Romeo y Julieta Churchill chez Xav

Starts out with charred coffee grind , touch of rose essence , and sandalwood. Sirloin and mushrooms on the retrohale (guess what we had for dinner)

Black pepper and cedar tang developing with stronger mushroom and Worcester sauce undertone 

Montecristo Numero Uno

Que aspecto maravilliso - mirais bien a este capa de color espresso y humus !- como si fuera inspirado por la tierra fertil de la Vuelta Abajo, o torcido del piel arrugado de los vegueros, esculpido por la caricia del sol Caribe, Dios mio, que piel!

Enough of the lyrical sexwax already! In non-mangled spanish, this little beauty gave up a classic Montecristo body of coffee grounds, cocoa and leather, with a cedar bite... but with a noticeable citrus undertone over a medium body that sets it apart from the marca. There was also just a touch of creaminess to its smoke, and white pepper and paprika on the retrohale. In line with the Cervantes tall corona vitola, it was a touch more elegant and lighter in body than your average Monte. It was also slightly plugged so I had to decapitate a fifth of it where a knot had strangled it. All in a good day's work... 

Dubbel Biatch Mayo - Agusto

Thanks to school holiday week, I had time to sit down in the sun and present this batch.

I'll add that the Ramon Allones Superiores i was enjoying came on with some light medium body of mushrooms, steak juices, cedar, finishing with cream and touch of maple syrup sweetness, and some cinnamon and hint of cumin on the retrohale (and white pepper when over-puffed). A wonderful cigar.

The Oban single malt was the perfect match for it, full of honey and cloves and balanced by a lovely biting acidity with a touch of citrus that cut through the whole, perfect for that 11am slot.

The little Monte Media Coronas are from a March '17 box, similar to the H Upmann Regalias (Feb'17). The Rafael Gonzalez Perlas are May 18, and Monte no.4s March 18 - and they both taste like it although the blend is also a bit stronger for them.

Enjoy.

Ze Dubbel Biatch

a beaut box of RG Perlas, beware they are little flavour bombs at this point

Ramon Allones Superiores LCDH, wish we had more of these

Oban was the winning match on the day.

Latest Batch ...

... is winging its way to Sam with some young and powerful Montecristo no.4s (March 2018 box), the last of those magnificent short little Romeo y Julieta Petit Royales (Jul 17) - equally powerful and so well matched to a speyside scotch or similar...

and newly arrived H Upmann Epicure no.2 (singles don't have the box but max 1 yr old) in robusto vitola for an hour's pleasure, should be a tad gentler than the other two, probably a good accompaniment after a sunday roast and a few wines. 

And finally, a trio of Cohiba Shorts each for any time of day or night, a 20-30min habano punch made for espresso.

Montecristo A (...verybigcigar)

Greg sizing up his Coffin...

.. Prematurely ... there is still life in the old fella!!

 

And in the Lil' Fella too

It creates some problems for your usual accessories ...

But puts Life back into its proper Perspective...

... even Time slows down ... the planets start revolving around It (not You)