I’m
back at my desk after a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I’m a little
more tan, a little more achy yet far better rested then when I left the
office on Friday.
Here
in the United States, Memorial Day serves as the kickoff to summer,
even though summer doesn’t begin for 22 more days. Here in the
northeast, the weather complied. It was as if a switch went off, with
the mercury zooming. We immediately went from a rainy spring to
summertime temperatures, and just in time.
I
spent much of the weekend outdoors, with several parties and family
activities that worked well for smoking cigars. My first great cigar of
the weekend was an old classic, an Arturo Fuente Don Carlos No. 3. This
is a cigar that’s been on the market since the 1970s, and it’s one of
the best made by the Fuente family, who are celebrating 100 years of
history this year. It’s cigars like this that have made Fuente cigars so
popular—the Don Carlos is rich, refined and balanced, with a touch of
orange peel flavor. What a wonderful cigar. I smoked it on a leisurely
car ride on Saturday morning, just before watching my son march with his
fellow Little Leaguers in our town parade.
Later
that day, I took the family to a nearby beach. At first I thought it
would be a rainout—thunderclouds were threatening, but the storm stayed
clear. One of my friends, who loves cigars, saw a few stogies in my
shirt pocket and suggested we fire up. Soon there were about five of us,
pulling together chairs on the beach and smoking cigars. I lit a Flor
de las Antillas Robusto, a great new cigar made by the Garcia family in
Nicaragua.
This may sound funny, but my best cigar moment of the weekend involved a cigar that I didn’t smoke.
Yesterday
I played golf with my brother, my cousin and a friend. The day was
spectacular, very hot, with not a cloud in the sky. My brother is a
chef, so he works most weekends and holidays, and his schedule makes it
hard to him to get out on the course as often as I do. I always love a
day on the golf course, but when I get to play with my brother it’s a
very special day indeed. He was hitting the ball very well. We chose a
long drive hole on the back nine, and our two drives were considerably
farther than those of our playing partners. I thought I had him, and I
joked that my ball took a photo of his as it flew over. When we got out
to where the balls had landed, his was 15 yards past mine. And I was
proud to lose to him.
Derby
Day was a little colder than normal, but the cloudy skies were
predicted to hold their rain throughout the day, making me and my
friends smile. We were heading to Derby Day at the Harris Household.
Jay
and Tammy Harris throw an incredible party for the Kentucky Derby.
Tammy, a southern girl, typically makes country ham and biscuits, which
is as delicious as it sounds. Jay ensures there are plenty of bourbon
mint juleps to get everyone in the true spirit of the day. And the two
of them have the amazing talent of making everyone feel like they’re the
most important person at the party. They are, in short, the consummate
hosts.
Much
of the party takes place outdoors, making it smoker friendly, so I
brought a selection of cigars for a variety of tastes: some H. Upmann
classics for those looking for something easygoing, Partagas 1845s for a
solid medium body, and some Viaje Super Shots for those looking for a
spicier smoke.
I
showed up late (my son was playing baseball) and the party was in full
swing. The women were decked out in their derby best, with big, colorful
hats and vibrant dresses. A few of my friends were wearing seersucker
suits (perfect for the day) and I put on a pair of red shoes to add a
little color to my ensemble.
I
found my lovely wife, Manuela, and we clinked our glasses, just as the
charity auction to benefit the local firehouse was beginning. People
were bidding on each horse. She liked the name of one in particular, and
she bid heavily to get it—“I’ll Have Another.” (Those of you who read
Jack Bettridge’s pre-Derby Day story on bourbon will remember that the
horse was his call, too, based on the name alone.)
You
know how this story ends. “I’ll Have Another” won, from the 19th
position, taking down the heavy favorite. Manuela and I celebrated, and
she was so exuberant I fear I spilled my drink more than one time on the
feet of one of the guests standing beside us. I lit another cigar to
celebrate.
I
spent some time yesterday smoking with two of the biggest names in
cigars from General Cigar Co.: Johnys Diaz, vice president of operations
for the company’s main Dominican Republic cigar factory, and legendary
cigar man Benjamin Menendez, who is working in his 60th year around
cigars. They were bringing Greg Mottola and myself an exclusive first
taste of the new Partagas 1845, which goes on sale April 9.
Partagas
is a storied brand. Created in Cuba in 1845 (hence the name), it was
overseen by Ramón Cifuentes until the Cuban government nationalized the
country’s tobacco and cigar industry. Cifuentes later helped create the
non-Cuban version of his brand with General Cigar, making a cigar with
Cameroon wrapper. This “main” Partagas brand is still sold to this day
and comes in a familiar yellow box.
General
Cigar felt Partagas needed something new, something with more oomph
than the “yellow box” Partagas and something with a story, something
distinctive. About a year ago Diaz, Menendez and the General Cigar
Dominicana team started testing new products, set on making a Partagas
with a wrapper leaf other than Cameroon that would make people sit up
and notice.
“We wanted something medium in strength,” Diaz told me, “but with robust flavor.”
He
handed me a dark corona gorda, and the first thing that I noticed was
the band. Designed to be looked at when you hold the cigar horizontally,
rather than vertically, it has a beautiful gold eagle in the center,
printed by Vrijdag in the Netherlands. The dark, oily wrapper was
Ecuador Habano grown by the Oliva Tobacco Co. of Tampa, Florida. The
binder is a leaf of Connecticut Habano that General has been tweaking
for nine years, and the filler a mix of Dominican and Nicaraguan
tobaccos.
It
took 50 blends before they decided upon this Partagas 1845, the first
new Partagas in years and the first one made with Ecuador Habano
wrapper. It was very tasty, with a sweet, nutty flavor, good balance,
and—as intended—a medium body. The smoke was quite pleasant. Look at
this video to hear Johnys and Benji describe the project, and to get a
look at the cigar.
When
I visit Havana, one of my greatest joys is walking through the humidors
of a Casa del Habano and taking a look at the selection of cigars. On
my last trip a few weeks ago, I found that many of the shops were in
decent supply.
With
the (notable) exception of the Montecristo Gran Reserva, which I didn’t
see on sale anywhere, and Cohiba Behikes, which were hard to find in
most stores save for that in the Habana Libre Hotel, there were plenty
of good cigars from which to choose.
The 2011 Edición Limitadas were in
good supply, including plenty of Cohiba 1966 (they scored 94 points in a
recent Cigar Insider; wonderful smokes), plenty of Hoyo de Monterrey
Short Hoyo Piramides EL 2011, and Ramon Allones Allones Extras. The
regular production new smokes from last year’s Festival were also there,
such as the Partagas D5s and E2s.
I shot this video inside the humidor of the always superb Casa del Habano at Club Habana. Take a look at the stock in the video below.
There
were tons of Montecristos, and a huge amount of one of my favorites,
the Montecristo Petit Edmundo, including some 2008 production.
The shop
had every size of Cohiba, but the Lanceros and Esplendidos were in short
supply. There were also low stocks of Cohiba Maduro Genios and Secretos
(no Magicos in stock). There was also a very large number of Cuaba
Salomones in stock.
RSS