Madeira Wine to Accompany a Pipe

[elessar]

I recently found out a friend of mine smoked a pipe, and all this time I had no idea. He has only been smoking a pipe for less that a year but still. I saw him drive by with a pipe clenched and called him to come over and enjoy a pipe in my smoking lounge, such as it is. He responded he would love that and that he would bring over a nice bottle of Madeira Wine. The hell is that I thought. He explained that it was a fortified wine that he felt went better with the pipe than other spirits or carbonated beverages (for reasons of flavor as well as tongue bite). Well damnit if he isn't on to something there. I had to agree it really was a wonderful combination. He was just venturing out from aromatics looking for more tobacco flavor so I sent him home with a tin of Peterson's Founders Choice which I hope he enjoys. It was the least I could do after we drank the whole bottle of Madeira 8O
Has anybody else tried this combination as well?

 

[warren]

I'm pretty sure thousands have over the centuries. I'm a fan of fortified wines, Port, Madeira and such with my last pipe of the day.

 

[madox07]

+1 warren
Yeah ... Madeira, Porto, Marsalla, we even have one made nationally, it's called Ovid's Tear ... you name it. I love them all with a pipe, mostly during the winter evenings ... during the hot weather fortified wines can be a tad unforgiving.

 

[frankrem]

Well this isn't quiet so fancy as wine. However I do enjoy some sweat tea flavored Vodka over ice with my pipe. Just something about it on a hot summer night sitting in the front yard enjoying the evening breeze.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I always enjoyed Port with cigars quite a bit, one of the better beerage combos.

 

[jojoc]

My local smoking lounge, due to stupid governemnt regulation, cannot serve hard alcohol. My go to drink there for either a pipe or cigar is ruby port. great combination.

 

[mso489]

...there's that old comic song, "Have Some Madeira Ma' Deara."

 

[alaskanpiper]

Fortified wines are great with a pipe or cigar. What is even better, is a nice scotch aged in a fortified wine barrel!

 

[warren]

"Have Some Madeira Ma' Deara." or "Have Some Madeira My Dear", The Limelighters at the Hungry I. Lou Gottlieb handling the lead. Early '60's?

 

[elessar]

I will have to try the combination with port as well, based on everyone's suggestions. Good stuff!
alaskanpiper, any specific reccomendations? I can't recall having a scotch aged in a fortified wine barrel. I'll be in Scotland in a few weeks so I will keep my eyes open.

 

[alaskanpiper]

There are hundreds, sherry barrel aging is very popular (macallan 12, aberlour 16, dalmore 12, etc.) mosty in speyside scotches but there are some from other regions (I love bowmore 15 darkest myself but its a little peaty). Some do madeira and port casks as well, balvenie and glenmorangie have port barrel offerings, and I think balvenie and laphroaig have a madeira one now too. One of the diageo distillers edition scotches is aged in either madeira or amantillado as well, cant remember which one.

 

[elessar]

I think the scotch is making me fuzzy. I never put two and two together that sherry was a fortified wine. There are a couple of scotches that were aged in sherry casks that I have enjoyed. Your suggestion of Laphroaig aged in Madeira casks sounds particularly interesting. I will ask about it when I am there. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Your suggestion of Laphroaig aged in Madeira casks sounds particularly interesting. I will ask about it when I am there. Thanks for the suggestions.

No prob. I think it is the 2016 version of their Cairdeas line. Tyrconnell (irish whiskey) also makes a sherry and madeira cask whiskey, both are great, much better than their flagship offering. If you like the idea of smokey scotch like laphroiag and a fortified wine barrel, I would again recommend that bowmore 15 year darkest. Not quite as smokey as laphroaig but a much more balanced and still quite smokey offering.

 

[elessar]

I didn't get to try that specific Cairdeas bottling but I did sample a couple other more recent ones. I also tried a couple samples of what Laphroaig described as "experimental". Both were 8 year old cask strength aged completely in sherry casks, no ex bourbon. One was manzanilla and the other fino. Both were outstanding. I secured a bottle of the fino aged straight from the barrel to take home.
Also your recommendation of the Bowmore 15 is appreciated. Excellent stuff. Although they have dropped the "darkest" from the name as it is no longer their darkest bottling, so the nice gal at the distillery told me.

 

[Idahojoe]

I drink a glass of wine (or 2 or 3) almost every evening with my pipe.
A bold, dry red is most preferred.
We have great wines here in Idaho!

 

[mngslvs]

I take amontillado sherry with my pipes. Just small sips every 5 minutes or so. It "cleanses the palate", rendering the next puff sublime.
(amontillado is not a brand, it just indicates where the sherry lies on the scale of dry to sweet, as there are several types of sherry)

 

[mso489]

warren, that's the song, and likely you have the title correct and I don't. The satirist piano player Tom Lehrer did a version and could have written it, but I'm not sure.

 

[tg51]

I drink a glass of wine (or 2 or 3) almost every evening with my pipe.
A bold, dry red is most preferred.
We have great wines here in Idaho!

What varietal do tend to drink with your evening smoke? Tempranillo based wines work pretty well for me if I go with a glass of wine.

 

[mngslvs]

My post of yesterday, which began with the words "I take amontillado..." got screwed up with little pictures of a pipe smoker, which I did not put there. I'll try again : the word that got screwed up each time was S H E R R Y.
I have message the site admin about why this happened, but have not heard back yet.

 

[Idahojoe]

What varietal do tend to drink with your evening smoke? Tempranillo based wines work pretty well for me if I go with a glass of wine.

Fortunately, our reds here in the Snake River Valley are exceptional. We have excellent Tempranillos as you suggest, but other varietals are equally desirable. To name a few, malbecs, cabs, petit verdot, and my personal favorite, Sarah and sarah blends. If you get a chance, try some reds from Koenig, Bitner or Williamsons Vinyards. The 2015 Temp from Bitner Vinyards is phenomenal!