller with a very strong sherry flavored cask strength like macallan CS, glenfarclas 105 or aberlour a'bunadh. if i got a cigar and see one of those on the shelf you cant hold me.
but the problem is peat remember. however im not sure anymore that it is the cigar thats causing this, when i tasted the darkest i did got the peat, just like with a caol ila of Dhun Bheagan last week. on both occasions i smoked a cigar the day before or a couple of hours before. yet give me a laphroaig and i will get no peat whatsoever.

[Tom]

Swanny raises a good point. I did assume you meant you were smoking and drinking at the same time. Like having a cigar (while) enjoying a dram or two. Is that correct? Or are you saying that after having smoked a cigar - you don't find your whisky to be as peated say the following day


yes thats what i mean.
um, so what u mean is thats this is because i smoke bad cigars?
i thought of this asswell but didnt dare to try it yet, i'll try this weekend to have a laph or maybe a lagavulin with a good cigar instead. both at the same time.
the problem might have been because i smoke the cheap crap a couple hours before tasting the whisky. (the good ones i always smoke with a whisky, just rarely a peaty one)

[lucabeer]

I smoke pipes, not cigars, but I make a point not to smoke when I drink (neither I drink right after a bowl).

First, for health reasons (it seems that the alcohol multiplies the bad effects of smoke to the mouth and throat), then because of taste.

Yes, I have found that my favorite tobaccos (Balkans, English mixtures heavy on the Latakia...) really do affect the taste of Scotch, usually for the worse. Being very smoky tobaccos, they also tend to cancel out the peat.

So, I can confirm.

[peatreek1]

As a occasional pipe and cigar smoker I strongly agree that smoking does adversely impact ones taste experience from whisky. I would never drink any good (i.e., expensive) whisky while or after smoking, because I just would not be able to fully appreciate it. In my opinion, bourbon goes much better with smoking because its stronger sweetness holds up well; I tend towards Evan Williams Single Barrel when smoking.

[Laphroaig]

No I'm not implying that you smoke bad cigars. Certain cigars just don't go with certain whiskies no matter how hard you try. That said, I'm not so sure that is your problem.

One as stated by others, cigar smoke combined with drinking can have adverse effects on taste. I happen to enjoy the combination especially when matched right.

The big problem I see is highly peated singles are probably the most difficult to pair with a cigar. Consider this view... Vanilla ice cream goes well as a compliment on top of many other desserts. You can make what we call a rootbeer float and other treats... Now substitute Double Fudge -Rocky Road ice cream (imho) you have taken away some of the diversity and must be a little bit more mindful of what kind of pie you plan on serving it on top of if you are bold enough to at all... Well at least for me it makes a differnce... That said Laphroaigs and the likes have the most to lose (imho) when pairing them with not only cigars but if you eat certain things during the drink it can alter the taste too.

Last but not least, there are other factors that come into play... Like I've observed as I became more seasoned, Laphroaigs and Ardbegs stopped producing steam out of my nose after knockin' one back. Perhaps the combination of all the above and you becoming overly accustomed to higher peated drams has had a "chilling" effect??

Although nothing anyone has told you is incorrect (including adverse health effects), I happen to enjoy Whisk(e)y with cigars and tend to pair them together more often than not. But success rates are way higher on things you named besides Laphroaig...

[Laphroaig]

BTW you said -". . . just like with a caol ila of Dhun Bheagan last week."

Is that the Rum Cask you are speaking of? If So I have a bottle but wasn't overly impressed. And also - what's up with Dhun Bheagan anyway? The cannister says something about being on Skye. I was under the impression Talisker was IT.

At any rate, I tasted the Caol Ila OB 12 last week and thought it was great. Now that it appears to be in regular production for stateside purchase I will be stocking a bottle or two of that.

[Tom]

Last but not least, there are other factors that come into play... Like I've observed as I became more seasoned, Laphroaigs and Ardbegs stopped producing steam out of my nose after knockin' one back. Perhaps the combination of all the above and you becoming overly accustomed to higher peated drams has had a "chilling" effect?? .

i think thats indeed the most logicall explanation.
as for the Caol ila, it was Dun Bheagan Caol Ila 10Y unchill filtered and matured in a hogshead. pretty good stuff, rated it 87
and i totally agree on the rum finish of the same brand, it was nothing special at all.
for the rest i think the OB's of caol ila are unimpressive, most of the independents are better then the 12 and 18, specially the 18 i found very very dissapointing. while the OB Cask strength is about the best CS islay i had.