An Undiminished Devotion: Reflections on America’s 250th Anniversary

Today, and indeed this entire year, patriotic Americans celebrate the foresight, wisdom, and courage of our Founding Fathers in declaring independence from an oppressive government. As our nation marks the 250th anniversary of its founding — the American Semiquincentennial — Independence Day carries an even deeper significance. It is both a celebration of freedom and a solemn reminder that liberty must be vigilantly protected.

Our forefathers were explicit in their intent: our rights are granted by our Creator, not by government. Political power is legitimate only when it derives from the consent of the governed. These timeless truths laid the foundation of a nation built on freedom. Yet today, those principles face challenges — not only from foreign adversaries, but also from those within our own society who misunderstand, disregard, or seek to redefine them.

Enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and secured through the Constitution is the conviction that all people are endowed with unalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These founding principles remain as relevant today as they were in 1776. But freedom is not self-sustaining. It depends upon citizens who possess the character, courage, and resolve to uphold it.

Celebrating this great gift of liberty does not require ignoring the threats against it. Some, under a distorted understanding of “freedom” or in pursuit of ideological causes, seek to silence dissent, erase history, redefine language, and shame those who hold differing views. Such attitudes reveal not confidence in their ideas, but hostility toward the principles of open debate and individual liberty that have long defined our republic.

Yet hope abounds. Millions of Americans are growing weary of division, hostility, and caricatures that portray their beliefs as dangerous or extreme. They continue to stand by the values enshrined in our founding documents: freedom, faith, personal responsibility, and equal rights under the law.

Even amid uncertainty and division, the light of liberty has not been extinguished. Many Americans seek a renewed commitment to the principles of 1776 and the constitutional order that followed. Their efforts are driven not by hatred, but by love — love of country, love of liberty, and love for future generations who deserve to inherit a free and united nation.

Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Roger C. Weightman on June 24, 1826, reflected on the significance of this day:

“For ourselves, let the annual return of this day forever refresh our recollections of these rights, and an undiminished devotion to them.”

I, for one, am proud of my country. I will not quietly accept efforts to restrict religious liberty, diminish the right of self-defense, or replace the principles of a free society with ideologies that history has repeatedly shown to be destructive.

As America marks its Semiquincentennial year, may we renew our appreciation for the principles that gave birth to this nation and recommit ourselves to preserving them. Celebrate America. Celebrate freedom. And above all, prepare to defend and preserve these blessings for those who will inherit the nation we leave behind.

Happy Independence Day!

From Washington’s Notebook to the Taproom

It’s well known that early American colonists drank a great deal of beer. In an era when much of the available drinking water — especially in cities — was unsafe, beer provided a safer alternative. One popular style was “small beer,” a low-alcohol brew typically ranging from 1 to 3 percent ABV.

While serving as a colonel in the Virginia militia during the French and Indian War, George Washington wrote down his recipe for small beer:

“Take a large Sifter full of Bra Hops to your Taste -- Boil these 3 hours. Then strain out 30 Gall. into a Cooler put in 3 Gallons Molasses while the Beer is scalding hot or rather drain the molasses into the Cooler. Strain the Beer on it while boiling hot let this stand til it is little more than Blood warm. Then put in a quart of Yeast if the weather is very cold cover it over with a Blanket. Let it work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask. leave the Bung open til it is almost done working -- Bottle it that day Week it was Brewed.”

The resulting beer would have been a dark, unfiltered ale. The generous amount of molasses likely imparted a noticeable sweetness, producing a flavor profile quite different from what most beer drinkers are accustomed to today.

As part of its America 250 celebration, the New York Public Library asked the New York-based Talea Beer Co. to brew a couple hundred bottles based on Washington’s original recipe for internal events. The brewery also used the recipe as inspiration for “Liberty Lager,” which is available at its taprooms in New York.

History often feels distant, preserved in books and museums. But occasionally it finds its way into our glass. George Washington’s small beer is more than a curiosity — it’s history you can taste, offering a small but tangible connection to the daily lives of those who helped shape America.

Image courtesy of the Mount Vernon website. 

Cheers!

Five O'Clock Friday: Budget? What Budget?

Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy cigars.

Cheers!

Welcoming Summer with a Kentucky Colonel

The first day of summer coincided with Father’s Day this year, making for a fitting occasion to spend a relaxing afternoon on the porch with a drink and a cigar. The weather was delightful with warmth and relatively low humidity.

Recently, while looking for simple bourbon cocktails, I came across the Kentucky Colonel. The drink is essentially an Old Fashioned that swaps the traditional sugar for a measure of Bénédictine, adding herbal complexity and honeyed sweetness.

Kentucky Colonel

• 2 oz Bourbon
• 1/2 oz Bénédictine
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Lemon peel for garnish

Add bourbon, Bénédictine, and bitters to a mixing glass. Combine bourbon, Bénédictine, and bitters in a mixing glass. Add ice and stir to chill. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over ice, preferably a single, large cube. Express the lemon oils over the drink and drop in the twist.

I selected Bulleit Bourbon 10 Year Old for the bourbon component. The high rye mash bourbon has strong notes of oak and dried fruit. There’s enough spice to stand up to the Bénédictine without overpowering its herbal and honey notes. The cocktail offers a pleasing melding of bourbon caramel, vanilla, and oak with the honeyed sweetness and herbal complexity of the Bénédictine.

I decided to pair the Kentucky Colonel with the Oliva Serie V 135th Anniversary cigar. All of the Oliva Serie V varieties are versatile cigars that pair well with all manner of beverages. The irregularly released limited-edition 135th Anniversary maintains the familiar blend of an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper over Nicaraguan binder and filler tobaccos. The 5 1/2” x 54 vitola features a tapered foot, with the ring gauge narrowing from 54 down to roughly 30 at the tip. Due to the unusual shape, the cigar evolves noticeably throughout the smoke, offering subtle shifts in flavor while maintaining the familiar Serie V profile overall.

The pairing was as enjoyable as expected. The cigar’s pepper, cedar, and cocoa played nicely against the bourbon’s rye spice and the herbal sweetness of the cocktail. The Kentucky Colonel softened some of the cigar’s peppery edges without muting its distinctive character.

I’ll be adding the Kentucky Colonel to my summer cocktail rotation. It’s flavorful and refreshing without feeling heavy, and I suspect it would pair equally well with chocolate-, espresso-, and coffee-forward cigars that carry a touch of sweetness — flavor profiles that are firmly in my wheelhouse.

The combination of the Oliva Serie V 135th Anniversary and Kentucky Colonel made for an excellent way to welcome summer: a flavorful cigar, a well-crafted cocktail, and a leisurely afternoon enjoying the screened porch and the season’s pleasant weather.

Cheers!

Bishops Blend, Heaven Hill, and a Cool June Evening

Scanning the humidor for an interesting smoke on a cool, almost-summer evening, my eyes settled on a Black Label Trading Company Bishops Blend in the Corona Larga vitola. I knew the cigar had been resting there for quite a while, and when I checked my inventory in the Cigar Scanner app, I discovered I had acquired it exactly one year ago. I took that as a sign.

My thoughts immediately turned to the bottle of Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond sitting on the nearby shelf. I knew it would make a fitting companion.

The Bishops Blend has earned frequent mentions in these Musings. It’s one of my favorite cigars when I’m in the mood for a full-flavored smoke. The Robusto is usually my preferred vitola, and I make a point of picking up a few from each year’s release, setting some aside for long-term aging.

The blend features an Ecuadorian Habano Maduro wrapper over an Ecuadorian Habano binder, with fillers from Nicaragua complemented by Connecticut and Pennsylvania Broadleaf tobaccos. Medium- to full-bodied, the cigar delivers rich notes of dark chocolate, cocoa, pepper, and espresso, balanced by a touch of sweet earthiness.

The closed foot and pointed cap are among the cigar’s distinctive features. They also add a bit of complexity to the lighting process. With the sharply pointed cap, it can be difficult to judge the draw before the foot is fully lit. On this Corona Larga, the draw remained somewhat snug even after the foot burned open. Annoyingly, the resistance persisted through much of the smoke, requiring frequent double puffs to coax out the cigar’s full flavors.

Despite the draw issues, I was able to enjoy the cigar’s rich profile, which paired wonderfully with the Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond. This reasonably priced bourbon is aged seven years and bottled at 100 proof. From the first pour, aromas of caramel, vanilla, and oak rose invitingly from the glass.

On the palate, robust oak and baking spice lead the way. Sweet vanilla and hints of dark cherry arrive early before giving way to a lingering caramel sweetness on the finish. The 100 proof stands up well to the dark richness of the Bishops Blend. I found the bourbon’s caramel and vanilla notes softened the cigar’s bitter espresso and pepper while still asserting its own oak and spice character.

The balanced robustness of the pairing perfectly complemented the cool evening. Even after the cigar was reduced to ash and the bourbon glass stood empty, I lingered on the screen porch, listening to music and savoring the quiet relaxation.

I recently saw reports that this year’s release of the Black Label Trading Company Bishops Blend will be shipping soon. With another release just around the corner, I suspect I’ll once again be setting aside a few for future evenings like this one.

Cheers!

An Unexpected Encounter with Abraham Bowman Rye

This past week I attended a “Whiskey & Cigars” event hosted by Locovore, a new restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg. The gathering was held on the restaurant’s rooftop bar and, unlike the event I attended the previous week, the weather fully cooperated.

The local A. Smith Bowman Distillery was one of the featured participants. As Bowman is one of my favorite producers, I was especially looking forward to sampling some of their special releases.

As it turned out, the evening was quite different from what I had expected — less a whiskey tasting and more a rooftop cigar social with some excellent bourbon available at the bar. 

When I arrived, I joined a couple of other attendees at a table. While we waited for the event to begin, I ordered an Old Fashioned from the bar to ease into the evening. With no sign of the program starting, a couple of us wandered over to where Olde Towne Tobacconist had set up a table displaying a nice selection of cigars. Nearby, the Bowman representative was handing out an assortment of distillery swag.

We asked if there would be a presentation or guided tasting of the bourbons and were told there would not. We were simply to order whichever Bowman expression we wanted from the bar. The representative was available to answer questions, but he wasn’t there to lead a tasting.

At that point, I grabbed a couple of cigars to smoke that evening. My table companions decided to leave in search of food when they learned they could only order from a limited appetizer menu, although I later saw diners being served other dishes as well. As bourbon enthusiasts rather than cigar smokers, they seemed a bit disappointed that the evening lacked the guided tasting or presentation they had expected.

I lit a Padrón 3000 Natural to enjoy while I finished my Old Fashioned. The 5½ x 52 Nicaraguan puro is a mild-to-medium bodied smoke with notes of cocoa, coffee, and wood. It proved to be a pleasant companion to the cocktail. The cigar lasted only about 40 minutes, but that brief smoke was fine as I was ready to move on to something a bit more exciting now that I understood the evening was going to be more of a casual cigar gathering than a guided whiskey tasting.

The menu listed four Bowman products: John J. Bowman Single Barrel, Isaac Bowman Port Barrel Finished, Abraham Bowman Rye, and A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength. The first two are readily available expressions, but I was especially interested in the rye.

Abraham Bowman Special Release #26 Rye Whiskey is a new and limited release from the distillery. To my knowledge, it has only been available through the distillery’s lottery system. Unfortunately, I was not selected in the most recent drawing held in May. In fact, the rye does not even appear on Virginia ABC’s website.

Aged for 11 years and bottled at 110 proof, the rye is exceptionally smooth and easy to sip. Notes of vanilla, butterscotch, and stone fruit are accompanied by a subtle sweetness. While there is a hint of rye spice on the finish, it remains gentle and supporting, allowing the butterscotch and fruit notes to take center stage.

I sipped the Bowman Rye while enjoying a Perdomo Lot 23 Maduro. I expected the cigar to pair well with the whiskey, as it has complemented a variety of spirits for me in the past. The Nicaraguan maduro wrapper is aged in bourbon barrels for about 14 months, while the binder and filler are also Nicaraguan. The flavor profile features cocoa and dark chocolate, espresso, and spicy cedar that grows more prominent toward the latter stages of the smoke.

My prediction proved accurate. The Abraham Bowman Rye paired beautifully with the Perdomo Lot 23 Maduro. The whiskey’s maple sweetness and mature oak intertwined with the cigar’s cocoa and espresso notes. Toward the end of the smoke, the cigar’s growing pepper spice might have challenged the rye, but I had long since finished the glass by that point.

The folks at the event seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the cigars from Olde Towne Tobacconist appeared quite popular. However, there seemed to be limited interest in the whiskey tasting aspect of the evening. I saw a couple of people order flights of the four Bowman expressions, but they were entirely self-guided. Most others appeared content to explore the bar’s cocktail menu.

While the lack of the advertised guided tasting was somewhat disappointing, I was especially excited for the opportunity to enjoy the hard-to-find Abraham Bowman Rye. Had I realized the format of the evening beforehand, I probably would have started with the rye, skipped the Old Fashioned, and tried the A. Smith Bowman Cask Strength as well.

The event may not have been the whiskey-focused experience I anticipated, but it did provide a rare chance sit with a pour of the elusive Abraham Bowman Rye while enjoying a good cigar. For that opportunity alone, the evening was worthwhile.

And now, Abraham Bowman Special Release #26 Rye Whiskey has moved to the very top of my wish list.

Cheers!

Five O'Clock Friday: Happy Thoughts

A weekend state of mind. 

Thinking of cigars helps too.

Cheers!

An Evening with Weller: Bourbon, Cigar, and Birdsong

I spent a relaxing evening on the deck recently enjoying a special cigar-and-bourbon pairing: the Weller by Cohiba cigar and its inspiration, W.L. Weller Antique 107 Bourbon.

The Weller by Cohiba series is a collaboration between the premium cigar brand Cohiba and the Weller bourbon brand from Buffalo Trace Distillery. The annual releases come in a 6 x 50 Toro vitola and are packaged in individual aluminum tubes. Despite their premium price, the cigars are highly sought after. They are typically released in the fall, and I’ve managed to pick up a few each year since 2023, including the 2025 edition featured here.

I’ve had the 2025 Weller by Cohiba resting in my humidor since October 2025. The cigars were removed from their aluminum tubes upon arrival. This edition features an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper and a Broadleaf binder aged in Weller Antique 107 barrels. The filler blend combines tobaccos from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The bands, aluminum tube, and box all reflect the deep crimson-and-gold branding associated with Weller Antique 107.

Before lighting the cigar, I enjoyed a few sips of the Weller 107. It’s a wheated bourbon — often credited as one of the first bourbons to replace rye with wheat in the mashbill — and it displays the expected wheat-driven sweetness. Bottled at a hearty 107 proof (53.5% ABV), it also delivers a warming heat that can linger on the tongue and occasionally overshadow the sweeter notes. Layers of caramel and toffee add further complexity. I enjoy Weller Antique 107 immensely, though I rarely reach for it because of its scarcity. Interestingly, despite being moderately difficult to find, its MSRP remains around a relatively modest $50. (I refuse to participate in the secondary bourbon market.)

Upon lighting the cigar, I found the draw more snug than I prefer, and smoke output was somewhat limited at first. Like many cigars that begin with restricted airflow, it opened up as it warmed, though it never quite reached the balance of resistance and openness that I favor.

The medium-bodied smoke offered balanced notes of cedar, cocoa, and vanilla, along with subtle touches of sweetness and baking spice on the finish. It began creamy and smooth, with the spice gradually increasing as the cigar progressed. Aside from that evolution, the profile remained remarkably consistent from start to finish.

As I smoked, the spicier aspects of the Weller 107 began to overpower the cigar’s more delicate flavors. Adding just a few drops of water to my glass restored the balance. The sweeter side of the bourbon emerged, allowing more of the cigar’s cocoa, cedar, and leather nuances to come through without being overwhelmed by the alcohol intensity.

So much of the enjoyment of a cigar comes not only from the cigar itself and its beverage pairing, but also from the setting. Whether shared with friends or enjoyed alone, the experience is shaped as much by ambiance as by smoke and spirits. During this Weller-inspired evening, I was particularly struck by the peacefulness of the outdoors. There was no distant hum of lawn equipment — only the occasional aircraft passing high overhead.

Most noticeable was the abundance of birdsong coming from the woods in the early evening. The avian chorus included Ovenbird, Carolina Chickadee, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Carolina Wren, Tufted Titmouse, Great Crested Flycatcher, American Robin, and Chipping Sparrow. Together they formed quite an orchestra, one that was as beautiful to the ear as the bourbon and cigar were pleasing to the palate.

As always, Weller Antique 107 was thoroughly enjoyable and provided a satisfying accompaniment to the cigar. The Weller by Cohiba was likewise an interesting and rewarding smoke. Although it was created specifically to pair with Antique 107, I can think of several bourbons that would complement it equally well. I still have a few Weller by Cohiba cigars on hand from several past releases, and I look forward to enjoying them — perhaps next time with a bourbon that is a little less scarce.

Cheers!