“Time Doesn’t Matter, Taste Matters!”
~Seven Seals
A Swiss Whisky Pairing Experiment
Whiskey Network is beyond excited to focus on Switzerland’s Seven Seals Whisky this month. Founded by Dr. Dolf Stockhausen, this distillery uses The Stockhausen Method, a chemical-free and patented “fast forward maturation” process that focuses on the flavor of its whisky. Samples of their core ‘classic’ line single malt expressions arrived and I could not wait to start sipping and pairing! I had never experienced Seven Seals, but I’m always seeking new and unique world whiskies to engage and challenge my palate.
When it comes to pairing cigars with whisky, I typically avoid the smoke-on-top-of -smoke peated pairings. So I chose Seven Seal’s Sherry, Amarone, an unpeated Port wood-finished whisky for this Swiss pairing experiment. Now we need to select the cigar.
Based on experience, pairing cigars and whiskey for the third year in a row as a Whiskey Network contributor, I have found that wood-finished single malts pair excellently with a nice chocolaty Maduro. I am confident that my favorite Don V Maduro will stand up to the variety of these wood finishings presented to us by Seven Seals.
Don V Maduro
Brand: Oscar Valladares Tobacco Co.
Blended By: Vick Shah
Norwood Royal Cigars
Vitola: 6×52 Toro
Filler: Honduras
Wrapper: Maduro Jalapa, Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Body: Medium
Price: $12
This is a very seductive Maduro! It has nice transitions from sweet leathery, white chocolate to creamy dark chocolate truffle notes, with addictive creamy baking spices over fresh French bread on the retro-hale. Its consistent medium bold flavors mellow to yellow, vanilla cream-filled bundt cake over classic Honduran tobacco notes. This trip to the chocolate factory cigar is like an explosion of flavor and is perfect for this Swiss whisky experiment.
With these three samples, I challenged myself by pairing each of these 46% ABV Seven Seal whisky expressions with each third of this very delicious, balanced, and consistently medium-bold Maduro. The whiskies were first individually sampled and notes provided, before introducing the cigar. Of course, the palate was cleansed with water between each whisky and each third of the cigar, for optimal flavor extraction.
Let’s see what happens, but before we do, press play to let my favorite Swiss DJ, Nora En Pure, take us on the ultimate Swiss whisky pairing journey, live from the mountains of Graubünden Switzerland.
First Third
Whisky Sample: Seven Seals Single Malt
Wood Finishing: Sherry
Non-Age Stated
46% ABV, MSRP $79.99
“Our Seven Seals Sherry Wood Finish is reminiscent of a walk across a county fair. Scents of toffee, gingerbread, roasted almonds, candy, and Christmas spices immediately rise to the nose. On the palate, these flavors combine in a harmonious way and develop long-lasting toffee and nut aromas. It finishes with a hint of orange.” — The Seven Seals Website.
Nose: Cream cantaloupe over gingered greens and orange marmalade on the cocoa-infused finish; very interesting!
Palate: Nice thick viscosity, explosion of orange tangerine notes over light hickory notes.
Finish: Those tangerine and hickory notes melt away to hint of spice.
Cigar to the whisky: Pure cherry candy notes over creamy vanilla and lingering pistachios on the finish; amazing!
Whisky to the cigar: Orange marmalade woodiness turns to light creamy and chocolatey campfire notes. This is dark chocolate s’mores all day!
Second Third
Whisky Sample: Seven Seals Single Malt
Wood Finishing: Amarone
Age: 3 Years
46% ABV, MSRP $79.99
“The category of ‘Rest of the World Single Malt Whiskies’ is continuously growing and excellent products can now be found outside of Scotland. Seven Seals is an excellent example of when tradition meets innovation.” — The Seven Seals website.
Nose: This is a fruitier version of the sherry wood expression, with some creamy oakiness up front and pine cones on the finish; again very interesting!
Palate: Medium viscosity, some grapefruit up front over those cool pine cone notes.
Finish: The pine cone note becomes prominent, bold, and somewhat dry before melting away to slight spicy, nutty, and chocolaty chalkiness on the palate.
Cigar to the whisky: Tropical fruit bomb, packed with sweet notes of kiwi and green apples; beautiful!
Whisky to the cigar: Fruity pine cone and orange marmalade notes turn to charred chocolate pebbles cereal over bolder campfire notes; super delicious!
Final Third
Whisky Sample: Seven Seals Single Malt
Wood Finishing: Port
Age: 3 Years
46% ABV, MSRP $79.99
“Our Seven Seals Port Wood Finish ingeniously combines different malts from the same distillery. This results in an outstandingly complex and multi-layered character. The symphony of this union is exceptionally harmonious and is characterized by a hint of peat smoke with sweet honey, aromas of dried fruit, roasted nuts and gingerbread. Rounded off with various spices this single malt is a long-lasting firework of flavor.” — The Seven Seals website.
Nose: Creamy and fruity port wine notes, simple but enticing and elegant.
Palate: Nice thick viscosity, some charred fruitiness over more fruity port wine notes.
Finish: Explosive and charred vanilla cream bomb on the palate; excellent!
Cigar to the whisky: Tart fruitiness over cannoli cake filling on the finish; very interesting!
Whisky to the cigar: Port fruitiness turns to charred vanilla frosted flakes; unusual, but awesome all the same!
Favorite Pairing:
And the winning Don V Maduro pairing here is definitely the Seven Seals Sherry Wood expression. This is due to those amazing cherry, pistachio, and s’more flavors on this particular pairing.
Although all three expressions produced some exotic and unusually awesome flavors, the Sherry finished whisky had the most balance, and therefore was the most palatable pairing.
Definitely seek any of these three pairings out!
These are quality whiskies, and the Don V Maduro is always on point!
Cheers!
Photography by: James Archie
