Wednesday Whiskey and Cigar

 It always feels good to take a step back, slow down and relax with a nice smoke and a scotch.  Especially with all the things going on these days, getting a little bit of time to oneself is a critical part of taking care of your mental health.  It was with that in mind that I sat down to enjoy these two lovelies.  

The Cigar

This is a box pressed Rocky Patel Decades cigar, it has a Sumatran wrapper with a secret mix of fillers within. This is a mighty robust cigar.  One that definitely tells you are smoking a CIGAR!  It's spicy with notes of black pepper, tar, leather, and nutty.  It's oily and intense.  It coats the mouth with its intensity.  This was a gift from a friend, so I was eager to smoke it.  It's also a well regarded cigar if you pay attention to ratings (which with cigars, I typically do not).  For me though this was on the too intense side of things.  I tend to enjoy milder cigars that don't saturate your taste buds, and this definitely did that.  It is a good cigar to sit and smoke for a while, as it lasted quite a while.  If you like robust in your face cigars this may be worth seeking out.

The Scotch.

My last few drams of Scotch have been lovely unseated expressions.  That stops with this pour from the distillery that makes my favorite peated Whiskies.  Ardbeg is located on the southern part of Islay, the spiritual home for peat heads.  Ardbeg has been around for hundreds of years producing outstanding scotch.  While they make many different expressions, some labeled by their year, and others as Non Age Statements (NAS) with unusual names like An Oa or Uigedail they all share a bold note of peat.  This particular expression Ardcore was a special release in 2022.  A typical thing that Ardbeg does is release a special expression on Ardbeg day and in 2022 this was that release.  In something I haven't seen before Ardbeg used roasted black malt to make this which adds even more smokey and some would say bitter notes to the spirit. It's lightly colored as with most Ardbeg offerings.  I am always surprised by this. I don''t know why, but my mind always expects a darker liquid for a smokey scotch and that is never the case. On the nose this is peat, smoke, charcoal, a little burn of the nostrils.  The mouthfeel is slick and almost syrupy, with notes of dark bitter chocolate, licorice, leather.  I love it.  It's robust and in your face, and it holds up to the robust cigar, although taken together it is a lot of in your face smokey notes.  But I appreciate these smokey flavors more than I do in this particular cigar. The flavors of the scotch meld together more tightly, more cohesively.  For whatever reason, I hadn't reached for this bottle in a while.  Glad I did tonight, it was just what I needed.