James Suckling Most Recent Comments: See Also: Blue Smoke to Fight the BluesPosted: 08:06 PM ET, October 10, 2008 As I write this, I am smoking a cigar sitting on the terrace of the Raleigh Hotel in Miami and contemplating life. Yes, you can still smoke in some places in Florida!
I am traveling tomorrow to a place that is about as far away as you can get from the awful news of the stock market meltdown. It is a place where money is not king. It is a sleepy island with warm souls and sunny weather, where time passes without much change, where a smoldering cigar can measure eternity. Of course, you guessed it ---Cuba.
Granted, Cuba has its own problems (politics aside) following two hurricanes that hammered the island in September. I have heard that the situation is very bad outside of Havana. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes and food is scarce. Reports of the storms destroying the tobacco industry are apparently far fetched since the storm hit the part south of the best cigar tobacco growing areas in Pinar del Rio, or the Semi-Vuelta. But I want to see it for myself. So stay tuned. I will file blogs regularly from Havana beginning on Monday.
It¹s going to be sort of strange to be in Havana after spending a few days in Montreal for a charity wine dinner earlier in the week. Watching the stock market plummet every day can really get you down. And although I don¹t really have much money in the market any more, the bad news really gets to you. Thank God for a good smoke.
I spent most of last weekend in Montreal with some friends, and we made regular visits to the La Casa del Habano, the Cuban cigar shop/ lounge. Every day after lunch my buddy and I would stroll over to the shop and pick out a smoke. One day he would buy, the next I would. It started to be a ritual. In fact, I miss it now as I write this, Wish he was in Miami or going to Havana with me.
The Casa in Montreal is a great hang. It has room for about a dozen or so people to sit in soft and comfortable leather chairs and sofas, kick back, and enjoy a well-made espresso or cocktail. Read more
A Green Cigar Fit For A PrincePosted: 03:59 PM ET, September 10, 2008 If we were smoking cigars 50 years ago in the United States, we were most likely lighting up green ones. Yes, those disgusting looking light, lime-green smokes called candela. I have no idea why they were so popular in the States then. Some old-timers say that it is because people thought the cigars were actually sweeter or fresher if they had the sick-making green wrapper. Most of the cigars shipped to the United States from Cuba were candela before the Cuban Revolution just about a half a century ago, and the fashion soon subsided after the U.S. trade embargo was created against Cuba in early 1963.
I always wondered what the cigars tasted like. I assumed they would be disgusting. They would taste of green grass — and I mean cut grass, not the good stuff — or some sort of fresh herb like basil or parsley. The idea of stopping the curing process to keep the wrappers green revolted me. I figured that the filler tobacco inside the cigar would be just as tongue curling.
Well. I was wrong. My prejudices and presumptions were completely unfounded.
Last week, I smoked a 50-year-old candela Cuban petit corona from Romeo y Julieta with the owner of Chateaus Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion and it was divine. It had a pretty, light herbal nose, like dried thyme or parsley with hints of honey and nuts, that followed through to a medium-body dried tobacco and rose leaf. It was mild, almost sweet and refined. 91 points in this non-blind tasting.
The owner of the chateaus, the Prince Robert de Luxembourg, who I was having dinner with last week at the chateau, said that he found a few boxes of the cigars in the cellar of the chateau in a locked file cabinet. “The cigars have been locked in their since 1979,” he said. ‘I almost threw them away because I thought they could not possibly still be good. But I tried one and they were not half bad.”
I thought they were delicious. It was the perfect end to an evening when the Prince organized a small comparative tasting of 1959 La Mission Haut-Brion and 1959 Haut-Brion versus 1961 La Mission Haut-Brion and 1961 Haut-Brion. Read more
When the Cat is Away the Mice PlayPosted: 11:02 AM ET, August 13, 2008 I never thought about it. Sure. I have seen the work beetles can do to a box of cigars. They can drill tiny holes in your smokes for days, even years, until they finally turn to dust. But mice? Yes mice!
A couple of days ago I was at home in Tuscany and I went down to get some cigars to smoke to follow a classical music concert in Cortona (by the way, it was with violinist Joshua Bell, who is amazing). I noticed mice droppings in the large free-standing cedar cabinet where I keep my cigars in my wine cellar. So I decided to take a closer look, and to my horror the furry bastards had eaten a partial box of 1993 Cohiba Siglo 1 and 1985 Hoyo de Monterrey Gourmet. I had no idea that mice ate cigars.
Check out my video. There¹s even a short segment with one of the devils diving out of the cabinet onto the cellar floor. I set a trap for them with cheese. But no luck so far in catching the raiders.
I know mice eat paper and other things like that. I have a friend here who had some cash hidden in his bedroom for emergencies, and the day he needed the money he found that mice had eaten half of it. I think it was $10,000 or something!
Anyway, the mice only ate boxes that were left open. Luckily, the few dozen other boxes in the cabinet were closed!
Last Night's Real Cigar Convention in VegasPosted: 07:04 PM ET, July 16, 2008 The day was long and smoky yesterday during the cigar show in Vegas. My eyes felt like someone threw sand in them by the end of the day. But it’s been worth it. I have smoked numerous excellent cigars and had some great conversations with dozens of cigarmakers.
I am so impressed with the passion so many of them have for making cigars. It’s like talking to great winemakers or fabulous chefs. They are all dedicated to making a great product whether it’s a cigar, bottle of wine or plate of food. Their hearts and souls go into it.
Two of the best cigars yesterday came from relative newcomers -- the Garcia family at El Rey de los Habanos and Dion Giolito of Illusione Cigars. The father and son team at El Rey, Jaime and Pepin Garcia, really know their stuff and fellow editor David Savona and I spent close to an hour (we were late for all of our meets afterwards) talking about cigars, from fermentations to rolling techniques. Los Garcias have come out with a new cigar line called MF, or My Father. They seemed sort of surprised when I
told them that MF also stood for Mother F__ . Luckily, it was lost in the translation. They don’t speak English very well.
Anyway, what a smoke. The Crema that I smoked that measured 6 inches by 49 ring (it’s like a shorten 109 from Cuba) delivered super clean and floral aromas and flavors with hints of cedar and tea. It was very, very balanced and refined with a medium to full body. 92 points, at least, in this non-blind tasting.
Father Pepin – HF (for His Father) – said that the new cigar is their first smoke made from their own tobacco that they started growing in the key areas of Nicaragua a couple of years ago. This is the only way to make great cigars, he said. We can control the quality of the leafs we grow and later the fermentations and aging before rolling.
The MF line comes in four sizes: Robusto, 52 ring gauge x 5 1/4”, Belicoso 54 x 5 1/2” Crema, 49 x 6”, and Lancero 38 x 7 1/2”. Read more
Playboy Bunnies and Ballsy SmokesPosted: 12:18 PM ET, July 15, 2008 A lot of the action during the cigar show in Las Vegas happens after the convention hall is locked shut. Most of the top cigar companies host dinners and parties for the attendees each night. Plus, there is the added attraction of Vegas with all of its obvious diversions and pleasures.
Last night C.A.O. laid on an outrageous party at The Palms, which included none other than the Lynyrd Skynyrd band. C.A.O.'s head Tim Ozenger hangs with some of the band members back in Nashville, so he persuaded them to do a gig for him during the cigar show.
I must admit that I used to listen to the band a lot back in my college years. Who didn¹t listen to Free Bird back then? Anyway, I spoke to vocalist Johnny Van Zant, who I think is the closest buddy to Tim. And he said that he "dug" smoking cigars. "I smoke just about any old thing," he said, as we were hanging out at the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa at the top of the Palms before the show. "But I like C.A.O. a lot and I enjoy Cubans too."
Check out my video on the Sky Villa. I was bummed I didn't wear pajamas instead of my jeans and a shirt. There were a few nice bunnies about but the pre-party was definitely missing hotties. Next time I will help organize it all in that department.
Anyway, we smoked some good stuff (only cigars) such as the new C.A.O. Lx2. I call it Pueblo Nuevo. It is made with Nicaraguan tobacco but with a special emphasis on the ligero (the strongest leaf) from C.A.O.'s plantation named Pueblo Nuevo near Condega in the heart of tobacco growing in Nica. I went there a couple of years back and it's prime property.
Here is my tasting note for the petit corona-sized smoke: This is very strong and powerful with black pepper and tobacco character. Long and rich. Licorice and power. Read more
Great Start To Whatever It IsPosted: 12:11 PM ET, July 14, 2008 We had a warm up dinner for the cigar show in Las Vegas at Bouchon Restaurant in the Venetian. There were about two dozen cigar producers standing out on the terrace of the restaurant. Obviously, we couldn¹t smoke in the restaurant. So thank God it was not boiling hot. We sat down to a three-course dinner and smoked, drank and talked.
I was really stoked to be hanging out with some of the new and old legends of cigars from Manuel Quesada to Jose Blanco to Jaime Garcia. They were all handing out cigars like Starbucks hands out lattes. I didn't know what to smoke first. Blanco, who as you know works for Aurora, handed me a small panetela or short lanceros-sized smoke. He said it was special. But the cigar had an Aurora 100 Años band on it.
That little bitch of a cigar blew me away. It was rich and flavorful yet balanced and fresh. It was so long on the finish and clean. It had an almost menthol-like finish too it. Cool and hip. 91 points in my book. Blanco said it was an experiment with Cuban tobacco (obviously they can't sell it in the states!). They replaced the normal 100 Años wrapper with one from Pinar del Río. Bastards! If only they could do it all the time, I told Jose.
Anyway, it was an awesome way to start the RTDA. I mean IPCPR. That stands for International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers. Come on. Apparently they changed it from Retail Tobacco Dealers of America because they didn't want "tobacco" to be in the name. Or maybe it was the word "dealers?"
I tried a number of other smokes including Fonseca Cubano Viso Fuerte, Oliva Serie V, GAR Corona Gorda, and a Rocky Patel Summer Collection. They were all outstanding smokes. 90 points plus. The best of that group, however, was the Oliva Serie V. It was so balanced and refined with a creamy, cappuccino, coffee and tobacco character. I loved it. 92 points. Get this 5-inch by 59-ring gauge smoke and see for yourself. Read more
Toys for BoysPosted: 02:20 PM ET, July 11, 2008 I was in Switzerland last week for a few days visiting various watch factories including Vacheron Constantin, Piaget, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai, and International Watch Company. All are part of the Richemont Group. My friend Alain Li, regional chief executive for Richemont Asia Pacific Limited in Hong Kong, organized the trip.
It was a car rally of sorts as well. There was no competition, but it was a test for many to find their way to different watch factories, restaurants and hotels. The TomToms and other GPS machines seemed to be giving a lot of bad information last week! We drove from Geneva to Le Sentir to Neuchatel to Schaffausen to Zurich over four days with stops in the watch factories with lots of good food, wine and cigars as well. Many cars got lost.
There were a number of beautiful cars on the tour including a Lamborgini Mura SV (one of the sexiest cars I have ever seen), 275 GTB Ferrari, 250 GT Ferrari Spyder California LWD, Dino Ferrari, Bentley S1, Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing, Jaguar Convertible E type, Austin Healey, and two new 599 GTB Ferrais, among others.
As impressive as the cars were (check out the video),
I was in awe over the watch making. Great watches truly are hand-made products. Their craftsmanship is second to none. In fact, the parallels to cigar making are incredible. Here are a few common points that strike me.
• Each factory has its own personality, whether producing watches or cigars. For instance, Vacheron Constantin is traditional and staid in nature, hand-making watches in the old-fashioned way while Panerai combines classical watch making with 21st Century assistance and precision from computers and other high tech machinery. Like Vacheron, the same could be said of the traditional cigar making methods of the Partagas factory in Havana with its centuries-old rolling room while H. Read more
The Danger of Smoking CigarsPosted: 10:20 AM ET, June 25, 2008 I had a nasty run-in with a Juan Lopez Selección No. 1 the other night! It was after a serious wine tasting dinner at my house with Bibi Gratez, the hipster winemaker/owner of one of my favorite wines in Tuscany, Testamatta.
I had already smoked the most of the corona gorda (46 ring gauge by 5 5/8 inches) when it slipped out of my hand and bounced onto the inside of my left elbow--ash down.
I got branded! It hurt like a mother. In fact, three days later it still looks like a birthmark--two in fact. Look at the video.
Man. Smoking a fine cigar can be dangerous f---ing business. Be careful! Cuidado! Don’t forget that the end of a burning cigar can reach temperatures of something like 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dropping a burning cigar can do all sorts of damage. I remember my brother Johnny once found that a client’s Porsche couldn’t use its retractable spoiler because the guy had thrown his cigar out the sunroof and somehow it ended up lodged between the main body and the wind gear. Bozo! Luckily, Johnny doesn’t work at the main San Diego Porsche dealership anymore, so he doesn’t have to deal with cabrons like that any more. But it’s a pretty funny story.
Have you had any funny experiences with dropped smoldering smokes?
A Saturday Morning Tradition in HavanaPosted: 10:43 AM ET, June 16, 2008 I passed through Havana over the weekend on the way back to Europe, and I thought I was looking pretty rough after a few days in Hollywood with friends and family. What better way to freshen up, I thought to myself, than with a traditional shave in Old Havana on Saturday morning?
I asked a friend if he knew a good barber who still did open razor shaves, and he told me to go to a small barbershop at the corner of Plaza de Armas and Obispo. The barber’s name was Gilberto Turrente.
I finally found the place after a few bad turns and asking locals in my bad Spanish where the barber was. I walked into the barbershop, and Gilberto was more than accommodating. Check out my video.
I have never had an open razor shave, as far as I can remember. However, I recall as a boy that my grandfather was a great fan of a good shave at the barbershop at the Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles. My late grandfather, Albert Matlaf, used to own the fish restaurant at the Farmer’s Market. I worked in the kitchen there during the summer as a teenager to make some pocket money. I still remember shelling 20 pounds of shrimp each morning. I hated that job!
Anyway, Gilberto must have gone through a whole cupboard full of hot towels for my shave. He applied two or three before putting warm soap on my beard. He then quickly shaved it away. In fact, he shaved me twice. “I don’t want you to look like you haven’t been shaved by this evening,” he said with a smile. “You probably have some nice Cuban ladies to meet later and I want you to look your best.”
After the shave, he splashed some cologne on my face, which stung like a mother. And then he applied some talcum powder. I am not sure why the latter was used, but it didn’t hurt.
I rubbed my right hand across my face, and it felt like a baby’s bottom. Read more
Another Flight from HavanaPosted: 10:10 AM ET, June 11, 2008 Leaving Havana can be the worst experience at times. Sometimes you can take away things that you can’t smoke nor bargained for. I flew to Los Angeles over the weekend from the island and I found that I brought back something that I didn’t count on. It took effect on my Mexicana flight from Cancun to Los Angeles. And I spent the better part of the five-hour flight in the can — all in the day and the life of a smoker/drinker/foreign correspondent.
I am still suffering as I write this, but I am sure it will go away soon.
Anyway, the really annoying part was that about 30 minutes before we landed in LAX, I was going through my courier bag to find a pen to fill out my immigration form and I found a small Humidipak Humidor Bag full of four Romeo y Julieta Exhibicion No. 4s! Shit. I was supposed to smoke those at lunch in Havana with some friends at Aljibe restaurant before I left.
I started thinking to myself about the last flight to the United States from Havana via Cancun where U.S. Customs in Dallas took my cigars and chopped them in half in front of me. Of course, they were just doing their job. Remember my blog on March 5? But I just didn’t want to go through that bullshit again. And I didn’t know when I was going to have to find the next bano.
So, as we started our descent, I decided to just leave the Humidipak in the pocket of the seat in front of me with the magazines. I wonder if anyone has found the cigars yet on Mexicana 946C? I hated to leave them like that, but I felt like I had no choice. I felt like a criminal leaving a bag of drugs or something. IT WAS ONLY FOUR CIGARS! BUT THAT’S THE STUPIDITY OF THE LAWS.
The plane landed in Los Angeles, and I rushed to the immigration desk to try to get through before the bacteria eating at my intestines created another gastric disaster. To my horror, the Bradley Terminal looked like the last few days of Saigon! The only thing missing was the Huey helicopters!!
I swear that every 747 from the Far East to LAX must have arrived at the same time. Read more
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