Memoirs of a Cigar

I’m approaching the final chapters in what has been an amazing journey through Cuba’s history, anchored by the strength and ability of the Bacardi Rum Company to persevere and prosper through drastic global and political changes. Written by Tom Gjelten, “Bacardi and the long fight for Cuba” is an exceptional novel.

It begins with the original Bacardi founders strugling to survive in a poor country (Cuba) occupied by foreign dictators (Spain), and finally perfecting the formula to create their light, white Rum. The company continued to operate as both a National Treasure, and a pillar of Cuban Industry, while secretly funding and fighting for the countries independence, first against the Spanish, then against the Americans, and finally against Fidel Castro and his ‘Communist’ Revolutionaries.

Interestingly, Fidel Castro’s power came through his astute public speaking ability, allowing him to evangelize crowds wherever he went, even if what he promised were not his true intentions. Fidel Castro was not a communist at first, but Che Guevera, who was a die hard communist, was able to transition Castro’s Revolutionary Government to a full fledged Communist Regime.

In Exile, the Bacardi Rum Company, through exceptional management, suceeded to flourish by establishing several factories worldwide, all while adhering to sound manufacturing and marketing practices. The Bacardi Rum Company suceeded in the face of adversity time and time again, founded in loyalty as a family run business. However, at the same time they struggled to meet the needs of a fourth generation family run business, while transitioning to satisfy the needs of a flourishing global conglomorate.

A staple of their sucess was their strict adherence to Quality Control, ensuring that Bacardi Rum tasted identical, no matter what factory or country it was produced in. Their Marketing Strategies were also amazingly advanced, in fact their Trademark Guide ensured that “Bacardi” was always to be used as a adjective followed by “Rum”, and not as a noun, for fear that “Bacardi” could become a generic term used to describe rum.

A brilliant Bacardi marketing example was that “Silver Label Bacardi was so gentle on the tounge that it could ‘alcoholize’ a Coke, without altering the taste”. This appealed to the growing US audience, made of younger women, who didn’t particularly like the taste of alcohol, but wanted to participate in drinking socially.

I highly recomend “Bacardi and the long fight for Cuba” written by Tom Gjelten, which will appeal to Business and Marketing Executives, as well as Historians and leisure readers alike.

The Partagas Serie D No. 4 also adheres to strict quality control, as every one I have ever smoked has been perfect. Light enough to smoke in the morning with coffee, Robust enough to smoke after dinner with a Bacardi & Coke, and prestigious enough to offer as a gift to a diplomat, I have yet to meet a cigar conisuer who does not list the PSD4 as one of their all time favorites.

The La Aurora 100 Anos Belicoso hails from the oldest cigar factory in the Dominican Republic, and was produced by the oldest cigar company in the Dominican Republic to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Cigar Aficionado gave this cigar 93 points, and named it “The Number 2 Cigar of 2004″ second only to the Padron 1926.

The La Aurora 100 Anos cigar is made from 100% Dominican Tobacco, and it’s wrapper was the first Cuban-Seed Wrapper to be sucessfully grown in the Dominican Republic. A one time production of only 400,000 cigars were made in 2004, and the last batch of the Belicoso’s and Lancero’s were just released in 2009.

I purchased a Belicoso of these hard to find cigars on a recent visit to The Smokers Inn in Palm Beach, Florida. I had hoped to find one of the final Lancero’s, but they had already sold out of these never to be produced again Dominican Puro’s.

The La Aurora 100 Anos Belicoso is an elegant and flavorfull smoke that exhibits a sweet wood taste, with balanced floral notes, and a long leathery finish. Smoke em if you can find em.

The newest edition to the Nestor Miranda’s Special Selection line is the short Perfecto, nicknamed “Ruky”, as was its creator during childhood. This Perfecto, which is essentially a cigar tapered at both ends, is produced by My Father Cigars Inc, at Don Pepin Garcia’s factory.

The Nestor Miranda Special Selection Ruky is a ‘solid’ smoke, literally, as it is jam packed with tobacco and is quite solid to the touch. It smokes and draws perfectly however, producing volumous amounts of smoke. It comes wrapped in the Nicaraguan Oscuro Wrapper, which Nestor Miranda Cigar’s are known for.

The flavor of the Ruky is slightly stronger than previous Nestor Miranda’s, almost like a concentrated version, and is best served as an after dinner cigar. It starts, as all of Pepin’s Cigar’s do, with that “Peppery Pepin Punch”! It then settles into a full flavored taste of woody tobacco, earth and dark chocolate. I smoked mine with a Coca-Cola, which provided a nice balance of sweetness to the palate. Overall this is a fine cigar, as you would expect from Nestor Miranda and Pepin Garcia.

If I were a Cuban DJ, these would be on my 2 turntables!

Last night I met up with my friend John on Burlingame Ave. for a drink and a cigar. We were also reviewing his resume and strategizing how to optimize it’s format, a skill which I am also extreemely proficent at.

The San Cristobal Papagayo is a magnificant looking cigar, with a dark and oily Nicaraguan wrapper contrasted against a beautiful colorful band. The Papagayo size, with a 55 inch ring gauge, was recently rated 91 points in Cigar Insider, and I would have to agree. In fact, I would rate the first two thirds closer to a 93 point smoke, however the last third becomes congested and pulls down the score.

The San Cristobal line is owned by Ashton. As of May 2009, it is made by Pepin Garcia in Nicaragua for My Father Cigars Inc. This new Nicaraguan Puro remake is a great looking, smelling and smoking cigar which was a great encore to my bowl of drunken noodles.

The San Cristobal Papagayo exhibited flavors of dark chocolate, spice, expresso and walnut. It’s the first time I have tasted walnut in a cigar, which added a nice complexity to the cigar. The first two thirds were excellent, however the last third became congested with hickory and salty tobacco, which seemed bitter and overwhelming. Overall though this was a very satisfying smoke which paired excellent with my Remy Martin XO Congac and a Bacardi Mojito.

This Sunday Chloe and I decided we would check out the world famous Sunday Brunch down at the Ritz Carlton. A quick google search revealed it’s rated as the ‘#1 Sunday Brunch in Silicon Valley’ by the San Jose Mercury News, and the ‘#1 Sunday Brunch in the Bay Area’ by the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s also rather pricey at $88.00 per person, so it’s more a special occasion type of event.

We stepped down into the superbly decorated Navio where Brunch is served, and were immediately immersed in the elegant and classy atmosphere. White tablecloths, luxurious chairs and stunning ocean views filled our eyes, while the scent of fresh croissants, rack of lamb, and everything in between, filled our noses. I managed to put down about 6 plates over the course of about 3 hours, so I figured I got my moneys worth. The food was exceptional spanning oysters, caviar, apple-wood smoked bacon, goat cheese focaccia pizza, butternut squash flan, gold foil chocolate, and fresh made banana fosters. Whoever said you can’t have too much of a good thing hasn’t been to the Ritz for Sunday Brunch…oh man was I stuffed.

After Brunch, I stopped by their Cigar Cabinet, even though I already had brought my own high rated Cuban. They had a large selection of great cigars, from Ashton to Davidoff, Cohiba to Padron. The presentation was lacking however, as many boxes had different brands of cigars mixed together. You could tell whoever manages the Cigar Cabinet doesn’t smoke cigars, as the buckets of cellophane covered cigars seemed more appropriate for a cheap corner store then for the Ritz Carlton.

Afterwards we went downstairs to the patio along the Coastal Trail where I ordered a ‘Cuba Libre’, which is essentially a fancy name for Rum & Coke. I’m happy to report that smoking is allowed anywhere on the beautiful ocean facing patio. I grabbed a seat overlooking the 18th hole and settled in for my Cuban Adventure.

The Cohiba Siglo VI is arguably the best Cohiba coming out of Cuba today. It consistently rates in the 90′s in Cigar Aficionado, and that’s without any aging! The Cohiba Siglo VI is my favorite of the Siglo line, and from the first puff, its easy to see why. This cigar was smooth and creamy, with rich flavors of coffee, leather, spice and chocolate. It smoked perfectly and its burn line held up even with the ocean breeze. Toward the end of this excellent cigar I noticed the flavors had transformed to a cedar wood, vanilla and cinnamon taste. Amazing, and a perfect finish to our World Class Sunday Brunch at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay!!!

Ask any knowledgeable cigar smoker who makes the best Lancero’s in the world, and the answer would undoubtably be Don Pepin Garcia! In smoking this Cuban Classic Petit Lancero, I believe I have smoked every Lancero made by El Rey de Los Habanos Factory. Some of them several times.

All of Pepin’s lines are great; the Blue Label’s, the White Label’s, and the Cuban Classic also known as the Black Label. He also produces many of the highly rated Tatuaje cigars, and Pepin’s fabulous line called My Father, the newest of which, Le Bijou, I will be reviewing shortly.

I smoked my Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic Petit Lancero while Chloe and I walked our dog Maggie at Maveriks Beach. It’s a full bodied cigar that starts with the traditional Pepin Punch of black peper spice for the first few minutes. It soon becomes creamy and exhibits an old style Cuban tobacco taste, hence the name, which is a toasty, warm and elegent tobacco taste that can stand on it’s own. The Cuban Classic Petit Lancero is a great little satisfying smoke with no regrets, except for the fact that it was my last one.

Today after work, traffic was so bad I needed something to spice up my commute, so I stopped by The Cigar Loft and picked up a Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente ‘King T’. They come in gorgous alternating black & white tubes, which make them very hard to resist.

FYI – the alternate colored tubes are just for looks, as the exact same cigar is in each color combination.

The Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente ‘King T’ is a nice mild cigar. A bit too mild for my tastes, but a good smoke nonetheless. The first third was the best, with nice flavors of earth and light tobacco with a touch of spice. The middle became a little bitter, but the last third cleaned up and was similar to the beginning third. Ultimately this cigar was a bit disapointing as the tube gave the appearence of a superior smoke, but it ended up being just ok, with a core of bitterness. Oh well, at least I got a nice tube out of it.

Sunday, Chloe and I spent the morning site seeing in San Antonio, Texas. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Riverwalk located across the street from the famed Alamo. Apparently I was continuing a tradition of cigar smoking at the Alamo, as I found this picture of an Alamo defender with his weapons, trusty stead, and cigar!

We continued our sightseeing by walking down the Riverwalk; a canal lined with resturants, bars, shops and the Riverwalk Mall. We even took the 35 minute boat tour down the river, which is a must for any San Antonio visit.

The Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label Torpedo is a fabulous smoke. The Lancero of this line was rated the #8 cigar of the year by Cigar Aficionado, and the torpedo is just as great. A full flavored spicy cigar with a great draw and complex flavors of chocolate and earth. I picked this cigar up from the El Ray de Los Habanos factory in Miami about a month ago, and it was perfect. This Nicaraguan Puro was smooth, balanced and extremely satisfying. The only thing wrong with this cigar is it was my last one! I should have bought a whole box!

This past weekend, Chloe and I flew down to San Antonio and drove 5 hours through the desert out to Marathon Texas to witness the joining of Duncan and Laine in Holy Matrimony.

We attended a beautiful outdoor wedding at the upscale Gauge Hotel Gardens, and danced the night away at the celebration dinner. We even did a full scale group interpretation of Michael Jackson’s Thriller!

I brought a soirée of my best cubans, including Bolivar’s, Cohiba’s, Juan Lopez’s and H. Upmann’s. As an attempt to blend in more with the locals, I also smoked a Honduran factory second called Old Fashioned (pictured) on the morning after. A great aged smoke to cap off a beautiful wedding in the “Tiniest Town in Texas”.

CONGRATULATIONS DUNCAN AND LAINE!!!

On September 8th, Chloe and I checked out of our room at the Shore Club in Miami, and headed over to the Padron Factory in Little Havana. I was told I was the FIRST PERSON TO PURCHASE A BOX OF PADRON FAMILY RESERVE NO.45!!! (Top that cigar bloggers!!!)

The Padron Family Reserve No.45 aka ‘The Hammer’ comes in boxes of 10 for $276.00, or $27 dollars a cigar. Previously the Family Reserve was only available to the Padron Family, or as a gift from them at rare events. On the 45th anniversary of Padron Inc. these amazing cigars were released to the general public, and are available in both natural and maduro wrappers.

The Padron Family Reserve is a full bodied cigar. Obviously, it is a perfectly balanced cigar, and exhibits the wonderful cocoa, leather, earth and spice flavors Padron is famous for. It starts off strong and spicy for the first few minutes. The spice then fades a bit, revealing the oak and leather core of this Nicaraguan Puro, blended with aged leather and dark chocolate flavors. It is definately a cigar for the experienced smoker, as it brings a full bodied experience like no other. I would say it is the smoothest strong cigar on the market, and lives up to it’s name.

Cigar Aficionado recently rated the Padron Family Reserve at 94 points. While the Padron 1946 series are aged 4 years, and the Padron 1926 series are aged 5 years, the Padron Family Reserve are aged a full 10 years! I was advised to smoke them right away, as they are in their prime, and additional aging is not recommend.

Search for either “Mojito” or “Havana” in the AppStore (using your iPhone or IPod Touch) and you will find one of my favorite new app’s called HAVANA MOJITO.

“Havana Mojito” takes you up to the door of El Bodeguita Del Medio in Havana Cuba, where a bouncer asks for your ID. Once you verify legal age, you are granted entry to the world famous Cuban Cigar Bar, complete with music, dancing, and autographed celebrity photos hanging on the wall. All this is done through perfectly executed short videos.

Then you can watch the Bartender teach you how to make the perfect Cuban Mojito. I just made one and can attest that this recipe makes the best mojito’s I have ever tasted! There are even 2 interactive games that help you memorize the order and amount of the ingredients.

As an avid supporter (some would say evangelist) of the iPhone and the AppStore since day one, I can tell you Havana Mojito is a perfectly executed application that is not only fun and entertaining, but captures the Spirit of Havana and places it in your hand. A first, at least in electronic format.