Midleton Very Rare paired with an Ashton Cabinet Selection Cigar and Chuao's Melao Bonbon

June is a month known for celebrations.  Whether you are honoring father on his day, indulging a bachelor party "the night before" or toasting the achievements of your favorite graduate, there will be many opportunities this month to raise a glass to family and friends.  Looking for something sublime to make that day even more memorable?  Look no further than this month's feature, The Irish whiskey Midleton Very Rare, Vintage 2010.

Prized among collectors, the Midleton distillery releases an annual vintage limited to 50 casks, and has done so every year since 1984.  This magnificient blend of 12 -21 year old triple distilled, pure pot still spirits, is produced from indigenous Irish malted and unmalted barley and grain.  It is aged with an emphasis on American oak from first fill bourbon casks.  Each vintage has a character all its own, though never straying far from the overall house style and high quality identified with this brand. 

The Midleton Distillery is the largest of the four whiskey distilleries in Ireland.  Midleton was originally established in 1825 with a new and very modern facility added in 1975, boasting four of the largest pot stills anywhere in the world.  This facility is owned by John Jameson & Son, and is home to six other well known Irish whiskey brands including namesake Jameson whiskey.

On the nose the whisky is complex, showing spice notes, oak and cereal grains.   Each sip of MVR is velvety smooth with a wonderful silkiness on the tongue that is quite surprising given its low 40% alcohol by volume.  The palate is resplendant with cognac soaked peaches sprinkled with roasted almonds and drizzled with orange honey.  Vanilla, toffee and oak notes emerge to be rounded out by a delightful spiciness. In the middle of all of this emerges a lilac-floral note, that is fleeting on the tongue. The finish absolutely lingers sweet, oaky and luxuriously on the tongue.  (Click on the picture to purchase.)

 The toffee and vanilla notes of the Midelton are perfectly accentuated by the caramely goodness of the Melao bonbon from Chuao Chocolatiers.  The slight saltiness of this confection also adds an interesting dimension for your tastebuds, while its gooey filling is a wonderful foil to the silkiness of the scotch.  Melao's salt butter caramel and rich milk chocolate bonbon is the perfect, not too sweet mate for this bloody good dram.  (Click on the picture to purchase.)

The Midleton Very Rare is a classic among whiskeys in general, and in order to do justice to this pairing, we looked for a similar classic cigar to combine with it. It didn't take much research, and tasting, for us to decide on the Ashton Cabinet Selection as the perfect match for this whiskey.  

Ashton Cigars are the culmination of years of experience and the astute business acumen of Robert Levin, teamed with the manufacturing expertise of the world renowned Fuente cigar family. Since 1985, the Ashton name has become internationally recognized and respected for their premium cigar lines. Levin and Carlos Fuente Jr. began developing the Ashton Cabinet blend in the late 1980's.  It is said that Levin requested the Fuente family to produce a Hemingway cigar with a Connecticut shade wrapper, and the result is what Ashton calls the "White Burgundy" of cigars.

The Ashton Cabinet Selection, a Vintage Limited Edition, incorporates a blend of no less than six different tobaccos, utilizing an aging process that takes three to four year old Dominican tobacco, blends it, and then ages it for an additional year. The golden Connecticut wrapper adds a creamy spiciness to the blend, making for a wonderful combination of flavors in this medium strength cigar. Any one of the 10 vitolas will do, our favorites are the Cabinet #1, Cabinet #6, Pyramid and Belicoso.

This cigar is a wonderful experience, expertly constructed and with an excellent draw and complex flavor. The Cabinet starts out with a strong, dry clove-like spice flavor, but fades quickly into the mild nutty flavor that becomes the base for this cigar. As the burn progresses, a sweet spicy aroma appears out of the smoke and the flavor gets creamier and nuttier moving into the medium strength range. An occasional pepper tingle will appear at the back of the throat, but overall the flavor range is creamy and lightly spiced.

Paired with the Midleton Very Rare, you'll dissolve into a puddle of contentment. The nuttiness and medium strength wonderfully complement the malt and grain flavors in the whiskey, and the creaminess of the Cabinet does nothing to distract from the complexity of the Midleton. The aroma of the resting smoke is just as enjoyable, with a creamy sweetness and spiciness that lingers in the room. Spice and pepper punctuate the finish of the whiskey, yet don't hide the subtler floral notes. (Click on the picture to purchase.)

Gift this pairing to your dad or favorite graduate, and make sure they share it with you. You will not want to miss this elegant, classic and rewarding combination!

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