Features
Biba, Boston
When you enter Biba, you can't help but notice the mural by artist Robert Jessup that spans the wall above the first-floor bar. Colorful and mysterious, its lusty characters …
Lucas-Carton, Paris
If you eat only one meal in Paris, reserve a table at Lucas-Carton. No other restaurant combines such exciting food, outstanding wine list, elegant ambience and possibly the best …
The Pump Room, Chicago
Walking from the lobby of Chicago's Ambassador East Hotel alongthe passageway that leads to the Pump Room, you pass the Wall of Fame--long rows of photographs of celebrities who …
The Ashtrays of Limoges
Europe's top chefs, such as Fredy Girardet of Girardet in Crissier, Switzerland, certainly know what it takes to end a terrific meal: great desserts, perhaps a fine Cognac or …
The Desire for Daum
Who would have ever thought that a company which in the nineteenth century advertised its tavern glass as "very heavy for use in self-defense" would become one of the finest names …
For Pipe Lovers
It's bad enough when uninformed individuals roll their eyes in disapproval upon discovering that we have just lit up a cigar costing anywhere from $1.50 to $20. But when they see …
Rolling Las Vegas
The table is blanketed with chips, nearly $50,000 worth of colorful tokens belonging to a huddle of 12 anxious bettors, thrown together by chance. They've never met each other …
Cuban Baseball
The pitcher for the local team is throwing a perfect game--no hits, no walks--through three innings. His Pinar del Rio teammates have jumped all over the opposition, Los Agropecua…
Fall Suits
He cuts a figure at once elegant and authoritative as he strides confidently into the boardroom. Some glance at the perfectly dimpled tie tucked neatly under the soft collar of …
In Hand
It's 7:30 A.M. and you're on the way to your Wall Street office, stopping off at the bank to write out a deposit slip, when your fountain pen takes a turn for the worse. Quick, …
Whoopi's Revenge
Whoopi Goldberg can barely contain her glee. She's settled into an Art Deco suite at The St. James Club in West Hollywood, her shoes are kicked off, and she's expertly putting …
Kentucky's Finest: Bourbon
On an afternoon in late spring, Booker Noe stands in the dimly lit passageway on the fourth story of a 20,000-barrel warehouse at the huge Jim Beam distillery in Clermont, …
Our Presidents and Cigars
President William Jefferson Clinton may have comfortably adjusted to the ban on smoking in the White House--it seems he doesn't light up ... anymore. In effect, he hasn't …
Hotel Ritz, Paris
Legends are not easy to create. And serving as the inspiration for the word meaning "luxurious, fashionable, elegant," isn't any easier. Yet the Hotel Ritz in Paris continues to …
The Peninsula Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills
Stroll into the Peninsula Beverly Hills during cocktail hour and you'll be treated to a scene that can only be described as a scene from When Worlds Collide . To your left is the …
The Plaza, New York City
There are few places more enchanting than New York City in autumn. Warm Indian summer days are punctuated by cool crisp nights, while the leaves in Central Park slowly turn to …
Cigars
Cuban Davidoffs
Last September, Edward Sahakian, the owner of Davidoff of London, received an inquiry from a local accountant on behalf of his Hong Kong client for a large stock of Cuban Davidoff …
Great Moments: A Daughter Remembers
My father was a big man who smoked a big cigar. As a young girl, I wore the golden rings from his cigars with pride. As a grown woman, I still like the rich smell of a fine …
Learning Your ABCs: Cigars 101, Part II
A love affair with cigars is like most affairs of the heart. We swoon over the beauty and elegance, but we never really know what makes us love--and we don't want to. To overanaly…
Music Man: Charles Koppelman
Charles A. Koppelman, chairman and CEO of EMI Records Group North America, rises from his mammoth, semicircular, blond wooden desk in his ultramodern mid-Manhattan office. He …
The Cigar Dinner Boom
Huddled in a dark corner of a deserted public park, a man pulls a long, dark, thin object from his jacket pocket. He flicks the flint on his lighter, brings the flame to the tip …
The Poet of Pool
Mike Sigel is a pool player who enjoys his cigars.
Ratings from this Issue
Up Front
A Year to Remember
I recently reread my editor's letter in the Premier Issue of CIGAR AFICIONADO. It was filled with excitement about the magazine and its prospects. But between the lines, there …
Out of the Humidor
Dear Marvin: I am 25 years old. I am a programmer by trade, a college student, a devoted husband and a loving father. Being as young as I am, I don't feel as if I am in the …