An 2024, we released Midnight Maduro Cigar Whisky, which rapidly sold out to great acclaim. It was expertly distilled, blended, and finished by Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada.
As it turns out, The Gentleman’s Flavor Midnight Maduro was a historic release, as it was Canada’s first-ever cigar whisky; meaning that it was the very first time a that a Canadian distillery had created a whisky with the sole intention of being paired with a cigar.
The Sunshine Claro Cigar Whisky is the second release from Okanagan Spirits and The Gentleman’s Flavor. It features an exquisite blend of single malt, rye, and two bourbon-style whiskies, made respectively with locally-grown BC malted barley, rye and corn, and has received finishing in ex-plum brandy casks.
Utilizing an innovative method Okanagan Spirits call the Pioneer County Process, the ex-plum brandy casks were then deconstructed and torch caramelized in conjunction with fermented tobacco from Estelí, Nicaragua. The final step involved filtering the liquid through a column containing the staves (now further deconstructed) to arrive at the final product before proofing down and bottling at 47.8% ABV.
Limited to a mere 400 bottles, this release was made to serve as the “perfect accompaniment to a mild- to medium-bodied cigar.
SHELF APPEAL RATING (Note: does not count toward final score, out of 5):
APPEARANCE: Clear. Honey.
NOSE: Rich tones of bright plum brandy are first to emerge, and are quickly underscored with a unique interplay of cream soda and smoked charcuterie meats before a final segue into dried apricot and cigar ash.
PALATE: An oily texture provides a rich, coating mouthfeel. The dominance of honey, bright plum, and baking spices are buttressed by chewy smoke and Turkish apricot before a segue into English sponge toffee, cigar ash, oak char, and cold coffee.
FINISH: Medium-long, warming and pleasant as dry oats mingle with coffee, cigar ash, and oak.
ABV: 48.7%
AGE: NAS
CASK(S): American oak, ex-plum brandy
ENJOY: Neat, with ice, or in a cocktail.
RATING:
Though we ordinarily provide an overall rating for each whisky we review, rating our own whisky seems a bit on the biased side, so we’ll leave that up to you, the reader.
Conclusions
The Gentleman’s Flavor Sunshine Claro was released in late May of 2025, just in time for spring and the arrival of the warm weather season in Canada. As the weather warms, many cigar lovers begin to depart from dark, robust cigars and instead direct their attention towards milder cigars to pair with brighter pours, be it a cocktail a beer, or in this case – a cigar whisky.
Whereas its predecessor, the Midnight Maduro, was bursting with chocolate and nuts and was made to be paired with a full-bodied cigar, this latest Okanagan Spirits collaboration was crafted to be married with a mild-to-medium-bodied cigar, delivering brighter, yet supremely complex notes that burst with fruit on the nose an palate and feature not only notes of sweet tobacco, but also cigar ash, possibly making it more of a true cigar whisky.
…And For Those So Inclined: A Recommended Cigar Pairing
Pair The Gentleman’s Flavor Sunshine Claro Cigar Whisky with a Cuban Romeo Y Julieta Short Churchill cigar.
Robusto-sized, this cigar from the classic Cuban brand delivers a big flavor combination of leather, crisp red apple, salted pretzel, and graham cracker, which pairs well with the spicy, fruit-and-smoke-forward profile of the cigar whisky. When paired together, the cigar invokes the whisky to blossom new notes of cinnamon hearts, an amplified rye earthiness, as well as a much darker fruit character.
The chewy smoke found in the whisky marries well with the smooth chewy smoke of the medium-bodied masterpiece by Habanos S.A.
At the time of writing, bottles of The Gentleman’s Flavor Sunshine Claro are still available, and can be ordered from the Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery website. With merely 400 bottles being released, it won’t be around for long, and when it’s gone, it’s gone for good.
– Kurt Bradley
Reviewed May 30, 2025
Kurt Bradley is the founder of The Gentleman’s Flavor, to which he is also a contributing editor, host and curator.
Born in Toronto, Canada, Kurt has lived in Glasgow, Scotland where he developed a passion for understanding whisky. Kurt is a certified Whisky Ambassador accredited by The Scotch Whisky Association and has achieved Level 2 Award in Wine & Spirits Education Trust with distinction. He is a regular contributor to Cigar Journal Magazine, and has provided commentary to Cigar Aficionado, the world’s leading cigar publication.
He enjoys a fine, hand made cigar with a well-crafted Old Fashioned cocktail.
