Match Point

Serenading the love month, here’s to the idyllic coupling of classic cigars with beguiling brews.

- SHANKER GANGADHAR

There is art and there is art. Much before Anish Kapoor and Banksy magicked up the fleeting pleasure of transient art—aligning togged out men and women on public steps as an unusual installation, or unsigned masterpieces appearing overnight on random city walls—there was consumable art. The art of luxurious libations and the enchantment of Cuban classics coming together in the whimsical salons of good taste, their permutations combinations as numerous and varied as American actress Tallulah Bankhead’s lovers. Legend has it that pairing whisky and cigars dates back to the 18th century during the Anglo-Spanish War when an alliance of Great Britain and Spain fought against France; the whisky came from Scotland and the Spaniards brought along their Cuban cigars. Interestingly, they share flavours: a good cigar’s seductive notes and flavours and a dram’s portfolio of dreamy sensations have much in common.