Cigars & Big Whiskeys at Belfast Whiskey Week 2024 | Session 48

Some evenings at Belfast Whiskey Week are about quiet contemplation — the kind of reverent hush that falls over a room when a rare dram is poured. Session 48 was emphatically not one of those evenings. Cigar & Whiskey Smoke: Straight Outta Tampa brought a warm, unhurried swagger to The Second Fiddle on 23rd July 2024, pairing big, bold American-style whiskeys with hand-selected cigars and the kind of live music that makes you forget the rain outside entirely.

About This Event

Join us in the Second Fiddle for a relaxed evening where we listen to some live music, drink some big whiskies, smoke a carefully selected Cigar to compliment and as a parting gift; you’ll get another to take home.

Looking Back

There is a particular pleasure in doing things slowly and well, and that was the duchas — the natural spirit — of this session from start to finish. The Second Fiddle, that characterful dual-concept bar in the heart of Belfast city centre, is well used to hosting the full spectrum of whiskey experiences, but on this Tuesday evening in July it leaned into something a little more louche, a little more languid. Attendees arrived to the sound of live music already in full flow, and it set the tone immediately: this was an evening for settling in, not rushing through.

The whiskeys poured were, in the parlance of the night, big. Straight American whiskeys — the kind that carry the heat and oak and vanilla heft of Tampa summers rather than the Atlantic mist of the Causeway Coast. For many guests this was a welcome departure from the Irish whiskey canon that rightly dominates Belfast Whiskey Week's programme, a chance to stretch the palate across the sheugh and further west again, all the way to Florida. The education element was woven in gently rather than lectured — this was learning through drinking, through aroma, through conversation.

The cigars were chosen to complement rather than compete. Each was selected with the whiskeys in mind, and the pairing revealed how smoke — whether from a barrel char or a hand-rolled leaf — can act as a connective tissue between flavours. The whole room found its rhythm: a pour, a draw, a note from the musician, a murmur of appreciation. As a parting gesture, every attendee left with a cigar to take home, a small but genuinely generous act that turned a night out into something that continued past the door of The Second Fiddle. That is good seanchas — a story worth bringing home.

For those who find their whiskey curiosity running in a more Irish direction after an evening like this, it is worth knowing that the BWW programme has always held the full range. Sessions like the Bushmills History MasterClass and the Bushmills Causeway Collection MasterClass offer a very different but equally rewarding kind of depth — rooted in this island's uisce beatha traditions rather than the American grain belt. And if you want a sense of the wider whiskey world covered across all our events, the Belfast Whiskey Week Whiskey Map is a fine place to start that journey.

Session 48 reminded everyone present that whiskey culture is not a single tír — it is many lands, many traditions, many ways of sitting with friends and marking an evening as well spent. Sláinte mhaith to everyone who was there.

The Venue

The Second Fiddle — Bar. Belfast City Centre

Unique dual-concept venue offering diverse whiskey experiences and atmosphere.

More from Belfast Whiskey Week

• Session 83: Bushmills History (MasterClass)
• Session 1: Bushmills New Cask Finish Range (Introduction)
• Session 2: Bushmills Core Malts (Introduction)
• Session 22: Sexton Deconstruction (Showcase)
• Session 23: Bushmills Cask strength (Mini-MasterClass)
• Session 50: Bushmills Causeway Collection (MasterClass)

Explore the full programme on the Belfast Whiskey Week Whiskey Map.