by Yannis Valavanis

Fortunately, friends exist and they pull us out of difficult situations, like the one that I was into recently and I went out unplanned. There was an nightout without returning home for the necessary supplies so we had to make do with cigars and liquor from a different source. Fortunately, the friend in question is also a smoker and drinker, otherwise how could we even hang out, and there were some supplies at his house, so we collected them and paid a visit to another gathering place.

I have to say, however, that what I collected from his humidifier was not at all negligible. A cigar properly aged and now gone from the shelves, Partagas Anejados, which as you understand I vanished myself, but I left him four more so he wouldn’t have any complaints. This cigar was released in the distant 2016 along with the other three of the Anejados series, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta and Hoyo de Monterrey. A highly enjoyable 46-ring, 143mm-long Corona Gorda aged five to eight years as Anejado and another eight years in the humidor was an unexpected gift. Its intense aromas of fruit, cedar and pepper were a very nice combination with the classic earthy aromas of Partagas, giving it a strong and creamy aftertaste at the end. Very enjoyable cigar that I have ranked it in my favorites with 9.5 out of 10 and I highly recommend it – but without being able to tell you where to find it now.

The combination came to me accidentally as excellent. I found in the friend’s cellar a Sherry, Pedro Ximenez Triana Hidalgo La Gitana. A big title, of course, but it justifies its name with its complexity. I’ve always loved this contrast of the very sweet with the sour of the cigar, it maximizes and softens the contrasts of flavors. The Pedro Ximenez grapes are a Spanish variety which are sun dried and then oxidatively aged in oak barrels with a complex process called Criaderas in combination with the well-known Solera. The result is a strong sweet wine with very strong aromas of plum and raisin and with a very strong aftertaste which, since it is considered a dessert wine, is exactly what goes well with our cigar. Although red, it follows its own drinking process with a little ice if you want, but for me it’s better chilled without, so as not to spoil the aftertaste.

In this way, although I started a sudden and unprepared exit, I combined everything perfectly. After all, in the end, the unpredicted things are the ones that usually make the difference.