BHK 52 - Best Cigar of 2010 by Cigar Aficionado

I am just back from a tasting at Ten Manchester Street Hotel in honour of the freshly named Best Cigar of the Year 2010 by Cigar Aficionado - the Cohiba Behike 52 (or BHK 52)!

Many amongst the cigar community have been surprised by this choice... Cigar Aficionado is often very kind to non-Cuban (since it caters to mostly American readers for whom habanos are still off-limits, or theoretically are...) and it also tends to favour big sizes/ring gages. The BHK 52 (at 52 ring gage as the name says and 4.7" in length) is not necessarily small but most would have probably expected Cigar Aficionado to at least prefer its bigger brothers BHK 54 (5.7" x 54) and BHK 56 (6.5" x 56).



While these are all incredible smokes for cigars lovers (with still a lot to offer, given that they are still quite young cigars) I overall love the BHK 52 and I have been saying often to my friends that this is probably my favorite amongst the Behike, a reasonably short and incredibly punchy smoke, rich of aroma and coffee flavour.

At No. 10, the tasting was accompanied by an Irish Coffee which I thought was a pretty nice complement to this strong cigar. A great evening thanks to Ten and Hunters & Frankau.

P.S.: If I can give some simple advice - definitely have it on a full stomach! 

I'm back... from Dubai...

Apologies for the lack of blogging but it has been a very busy month (and a bit) at work... The good news is that I spent some of this past month in Dubai, which is certainly a very convenient location for a cigar smoker!

You can buy cigars - at prices usually at least 50% cheaper than the UK (probably currently helped by the FX a little) - as soon as you land, at the duty free shop in the airport (not quite sure why you would have a duty free in a country with no VAT, but that's another story :))

There are, of course, many Casa del Habano. Here is the local symbol from la Casa in the shopping mall by the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel, right next to the DIFC, Dubai International Financial Centre. If you go to Dubai, you are most certainly going to spend some time in the area - even if you have nothing to do with the financial industry, as there are plenty of shops and restaurants (read alcohol...) 

I have to say that some of the cigars I sampled in Dubai were not smoking too well, sometimes they smoked very fast, sometimes they just were too dry. Perhaps the conditions in which they are kept are at times sub-optimal and my suggestion is probably to buy the more famous brands as the turnover would be quicker and therefore they are less likely to have not been stored properly...

The airports has got also its own La Casa del Habano shops - wnhere on my last visit I bought some D Especial. You can see a couple of snapshot of their assortment. Note in the second pictures some Behike (they had BHK 56 the first time I visited in early October but since then I have only seen BHK 52 and BHK 54 if at all). Also note the Partagas P1 jar in the middle on the far right of the second picture. This is a cigar exclusive for travel retail. More about the P1s to come soon.

Quick post... Good to be back! 

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