End of the year leftovers...

Here we come towards the end of another year. It has been one definitively filled with great cigars! I really do have to think hard about which one has been the best of 2011 (and perhaps dedicate another post to it), but for now I just wanted to post a few pictures that unfortunately didn't make it to the blog yet...

Hong Kong!

While in Hong Kong last summer I didn't have a chance to visit many cigar stores. However, on my last day, while grabbing afternoon tea at the world-famous Peninsula Hotel, I managed to stop by the resident Davidoff shop.

Here are a few shots documenting the well assorted humidour and accessories windows. There is also a comfortable smoking area. I bought a few Asia-Pacific edition there, none of which to be honest was absolutely outstanding (the Por Larranaga Encantos was probably the best), but you know, it's always good to try something new... 

Sautter's

Sautter's collection of aged cigars is certainly one of the best you can find in Central London. Recently, they discovered somewhere in England an almost complete cabinet of H Upmann cigars believed to be from the late 1800s.

During one of the latest visits, I was shown another outstanding box... a Larra (yes - short for Por Larranaga) which is probably from the 1950s and was produced in Jamaica (though tobacco should also be Cuban)

I just loved the little travel plastic box that was provided to allow to carry around a cigar without ruining it!

New York!

I don't have good pictures from my last visit to NYC but I feel I should spend at least a few words for a very good shop, with a reasonable smoking area which happens to be in the middle of Midtown East and therefore convenient for many office buildings... The name of the shop I'm talking about is Barclay Rex, in 570 Lexington Avenue between 50th and 51st Street (I now learned they also have other two shops, one downtown and another one close to Grand Central).

While there, I smoked in particular a very good Tatuaje Fausto, definitively worth trying for a non-Cuban. Most importantly, after walking in at about 11am on a Sunday morning while waiting for a friend to arrive, I bumped into a cigar lover friend of Ajay's at La Casa del Habano (who had been with him at the Big Smoke in Vegas - by the way, if you haven't checked out his videos about that event you definitively should do so, link on his website)! 

How small can the world of cigars be??? :)

----------------

I would like to think that I'd be able to post again before the Holidays, but as I realise that it may in fact not happen, let me wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Vertical tasting

As I had mentioned here, during the V AMICIgar Day, I had a chance to do a vertical tasting of Ramon Allones Especially Selected. I was just going through my pictures and saw this unpublished photo below and felt the flavour of the cigar again in my mouth

What we had that night with Ajay, was a recent Especially Selected and one from ten years ago. You can notice the difference in the band between the old one on the left and the new cigar on the right hand side of the picture

A great robusto with a fuller flavour, a hint of chocolate and lots of spice and a sweet after taste. I very much enjoyed smoking the vintage one and understanding the development of the cigar. Really a worthwhile experience! Only problem is that one needs to save up for ten years (or more) a cigar already great on day 1!

Cohiba 1966 special

One of the new 2011 Limited Edition issued this year by Habanos is the Cohiba 1966. This is quite a big cigar, measuring 6 1/2 inches long by 52 ring gauge. I was lucky enough to receive as a birthday present one of the original Cohiba 1966 - directly from Cuba - even before the end of the cigar was cut off.

Being a pretty long smoke I had to find the right occasion for such a great smoke, occasion that finally materialised yesterday, after a great meal with red meat and Sangiovese wine...

Here is this beautiful cigar. Dark wrapper as you can see, perfect construction as well.

As you can notice, the top of the cigar shows the end of the leaves not properly cut - this probably added half a centimeter to my smoke!

What was my view of the Cohiba 1966? Well, it's a bit fresh but it's already a fantastic cigar. It has the classic Cohiba flavour with lot of chocolat aroma. It will be a classic, one not to be missed!

For a fuller review, may I recommend Ajay's video on youtube.

Partagas E2

A number of new cigars have finally made it to the UK. Over the last couple of weeks, the Limited Editions for 2011 have finally arrived. These include the Ramon Allones Allones Extra, the Cohiba 1966 and the Hoyo do Monterrey Short Hoyo Piramides (more to come on those cigars in forthcoming posts, for now I can say that I tasted the Ramon Allones enjoying it quite a bit...). More importantly, we finally got delivery of the new regular vitola introuced by Partagas, the E2.

We were expecting the launch of the E2 a the Hunters & Frankau summer party back in June. However, due to delay with the production, Hunters was unable to present the cigar and promised to send it to all participants in due course. It was September when I finally got a package with the following message via post

The wait was definitively worth it. I almost immediately tried the E2 and I smoked a few more since. This is certainly a different Partagas. It is a fat cigar, being a 54 ring gage x 5.5" (140mm long), same size as the Romeo & Julieta Limited Edition Duke from 2009. More interestingly, it is not a usual Partagas.

Like many others regular cigar smokers, I love my Partagas. Generally full bodied, they consistently offer best value in my view vs. other more well-known brand (like Cohiba, but also Trinidad). However, the E2 is a bit different. It is certainly not as strong, which means that it is easier to enjoy also after a not too heavy meal... It is a very creamy and peppery smoke, getting stronger of course as you get closer to the top; I have no doubt that it will benefit from a bit more aging but in my view it is a great smoke already.

Here it is again in more detail.



Apparently, E2s are already running short in the UK, but hopefully a new batch will be coming soon from Cuba. Don't miss out!

New humidour!

Smoking cigars is a great hobby! No doubts about it! Unfortunately, all cigars require a lot of attention: they need to be kept in proper conditions or it may be difficult to fully enjoy them. Everybody likes cigar in a different way, but clearly they should be kept in humid conditions, generally a good rule of thumb is around 70% humidity and ideally around 20 degree Celsius. It does require a lot of work to keep cigars in good conditions and that is why I often prefer to keep them in stores, where you know that they will be kept properly.

I bought some time ago a humidour which - to be fair - didn't work very well...  I was therefore often keeping my cigars at home in humidified pouch / bags... 

This is all going to change! It was my birthday a few weeks ago and my girlfriend bought me an amazing present! An Ellie Blue humidour - a real luxury object for any cigar smoker! Ellie Bleu is in fact well known for making the best humidours - perfect for keeping cigars in immaculate conditions for years and years to come!

This is the outside box it came with. Inside, there were also information about the particular type of wood used...

And here is the actual humidour! Isn't it beautiful? All Ellie Blue humidours are apparently made with wood which has been open air cured for a minimum of ten years to eliminate the possibility of sapping, cracking or warping.

And finally the personalised interior!

An amazing present! Thanks so much Lisa! 

V AMICIgar day - part 2

With apologies for the delay (too busy sampling cigars during this summer :), here are some final pictures of the V AMICIgar day in Naples. 

The second day of the event first of all included a visit to the city coupled with an opportunity to eat the local pizza! In the evening, the remaining guests had a "closing" dinner by the pool of the Averno Damiani resort - right next to where the previous day event had been held.

Besides the excellent local food, more cigars had to be smoked... Beforehand, the AMICIgar club surprised all of us that had travelled from abroad with a ceramic plate celebrating the event. Here I am getting mine, which is now proudly exposed in my living room! 

Magali and Sautter contributed to the first cigar of the evening with Por Larranaga Regalies de Londres, the UK 2010 Regional Edition. We all massively enjoyed those cigars, and in fact had to buy a box soon after getting back to London... To be fair, I'm sure that the environment had a lot to do with it; as Angelo Bigi, probably the biggest collector of Puros in Italy, was saying the day before, special occasions certainly contribute to making cigars more enjoyable. Having said that, the Regalies de Londres is certainly a great smoke - and to get a full review I suggest you watch this video. 

Gino Iannillo is enjoying his...

... like Robert Fox of JJ Fox is here...

... and I am here with Ajay of the UK La Casa del Habano.

I have to thank Ajay who later that night allowed me to have my first vertical smoke with a Ramon Allones Specially Selected of 1990 and a current one. A real great way to understand the development of cigar tastes with herbs and spices mellowed out very very nicely in the vintage one. An absolutely outstanding smoke to close a fantastic weekend

V AMICIgar day - part 1

Cigars are great - not only to smoke, of course - but also because of the opportunity they give to meet new people and in fact visit new places! That is why I jumped at the opportunity to join Ajay of La Casa del Habano, his family, Magali de la Cruz from Sautters and a few other cigar aficionados from London, including the master Simon Chase of Hunters & Frankau, for the V AMICIgar day!

 

This was an event organised by the AMICIgar club of Naples and Avellino, in Italy. For the non-italians amongst you, the name of the club is a play on the words "amici" (friends") and cigar... The event was in Pozzuoli, by Naples, in Villa Habiba on 17th and 18th June. It was truly an amazing weekend, filled with great cigars, awesome food and fantastic people!

As you can see, the Villa where the event was held was absolutely beautiful!

Here is Magali - the two of us got a 6am plane on the day to be in Naples on time for the event! what you don't do for cigars! :)

The "cultural" part of the event included a sampling of a "Tacos Imperiales H. Upmann" coupled with Moet & Chandon Magnum Grand Vintage Collection 1990 - see picture below.

Simon Chase and Angelo Bigi provided their views on the cigar - a 2006 release in only 200 humidours. The cigar was good, quite peppery but overall medium bodied, not necessarily my favorite. It was complemented very well by the champagne though!

The sampling was followed by a great dinner on the same evening with drinks and dancing to the tunes of live cuban music! In the pictures you can see Simon Chase, Ajay and Alex Iapichino having a good time - like the rest of us!

The day after was also full of surprises - which I will report on in a following blog post!

 Thanks again to the AMICIgar club for organising such a phenomenal event - thanks in particular to Gino and Antonio - in the picture above! And to their whole team!