There are evenings when beer is just beer, cigars are just cigars, and you are just a humble human being seeking light intoxication and momentary escape. And then there are evenings like Thursday, July 30, when the cosmos aligns over Aficionado Cigar Lounge in East Tacoma and says, “Darling, why not both?”

Enter: A night of curated combustion and beer-drenched bliss. The ever-suave crew at Aficionado will host Perdomo Cigars of Nicaragua and Top Rung Brewing Co. of Lacey for a perfectly orchestrated union of smoky, malty, roasted sensuality. It’s part tasting, part education, part leather-and-cedar-scented dream sequence, and it kicks off at 6 p.m. with a flick of the lighter and a pull of the tap.

You see, Perdomo—a cigar empire with roots deep in the volcanic soil of Nicaragua and the stubborn, slow-burn heart of a true obsessive—has unveiled a Craft Series of cigars designed to pair with beer. Not wine. Not scotch. Beer. God bless them.

The project was birthed after Perdomo VP Arthur Kemper, a known beer nerd of the highest order, spent two years pleading with company president Nick Perdomo, Jr. to craft a cigar line that actually spoke beer. And like all great pairings—aged cheddar and saison, black coffee and rain-soaked Sundays, Bowie and literally everything—he finally said yes.

Which brings us back to Aficionado Cigar Lounge, a sprawling, newly revamped man cave of a palace where the air is thick with promise and the chairs swallow you whole. It’s currently the only cigar retailer in the Northwest carrying this brand-new Perdomo line. Manager Kevin Michael, ever the gracious sommelier of smoke, recently lit the three new Craft Series cigars for me and poured the matching Top Rung beers like some benevolent monk of malt and fire.

Let’s take a sensual stroll through the pairings, shall we?

🔥 The Pilsner Cigar + Lacey Lager

Wrapped in U.S. Connecticut Shade and filled with Nicaraguan comfort, this mild-to-medium stunner is the most approachable of the trio. Designed to pair with lighter fare—think cream ales, pilsners, golden lagers—it meets its match in Top Rung’s Lacey Lager, a crisp, clean classic that hums with simplicity and restraint. It’s your porch swing cigar. Your post-lawnmower beer. Your welcome to the lounge handshake.

🔥 The Amber Cigar + Prying Irons IPA

This one ups the ante: a Sun Grown Jalapa wrapper, medium to full body, with caramel and spice notes that demand a beer with a bit more backbone. Enter Prying Irons IPA, a Northwest-style IPA brimming with pine, sweet malt, and a subtle citrus bitterness that sings in harmony with the cigar’s rich complexity. Think dusky summer evenings. Think leather-bound novels you’ve never finished. Think balance.

🔥 The Stout Cigar + My Dog Scout Stout

The finale. The showstopper. A Maduro-wrapped beast, cloaked in oily Cuban-seed richness, layered with Nicaraguan fillers from valleys named like forgotten gods—Estelí, Condega, Jalapa. This cigar is decadent, spicy, chocolatey, and just a little dangerous. And it begs for My Dog Scout Stout, Top Rung’s roasty, chocolate-kissed gold medalist brewed with eight types of dark malt. Sip. Puff. Repeat. Transcend.

Important Note for the Sensory Curious: While the event itself is free to attend, you’ll need to purchase the cigars and beers to truly play. Choose your sticks by the box or the single. Pints will flow from the taps. Knowledge will be shared. Friendships will ignite like match heads.

And if you need one more reason to visit this transformed temple of tobacco, know that Aficionado Cigar Lounge has recently molted its old-school skin, emerging reborn and expanded. 800 additional square feet of creamy walls, dark wood accents, rich leather chairs, a new bar, an events room, and a not-so-subtle wink to every man cave fantasy you’ve never admitted to having. This is no longer just a cigar shop. It’s a clubhouse for the cultured and curious, the fire-loving and flavor-fixated.

So yes, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. But sometimes—especially on July 30, paired with a pint and some expert storytelling—it’s the beginning of something far more delicious.