Breach & Clear: A Bourbon and Amaro Cocktail for Maduro Cigars
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From the Ready Room at Bravo Cigar Company. A spirited recipe for adults 21 and older who already enjoy cigars. Enjoy responsibly and never drink and drive.
Bourbon, Italian amaro and chocolate bitters, stirred dark. Named for the combat engineers the Bangalore honors: the ones who go first and open the way. It's one of ten original pairing drinks in the Ready Room, built to sit alongside the Bangalore Series.
At a Glance
- Type: Spirited cocktail
- Pairs with: Bangalore Series (maduro)
- Method: Stirred
- Time: about 3 minutes
- Glass: Rocks glass, one large cube
- Makes: 1 drink
Why Breach & Clear Pairs With the Bangalore Series
In our tasting notes, the Bangalore Series has an oily, creamy smoke with dark, oaky notes, a touch of cocoa and a pleasant bitterness that shift and build from one third to the next.
The bourbon's barrel char meets the Bangalore's dark oak head-on, and the amaro's bittersweet edge mirrors the cigar's pleasant bitterness instead of fighting it. A small hit of chocolate bitters ties into the touch of cocoa.
Ingredients
- 2 oz high-rye bourbon
- ½ oz Averna or another dark Italian amaro
- 1 tsp demerara syrup (2:1)
- 2 dashes chocolate bitters
- Garnish: orange peel
Syrup note: Demerara syrup (2:1): Stir 2 parts demerara sugar into 1 part hot water until dissolved. Keeps 1 month refrigerated.
How to Make Breach & Clear
- Add everything to a mixing glass with ice.
- Stir about 30 seconds, until well chilled.
- Strain over one large cube.
- Express an orange peel over the top and drop it in.
Make it your own: Lighter on the bitter side? Cut the amaro to ¼ oz.
Pairing Tips
- Mix it before you light up so the first sips meet the first third, when the oak and cocoa are most direct.
- Sip slowly. A large cube keeps dilution low, which matters because the cigar's flavors keep building third to third.
- If the cigar's bitterness reads stronger than you like, a sip of this drink pulls it toward bittersweet rather than sharp.
Smoke It With the Bangalore Series
Nicaraguan maduro wrapper, Estelí binder, Estelí and Ometepe fillers. 6x52 Toro. Medium strength, body and flavor. Shop the Bangalore Series.
Mixing one tonight? Log the pairing in the free Bravo Cigar Journal. It opens with the cigar and the drink already filled in.
More From the Ready Room
- Skipping the alcohol? Try Ometepe Float, the zero-proof pairing for the same cigar.
- See all ten recipes in the Ready Room.
- For coffee, whiskey, beer and food ideas, read the Bravo Cigar Pairing Guide.
Tobacco notice: Cigars contain nicotine and pose health risks even without inhalation. See the National Cancer Institute.
