First smoke of the eveining was a "scratch & dent" OpusX from 9/2004- I picked up a box off of Alex last winter when he was "making space". There were a couple in the box with a little wrapper damage that I "fixed" with a jar of El Torcedor glue. Quite a nice smoke as expected, though I learned that a 1.6yo OpusX cannot stand up to Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA. The Ale's just too strong. It made the stick taste like something entirely different. The closest thing I can come up with to an OpusX with a 90 minute is a Montecristo White Label. Needless to say I switched to lager for the rest of the smoke. While I normally pair top end smokes with brandy, whisky, or coffee I have quite a few of these, and being a beer/ale fan I was curious to see how it went with some of my favorite beers/ales.
Now I'm working on a Camacho Coyolar Puro Perfecto. Or, as I call it, a "C-bomb" due to the intense flavor produced shortly after lighting. (the first 1/4" or so is really intense) The "C-bomb" is standing up to the Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA quite nicely. Actually I'm finding it to be a lovely combination. Max flavor brew + max flavor cigar. Well, Maybe not "max", but pretty close.
Cliffs: If you're drinking Dogfish Head x minute IPA, a good strong Camacho is great but a 1.6yo aged OpusX just isn't strong enough.