Fine dining and cigars

[retrofail]

So the Bond Roberts 1978 Du Roi auction sent me down an interwebs rabbit hole researching "vintage" cigars, and I came across this 2012 article about a cigar tasting centered around a five course meal. Here's the article if you so desire:

https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/a-tasting-of-vintage-smokes-16710

While they're obviously smoking fabulous cigars and dining on fabulous courses, I couldn't help but wonder if I would enjoy the experience.  It's hard enough for me to pair the right drink with my smoke, I can't imagine trying to discern all the different flavors of eating as well. 

So, I pose the question to the more experienced out there. Have you tried eating and smoking? Do you find it enjoyable? How do you keep from overwhelming your cigar?

On a side, I made a run on those Du Roi, but it got too rich for my blood rather quickly. Congrats to the winner!

[Wookie]

I'm a big believer in cigars after dining. I cook a lot of French stuff with subtle sauces and paired with wine. I think those two are mutually exclusive with smoke, which would just cloud the palate. The perfect combo for a cigar is bourbon for my palate. The strength of the booze complements the cigar ethereally. 

[retrofail]

I agree with smoking after dining. A very satisfying experience. 

[Smokecigareveryday]

Smoke after dining.

[BrightonCorgi]

Smoking a cigar for each course is going to make for a long evening.

I like cigars before or after; not during food.  Oddly I am bit like that with wine.  I know wine goes with food, but I'll drink more of it before and after the meal.  The meal itself maybe half a glass.

 

[Colt45]

3 hours ago, retrofail said:

Have you tried eating and smoking? Do you find it enjoyable?

I've tried it a couple of times and do not enjoy it at all. Pertaining to dinner, cigars after for me.

3 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Oddly I am bit like that with wine.  I know wine goes with food, but I'll drink more of it before and after the meal.  The meal itself maybe half a glass.

I'm very much the same unless dining out. At home I tend to eat, then enjoy my wine after. (truth be told, I enjoy food, but for the most part, eat for fuel)

[LLC]

So, I pose the question to the more experienced out there. Have you tried eating and smoking? Do you find it enjoyable? How do you keep from overwhelming your cigar?

My preference is to enjoy a cigar after dinner. Preferably in Havana at the same table I just finished eating at. However there are times I’ve kept a cigar going by puffing on it every once and a while while eating in Havana or at a herf.


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[retrofail]

27 minutes ago, LLC said:

My preference is to enjoy a cigar after dinner. Preferably in Havana at the same table I just finished eating at. However there are times I’ve kept a cigar going by puffing on it every once and a while while eating in Havana or at a herf.


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Haven't had the pleasure of experiencing Cuba. Some day I hope to. 

[BrightonCorgi]

12 hours ago, LLC said:

My preference is to enjoy a cigar after dinner. Preferably in Havana at the same table I just finished eating at.

Very much one should have the cigar at the same table as eating.  The only reason to leave the table could be to prep it for something next, but other than that I'll cigars at the dining table after.

[Londonguy]

Several years ago, the stars were aligned for me and a friend to have a memorable evening.  We had spent a beautiful October day fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and later headed to the Hard Rock casino in Tampa for a crab leg buffet.  Now I had a cigar case full of Bolivar corona gigantes with five years of age and wasn’t terribly excited to chase crab legs with Bolivars.  But, as we were walking towards the buffet, we passed the entrance to Council Oak steakhouse and bar.  I told my buddy to pause because the most amazing sight had caught my eye.  There was a display of steaks aging behind the maître d that was breathtaking.  I also noticed that there were others enjoying cigars in the bar area opposite of the restaurant.  I asked the maître d, expecting to get shot down, if it was possible to enjoy a cigar and a steak at the tables near the bar.  It is an understatement to say that we were pleasantly surprised to learn that not only we could enjoy such a rare indulgence, but that there was also live jazz.  Once we are seated, a 6’ tall blond bombshell arrives to take our order and blow are minds.  Not only was she pleasing to the eye, but she knew fine food, wine, and cigars.  After a thorough tour of the menu and wine list it was pretty clear she could handle the task.  I handed the menus back to her and told her we’ll just follow her lead.  We started with Woodford Reserve and some jumbo lump crab cakes, followed by bone-in ribeyes with asparagus.  She nailed the wine.  A Prisoner cabernet.  The entire experience was enjoyed with while puffing away on the Bolivars with the band playing in the background.  Sensory overload and a night not to forget!...  We inhale food in the US.  Part of the secret of enjoying this type of experience is to slow down.  I now do an annual grill with some local aficionados.  Ribeyes and cabernet, with Bolivars or Ramon Allones Gigantes, etc. We’ll usually do a pre-dinner Trinidad and a scotch as a warm up.  Mix it up. Have fun. Enjoy the journey!

[El Presidente]

On 5/11/2020 at 2:06 AM, retrofail said:

So, I pose the question to the more experienced out there. Have you tried eating and smoking? Do you find it enjoyable? How do you keep from overwhelming your cigar?

Great food, great wine, great cigars and great company......put them together and it is one of the great things in life. 

I go out of my way to engineer the above. I immerse myself in the simple decadent pleasure of it all.  

Every sense is ablaze. You are not only alive but living. 

[Ken Gargett]

12 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Great food, great wine, great cigars and great company......put them together and it is one of the great things in life. 

I go out of my way to engineer the above. I immerse myself in the simple decadent pleasure of it all.  

Every sense is ablaze. You are not only alive but living. 

i am completely opposed to fine dining and cigars.

fine dining, absolutely. cigars, absolutely. but not together.

i know we have had dinners in cuba combining dining and cigars but hard to consider most of those fine dining. a good barbecue with some cigars, fine. a good meal with mates, sure. but not where the dining is more than just having a bite. where it is part of the event, it is disrespectful beyond measure to the chef, other diners (assuming not all are firing up) and to the food itself. and the wine. 

dining first, cigars after. perfect. but the divinities themselves could not convince me that combining them enhances either. indeed, it does exactly the opposite. 

[El Presidente]

4 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

i am completely opposed to fine dining and cigars.f

That doesn't surprise me 

[Ken Gargett]

1 minute ago, El Presidente said:

That doesn't surprise me 

oh, if we want to send this forum down the road of quotes out of context, may i suggest that you poking the bear is not the cleverest thing you've done today. 

[El Presidente]

II have no idea what you are going on about 

I have simply never pictured you as a cigar and food guy. Wrong background. 

[Ken Gargett]

2 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

II have no idea what you are going on about 

I have simply never pictured you as a cigar and food guy. Wrong background. 

how is it possible for you to be even more annoying when you are not allowed to visit me?

[El Presidente]

17 minutes ago, Ken Gargett said:

how is it possible for you to be even more annoying when you are not allowed to visit me?

...it's a gift 

[Ken Gargett]

3 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

...it's a gift 

so is herpes. 

[El Presidente]

1 minute ago, Ken Gargett said:

so is herpes. 

she didn't buy it when you told her, nor will I 

[Ken Gargett]

3 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

she didn't buy it when you told her, nor will I 

you are just in form today. 

[Ken Gargett]

3 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

she didn't buy it when you told her, nor will I 

i thought we were supposed to be doing a video?

[El Presidente]

Just now, Ken Gargett said:

i thought we were supposed to be doing a video?

I sent you the invite.  Look in your "INBOX" 

 

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

I sent you the invite.  Look in your "INBOX" 

 

Quite possibly all your emails go to Ken's "JUNK EMAIL" box.

[Ken Gargett]

43 minutes ago, Fuzz said:

Quite possibly all your emails go to Ken's "JUNK EMAIL" box.

just rob's

[Meklown]

3 hours ago, Londonguy said:

Several years ago, the stars were aligned for me and a friend to have a memorable evening.  We had spent a beautiful October day fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and later headed to the Hard Rock casino in Tampa for a crab leg buffet.  Now I had a cigar case full of Bolivar corona gigantes with five years of age and wasn’t terribly excited to chase crab legs with Bolivars.  But, as we were walking towards the buffet, we passed the entrance to Council Oak steakhouse and bar.  I told my buddy to pause because the most amazing sight had caught my eye.  There was a display of steaks aging behind the maître d that was breathtaking.  I also noticed that there were others enjoying cigars in the bar area opposite of the restaurant.  I asked the maître d, expecting to get shot down, if it was possible to enjoy a cigar and a steak at the tables near the bar.  It is an understatement to say that we were pleasantly surprised to learn that not only we could enjoy such a rare indulgence, but that there was also live jazz.  Once we are seated, a 6’ tall blond bombshell arrives to take our order and blow are minds.  Not only was she pleasing to the eye, but she knew fine food, wine, and cigars.  After a thorough tour of the menu and wine list it was pretty clear she could handle the task.  I handed the menus back to her and told her we’ll just follow her lead.  We started with Woodford Reserve and some jumbo lump crab cakes, followed by bone-in ribeyes with asparagus.  She nailed the wine.  A Prisoner cabernet.  The entire experience was enjoyed with while puffing away on the Bolivars with the band playing in the background.  Sensory overload and a night not to forget!...  We inhale food in the US.  Part of the secret of enjoying this type of experience is to slow down.  I now do an annual grill with some local aficionados.  Ribeyes and cabernet, with Bolivars or Ramon Allones Gigantes, etc. We’ll usually do a pre-dinner Trinidad and a scotch as a warm up.  Mix it up. Have fun. Enjoy the journey!

That sounds absolutely fantastic. I think your point on slowing it down absolutely nails it. I also frequently enjoy dinners starting at 6pm (aperitifs & starters), slow and small amounts of food right through 10pm, and the drinks continue to flow past midnight. Mind you, my definition of fine dining also includes 20 different cuts of meat one by one slowly cooked to perfection.