Top 5 Most Opulent Champagne & Cigar Pairings
Celebrating and cigars are like bosom buddies, especially when you throw some bubbly into the mix. Whether you’re raising a toast on New Year’s Eve, or tossing your hat off in the name of a job promotion, your wedding day, or because you won the lottery, the tools of revelry deserve consideration. Chances are, you’re already on cloud nine, so why not indulge the moment with champagne and cigars? We’re not talking about a rudimentary, random bundle brand you scored from the closeout aisle. We’re getting out the step-stool and taking a reach up to the top shelf for an absolute out-of-the-park series of pairings that illuminate the best cigars to enjoy with the best champagne.
When you’re ready to cut loose or congratulate somebody, take a peek at the Top 5 Most Opulent Cigar & Champagne Pairings we came up with. Ignition, carbonation, spices, and sweetness converge in a number of unique and unforgettable ways.
#1 - Fuente Fuente Opus X & Dom Perignon Vintage 2006
Opulence achieved. The all-Dominican, woody spices of Fuente Fuente Opus X compose a wonderful accomplice to the brisk, ultra-refined effervescence Dom Perignon Vintage 2006 delivers. Both cigar and champagne are aged to an impeccable fault. Legendary cigar-maker Carlito Fuente blended Opus X from select tobaccos on the Fuente family’s most prized estates.
Vibrant notes of citrus and stone fruits inhabit a Dom Perignon profile that has been carefully maturing for over 10 years. The champagne’s age is brilliantly masked by its sweet, refreshing edges and a direct crispness that cuts through the luscious spice that has made Opus X a coveted cigar. Although each furnish a distinctiveness that stands on its own, Opus X harbors a potency that may overpower a less complex glass of bubbly with ease, were it not for the cigar’s tasteful nuance of dried fruit and figs that thread the briny finish of cream and minerals the wonderfully calibrated Dom Perignon contains. Loosen your black tie a notch. This lavish pair doesn’t need to have the collar buttoned up to prove they're fit to satisfy sophisticated tastes.
#2 - Ashton ESG & Krug Grande Cuvee, NV
Vivacious bubbles imbue a deep, golden hue with movement and celebration from the moment the cork emerges from Krug Grande Cuvee. This champagne’s exquisite profile of hazelnut, honey, almonds and nougat is an entirely befitting partner for the extensively fermented Ashton ESG (Estate Sun Grown). The finest, oldest-tenured tobaccos procured from select Fuente family estates in the Dominican Republic are patiently blended by world-renowned cigar-maker Carlito Fuente.
A caramel-hued wrapper leaf is blessed with natural Dominican sunlight over a supremely creamy core of Dominican binder and filler tobaccos. Ashton ESG delivers medium to full-bodied graham cracker notes with velvety texture and a touch of black pepper on the back end. Krug Grand Cuvee and Ashton ESG entwine marvelously with naturally creamy undertones that are approachable and rich, bright and unerring. A gala for the senses will take place regardless of whether you’re partying in a palatial club or relaxing on the deck of a yacht.
#3 - Padron 80 Years & Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque 2008
Some of the oldest tobaccos in the Padron factory are handcrafted into a visually pristine, full-bodied Figurado called the 80 Years. An all-Nicaraguan core of premium, aged long-filler tobaccos is collected in a glimmering Nicaraguan wrapper leaf with a smooth and slightly raised texture. Classic Padron notes of cinnamon, cocoa, nuts, and cayenne peppers deliver ultra-refined flavor.
Nearly a decade of delicate rest makes Perrier Jouet Belle Epoque 2008 an ideal match. The champagne’s gentle structure is graceful, crisp and complex. A grape harvest marked by a difficult, cool spring and abundant summer rainfall recovered in the September warmth of 2008 with resounding balance. Alluring aromas of white-flower, hawthorn, and plum blossom juxtapose the pleasant fervor of spices and wood Padron 80 Years reveals. A pairing this pronounced needn’t be presumptuous. The proof is in the pudding.
#4 - La Aroma de Cuba Pasión & Billecart-Salmon Rosé, NV
Award-winning cigar-maker Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia blends a prominent profile drawn from select tobaccos grown exclusively on his family’s Nicaraguan estates, including a rare Shade Grown wrapper leaf, to create La Aroma de Cuba Pasión. This 94-rated smoke imparts medium to full-bodied notes of smoked cashew, leather, cedar, and molasses throughout a woody finish.
Billecart-Salmon Rosé greets the palate with a citrusy zest and a wonderfully forward freshness that complements Pasión with precision and balance. Bright flavors of berry and jam display ravishing aromas that lift into the earthy, Nicaraguan signature of the cigar with a well-placed contrast. Marvel at an unmatched alternation of sweetness and spice when you put this pair together after a rich, epicurean dessert.
#5 - Davidoff Aniversario & Veuve Clicqout Rosé, NV
Notes of almonds and buttered toast characterize the mild, approachable Dominican flavors behind the distinguished Davidoff Aniversario. An Ecuador Connecticut wrapper leaf hugs a sumptuous combination of Dominican binder and filler tobaccos that deliver plenty of creamy nuances that can be easily accessed.
The iconic pedigree of Veuve Clicqout Rosé masterfully combines several harvests in a consistent house style that shows off fresh strawberry notes with a wild and rapacious structure. A coppery-orange hue ushers vivacious, but tempered aromas that meld naturally with Davidoff’s noted profile of grass, wheat and wood. Reserve these excellent companions after a delicious meal of fish or duck.
