Cigars Are The Great Equalizer
The Cigar
Cigar star Aric Bey is a legend in progress! His whole vibe, that Barry White voice, those classy pimp suits, and his Black Star Line Cigars, are all making major waves in the cigar industry. It all started in The Chi, as Aric’s passion for the leaf grew with each puff, waiting for fire calls as a Chicago firefighter, he’s now retired.
Aric’s cigar brand pays homage to Civil Rights Leader, Marcus Garvey’s original Black Star Line, a fleet of ships used to promote the economic well being of black lives around the world. Today, Aric mirrors Garvey’s goal of equality, by bringing happiness and satisfaction to cigar lovers, around the world, with his Black Star Line Cigars.
To celebrate five years in the game, Aric brings us this incredible Marun Cigar. Marun appropriately means “five” in Yoruba, the language of an indigenous Nigerian tribe. This is Aric’s first cigar featuring an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper, with some of the best Nicaraguan fillers and binder. Ecuadorian tobacco has varying spicy and sweet flavors from the rich volcanic soil and minerals in Ecuador, which is ideal for growing the most oily and pliable tobacco. Sumatra tobacco migrated from the Indonesian Sumatra Island, where it is known as “black tobacco.” Ecuadorian Sumatra, made by blending Cubano and Sumatra varieties, is a mild and sweet leaf that produces sweet floral and earthy notes of cinnamon.
This Marun cigar’s fillers and binder should provide some nice balance to its sweet wrapper, with that classic mild Nicaraguan spice.
The Whisky
“The late Dr. George G. Moore had a great passion for single malt whisky and his adopted home in Virginia. A native Irishman, George came to the U.S. in the 1970’s to seek new opportunities. In 2011, after many years of building successful businesses in both the U.S. and Ireland, George finally had the chance to combine his two passions when he started Virginia Distillery Company. Today, George’s wife, Angela Moore and their son, Gareth Moore, along with his wife, Maggie Moore, have taken the helm to continue building George’s dream.
At Virginia Distillery Company, we carry George’s legacy forward by reinventing American Single Malt whisky. Every barrel is a culmination of the world’s finest distilling, aged to perfection in the ideal climate of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. While inspired by time-honored traditions, we forge traditions of our own — making whisky more than what has been, while remaining true to ourselves and our home.
The result: “A whisky that George would’ve been proud of.” ~ VADistillery.com
Here we have an American Single Malt, from Virginia Distillery, uniquely finished in Cabernet casks from France, California, and Virginia, bottled at 46.5% ABV. This fruity, sweet, and creamy dram should pair excellently with the Marun’s sweet Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper leaf.
Nose: Creamy and marshmallowy orange marmalade, over a hint of full bodied red wine.
Palate: Medium viscosity, some dryness, but a very complex fruit salad.
Finish: Explosion of fruity notes with subtle spice over some lingering chalkiness and earthiness.
A superb American single malt!
Marun
Brand: Black Star Line Cigars
Factory: La Zona Cigars Factory in Estelí, Nicaragua
Vitola: 6×50
Tripa (Filler): Nicaragua
Capa (Wrapper): Ecuadorian Sumatra
Capote (Binder): Nicaragua
Body: Medium Boldness
Price: $13
Visit Blackstarline.shop or any Binny’s Location for purchase.
Visual/Pre-light Draw
This Ecuadorian Sumatra medium brown wrapper is very Cubanesque as it is shiny, oily, and very smooth to the touch. The veins are nearly invisible, yes! The construction looks perfect with a very tightly packed blend of Nicaraguan tobaccos. I love the simplicity of this black and gray band, which displays a simple gray star, superimposed with the cigar’s name, MARUN. The Black Star Line Cigars’ logo is on the back side of the band. There are bold hay notes over nice chocolatey notes on the side sniff, and nice damp mocha and cocoa notes over fresh hay notes on the dry foot odor.
There is no spice when prepping the head of the cigar for my favorite Colibri V-cut. On the dry draw there is a hint of spice over bold raisin bran cereal notes.
First Third
With a proper slow and soft flame lighting of this very Cuban looking cigar, we get awesome gingerbread cookie notes on the foot smoke odor. The first draw is very sweet, smooth, and creamy, with cool distinct notes of vanilla, marshmallow, and wood. We get nice pecan over vanilla wafer cookie notes on the retro-hale, no spice, and some of that gingerbread on the finish. An extremely delicious retro-hale!
So far this a mild cigar with nice consistent sweet vanilla wood notes, great for your morning coffee. We have a nice even burn and a bright white perfect ash.
Cigar to the whisky: We get a nice combination of those sweet cigar wood notes that melt away to sweet orange marmalade, with a sweet and lingering purple grape note on the finish. Unique and ‘unusually awesome!’
Second Third
This lengthy ash needs to go. It put up a good fight, now back into the cigar. More sweet vanilla notes dominate the experience, then my favorite cigar note, marzipan, makes a very overdue appearance! Yes!!! Marzipan is a nutty paste type note I get on quality cigars.
Now some leatheriness starts coming through. Okay this cigar is hitting on all my favorite tobacco notes. The retro hale now has a hint of spice, with some subtle vanilla leatheryness, delicious! Then a nice transition to sweet chocolate sauced cookie dough, yum!!! This is still a mild but flavorful cigar. I love the cool flavor transitions the blend presents to the smoker. Leathery cookies all day.
Whisky to the cigar: Those sweet orange marmalade red wine notes merge perfectly with the cigars cookie notes. This part of the pairing seems like we just baked up something special, and washed it down with a nice red wine. Absolutely unique and delicious all the same. This is my favorite direction of this pairing, and this Black Star Line Marun Cigar has got me wanting to chase “All The Stars.”
By Kendrick Lamar, featuring SZA:
Final Third
Those creamy and sweet leathery cookie notes continue to dominate the experience. A quick touch up on one side of the wrapper, now back into the cigar. The cigar becomes buttery, melting away its amazing flavors across the entire palate. The retro-hale is incredible, buttery, creamy, with a hint of leather on the finish.
Is this a re-banded Byron? Of course not, but if Byron is your jam, so is this much cheaper cookie infused leather bomb Marun cigar. I nubbed it and loved it!
Cigar smoked whisky: Bold red wine notes come to the forefront with a dose of dark chocolate, and that awesome orange marmalade flavor coats over the palate with some lingering earthiness on the finish. Everything seems bolder in this direction of the pairing.
This budget friendly whisky is comparable to the more expensive Dalmore Cigar Malt, because it absolutely will pair with any cigar!
Visit Blackstarline.shop or any Binny’s Location to purchase any or all of Aric’s amazing Black Star Line Cigars.
Overall…
This is a bold, red wine cookie monster cigar and whisky pairing, all for under sixty dollars.
This is dirt cheap luxury at its best.
I call that an ‘Oxy-Marun.’
See what I did there?
Cheers!
Acknowledgment & Live Pairing
Thank you Black Star Line Cigars Owner Aric Bey, Virginia Distillery’s Southern California Market Manager, Hector Ramos, and Whiskey Network’s Cocktail Club Staff Writer, Vicki Higginson, for bringing this amazing pairing to life, on The Great Cigar & Pipe Show:
Photography by: James Archie
