Fletchers Cigar Bar

The Brew: Jai Alai IPA
The Maker:  Cigar City Brewing Co., 
Tampa, Florida
Rating: 5 out of a possible 5 bottles
ABV: 7.5 %      

India pale ale is the name given to those hoppy brews that some people turn up their noses at.  My nose follows that hops aroma and I couldn’t wait to taste this product of  Tampa, that tri-lingual jewel of a city on Florida’s west coast.    

Joe Redner Jr.’s just a young fellow but he spent most of the last 15 years or so pursuing his passion for craft beers.  It began with a trip to Portland, Oregon, a lot of beer sampling, and later a try at home brewing.  The idea to create Cigar City Brewing was born.  He says in published articles he wanted to pay tribute to his home town – its grit, its macho mix of industries, and its cigars.   

So I sampled a tiny bit of his cultural craftsmanship recently – the IPA called Jai Alai.  It’s named after a game played in the Basque country of northern Spain and southern France. Players fasten these long baskets to their wrists and fling a small hard rubber ball against a wall. Back and forth, back and forth. Pock, pick, grunt, weave, duck, catch, fling.  Makes one thirsty just thinking about it.          

Jai Alai won’t leave you dry.  It has a hint of cigars and cedar lurking in its orange-amber body.  And vanilla. Something like vanilla.    You have to like hoppy to be happy about this one.

Brew Ha ha
 

The Brew: Dogfish Punkin Ale
The Maker: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery,
Milton, Delaware
Rating: 5 out of a possible 5 bottles
ABV: 7 %   

Read this missive quickly because the Punkin Ale won’t be around long. It’s a seasonal brew from Delaware, named after a wacky competition they have there in the tiny little coastal state.  They call it “Punkin Chunkin” and it involves tossing pumpkins long distances using a variety of medieval and modern devices.  An adult sport, for sure.  

But so is beer-drinking. And back to the subject, here, we’re talking about one of the seasonal offerings on the Fletcher’s Cigar Bar and Social craft beer list, Punkin Ale.   

Punkin Ale is brewed every year in September and remains available until about Thanksgiving. Principal flavoring ingredients include pumpkin, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.  Voila! Pumpkin pie in a bottle!   

Yummy, malty and full-bodied, it can be drunk with dinner or dessert.

Arturo Fuente Hemingway Short Story       

Well, enough formalities, let us indulge in our first review, a great cigar for the beginning to intermediate smoker. It comes from the Arturo Fuente family of cigars, Hemingway Series, Short Story. Like most cigars in the Hemingway line sports an African Cameroon wrapper. This imparts a spicy taste and aroma to the cigar.

Appearance toothy wrapper nicely rolled figurado shape.  Pre-light aroma and draw spicy, earthy, med draw.  First impressions a firm draw yields earthy, spicy notes and a pleasant aroma.  Mid-burn notes Once you get past the bulb the cigar opens up nicely, but never gets too hot.  Finish it’s a small vitola, but finishes well despite its small stature. 

Conclusions: a perfect blast of spice and flavor if you don’t have time for a larger cigar. Medium bodied but not too strong for a beginning smoker. I give it a solid 88, different vintages I would score in the low 90s

The Brew: Southern Tier Harvest
The Maker: Southern Tier Brewing Co., Lakewood, N.Y.
Rating: 5 out of a possible 5 bottlesABV: 6.7 %    

Hoppy makes me happy.    That,  Jack, is a fact, I make no bones about it. Some people don’t like hoppy brews, it is true.  But over the last dozen years a lot of craft breweries have bubbled up in these United States and many of their offerings are  aromatic blends of hops and malts.    Southern Tier Harvest is made with four hops varieties and two malts. It is a zingy beverage that sits pleasantly on the palate. Definitely something you want to sip and savor, rather than guzzle.
 

I can't say I'm an expert but in my life I have swallowed a lot of different kinds of beer, mostly the pale American varieties that fill the grocery store shelves.  Bubbles and alcohol -- that was all I needed, on a hot summer's day, to chase away thirst.  But in my later years I see there is life beyond bubbles and alcohol.  Thank you, Southern Tier and many other fine small brewers who have blessed me with this gustatorial epiphany!

From: Woodchuck Cidery, Middlebury, Vt.
Rating: 3 out of a 5 Pints
ABV: 5 %    

Craft beers and cigars are a match made in heaven in my book.      But what if you are in the mood for something other than beer?     You might try the Woodchuck Hard Cider, one of the featured brews at Fletcher’s Cigar Bar and Social in the Ormond Beach. Hard cider calls to mind fireplaces, walks in the woods, and apples stored in a cellar.  Did I say apples?  Well, of course. Apples are the main ingredient – never mind the TEENSY amount of sorbates and caramel coloring – in this Vermont-made product.  At 5 percent alcohol by volume, Woodchuck has midrange potency, but as with all craft beer products, we’re looking for taste and mood influences, right guys and gals?    

The Woodchuck Amber at Fletcher’s is refreshingly sweet, slightly carbonated and definitely apple. The amber is the most popular of the cider-maker’s products by far, according to an online survey by the company. The other readily available flavors are Granny Smith, Pear, 802 (dark and dry) and raspberry.    

People with a gluten problem love Woodchuck ciders.  No wheat at all in that fetching green bottle. 

Premium Hand Made Cigars

Hi, and welcome to the Connoisseurs’ Corner, where over the next few weeks, we will be tasting and rating some of the world’s finest cigars.  Don’t ask me to spell connoisseurs too often, I had to come up with a catchy name, but from here on out well just call it CC’s.  Well also try some of the world’s not so finer cigars; every cigar has a place in the CC.   So, come along with me as we travel the globe in search of these tasty sticks, many of which can be found locally if you know where and what you’re looking for.  With me as your guide, I’m certain we can find you the right cigar for any occasion, and pair it with a handcrafted beer or spirit that complements each other.  

I have personally been smoking cigars since the early 90’s, right around the time we had a huge cigar boom.  With so many cigars being produced you had to go through a lot more mediocre sticks until you found one you liked.  Provided the perfect platform to discover the different types and styles of cigars for a budding cigar aficionado.  This is where I started to develop my palate for the vast range of flavors the different tobacco blends can produce.  I’m always on a quest for the new, unusual and vintage cigars.

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