The Cigar
Micallef Experiencia 6 x 58
Medium strength, 4 year old Nicaraguan Habano Wrapper, 4 year old San Andres Habano Binder, 4 year old Nicaraguan, Dominican, and Panamanian Filler. MSRP $11.
This is a great stick. Very good earthy flavor. Great choice overall with the HighBall. It was nice getting an extra musty, attic type flavor with the HighBall made from the Redemption High Rye.
The Liquor
High Ball with four different Whiskey’s
Made using a 1 to 3 ration of Whiskey to Ginger Ale. We used the Redemption High Rye, Balcones 100% Rye, TX Blended Whiskey, and Four Roses Bourbon.
The Four Roses disappears in the ginger ale. Did not really do anything for us. If you don’t like tasting any liquor at all, this is the one for you.
The TX we all got some vanilla flavor from it. Had a great aroma to it and some a made a nice drink. It let you know it was there, but just a little bit, that it was in the drink. It did not compete with the cigar at all, but it also did not really add to it.
Redemption High Rye comes in at 38% Rye in the mashbill. In the High Ball it adds something that the others don’t. With this you know it is an alcoholic drink, but with a really good flavor. As we all thought about it, we realized this was our favorite of all of the different liquors we used. It also combined with the cigar and brought out more of a musty or attic flavor. A change that did not happen with any of the others. It was a really nice change.
The Balcones Rye is great by itself. However, none of us like very much in the High Ball. It did not mess up the cigar any and that is very nice. Straight, you bet, but not in a High Ball.
The More
Shout Out to Stuart from Rose and Dagger Studio
The glasses we used with a notch out for a cigar was a gift from Stuart from Rose and Dagger Studios.
Recent Legislation notification from Cigar Rights of America
Cigar Rights of America sent an email with some legislation from several states and most are concerning. If you have not, now is a good time to sign up. Get two premium cigars and you can easily send letters to your U.S. Representatives, U.S. Sentors, and the White House. Help protect your rights. Here are some of the things states are coming up with:
- Florida SB 670 – Ban Smoking in public parks & beaches (Oppose)
- Florida HM 1093 – Urges Congressional Delegation to support a premium cigar exemption (Support)
- Florida HM 1093 – Urges Congressional Delegation to support a premium cigar exemption (Support)
- Hawaii SB 2101 – Calls for a $0.50 tax cap on premium cigars (Support)
- Kentucky SB 98 – Proposes to remove employment anti-discrimination provisions on cigar consumers (Oppose)
- Maryland HB 732 & SB 3 – Calls for an increase in the rate of taxation on premium cigars from 15% to 86% (Oppose)
- Michigan SB 58 – Makes cigar tax cap permanent (Support)
- New Hampshire SB 478 – Allows on-site food service in cigar shops (Support)
- New Mexico SB 131 – Would ban customers from walking into humidors in premium cigar retail shops (Oppose)
- Vermont SB 288 – Proposes to ban premium cigar sales in the state (Oppose)
MashBills
We already know that legal requirements mandate 51% corn for bourbon but what about the other 49%.
http://recenteats.blogspot.com/p/the-complete-list-of-american-whiskey.html
- Corn – This is the base of bourbon and adds a majority of the sweetness in bourbon. The actual corn flavor fades with aging and sweeter, robust flavors of vanilla and maple syrup come out. Corn ranges from 51%-80% of the mash bill for most distilleries. If it drops below 51%, it’s no longer bourbon. If there’s more than 79%, we now have “corn whiskey” by legal definition.
- Rye – Mainly used as a flavoring grain, rye adds the spicy, minty or cinnamon flavor and an extra bite of peppery spice to bourbon. Try a rye whiskey like Bulleit, Willett, Redemption, or Balcones 100% Rye to pick up on the flavor notes of rye. You can even try eating rye toast to get a better idea of the flavoring rye adds to bourbon. Rye ranges from 8%-35% of the mash bill for most distilleries, but rye whiskeys are 51% and more.
- Wheat – Wheat is the alternate flavoring grain. Wheated bourbons were made famous by Pappy Van Winkle but result in a sweeter bourbon with more toffee and vanilla flavor notes. Try a rye bourbon next to a wheated bourbon like Weller Special Reserve or Makers Mark to notice the wheat flavor. Wheat ranges from 18%-20% of the mash bill for most distilleries, but Heaven Hill makes 3 mashes with 51% wheat (Bernheim Wheat Whiskey, Elijah Craig Straight Rye, and Parkers Heritage Wheat Whiskey), then even higher Five Points and Dry Fly creates 100% wheat whiskeys.
- Barley –Barley is there for its ability to convert starches to sugar. Most think of malted barley as the main ingredient in scotch. Try a single malt scotch like Macallan next to bourbon to pick up on the flavor of bourbon developed from barley. Barley ranges from 5%-12% of the mash bill for most distilleries. Again, Parkers Heritage Malt Whiskey is a high barley content (65%) and Willetts Rye is 34% barley. How the barley is ‘malted’ affects the flavor it imparts, so I’m not going to comment too much on how it adds flavor.
MGP makes a lot of white dog for many and have some of the better published mash bills and gives you a huge number of products to compare between. I found 128 and so too many to list. Again, as we heard from Randy MGP has decided to begin their own line rather than just producing distillates for others.
- Bourbon – 75% Corn, 21% Rye and 4% Barley
- Bourbon – 60% Corn, 36% Rye and 4% Barley
- Bourbon – 99% Corn and 1% Barley
- Corn Whiskey – 81% Corn, 15% Rye and 4% Barley
- Rye Whiskey 95% Rye and 5% Barley
In July 2014 MGPI announced 6 new mash bills that they were starting to produce. These bills are coming up on 6 yrs now so expect these on shelves now.
- Rye whiskey – 51% rye and 49% barley malt
- Rye whiskey – 51% rye, 45% corn and 4% barley malt
- 95% wheat whiskey
- 100% barley malt whiskey
- Bourbon -55% corn, 45% wheat
- Bourbon 51% corn, 49% barley malt
Lone Elm Five Points Distilling (https://www.lone-elm.com/):
We are going to participate with others in creating a bourbon at Five Points Distillery in Forney, Texas. We will come up with the mash bill with consultation from the distillery, we will do the work with the grains, hoppers, moving liquid and eventually bottling. The first part will take place this May where we will create it and put the results in barrels. Then a year or two down the road bottle them up. We are excited about doing this and thank Five Points Distillery for the opportunity to do so. They are a great group of folks and if you have not tried their Lone Elm Whiskey, you should do so. It is a really good spirit that you will enjoy.
Cassie Question:
Darrell gave an example of what he things is not a good Cassie Question (being why don’t Jedi when fighting with lightsabers not force push the lightsaber button to the off position?). Then Julia and Bill went off on a tangent around that. Then we ended up with the actual Cassie question. If you can as a one time exchange trading adding 15lbs of weight per one year younger. Let us know what you think about either and we will read your thoughts on air.
Next Episode:
First week of the March Madness inspired CLM Sweet 16.
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Cassie question, how about the reverse? What about an obese person losing 150 lbs for 10 years lost life?
Bill, you made a comment about the inconsistency between banning premium cigars but legalizing marijuana. You’re not wrong, but I don’t think those are the same groups proposing laws. I would guess that the left would wanna legalize most anything and the right would wanna restrict things, but I could be wrong.
Sam,
Agreed. I just don’t care for the inconsistency.
Have you been able to sample any of the Micallef cigars?