Rum or Bourbon?

[01Vert]

   I am a rum drinker and typical include Papas Pilar, Zacapa 23 year and some other minor rums.   I recently tried bourbon (Blantons) and found it to be enjoyable with a cigar.   However, I have no real depth of experience with  bourbon so I am asking the group about their experiences pairing bourbon with cigars, not necessarily just Cubans, versus pairing with rum.

Thanks for the opinions.  

[chris12381]

I'm not a bourbon expert but I'd start out trying some of the easiest to access but well-respected bourbons.  Since you mentioned Zacapa and you liked Blantons, I'd tend to look for bourbons that offer a sweet profile.  I'm thinking you should check out  Buffalo Trace, Four Roses Small Batch, Elijah Craig Small Batch, etc. From there, you can branch out.  Interested to see what others say. 

[TroutBum]

Russels Reserve and Wild Turkey Rare Breed are solid neat pairings with a smoke very sweet to me 

[GoodStix]

Old Forester 1920.   But I'd strongly suggest you consider single malt Scotch 😉

[Hibauchery]

6 minutes ago, TroutBum said:

Russels Reserve and Wild Turkey Rare Breed are solid neat pairings with a smoke very sweet to me 

I agree, the Russell's Reserve 10 year is truly outstanding with a cigar.

[DaBoot]

Bourbon- try them all, find the rabbit hole 

[Lamboinee]

I often find rum to be very sweet. I consider myself a fan of sweeter bourbons. From what I've been told, and experienced, wheated bourbons tend to offer a sweeter profile. Some wheated n sweeted recommendations, in no particular order, include: weller special reserve, larceny, makers mark and makers 46, 1702 sweet wheat. 

Imo, Weller special reserve is great but only if you can get it at a reasonable price. It's probably not worth the 3rd market upcharge. 

If you don't like sweet... Then disregard. 

[Gamer]

So, let me ask - are we talking single barrel rums like stuff from Rolling Fork? Or are we talking commercially available rums? It's an ENTIRELY different world that I would suggest you explore. As for bourbons, continue on your journey. While Blanton's is a fine bourbon, try some Old Forester 1920, Knob Creek, perhaps some Elijah Craig options as well. Good luck!

[01Vert]

    Trying to educate my palate with the suggestion from a friend to try one bottle and then move up.  Currently on a Four Roses Single Barrel bottle which I do like.  
 

As noted here by some, I do like a sweeter liquor. 

[Jackdani7401]

Just a fair warning…the bourbon pricing game is just as bad, if not worse then CC pricing. 
 

Most harder to find bottles come at quite the premiums from the store. 
 

In my experience, aged rum tends to be quite brown sugar/molasses forward with quite the vanilla note behind it. Bourbon tends to be spice forward, unless it is a wheated mashbill as mentioned above. I would stick at 100 proof, or below, as quite a few higher proof bourbons are quite young, less then 6 years, and drink quite hot…torching your palate for the cigar. 
 

Blanton’s is a great starting point, but on the more difficult to find at a reasonable price spectrum. FWIW, $60-$70 is reasonable for Blanton’s. 
 

I would recommend looking for Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Benchmark Single Barrel(all the same mashbill as Blanton’s), Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond, Elijah Craig Toasted, Evan Williams Single Barrel, Thomas S. Moore finished series(bourbon finished in port, merlot, cabernet, congonac, mediera, etc casks)

[BossHogg]

I enjoy Woodford Reserve Double Oaked with my cigars. I tried rum, it's a little sweet. The bottle that I grabbed was Flor de Cana 18. There are so many options out there, enjoy every minute of it 😊 

[Greenhorn2]

33 minutes ago, BossHogg said:

I enjoy Woodford Reserve Double Oaked with my cigars. I tried rum, it's a little sweet. The bottle that I grabbed was Flor de Cana 18. There are so many options out there, enjoy every minute of it 😊 

Second this. It's readily available and priced decent. Depending on where you live,  Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Blanton, EH Taylor, Stagg are all good bourbon, if you can find it at a reasonable price. 

[westg]

Try this rum . Very good with cigars 

[Nevrknow]

Bowman Small Batch and Isaac's. Bowman's is Blanton's mash. Both excellent/ cheaper/ gettable (?) Blanton's. Rebel Cask strength is also good. The other Rebel not so much.

[lostsoulcamero]

23 hours ago, DaBoot said:

Bourbon- try them all, find the rabbit hole 

Truth the hole is deep just like this one 

[GoodStix]

@01Vert lots of great recommendations above.  If you do want to explore single malt Scotch (assuming you haven’t already, and if you have please ignore this) an affordable intro malt is Glenfiddich 12 (reasonably soft and low ABV).  After that an affordable good step up in flavour (and ABV) is Arran 10.  Try neat or with a few drops of room temp water, not ice.  Both are clean non-peated malts (not smoky) and pair easy with a cigar.

[BrightonCorgi]

Rum or Kirsch are my distilled picks with cigars.

[Lamboinee]

2 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Kirsch

Well that sounds delightful. Cherries are my favorite! OMW to the local kirsch-brau to buy some. 

[BrightonCorgi]

40 minutes ago, Lamboinee said:

Well that sounds delightful. Cherries are my favorite! OMW to the local kirsch-brau to buy some. 

There's a great american brand made in either Washington or Oregon.  I forget the name, but in long slim bottle.  The Swiss stuff is good too.  Don't buy Hiram Walker or any cheap stuff...

[Five Faces]

Try one of these...