If you are traveling to the west coast and Vancouver, as we at The Aspiring Gentleman did over the last few weeks, you may be curious as to where to go to get the best selection of whisky, local wines, or Cuban cigars. While the taxation laws in British Columbia are somewhat prohibitive to the consumer of perceived luxuries such as these, retailers have not slacked off one bit, and some of the best selection of these products anywhere in the world is available right in downtown Vancouver for the discerning connoisseur. The only catch is that the prices …
Dessert wines are not in style. With the exception of when I am looking to create a specific recipe pairing, or when I am looking for a unique digestif to accompany a cigar, I never drink them. If I walk into the local shop, I would never throw one into the basket as part of my regular weekly routine. Most dessert wines are expensive, and on a special shelf behind the counter anyways. It really was a long time ago that the demand for sweet wines led to the styles …
There are cigar reference books, and then there are cigar reference books. The Havana Cigar is an attractive coffee table volume that is indispensible for anyone who has more than a passing interest in the Cuban Cigar.
This 228 page hardcover book, first published in English in 1997, is unfortunately currently out of print, but Amazon offers many links to a variety of book merchants that sell the volume in both used and new condition.
Charles Del Todesco, the author, spent two years in Cuba researching his book.
The front part of the …
It’s a Cuban tradition that is almost 150 years old and continues to this day. Lectors or Lectores is the name given to these unique individuals; women, very rarely men, whose job it is to read out loud to the cigar rollers in the Cuban cigar factories while the workers produce their island’s gift to the world – the handmade Cuban cigar.
The practice, legend has it, was begun to both cultivate the cigar rollers and to help deal with the potential boredom of rolling tobacco all day.
The readers would sit …
Macanudo, self-proclaimed as the top-selling cigar in America, is often maligned by the cigar blogosphere. So when Macanudo released the Cru Royale this year, it was a bit shocking to see positive reviews spattered all about. I received a dozen of these last month, and having gotten to my last two, figured it was time to write up a review. Along the way, the impression of these cigars was quite variable, from the two over-humidified examples which only burned half-way, to the robusto which was so oily as to leak …
The Luis Martinez factory in Esteli, Nicaragua holds its roots in Cuba. According to the manufacturer’s website, Don Luis Martinez started making cigars in Cuba in the late 19th century before fleeing from the revolution in 1892. Rather than regurgitate the company line on these cigars, let me reproduce it here: “The brand new Luis Martinez Nicaraguan Silver Selection is a cigar born from the jet black, mineral rich soil of Central America. It is the careful blending of tobaccos from this region that give this cigar its medium body …
