Cigar of the Year • Jan/Feb 2005
Features
The NBA's Troubles Exposed
Last June Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson called his former coach Larry Brown to congratulate him. Brown had just won his first NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons, …
With a Roll of the Dice
Just prior to departing for Las Vegas, I receive the following e-mail: Bring some money for betting at craps! I'll let you bet with my money if you don't want to risk your own, …
Mini to the Max
When you collect your paycheck from the Ford Motor Co., it's usually a good idea to be driving one of your employer's products. Andy Austin is a loyal corporate citizen, with a …
Get the Picture
I'm old enough to remember when TV was easy. You bought a set, plugged it in, fiddled with the rabbit ears—if you were technologically adventurous, maybe you climbed onto the roof …
Cigars
Rocky II
Rocky Patel built his Indian Tabac cigar with endless trips to American tobacconists and Honduran cigar factories. Now he launches a self-named brand.
Havana Nights, Havana Days
The new U.S. travel restrictions are adversely affecting the Cuban economy. But the cigars are getting better.
Ratings from this Issue
Up Front
Pop the Corks: Cigars Are Hot Again
This couldn't be a better time to be putting cigars back in the spotlight. As of mid-December, the premium cigar market in the United States was on track to exceed 300 million …
Out of the Humidor
Dear Marvin, What propels human beings to smoke tobacco? What perpetuates the so-called filthy habit many of us richly enjoy? I'm convinced cigar smoking will continue to exist …
The Good Life
ADS Instant Music
So you're a vinyl snob. You're the purist music collector for whom the thought of an ever-growing stack of hot wax inspires a warm glowing feeling deep within the soul. But …
Custom Hatter Fedora
Back before JFK supposedly finished the fashion by going bareheaded to his inauguration, you could always tell a man by his hat. Nowhere was this more true than in the movies. The …
Luxury Travel Clubs
For the seasoned traveler who sees five-star hotels as a been-there-done-that experience without the comfort or space of home, but doesn't relish the headaches of owning a …
S.T. Dupont James Bond 007 Collection
A mysterious woman slides into the next seat at the casino table wearing a backless red dress. Coyly smiling at you, she takes a smoke from her handbag and places it to her lips. …
Great Chocolate
Come Valentine's Day, resist the urge to reach for the standard-issue, cellophane-wrapped heart full of ordinary chocolates and treat the object of your desire with something …
Callaway Fusion Irons
The rumblings in the golf world for the last couple of years have been that irons would soon force a technological breakthrough to rival the sea changes visited upon the game by …
Glashütte Original Pano Series
Once upon a time, before the Swiss seemed to have the monopoly on great watches, a little Saxon town distinguished itself as a center of precision horology. From 1845, Glashütte, …
Porsche 911 Carrera
With the Detroit Lions ensconced in a new downtown stadium, there's little reason to return to the old Pontiac Silverdome. So imagine our surprise when an invitation arrived to …
Floating in Air
Twenty-seven people sit cross-legged on the floor of a modified Boeing 727, nervously awaiting a sensation that until recently few other than astronauts had ever experienced. The …
The Walrus Keeps on Winning
Peter Jacobsen, the PGA Tour pro, would like you to know one thing about his fellow tour cohort, Craig Stadler. Yes, he walks funny. Yes, he has a waistline that exceeds the shaft …
Armagnac
A couple of seasons ago Armagnac took a brief star turn on television's "The Sopranos" as the subject of an importing scheme by the restaurateur Artie Bucco, who pronounces the …