Top Mojito & Cigar Pairings

History of the Mojito

Cuba’s most iconic drink is an obvious libation to imbibe in while you’re smoking a cigar. The mojito is considered the perfect rum cocktail. Popularized by Ernest Hemingway, the mojito dates back much farther to the 16th century when a Cuban cocktail, El Draque, was named for Sir Francis Drake.

Pirates landed in Cuba seeking medical remedies the natives possessed to combat scurvy and dysentery. A crude precursor to rum made from sugarcane was blended with lime, mint, and sugarcane juice to conceal the spirit’s natural harshness. Though lime juice on its own would have alleviated the sailors’ maladies, the boozy version constitutes the original mojito and is an ancestor of the cocktail we drink today.

Historians also assert African slaves working the island’s sugarcane fields in the 1800s were central to the mojito’s creation. Guarapo, or the sugarcane juice used in mojitos, was a favorite drink of the slaves.

Numerous theories address the origins of the drink’s name. Mojito may be derived from mojadito, Spanish for a little wet. A Cuban seasoning called mojo is made from lime and may have influenced the name.

As Cuba evolved into a playground for Americans in the 1920s, modern appreciation for the mojito grew in the U.S. Hemingway’s supposed prodigious consumption of mojitos in the 1940s particularly led to our present-day love of the drink. However, his actual intake may have been exaggerated at the behest of the famous Cuban bar, La Bodeguita del Medio, which stirred the myth. Hemingway was diabetic and the sugary mojito would not have been an ideal standard.

Either way, we’re embracing the mojito’s magnetic allure alongside the best cigars you can smoke with it. Make your own mojito from the following recipe and fire up one of our recommendations.

How to Make a Mojito

Ingredients

• 2 oz. White rum
• 3 Mint leaves
• ¾ oz. Fresh lime juice
• ½ oz. Simple syrup
• Club soda

Garnish: Mint sprig and lime wheel

Glass: Highball glass

Preparation: Gently muddle the mint in a shaker. Add rum, lime juice, simple syrup and ice, and give it a brief shake. Strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Add a splash of club soda. Garnish with mint sprig and lime wheel.

Top Mojito Cigar Pairings

1.  Arturo Fuente Anejo

Arturo Fuente Anejo is an excellent cigar to go with a mojito. Anejo is drawn from an oily Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper fermented inside a cognac barrel for added sweetness. Beneath the wrapper lies an ultra-rare core of premium Dominican binder and filler tobaccos typically reserved for the legendary Fuente Fuente Opus X blend. Luscious notes of dark chocolate, hickory, and nuts converge with buttery Dominican spices. The cigar’s decadent profile provides depth against the crisp, citrusy effervescence of a mojito.

2.  Ashton ESG

Ashton ESG is drafted from a well-aged blend of the finest Dominican tobaccos procured from coveted Fuente family reserves. A glistening Sun Grown Dominican wrapper leaf conceals a lush interior of premium long-fillers. A sophisticated profile of cedar, molasses, graham cracker, and leather ushers a balanced spice in five classic shapes. The creamy complex taste of Ashton ESG makes it a superb companion with the chilled saccharine flavor and minty resonance of a classic mojito.

3.  La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor

Award-winning cigar-maker Jose ‘Pepin’ Garcia blends La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor from a shimmering San Andrés wrapper leaf over a hearty interior of vintage Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. Following the its debut, Cigar Aficionado awarded Mi Amor 95 points and ‘#2 Cigar of the Year’ honors. A versatile profile of cracked black pepper, espresso beans, shaved almonds, and cocoa delivers marvelous transitions of taste. Toasty flavors in La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor complement a mojito’s refreshing aftertaste.

4.  San Cristobal Quintessence

A succulent Cuban-seed wrapper grown in Ecuador is drawn over a robust blend of premium aged long-filler tobaccos harvested from select Garcia family estates in Nicaragua. Bold notes of molasses, cedar, and cocoa resonate with classic Nicaraguan spices in a 95-rated handmade gem ranked as the ‘#3 Cigar of the Year’ in Cigar Aficionado in 2021. . Because San Cristobal Quintessence is intense but balanced, it melds effortlessly with the tangle of sweet and zesty flavor a good mojito serves up.

5.  Padron 1964 Anniversary Maduro

A prestigious portrait of cayenne pepper, cedar, cocoa, cinnamon, and baking spices emerges in Padron 1964 Anniversary Maduro. The finest premium Nicaraguan tobaccos receive an extensive fermentation, including the cigar’s toothy Maduro wrapper leaf. The cigar’s famous box-pressed shapes have earned tremendous ratings over the past three decades. The refined taste found in a vintage Padron cigar welcomes an exhilarating contrast from the sweet and bracing mix of lime, mint, and rum a mojito offers with its invigorating finish.