Posted: 03:13 PM ET, 02/12/10I thought they’d all been vanquished, but every once in a while you find one: the single-malt-whisky snob who talks smack about blended Scotch as if the latter had no business consorting with the former. I entertained one the other night.
I listened for a while, tempted to interject something about the palate-boggling experience I had recently been treated to with the Royal Salute 38-Year-Old Stone of Destiny. Read more
Posted: 09:53 AM ET, 02/11/10What do you smoke with the last bottle of wine on Earth? I am not talking about the last bottle—it is not Armageddon yet. Nor do I think it will come any time soon, despite all the predictions from the freaks out there.
But I was in London a few weeks ago and some great friends of mine decided to organize a mega-blowout guys dinner. Read more
Posted: 11:36 AM ET, 02/10/10Snow is coming down hard, and has been since about 7 o’clock when I decided it was wise to not rely on my commuter train system to get me home this afternoon. So, I stayed home, and have been in the process of knocking off those list items that have been there a long time, in between communicating with the Cigar Aficionado team—Dave, Jack, Greg, Andrew, John and Leah—as we wrap up production on our March/April issue. Read more
Posted: 02:55 PM ET, 02/04/10Hope you all have checked out my new video with Charlie Palmer at Aureole restaurant. Tough duty that, let me tell you. Being down there in the kitchen with the stoves blazing was enough to remind me just how hard kitchen work can be. On the other hand, I kept getting bowled over by the great aromas and the fantastic views as the cooks spent the afternoon hours prepping for the evening, pre-theater rush. Read more
Posted: 09:55 AM ET, 01/25/10Yesterday I invited over my brother and a few good friends, slow cooked a big pot of spicy chili, headed down to the smoking room and turned on the television for two great football games. This is the time of year every game matters, every yard on the gridiron is fought for with passion, and you either win or you go home. Read more
Posted: 09:41 AM ET, 01/12/10Getting caught with two Cuban cigars crossing the border between California and Mexico can really upset officers of U.S. Customs and Border Protection—among other things. I found out the hard way last weekend on a road trip to Baja California with some friends. Read more
Posted: 02:19 PM ET, 01/08/10What was one of the last great cigar-gastronomic experiences in the world is over. La Guarida, arguably the best restaurant in Havana, closed its door for good in December. Its owner cited the difficulty of the current economic climate as the main reason. Read more
Posted: 10:19 AM ET, 01/04/10The night was balmy. There was a moon high in the sky, and a light breeze off the nearby ocean, where you could hear the unusually high surf crashing into the beach. I wanted to end 2009 on a high note, a celebration of a year survived and a silent nod to how many great, and some not so great, cigars that I smoked during the year. Read more
Posted: 03:10 PM ET, 12/30/09You might think that I am slightly old fashioned at times but I think that a photo is worth a thousand words in some cases. Please check out my photo of my Christmas Eve smoke while staying at my father¹s house in North County San Diego. Granted, it was not as cold as it was in Europe (about 25 Fahrenheit at my house in Tuscany), but it was cold enough to be wearing a thick coat while smoking my Padrón Anniversary 1964 outside on his terrace. Read more
Posted: 11:25 AM ET, 12/23/09I am ready for Christmas. I thought that I should leave a nice Cuban smoke for Father Christmas when he comes down the chimney on the 25th in San Diego instead of the normal milk and cookies, which my dear parents taught me to do at a very early age. I admit that the milk and cookies were changed to a good glass of vintage Port about two decades ago while living in London. Read more
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