Fonseca Maduro 5-50 and a Victory Hopdevil Review

[drat]

This is the first of what I hope to be many more beer and cigar matching/reviews.

The cigar:
This was the second cigar in 2 hours (what can I say, it was Devil's night (Oct. 30th)) and we were up to some mischief. The first was bought from Three Little Indians and was strong and spicy, but I'm not reviewing that one since I didn't get a name or anything. Anyway, It lit well and burned very consistent and smooth. A slight hint of cedar and some oak-y/woodsy flavor throughout. A hint of spiciness but nothing overpowering. The aroma beat out the flavors by a long shot. This one smelled good. I guess my overall take on it was that it was mild, smooth, and a good middle-of-the-road smoke, perfect as a follow-up when you've just smoked a shorter than expected, highly flavorful cigar but want to bring it down a bit.

The beer:
Victory Hopdevil is a hophead's dream. The IBUs on this one are well over 100. Every sip leaves your tongue screaming in wonderful agony. But seriously, here's the long and short of it: 12oz brown bottle, 6.7% abv. Appearance - Slightly hazy deep orange color with an off-white, thick and sticky head that stays araound for a few minutes and leaves some serious lacing on the glass. Aroma - holy hop heaven! Intense grapefruity hops and some roasty, sweet afterthoughts. Taste - Hops hops hops. Slight sweetness breaks through every so often, then the hops come storming back. Finishes dry with a sweet aftertaste. Mouthfeel - creamy with a subtle carbonation that doesn't conflict with the hop attack. Drinkability - If you're in to hops, a sixpack of this could make the night fly by!

The cigar and the beer together:
Taking a sip of the beer after blowing out some smoke rings, I notice the hop bite significantly diminshes. The citrus hop flavors are still in full effect, but the sharpness was diminished. The sweetness of the base malt comes to the front and shows what a well-rounded beer this actually is.

Taking a puff of the cigar right after sipping the beer, I notice the spiciness really come through to the tip of the tongue. Some sweet woody flavor tries to find its way home, but disappears just as quickly as it shows.

Long story short, This cigar really brought out some of the hidden qualities in the Victory Hopdevil. The beer, however, didn't bring much more out of the cigar.

Drat

[madurolover]

Nice review.

The Fonseca is probably a little too mild for a beveragw such as beer.
About the only thing I can think that would not overpower it would be water.

[macster]

If you enjoy Victory's Hop Devil you need to sample their Hop Wallop beer.

Man if you want hops that is THE ONE!!