Sunday Morning Smoke

I generally don’t drink in the morning (coffee and a cigar that will burn for 30 minutes or so, is generally fine). However, my father in-law has been having a very large glass of wine after breakfast for over 30 years – and a morning smoke. So being a good Irishman, (upholding a 1,000 year tradition of national alcoholism is important, too.), I joined him. The weather has been in the high 70s all week and we took most of our meals and spent a great deal of time outside. Vineyards are definitely places that have strong odors. There is nothing like the smell of sugar loaded grapes ripening in the sun, wet grass, roses and oak casks being prepared for the new wine.

We torched H. Upmann Royal Conniseur No. 1s (the vitola is Hermoso No. 4). This turned out to be a very good companion to the Pouilly Fumé we were drinking. Pouilly has aromas of musk and is more than a little smoky (has more structure) and the Chasselas grape variety (local - what the Pouilly here is made from) celebrates its 200th anniversary of being on the vine this year. It should be consumed young.

My father in-law thinks the 2004 production of this Upmann is some of the best he’s seen with great blending -- maturing faster than other sticks. I agreed with him: consistent, great construction, a perfect burn and draw with lots of rich smoke. The smoke tasted of cocoa, earth and grass in the beginning, moving into a spicy Cuban twang (the spice must flow), which develops as your smoke progresses. IMO it compares well with the Serie D No. 4 from Partagas and Hoyo's Epicure No. 2.

By the time we were done, I had a serious glow. This turned out to be a good thing, because Le Madame (my wife), at that very moment, came stomping into the garden where we were getting looped, with my youngest daughter in tow.

‘Was it true?’ my wife asked, ‘that I’d taught my daughter (the kids are always mine when either they and/or me is in trouble) to put curses on other children!

At this point, I noticed that Yvonne (my youngest daughter) had a big yellow note pinned to her blouse (we are catholic: my children go to catechism, weekly, while in France. One of the boys [I think this is the age where guy problems begin] in her class – they are 8 year olds -- was pulling her hair. She complained long and loud to me and, I, thinking to avoid a schoolyard brawl, had her copy out an Irish quotation (in this case a curse) and tell the boy this would happen if he didn’t leave her alone (unfortunately, she stood up read the following to the boy, her entire class and the local priest, who apparently doesn’t have a sense of humor):

“May the curse of Mary Malone
and her nine blind illegitimate children
chase you so far over the hills of Damnation
that the Lord himself can't find you with a telescope.”

I really missed my companero (and golden retriever) FuManChu at that moment. We have shared many highlights and lowlights together and when Adrienne is furious she switches languages like I change shirts (my wife is fluent in French Italian, English and German). When Le Madame is in full cry it just pours out.

My father in-law burst out laughing which of course set my wife off all over again. After about 5 minutes of this, she grabbed my daughter’s hand and stomped off to the house.

My puzzle has always been: how do you respond to what you do not necessarily understand (the Ricky Ricardo/Lucy problem) without losing your life? As H.L. Mencken once said: “Noise proves nothing - often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she had laid an asteroid.” My father in-law shook his head, poured 2 more glasses of wine and went to get more cigars from his cabinet.

cian

mg: mg: mg:

:cryinlaugh: :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :cryinlaugh:

This time of year in wine country local festivals run every week. Every town around here has a winery (or two), so there’s usually a big party going on somewhere in the countryside with tastings, food and lots of dancing (all the 80 year old accordion, balalaika, trumpet and guitar players come out – it’s like a 24 hour polka station, running once a year).

My father in-law and I lit up Romeo y Julieta Churchills (the vitola is Julieta) following breakfast this morning. This is a Churchill that is truly a ‘creamy smoke’. It is an elegant, long and sleek cigar (in Europe it is considered a gentleman’s cigar). It is powerful but very smooth. Legend has it that Winston Churchill was seduced, to the point of making it synonymous with his name! It is a robust and complex smoke with notes of vanilla, coffee, wood, cocoa, and nuts; this is truly a great cigar.

Along with our morning smoke we had coffee from New Guinea. This is a dark roast that I’ve converted my father in-law to. New Guinea (north of Australia) is divided between Papua New Guinea (on the east) and Indonesia's Irian Jaya province (on the west). This coffee comes from Papua New Guinea, where cultivation started in 1937 with seeds imported from Jamaica's Blue Mountain region. Its completeness—good body, moderate acidity and broad flavor suggests old-style Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee before the huge expansion of planting there with the high-yield, less flavorful varietals.

At any rate, good stuff. I switched from wine after breakfast (with my father in-law) back to coffee. He enjoys both. My wife (Le Madame) was calling me loopy because I would be half in the bag before lunch (ya’ hang out with wine makers and you pick up habits).

In late afternoon, since the farm is less than a kilometer from the village (the local festival is now under way), we (my father in-law and myself) decided to walk. The women (my wife, mother in-law, 2 sisters and both of my daughters) had left earlier for the festival. They are involved in the raffle, dancing (peasant outfits from bygone eras in the French countryside) and operating the family booth, which sells bottles of wine and offers tastings.

We torched Romeo y Julieta Hermoso No. 1 2003 LEs (vitola is super Hemosos). I always look forward to liberating these sticks (my father in-law has a great supply) and I think they are nothing short of a masterpiece. The appearance is dark, smooth and oily. It has a great chocolate aroma, full-bodied but not too much power, excellent draw and even burn. The smoke is rich and creamy especially toward the middle and end. It has a fantastic finish, like swirling thick, rich café mocha in your mouth.

As we neared the village we were discussing my daughters, i.e. after last week’s fiasco involving my youngest daughter’s run in with the parish priest (the Irish curse of Molly Malone), my wife interrogated the girls about other “sayings” or “daddy’s stories” that I might have related (I’ve seen Le Madame do this with the dawg. He tells all he knows, too). As a result, I was informed by my wife that “The Tooth Fairy did not trade money for teeth because he had been in a lot of bar fights this year; The Tooth Fairy was female (not male), certainly not from Ireland, and would I desist from filling our children’s’ heads full of nonsense (I must protest: Nonsense is a large part of my personality).

We had just made it to the wine stand and were pouring 2 glasses, when my wife rushed up, grabbed my hands and drug me off into a group of dancers doing the French variation of the Western two step dance. As I’ve said before, I dance like a wounded gooney bird being chased by a shark. But, as the music started up and we began to dance, I looked at my wife who was wearing a bandana partially covering her blond hair, the low cut peasant dress hanging almost to the floor, her bare feet…then back at her low cut top. She laughed at me and hugged me tight; being the Irishman I’ve always been, I fell in love with her all over again.

cian

Good to see you and Mike doing well. He's made serious progress since you first posted about his ordeal. Good for him.

Today, I started with a contriband Monte #3, onto a Hemmingway Signature. Thanks for the heads up on the newer flavor profile, Bloof.

Got the last six or so ounces of Jack Daniel's Centennial 96 proof left from this 1996 bottle I bought at the distillery. Nine years I've been sipping off this, a fine Sour Mash. I shall pair it with a Gurkha Legend.

Very glad to hear Vince's buddy is coming along, if slowly. And Vince is going for a whole new wardrobe, it seems. 245!!! He's lost almost a whole running back!!! :mrgreen:

Cian, your stories are filled with romance, culture, culinary attractions, you name it, a complete and wonderful short story in every post. :thumbsup:

I'm also glad to see that a real cigar smoker like The Colonel can affirm that the Hemingways are good cigars again. It's one thing for me to say it, but when someone like The Colonel says it, that really means something to me.

It's an absolutely beautiful Sunday afternoon here in the Lower Hudson Valley. This morning, after arriving at Grand Central Terminal from the firm, I noticed that Zaro's has started with the pumpkin pies a bit early this year. They had the eight inchers laid out in the window of the shop inside the terminal, at the same, great old price, $9.95. I bought two, boarded my train shortly after and ate one immediately. The other is in the refrigerator for "another time," which may come today. :cryinlaugh:

Since with my new schedule I'm not doing a formal sleep session on Sundays due to the football season, I started off watching the first quarter or so of the Eaglets game, then dozed with my feet resting on a pillow on the coffee table, and my head back on the couch. It's a lot like being in a really plush seat on a long train ride, and I can get by with bits and pieces of sleep on Sundays while I make time to enjoy this purely American sport.

At the moment, I have rebounded to fully awake status, getting ready to have a couple of cans of sardines with two hot sauces from my collection dribbled on them, and will have some spaghetti with store bought sauce after that. Then it will be on to more smokeables, perhaps even a cigar, maybe some more dozing, and going to work later on tonight. Maybe I'll go for one of those CAO L'Anniversaire Maduros that The God of The Axe sent me.

"Dammm ! oh well even the guys at the Waldorff & Mortons use short cuts." - mg: mg: :flush:

It's the end of the world. Jesus must surely be coming soon.

As for Joe Perry's, how nice is the heat? I like flavor, but I also like my Scovilles above 100,000 and even have a sauce that's 600,000. I've seen Joe Perry's around, and even caught him on The Food Network, but haven't bought his sauce yet. I think he toned it down for the general population. I want the sick stuff. :mrgreen:

Little by little, as my collection and experience grow, I'm learning which taste good and which don't. Despite the heat, they really do all have some flavor. As for tabasco, depending on the style, I believe it runs from 5,000-20,000, pretty tame stuff. Good, but tame in the heat department. I've actually discovered that out of the 20 or so that I have, I like most of them. Some of them really aren't that impressive in the heat department, despite their claims, but they are all interesting.

Bloofington said:

" I like flavor, but I also like my Scovilles above 100,000 and even have a sauce that's 600,000. :

Click to expand...

He likes his scovilles at 600,000, but likes a mild cigar?!?!?! :dunno:

For those who don't know, a scoville rating of 600,000 is about burn-the-first-layer-of-tongue-off hot.

Capt said:

Bloofington said:

" I like flavor, but I also like my Scovilles above 100,000 and even have a sauce that's 600,000. :

Click to expand...

He likes his scovilles at 600,000, but likes a mild cigar?!?!?! :dunno:

For those who don't know, a scoville rating of 600,000 is about burn-the-first-layer-of-tongue-off hot.

Click to expand...

:lol:

Yeah, it's pretty funny Capt, I'll admit. It's a joke that goes back to the days at "another web site, long ago and far away." I like my coffee black and strong, my bourbon/rye preferably in the three digit proof range, my hot sauce REALLY hot, but my cigars mild. Go figure. :dunno: :roll: :sm_angel:

Yes, Old Bloofington is a strange dude :lol: . Lots of contradictions 8) . The weather here in Dubai has been 100+ during the day with the temps slipping into the high 80's at night. I did find a nice Pub style bar at the Hotel that sells KILKENNY. My new favorite Beer. I can smoke inside.!!!!!!

Bloofington said:

I like flavor, but I also like my Scovilles above 100,000 and even have a sauce that's 600,000.

Click to expand...

No wonder Bloof said he sits around nekkid ... he's burned his drawers off ...

:flameon: