I was recently sipping a bit of that amazing cane juice rum - Montecristo - and reflecting on the similarity of its name to a well known cigar. I then happened upon a thread over at Count Silvio's discussing a poster's intent to try infusing rum with tobacco - namely a cigar.
I raised the concern of carcinogens in the tobacco. The crew pretty much minimized this on the basis that (1) there would be very little of the carcinogens and (2) only a minimal exposure in a single cocktail. After ruminating on this I posted:
Thus there is a significant risk. To make matters worse, I found this (undocumented) post:"Points well taken friends. Interesting points of view. It is certainly true that alcohol - particularly in excess - can lead to erosion and cancers of the oral-esophogeal route. I see plenty of that in my practice. I've come to terms myself based on the data that alcohol - in moderation - is really quite a low risk.
The same is not true of tobacco in any form or by any route. All it takes is for the carcinogen to modify just one cell in your body. And some of us possess genes that make us very susceptible to even very limited exposure to carcinogens in tobacco.
A cigar contains more carcinogens than a pack of cigarettes. It is not simply an equivalent. And it is VERY important to note that via the route of smoking, most of these carcinogens are lost to the atmosphere and never enter the body. Without any data in front of me, I'll take what I consider my worst case smoking analysis, and assume that 10% of the available carcinogens are absorbed. I daresay the actual amount absorbed by smoking is much less than that.
Infusion is quite another matter.
Most if not all of the carcinogens will infuse into the rum and will accordingly be taken into the body. Based on my assumption this is more like a carton of cigarettes at the least, and very likely much more. Based on about 24 ounces per 750 ml bottle of rum, 10 packs of cigarettes per carton, and 20 cigarettes per pack: a two ounce drink would be at least the equivalent of smoking 16 cigarettes in 20 minutes!
I sincerely believe the real number is higher."
Fair warning. Proceed at your own risk..."Tobacco-infused rum certainly sounds fascinating, but be careful about extracting too much nicotine, which is very poisonous by itself. I remember reading several years ago that a can of snuff contains a lethal dose of nicotine if you extract it correctly. Apparently 1-3 drops of pure or nearly pure stuff will kill within 15 min.
So try it, cos it sounds really neat, but do be careful."
