Posted: 04:30 PM ET, 11/06/09Today I watched a bit of the Yankees celebratory parade at lunch with some friends here in New York. We decided to enjoy a short cigar before heading back to the office.
Outside, of course—New York has a pretty strict smoking ban. Read more
Posted: 02:13 PM ET, 11/04/09I wrote in Cigar Aficionado’s Good Life Guide not too long ago (June 2009) about the wide array of flavored vodkas that are available, but at press time I was unapprised of two new efforts from one of my favorite vodkas that are soon to be released. Read more
Posted: 01:37 PM ET, 11/02/09I know a lot of you are planning on coming to our Big Smoke in Las Vegas, which is less than two weeks away. (Can’t believe it—This year went by fast.) I just got off the phone with Manuel (Manolo) Quesada, and he told me what he was planning on giving out—Casa Magna Colordo Robustos, the Cigar of the Year. Read more
Posted: 01:00 PM ET, 10/29/09I’m still scratching my head over New York City’s move to ban flavored tobacco products, including flavored cigars and even pipe tobacco. It just doesn’t make sense. And even if you’re not a fan of flavored tobacco (and I’m not) you should still find the news disturbing. Read more
Posted: 11:42 AM ET, 10/27/09I could still taste the tangerine the next morning.
Eighteen hours had passed since I’d first tasted Bowmore Gold and the last tasting note was just getting finished on my palate. There are arenas where it’s best to come in last, and the world of hyperpremium Scotch whisky is one of them. Read more
Posted: 10:56 AM ET, 10/22/09Cuban customs really gets to me. It’s not that the agents at Jose Martí Airport in La Habana are particularly unpleasant, or even aggressive, but they make me nervous. I begin getting edgy a few days before I have to leave the island, and by the time I get to the airport, my right eye is already twitching. Read more
Posted: 12:03 PM ET, 10/16/09Sometimes I get the idea that people think Cubans are not very savvy with their marketing and product development and that they spend most of their time just sitting around, reading the national newspaper, Gramma, and contemplating life. They think that the Cuban cigar industry is in some sort of time warp. Read more
Posted: 10:17 AM ET, 10/15/09What happened to New York? When I was a kid growing up in Connecticut, New York City was always the big, mysterious place with a little Wild West thrown in. It had a reckless side, a rebellious side and a seedy side. Cabbies drove like crazy, you could find things here that were available nowhere else, and it was very common to see people wearing all kinds of crazy outfits. Read more
Posted: 09:40 AM ET, 10/14/09People in the Cuban cigar industry were not pleased with recent reports in the foreign press on the reduction of this year’s tobacco plantings. Among others, Reuters reported that the plantings of tobacco on the island was being cut by 30 percent, which would mean a 16 percent reduction in the tobacco harvest. Read more
Posted: 08:23 PM ET, 10/12/09It’s good to be back in Havana. It’s been too long. I haven’t been back since early March, but I am right back into the smoke.
I had an interesting meeting with the new head of marketing for Habanos S.A., the global distribution and marketing organization for Cuban cigars. Read more
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