Roller!

I stopped by Ajay's La Casa del Habano in Teddington on Saturday and, to my surprise, Yoel Ulacia Diaz was custom rolling cigars in the shop. Yoel has been in the UK for a couple of months already demonstrating the art of cigar rolling around the UK, showcased by Hunters and Frankau.

Yoel is a 9th grade roller - the highest ranking you can achieve - and currently is a Master of Quality Control at the Partagas factory. And of course he definitively knows how to roll good cigars... Some of his goods are shown in the picture below

I tasted a freshly rolled puro while in Teddington and I can say they have a very distinctive taste, with a coffee flavour small to my palate and a hint of mint. 

Here is Yoel at work. If you want to see directly, next week he will be at Sautter's, in Mount Street, Mayfair, London - worth a visit to take a look and sample!

Have been out of touch but have a lot to report on from a trip in Italy, at the V Amicigar Day in Naples, organised by the local club (pictures already available on facebook) and a week holiday in Hong Kong!

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

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... :)