2011 Limited Edition from Cuba

Since 2000, Habanos launched every year Limited Editions cigars (Edicion Limitada), introducing to the market cigars not in regular production, in limited quantity, of course, as the name says. Usually these cigars have been issued for the most well-known brands (Cuaba possibly being the exception with their 2008 Piramides).

I understand that initially they were made using regular tobacco and with two-year old tobacco for the wrapper, which was also selected from the upper part of the plant (was it the famous medio tiempio tobacco currently used for the Behike? We will never know! :) ). However, since 2007, all the tobacco used in Limited Editions is at least two-year old. This should contribute to a more enjoyable cigar as the tobacco has had longer time to develop its unique flavour, although not in an assembled cigar (which means that it may still be good not to smoke Limited Editions straight away).

Over time, there have been some magnificent Limited Edition. One I'd certainly like to mention is the Partagas D No. 1 from 2004. Or maybe the Montecristo Sublimes from 2008 (by the way, I felt that these cigars were really good when they first came out, they then lost somewhat strength for a couple of years but they seem to have gained again in flavour over the last 12 months... the power of aging!)

In 2011, Habanos issued three Limited Edition. In classic cuban style we only saw some of them in 2012 but here they are in the picture below:

They include:

1) Hoyo de Monterrey - Short Hoyo Piramides, a 5 3/8 inches long, 46 ring figurado

2) Ramon Allones - Allones Extra, a  5 5/8 inches long, 44 ring gauge

3) Cohiba - Cohiba 1966, measuring 6 1/2 inches long by 52 ring gauge

They are still relatively fresh and they need further time to develop. Generally, I have not been too impressed by them, particularly the Allones Extra which seems to be very much a hit or miss (ie they don't seem to have consistent quality). The Cohiba - which name was chosen to commemorate the 45th anniversary since the launch of the brand - seems to have great potential but it needs a bit of time and it certainly comes at a significant price. The other two are interesting because the Hoyo is a bit stronger than the traditional Hoyo while the Ramon Allones is a bit lighter than the traditional Ramon Allones. But then, why would I buy a Hoyo or a Ramon Allones? I think I'd rather have brands that stick to what they are good and known for, but perhaps time will prove me wrong and with aging I will be praising all of these cigars... In the meantime, I would suggest to stock-up if you can, particularly on the Cohiba. You can most likely expect those prices to go up and once the cigars have run out you will find some major aficionado (or some wealthy newcomer) ready to spend money to still smoke them (assuming that you will have the strength to sell them!). Enjoy!

Cigarando... back with the new Cuban Italian Limited Edition

Apologies for the lack of postings over the last few months... I have had a few very busy months at work which meant having limited time to dedicate to cigarando....

This is not to say that I have not been able to enjoy a few great cigars of course... only that I had to dedicate the limited spare to sampling and enjoying new (and old) cigars rather than blogging about them :). But here I am, finally, back and ready to report on the latest and greatest smokes... and not only.

My last post was around Pedroni, the Swiss/Italian toscano style cigars. To restart, I want to talk about the new Italian Limited Edition, La Escepcion Selectos Finos.

This picture show the cigar in all its beauty, it's a panatela size, 6.5" in length x 38 ring gage; this is a different ring gage from the ones I usually smoke; it's the perfect contemplation cigar! I enjoyed it earlier this month in Italy, where I was for the baptism of my nephew Michele - by the way, congratulations to my sister in law Anna and my brother Marco for the beautiful baby boy!

If you didn't hear of La Escepcion brand before don't worry - neither did I before this Limited Edition came out - which effectively brought back to life this old Cuban brand. Take a look at the beautiful band below

I learned with a bit of research that La Escepcion is one of the oldest brands, introduced in the late 1850s by Jose Gener. Apparently it is believed to be a sister brand to Hoyo de Monterrey, given that both brands were started and owned by Jose Gener.

As for the cigar? Well, it is in fact stronger than a Hoyo I would say. The draw was excellent and the smoke was peppery with a little bit of spice. One thing to consider while smoking panatela style cigar is that they require a lot of concentration - you need to be careful not to draw too quickly or the cigar can get easily burned given the small size!

I enjoyed the cigar on its own, after lunch, just with a sip of water. It built up nicely with a little bit of chocolate hints towards the end. This is indeed an excellent afternoon smoke and I would recommend people to try them if they can. In Italy it should still be possible to find them in the best cigar shops; as for London, Ajay of La Casa Del Habano is also able to source them (in fact, I bought mine at his shop in Teddington) 

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!

Cigarando back in Milan

During the Royal Wedding Bank Holiday, my girlfriend and I decided to visit Milan. I'm not a big lover of the city but as my girlfriend had never been there, and my best friend Matteo recently moved to Milan, it was a good opportunity to spend some time visiting the Duomo, the Castle and of course the Quadrilatero d'Oro, an area in the centre of Milan which is supposed to have the highest concentration of fashion boutiques in the world. 

With regard to smoking lounges, I already posted some ideas here. This time, thanks to the nice weather, I smoked at the Bulgari Hotel both inside their internal lounge (picture below while enjoying a nice grappa) and in their garden.

My first smoke was a Partagas D3, 2006 Limited Edition. This cigar is not easy to find anymore, I think - I got lucky to find a few at a local cigar store in my hometown (when I was actually looking for Toscanos!). The cigar is a re-release of an original 2001 Limited Edition, corona gorda in size (46 ring gage for 5.6" in length). I was not blown away by this cigar which is spicy as you would expect from a Partagas, though a touch light to start with. It certainly improved in strength as the smoke went by and I deserve my final judgment after having smoked at least another one...

In addition, as mentioned, the Bulgari Hotel also has an amazing private garden which is of course a great venue to enjoy a cigar - see pictures below



The cigar in question was a present from my girlfriend from last August. A Petit Unicos (50 x 5.0") by Ramon Allones which was released exclusively for the Canadian market, as a result of a consumer survey. Very much an excellent choice, being an enjoyable smoke with a good draw and leaving
a complex flavour in the mouth!



And here is me! Enjoying the Ramon Allones Petit Unicos! For these sort of experiences, I wouldn't mind going back to Milan!

 

Cigarando in... Berlin

Between Easter and the Royal Wedding, we were able to enjoy a couple of long weekends here in the UK. The first weekend, I took the opportunity to visit Berlin for the first time. Traveling with my girlfriend and an allergy-heavy couple of friends ( :-) ), unfortunately, it wasn't easy to find ways to smoke a good cigar. Nonetheless, what would Easter be without a few good smokes! :)

So, I exploited the terrace at the Hotel de Rome to smoke a Cohiba Piramides, 2006 Limited Edition, a re-release of the 2001 Piramides. As you can see from the pictures below, the terrace boasts a remarkable view!

The 2006 Piramides seems to be still easily available. To be fair I fail to understand why! To me, this is indeed a very good smoke - an incredible Cohiba really, with a good draw and a chocolate, leathery aroma. I managed to find a box at the cigar shop in Selfridges and smoked a few of those during the bank holidays to great satisfaction! Probably worth getting old of another box before they disappear...

Enjoyable - notwistanding the small crack at the end! :)

Although I didn't have a chance to stop by properly, I paid a quick visit to the local La Casa del Habano shop at the Savoy Hotel. 

Next time, I will need to visit this shop properly! As you can see, it has both outside and inside smoking areas...

... and a well equipped walk-in humidour of course!

I cannot document it with a picture, but also smoked a newly released Toscano - a special edition celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Italian Unification - at the Club Der Visionaere. I also heard the Newton Bar is a good place to both smoke and have a drink in Berlin, where, by the way, there are many smoking lounges and/or bars which allow smoking! 

Finally, a visit to Berlin couldn't be complete without a pit stop at the Olympiastadium - this is were Italy won the fourth Wold Cup in 2006! Po po po po po po po! 

Partagas D1

The Ten Manchester Street cigar terrace has invested in some really great cigars lately, including some aged ones which are definitely worth a try... Amongst those, I recently caught the opportunity to smoke again the Partagas D1, a Limited Edition released in 2004 which has become really difficult to find over the last couple of years.

I have to say I love Partagas - they are amongst the most full body cigars you can find and they have that combination of wood and leather flavours that just makes it a cigar to smoke again and again. 

In this picture, Cristiano - F&B manager at No. 10 - is preparing my cigar for an afternoon of pleasure

And here is the cigar in all his beauty - a double-robusto (50 ring gage for 6.7" in length). I hadn't smoked one of these for quite a while and I have to say it continues to be a smoke not to be missed, peppery to start with evolving into a lot of spice with wood and leather - like a Partagas should be. The good news in my view is that the new 2010 Limited Edition - the Serie D Especial - seems to evoke some of the same flavours. Happy smokes!

Where to smoke in Milan?

Although I'm Italian, I don't really know Milan well. I have never lived there and to be fair, being from the centre of Italy, I much rather prefer Rome. However, I do travel to Milan a few times a year on business and therefore I did need to find out where are the good places to smoke cigars. I reported in the past about the local Casa del Habano, but where else?

The Westin Palace in Piazza della Repubblica used to have a smoking area but I think that since the new law came into force they shut it down (if any of you know whether or not this is the case, please do let me know). Fortunately, I did find another hotel, conveniently located in the city centre, with a small but fairly homely cigar lounge: the Bulgari hotel! 

The pictures below that I took with my blackberry really don't do it justice (and apologies for the bad quality!), but the space is a little heaven for the frantic traveller like me looking for an oasis of calm :) There is a little humidour with an overall acceptable selection of cigars (no surprises, but more famous brands like Cohiba tend to take most of the space), comfy leather chairs and of course a good selection of drinks. Only thing I'd warn you about is that you may hear quite some big mouths while there... but who cares :)

Yesterday night I was in Milan and smoked at the Bulgari's lounge a Partagas Serie D Especial Limited Edition I purchased in Dubai (by the way, I'm not sure if I'm being unlucky but generally find the cigars from Dubai not as well kept and therefore somewhat less enjoyable..). Since the area was full, I sat down at a table with another cigar smoker - the funny thing is that the gentleman I shared the table with is from London and literally lives 10 minutes walk away from my place. What a small world!

In the last picture you can see some images of chocolates on the wall in the background. I will do a little digression on this, as if you are going to be in MIlan this week - up until the 19th of December -  the Bulgari Hotel will be home to a unique event featuring the handmade Bulgari chocolates. From 7 pm to 9 pm it will be possible to admire the Japanese maitre chocolatier Miura Naoki while he creates the exclusive collection of Bulgari chocolates (amongst some of the chocolates available, you can have panettone or truffle!). You can also enjoy a daily chocolate tasting at 5:00 p.m. and a special sunday  brunch menu featuring the chocolates as dessert. The chocolates are not cheap but really delicious and they are also available in a special box combination with a bottle of Dom Pérignon for a luxurious Christmas gift for the real chocolates lovers amongst you!

Holidays cigars

As I mentioned, I was recently on holiday and of course, thanks to my travel humidour, I couldn't miss the opportunity to sample some good cigars... I was in Italy and therefore had the occasional Toscano (more about these cigars will need to come in separate posts) and some of my favorites of all the times (for example, a Cohiba Siglo VI, a perfectly elegant cigar, with a hint of chocolate and vanilla and great burn throughout, really a must have).

However, one of the drawbacks of travelling is that you may not always have good locations for cigar smoking available at your fingertips. I therefore had to also sample some short smokes.

Amongst those I can mention a Pleiades Paris cigars which I picked up in France. 

As I understand, the Pleiades is made with a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan long-leaf tobaccos. The one I smoked was a short piramide 1984-2004 with a light wrapper; the filler tobacco was certainly not abundant and the overall construction not perfect. It was an easy light smoke with an earthy, woody taste. An ok smoke, most importantly, for being a non-cuban, not acidic!

Another day I also sampled a  short Bolivar Petit Libertador, a 2008 French Limited Edition, shown in the picture below.

This was an excellent short smoke, immediately kicking in with a good flavour, mostly vanilla in my view but also very spicy throughout. The burnt was ok, although a bit uneven and I entertained myself with one of those long-ash-gallery-type pictures below... 

Finally, a little curiosity... I was in Verona as well during my holidays and after a good dinner with steak and Pergole Torte (great Italian Tuscan red, a must try!), I lighted up a Partagas D Especial, the recently released Limited Edition. What I didn't realise is that I kept on smoking it while also in the Arena di Verona, before watching the Aida... Luckily, I asked if it was possible to smoke inside before it was too late... while I had to interrupt my very good smoke - see my review at the bottom of this post here - I finished the D Especial after the Opera... 

Canadian limited editions

My girlfriend was recently in Canada and I therefore asked her to kindly stop by the La Casa del Habano in Yorkville, Toronto, to grab some regional editions cigars. I love that store... The first time I went to Toronto I immediately visited the shop, in part as it is run by Andy, a friend that has basically introduced me to the real word of good cigar smoking when he used to run the former La Casa del Habano in Soho, London. I still remember the time he spent with me in the humidour, describing cigars, the various brands, the flavour and how to enjoy them... so much so that I had to buy the bible of cigars to learn more... "An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Post Revolution Havana Cigars"

Andy suggested, amongst others, a newly released Bolivar  B-2, a 2010 Canadian Limited Edition, a piramides in vitola which I'm enjoying in the picture below in the garden of Caldesi in Campagna, a nice Italian restaurant in Bray, an hour drive from London.

The B-2 is crafted with tobacco leaf from Vuelta Abajo in Pinar del Rio. The selection is limited to 1,000 numbered boxes containing 25 habanos each with primary distribution, obviously, restricted to Canada.

The cigar had a very nice wrapper, with really good construction for a Bolivar... It did show some venatures but it smoked really nice. The flavor was a lot of pepper to start with but developing into a spicy blend with a hint of coffee. A very nice compliment to the Grappa Poli di Sassicaia I was also enjoying!

More to come with a Bolivar Simones (a Hermos 4 size), a Ramon Allones Petit Unicos (a short piramide) and a Vegas Robaina Short Robaina (a Gordito), all shown in the picture below.

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

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.

V° Encuentro Amigos De Partagas En Italia - part 2

The second day of the Amigos De Partagas event, on Saturday 26th June, was enriched with an afternoon seminar about "puros magic", ie personal experiences of cigars as described by some major experts in the cigar world, including, amongst others, the torcedores La China and Cueto, Abel Esposito of the Partagas Factory and the President of the Italian Cigar Association, Massimo De Giovanni. A moment of the seminar is in the picture below.


The discussion dwelled around sales of cigars around the world (which were clearly impacted by the economic recession in 2009) as well as favorites cigars purchased in the factory by people of various nationalities... There were some interesting debates, in particular around the use of thicker bands and whether that is a necessity of the industry (getting more torcedores - apparently the bigger the band, the easier it is to roll them) or a request from the smokers... During the seminar everybody was smoking a cigar. I decided to enjoy the Hoyo de Monterrey from Ajay's goodie bag - a double corona from a 2001 cabinet of 50. A relatively light but classy smoke.


In this image you can see my brother Marco - who also attended the seminar - with Cueto and La China while rolling cigars during the seminar. My brother had to leave early as he was helping his wife Anna organising her bday party BBQ for the evening... In the evening, I briefly attended my sister in law's party but I couldn't miss the Gala Dinner in Matelica...

Both the Cena di Benvenida and the Cena di Gala were in fact tasting menu with wine to complement each (local) dish. All the wines, except the Champagne and Spumante, were also from the area and amongst the ones I sampled I have to spend some special words for the Ceresi of the Gagliardi winery made with Ciliegiolo grape (or big Sangiovese) - Umberto Gagliardi is now leading the winery and is a member of the Cigar Club Matelica - he was getting married the following week and therefore received a special cigar courtesy of Cueto...


Here is a snapshot of what we ate... the menu included porcini pasta, gnocchi with duck sauce, veal, etc. Note to the left a snapshot of Don Alejandro Robaina. More about the Gala Dinner to come in the next post!

V° Encuentro Amigos De Partagas En Italia - part 1

I have been living in London for over 10 years now (with some break in the middle) so didn't realise until recently that right next to my hometown in central Italy, Fabriano, there was a group of great cigar lovers that founded the Cigar Club Matelica Don Alejandro Robaina (no, Matelica is not a rock band, but just another small town in Central Italy). Between June 25th-27th they organised an amazing cigar event, the Encuentro Amigos De Partagas. I couldn't miss it, being so close to Fabriano...


The first part of the event was a sampling of special cigars from a humidour containing puros hand-rolled by La China, which I learned is one of the best torcedores in the world together with Cueto, another special guest at the event... Both are with me in the below picture





Going back to the first cigar I sampled from the special humidour, the first point to note is the top, which was basically closed with a small "flower" made of tobacco.








To smoke it, full picture above, I just took the flower out of the base. This cigar is a Ideales Flor de La China, and the Honorary President of the Cigar Club Association Luigi Ferri and Angelo Bigi explained how the cigar is basically perfect as a morning smoke, being a relatively small gage which needs to be sampled in meditation, being careful not to draw it too strongly as it could otherwise get burned. I got lot of spice out of this cigar. The sampling was accompanied by two grappa from the Distilleria Segnana.


After the sampling, my brother Marco, his wife Anna, my friend Alessandro and I attended the welcome dinner (Cena di Benvenida). The menu -shown below - included a sample of local cuisine (lasagne - or vincisgrassi - big torterllini - or cappellacci - and pork loin - arista)





The dinner was also the occasion to launch in Italy the Partagas Serie D Especial, the new limited edition which was also included as part of Ajay's cigars goodie bag (see my old post). Well, what can I say. This cigar was a great complement to the evening. Quite similar in taste to the D1, I think, full and peppery but smooth throughout and with a touch of cream. I can see this as being well worth a box purchase...

Cigars BBQ

Everyone who smokes cigars in London knows Ajay. Ajay owns the only La Casa Del Habano in England. He is a true cigar lover and I had the luck of attending his latest event on June 20th, the Summer Cigar BBQ.


Here I'm looking at his store front.

Before the food started (and we had some great suckling pig amongst other delicacies like king prawns and squids) I did sample for the first time the Short Robusto T, the new 2010 Limited Edition of Trinidad, a short punchy smoke - quite earthy on my palate. This cigar represents a good example of the new trend in cigars smoking - or more likely a new need thanks to the smoking bans everywhere... - shorter smokes which immediately can give you a good kick.

I attended the event with my girlfriend Lisa; in the above picture you can see the two of us together with Ajay and his wife, Bhavna; I'm enjoying the short Robusto T; Ajay is having a Double Corona Hoyo de Monterrey 2001. This is the only cigar I smoked then... while it was a cigar event, I also wanted to follow a rather less important football match on the same day... which meant that I couldn't really make the most of the great outdoor space Ajay organised at Shambles, the restaurant in Teddington opposite his shop where the BBQ was being held.

Together with the great food we enjoyed, Ajay's goodie bag for the day included - in the pictures below - the other new Limited Editions of 2010, the Partagas Serie D Especial and the Montecristo Gran Edmundo. Ajay also put - as a surprise - a Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona 2001 (from a cabinet of 50). More to come on these...