Manhattan’s Casa Lever Gardens, the patio adjacent to the edgy and artsy Casa Lever restaurant on Park Avenue, has launched an exclusive Nat Sherman cigar menu. The menu includes pairing suggestions from wine director Carrie Lyn Strong and mixologist Lorenzo Casi and is available from May through October.
In an exclusive arrangement with Nat Sherman, which began in 1930 as a popular cigar store in the Big Apple (and still operates a retail shop on 42nd Street) and has since become one of the nation’s leading premium cigar brands, Casa Lever Gardens’ outdoor smoking lounge is replete with a cigar sommelier and a cigar menu that has been carefully curated by Nat Sherman vice president Michael Herklots along with Strong and Casi.
“When it was mentioned that we would have a cigar program in the Casa Lever Gardens, a partnership with one of the most notable NYC cigar aficionados made perfect sense,” says Strong. “The wines I selected to be paired have amazing complexity to complement the nuances of a variety of Nat Sherman cigars. For example, the Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 2007 Riesling develops into a sensual experience dying to be wrapped in a warm, smoky blanket from the Joel Sherman 75th Celebration Limited Edition Churchill. On the fuller side of the wine spectrum, the 2011 Chateau Biac Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend from Bordeaux can play with the bolder flavors of a Nat Sherman Timeless Collection No. 2 torpedo.”
When it comes to cocktails, the Gentil Belini, made with London No. 1 Gin, is complemented by a Nat Sherman Host Hamilton corona, while the St. Francis In Ecstasy, featuring Russell’s Reserve 6 Year Old Rye, is the perfect match for a Nat Sherman 1930 gran robusto.
There is no charge if guests wish to bring their own cigars instead, and a clipping and lighting service—offering either cedar matches or butane—is available. With seven different Nat Sherman cigars on the menu, teamed with nine different cocktails and an extensive cigar-pairing wine list, Casa Lever Gardens is a welcome summer-through-early-autumn oasis for cigar lovers right in the heart of New York. Casa Lever Gardens and smoking lounge is open from 11:45 am to 11 pm on Monday to Friday and is closed on the weekends.
