Eagle Rare Toro – E

Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey isn’t your average bourbon; its masterfully crafted and aged for no less than ten years. This complex bourbon is rich, smooth, and full of flavor and has won awards such as a Double Gold Medal at the North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition in 2018, and Best Bourbon Whiskey at the International Whiskey Competition in 2020, to name only two of dozens. So what can make a glass of bourbon even better you ask? How about a perfectly aged cigar to go with it! Enter, the Eagle Rare Toro, offered only as special releases with a limited number of cigars produced. These cigars have been patiently waiting in the aging rooms for months and feature a creamy Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and a Mexican San Andrés binder, and are filled to the brim with fillers from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua. Mild, to not overpower your glass of bourbon, you will find similar aromas and natural nuances of bourbon once lit. Our panel recommends pairing it with nothing other than Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.