Partagas limited edition - guest blogger

On the way to a holiday for the next 2 weeks, I should be out of touch but wanted to leave you with one interesting article by James (who made his appearance below) on Partagas limited editions... Happy Smoking! 

The Partagas Serie D No.4 is a cigar recognised and loved, by cigar enthusiasts and beginners alike, as one of the greatest robustos available on the Market - especially with age on it. However this lonely regular production cigar was one of a family of 16 cigars - the alphabetical series of Partagas cigars. 

Discontinued one by one, the D4 is all that remains in regular production. In the 1930s, the cigars ranged from the Serie A No.1 through to the D No.4. The 4 A Serie being of a ring gauge of 38, B Serie a ring gauge of 42, C Serie was 48 and the D Serie 50. 1 equating to 6 5/8 inches in length, 2 - 6 1/8, 3 - 5 1/2 and finally the "4" were all 4 7/8 inches in length. 

Several of these cigars have been reproduced as an Edición Limitada (Limited Edition) to commemorate these sizes; the D No.2 in 2003, the D No.1 in 2004. A Serie D No.3 was also released however it was not in keeping with the orginal size; the Edición Limitada for 2010, the Partagas Serie D Especial has taken this size (for some more colour on this cigar, see the last part of this post by Mass). 

An extremely limited release, in the book series of cigars, showcased the C No.1 in 2002, which I have yet had the pleasure to track down and smoke, but I hope is just a

matter of time. The picture below, courtesy of Hunters & Frankau, shows them.

Those of you who haven't had the pleasure of igniting any of these limited release cigars, I  urge you to try and find them as they are fast disappearing and worth the effort.

by James

Guest blogger!

As anticipated, Cigarando is expanding and a guest blogger is making his debut today, James Smith! I met James at the old Casa del Habano in Soho, London (now only Casa) and since then we meet often, usually together with his best friend Trevor, to enjoy cigars together... This is the first one of his posts. More to come!

As advertised by Ajay, of La Casa Del Habano in Teddington, the roller from Cuba, Anibal Gonzalez, was at his shop last month (see this post). Due to a last minute cancellation in my original plans I headed to the shop to visit and once again see the roller in action after having seen him at the launch of the Behike range of cigars at the Goring Hotel in London.

I smoked a Romeo Y Julieta Duke Limited Edition 2009 to start, whilst sitting in the lounge and then moving upstairs to watch the roller. 

After chatting with Ajay and Anibal, I was given the opportunity to test my skill as a torcedor (cigar roller). Having previously videoed Anibal rolling a robusto, I had noted that it was rolled in approximately 4 minutes. These guys have to roll 120, or more, a day- depending on which factory they work in and which vitola they are rolling that day.. It took me 17 minutes with a lot of tuition.

I have watched rollers in the past and known that this is no easy task, taking them 7 years of training before they are let loose on the tobacco that is grown for the purpose of rolling into the fine cigars that you or I smoke regularly. Today I found out exactly how hard it is.

And yes, I just smoked it. It was awesome. My only complaint was that the draw was slightly too loose, but I took it slow and it made for over an hour smoke.

Anibal has since returned to his home in Cuba and has been replaced in the UK one of his fellow torcedors, from the Romeo y Julieta Factory in Havana, Señor Hamlet Jaime Parede. I had the pleasure of meeting Hamlet on Friday 13 August, my Birthday, where I spent the day at La Casa Del Habano, again, with my friend Trevor. Massimo, who had previously met Hamlet at the Red Room Club (see this post), was also able to join us for the afternoon to enjoy the Salamones rolled by Hamlet, which I have to say is the best salamones I have ever smoked.

 

blog post by James

Cubana cafe

My friend Valerio recently got married near Paris (Congrats! if you want to check-out my gf and I's wedding outfits you can do so here) and we used the opportunity to spend a couple of days in "La Ville-Lumière". 


If you are in Paris and have a craving for a Cuban flavor, you cannot miss Cubana Cafe, in Rue Vavin.


The set up is pretty simple - a bar with a separate room where nobody is allowed to be served, so you have to order your own drinks (and cigars if you want), carry them with you, find a seat and enjoy... There is a small extra charge for staying in the cigar room (or "smokehouse" as they call it) but given the trouble in finding cigars friendly places this day, it is certainly worth it, particularly in the colder months.





This is the humidour of Cubana Cafe - it has an average selection of Cubans but at bar prices (relative to Paris... still cheaper than in London!). 


I didn't carry my cigars with me that evening so I picked a Ramon Allones Especially Selected which I'm smoking in the two pictures below. As you can see, the separate smokehouse has got some paintings which blend well with a cigar smoking environment.








Cubana Cafe also serves food but if you fancy something really good you can try nearby La Coupole (in Rue due Montparnasse) - close to La Coupole there is also a good cigar shop with a good selection of Cubans as well as non Cubans cigars.

The Red Room and a new roller!

A quick post to point out that a new roller has just arrived in the UK. His name is Hamlet Jaime Parede and like the previous roller Anibal Gonzalez is a certified 9th grade roller, the highest achievable, which means that he's able to roll cigars in any sizes. Apparently it takes at least six years to make a 9th grade roller and it's all depending on your skills.

I met Hamlet at an event organised by The Red Room Club within Les Ambassadors Club in Hyde Park Coner, a members club Casino close to the Intercontinteal hotel. I had never been in this venue before, which boasts the only open air casino in London (allowing for cigars smoking), and it was certainly a good decision to attend, although last minute. The event included a cigar prepared by Hamlet as well as a sampling of Moet Hennessey cognac (including Paradis). 

Hamlet speaks very good English - which is a change compared to many of the rollers that have visited recently - so could also have a nice conversations about cigars. For example, he explained me how Behike are the only cigars with six different type of leaves - given the inclusion of "Medio Tiempo" leaf (the one that comes from the very top of a tobacco plant); this allows them to have a very special and different flavour. Hamlet also said his preferred cigars to roll are robusto but he likes to smoke double coronas. Hamlet admitted that he usually smokes cigars without cutting the uneven end. I therefore asked him to prepare me a robusto with the final end still attached.  The cigar had a perfect draw and a creamy flavour, reminding me of Hoyo de Monterrey in a sense. A really superb smoke for a freshly rolled cigar!

Hamlet, in the picture above, this week is rolling at JJ Fox in St. James Street (until Wednesday) and La Casa del Habano (from Thursday till Saturday) but will certainly be around at various events over the next 3 months

New York, New York

Was recently in the East Coast of the United States for the baptism of my friend Doug's third child - Sebastian - so took the occasion to spend some time in NYC and exploit some of the cigar lounges in the Big Apple...

Despite the smoking ban, there is a good selection of smoking places available in the city... since I was only there for a small period of time I cannot give you in this occasion a full overview but hopefully will eventually have the opportunity to show all the available options...

Some cigars shop also offers the opportunity to smoke (for example, De La Concha on 6th Avenue between 54th and 56th Street). This time, however, I decided to visit the Davidoff upscale shop on Madison and 54th Street - where i got hold of the new Davidoff Puro Doro cigar. Davidoff also owns the De La Concha shop nowadays but currently does not allow smoking in its Madison Avenue shop due to a restriction implemented by the building owners. The pictures below show the well assorted Davidoff's walk-in humidour.

One of the couple of evenings I spent in NYC I also visited Club Macanudo together with my friend David. Club Macanudo remains in my view one of the best places to enjoy a cigar - perfect atmosphere (large leather chairs and comfy sofas) combined with a good selection of food and drinks. Cigars offered are maybe not always the best (but if you want a good one, I recommend the Club Macanudo 1968) so we decided to enjoy something not on the menu...

An overview of Club Macanudo

My friend David at Club Macanudo enjoying his drink

Here I'm smoking the new Romeo & Juliet Wide Churchill...

In this picture I'm with my friend Doug. The day after the Christening we also enjoyed a cigar together - I had the Puro Doro that i grabbed at the Davidoff shop while I gave him a Cohiba Behike 54... we did enjoy them but also confirmed that  the Behike are definitively cigars for the "heavy smokers".... don't smoke them if you are a cigar novice or not on a full stomach...

Finally, just before taking my plane back to London, I made a short stop at Velvet Cigar lounge, in the picture above, on E7th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue. This lounge is very small but they sell their own cigars made with Domincan tobacco (with Cuban-seed). Their cigars are offered in three styles - full bodied (The Tompkins), medium bodied (The Astor) and mild (The Cooper). I found their cigars to be a good smooth alternative to Cubans, not as strong but pleasant and spicy. At Velvet they also have a small selection of other brands available - I found Nubs in the past, this time they had Tatuaje, another good choice for non-Cuban cigars.

Anibal Delgado Gonzalez at la Casa del Habano

Anibal Delgado Gonzalez has been on a tour of the UK from the La Corona factory in Havana over the last 12 weeks - I think his time in the UK has come to a close as I write this post but we certainly look forward to seeing him again soon to enjoy his rolling skills...

During his time in the UK, Anibal has been visiting various shops and locations (first time I have seen him in action was for example at the Behike cigars launch event at the Goring Hotel in Victoria). 

To have the opportunity to enjoy one last time his cigars, I visited La Casa del Habano in Teddington earlier in the month... Courtesy of Ajay's super assorted humidour (in the picture below), I also smoked a Roman Allones Estupendos - exclusivo Asia Pacifico while taking the pictures.

Anibal has been a torcedor (cigar roller) for over 20 years and as 9th grade roller is able to roll every cigar produced by the Habanos portfolio. He started working as a roller in 1985 at the Romeo y Julieta factory but now works in the heart of Havana in La Corona. In 2000 he was selected to participate in rolling demonstrations around the world and so far has visited Guatemala, Argentina, Uruguay, Bahrain, Greece, Chile and China.

Here is Anibal - rolling makes him happy?

Well, I would certainly be if I could smoke cigars while working like he's doing here :)

I asked Anibal to prepare me a Maravilla extra... this is not an official size but I basically asked for a cigar with the ring gage of a sublime (54) only with additional length. In the picture above I'm posing while Anibal is working on "my" cigar...



This is the result of my request!



And here I'm looking forward to smoke it... Didn't do it just yet as I wanted it to dry it in my humidour at home a little bit (when they are freshly rolled I notice they tend to smoke too quickly, and I want to make sure I will enjoy my unique cigar for the longest possible time... :)