Ever notice what people leave around tee boxes, fairways and greens more than anything else?? Well from my experience, I’ve seen Cohiba cigar butts more than any other brand.. Funny isn’t it! But its true!!  Now and then I run into a cigar butt of a golf course that has a different band on it but I think that its not as frequent as that very recognizable gold, black and white band!!  I also believe that maybe we’re looking at a Canadian syndrome as well since you may not see as many littering a US course but I could be wrong.. I think its also something that changes from course to course.

Food is something that never seems to last long on the fairways on a golf course, in Vancouver we have crows.. very .. very..very smart crows that know the inner workings of a golf cart and can recognize what is edible and what isn’t although I have seen a crow fly away with my buddy derek’s cigarettes and lighter… They’ll take anything !!!  Next spring I’m going to talk to my accountant and ask him if I can claim a few of these crows as dependents.. Really !!!

I still haven’t been able to get my hands on this year’s Cuban contribution to the cigar smoking world, the Cohiba 1966… I can only go by what I’ve read so far and from what I’ve seen I think that we’ll have a winner here… The Siglo line from Cohiba attracted a whole army of new cigar enthusiasts and I’m wondering if the 1966 will do the same… I’ll give you more of a detailed report after I get to light one up!

The Cohiba Behike line that came out last year with it’s Medio Tiempo leaf caused more fuss and excitement with cigar smokers world wide than any other release of any other cigar…  There have been Limited Edition cigars that have done very well as far as sales go and some of them have become incredible collector’s items but the Bekike, especially since Cigar Aficionado gave the Behike 52 the top score last year, has been the most desired cigar yet.

The taste of the Behikes blew me away, and I have to agree, that the 52 had a special charm about it but what came as a bit of a surprise was the incredible packaging that accompanied these cigars from Havana… First of all, the bands around the Behikes have a very complex and hard to duplicate set of holograms that give these cigars a feeling that there is something a bit more high tech going on in the design compared to the gold, white and black that we’ve seen from Cohiba bands in the past…. Sadly there are already those in Cuba that are trying to copy this band and pass off terrible cigars to tourists who believe they are getting an incredible deal on hard to find and slightly pricy cigars but only a small amount of inspection would reveal that these counterfeit bands are falling short with poor hologram attempts.  I could rant on for hours about the counterfeit industry in Cuba but I’ll save that for another day.

The price of these great Cohiba cigars is more than we’ve seen for a regular production cigar so the boxes, instead of 25, are down to 10.  Something tells me that packaging boxes of 25 Behikes may deter some cigar smokers from picking one up because of more than double an already dear cost… The Behike cigar boxes are remarkable in appearance with a shiny, smooth black lacquer that has a mirror like finish, white squares like the more traditional Cohiba band and instead of a flip clasp we now have a magnet set into the wood that gives the lid of these boxes a tight and secure seal.

The bottom of the Behike boxes are covered in a black velvet which has a smooth soft feel.  Stamped on the bottom are still the Habanos s.a., Hecho En Cuba and Totalmente a mano marks bit NOT a factory and Date stamp.  Counterfeit boxes of fake Behikes are now being seen in Cuba without the velvet bottom, plain cedar instead, so that one is a no brainer !! Beware ……The box comes in a beautiful black velvet form fitted bag to keep the lacquer smooth and unscratched, this one is a nice touch.

The introduction of the Cohiba Behike is probably the most exciting offer from Cohiba and the only thing unknown at this point is how they’ll taste after 5 years in a humidor…. We’ll have to wait for that !!

Gaye Delorme was a guitar player who died early Thursday morning in Calgary, Alberta, June 23, 2011.  Many of you do not know him or ever heard of him before but his music touched people around the world.  In his mid teens Gaye learned the guitar and in a relatively short time developed a skill set that allowed him to play in New York recording studios with some of jazz’s great players like Miles Davis, Stanley Clarke, Airto Moriera, Flora Purim, Billy Cobham and George Duke to mention a few.  Anyone who knows anything at all about jazz will agree that these are all giants in their field so to include Gaye in such company speaks volumes about his talent, not to mention an almost impossible feat like accomplishing all this in only a few years..

Gaye also lived in Vancouver and played music with Tommy Chong which started a life long relationship that saw Gaye work on a movie soundtrack for a Cheech and Chong movie.  Remember “Dave’s not here Man!” ?  This was probably one of Gaye’s many schticks that was introduced by Cheech and Chong on their “Big Bamboo” comedy album that most of us “older people” remember from our youth.  Gaye’s comedy was often copied, borrowed, stolen and repeated by people that met him but more often than not it just didn’t work.. It had to come from him in order to be effective !! He was gifted, very charismatic and it was the type of impish humor that you wouldn’t expect from someone that looked like him.  It was one of those, ” I guess ya had to be there” sort of things.

For all of the talent Gaye had as a master guitar player he will probably be most remembered as the guy who wrote the “Rodeo Song” and co-wrote “Earache my Eye”.  Both songs are known world wide by those who love comedy but Gaye was much more than that, his guitar skills are wide and diverse on the instrument and just a small amount of poking around on youtube will reveal great musical moments like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9_94cdhRbM&feature=related

After watching Gaye play with a symphony orchestra behind him, it almost seems perplexing that someone with such sensitivity and love for a broad scope of music could pen, “Well its 40 below and I don’t give a f**k, got a heater in my truck and I’m off to the Rodeo…”  But that was Gaye in all of his magnificence.  He had immense depth when it came to music, comedy, seeing life behind bars and also holding court in the world’s finest restaurants.  Who of us can possibly relate to so many facets of life and be able to tell you stories from this sort of experience first hand?  I don’t know a lot of people who could.

There was something about the guy that you could never really accurately describe that made him so magnetic, he had known some of the most beautiful women you could imagine and they couldn’t get enough of him…  Well, maybe a few had enough but there is always a more intense side to any genius’ personality that can be a bit disruptive and hard to be around at times, but those of us who truly loved him would always forgive him for moments that occasionally happened to be a bit dark whenever a great bottle or two of fine wine would show up. When I remember these moments I always think, “Let he who is free from sin, cast the first stone”.

Gaye moved to Los Angeles during the ’70s after driving from New York in, I believe Airto’s Rolls Royce and began doing a lot of recording with many artists and many producers.  His skill in the studio really started to blossom in California, so along with his incredible musical ear, guitar playing ability and bedside manner in such a milieu, be became invaluable to a number of producers that kept him very busy at that time.  All was fine until cocaine reared it’s ugly head in the music industry and the California music scene welcomed the destructive powder with open arms.  Gaye told me that after a while, musicians doing a lot of recording were even being paid in cocaine and thats when he decided that it was time to move home to Edmonton.

Not long after, Gaye moved to Calgary where the oil boom was in full speed, so bars, lounges, restaurants, pubs or anywhere alcohol was served, had live music and Gaye owned the town.  He would assemble fine bands and it would always be easy to find him by doing a small amount of driving around the downtown area and spotting the longest line-up of people waiting to get into whatever room his group was performing.  His guitar playing was on fire by this time as was his song writing that featured long guitar solos that amazed most everyone that had the good fortune to be in the rooms where he played.  He used to use a black BC Rich 6 string into a Boss Chorus Pedal plugged into 2 Fender amplifiers in stereo which gave him his own signature sound which was beautiful and unique.  Sadly, another guitar player from England had the same sounding voice, guitar sound and playing style that was so similar to Gaye’s sound that people in the audience started shouting out, “Play Sultans of Swing” … You’d see Gaye’s face wince and he’d gruffly say into the microphone, ” Go buy the record !! ”  Who could blame him, it was an artistic coincidence and that was all that it was, but a part of me knew that a bit of wind was taken out of his sails…  Sometimes an artist’s life can be a bit unfair.

The following years saw Gaye move to Vancouver where he would record, play live and produce albums for various artists who wanted his input and experience and the city’s mild weather was great for Gaye’s soul as he’d bike around or go for long walks to different gyms around town.  Gaye was very active and in great health but as the years went on it was discovered that he had diabetes and it started taking a toll on his eyesight.  He eventually went blind in one eye and was left with about 30% efficiency in the other which meant that the first thing to go would be his drivers license. For the most part Gaye took it in stride and started using public transport but it had to be a bit difficult when it came to doing gigs.  Playing in his band meant also being his chauffeur but what resulted was that you got to spend more time with the guy hearing his stories and he was always very appreciative.  Those were special moments, it was never a problem.

Gaye moved back to Edmonton, maybe a year ago and found a city that was still hungry for his music and supported his art with many live venues.  Gaye was in fine spirits and would call me regularly with news of his recording, live work and more beautiful women that he kept meeting.  Edmonton was good to him this last year and I was happy that he was working as much as he was…..

But…..

I want to backtrack and tell you one more story about his days in Vancouver shortly before he moved to Edmonton.

Gaye was living in a suite with some great folks that became sort of family to him but his desire to have more independence had him looking for and finding a place a few blocks away where he had his own space where he could record, play guitar and entertain friends.  It was a difficult time financially and there wasn’t a lot of live work for Gaye, he was running short on funds..  So it was a cold rainy morning when Gaye thought of the not so pleasant possibility and looming reality that a visit to welfare may be the only option but on his way to the government office he decided to drop in on his old address to pick up any last pieces of mail that may have been delivered.  In the miserable non-stop Vancouver downpour, Gaye walked up the steps and noticed a letter that was waterlogged and half folded over the mailbox.  Upon opening it he discovered that Korn had recorded, “Earache my Eye” and here was a soggy cheque for $20,000..( God bless Korn ), this was the first of 3 such cheques that Gaye received for his part in the co-write.  Young songwriters should know that a great song will pay off for years.. Never give up hope !

There is so much to tell of Gaye’s life, I’m sure much will be revealed in blogs, newspapers and websites in the near future and I can’t wait to hear every detail..

This morning after breakfast I decided that a Cohiba Piramides EL 2006 would be the most fitting cigar to smoke as I write this and I’m glad I lit something with such class and flavor when remembering such an immense talent, legendary personality and great friend.

Father’s day is an occasion where many sons and fathers get together and either knock a golf ball around, catch a fish or two, share advice and light up a great cigar after dinner.  This time of year is usually busy at cigar shops where sons purchase their father’s favorites and Cohiba is a brand that sells very well.  This time of year is perfect for sitting out on the deck with a cigar in one hand and a glass of something potent in the other because of the warmer weather that has finally arrived.  The winter months are a royal pain for many cigar enthusiasts, with the winter and icy winds that blow a chill deep into your bones and insure that your cigars burn unevenly.  Many space heaters take the terrible chill out of countless garages and work shops during the winter months, a guy has to do all that he can to get the most enjoyment out of a premium cigar.

My father is NOT a cigar smoker, NOT a cigarette smoker and the glare I get from him whenever I light one up in his presence is something that I’ll always remember but I do it anyway.  Funny how we tend to sacrifice almost anything, including a parent’s approval, to enjoy a wonderful cigar with family.  I have a sister who is a cigarette smoker and we’ve shared a lifetime of laughs and memories around a community ashtray.  I’ll never trade those moments for the world.  When I was younger I used to compare smokers and non-smokers and wonder what made people tick and why some smoked and some didn’t .. For a great number of years I told myself that I preferred the company of smokers to almost anyone else but as I get older I’ve relaxed my harsh judgements and see people for what they harbor within.

I can’t see any cigar on a day like this to be better than a Cohiba for it’s classic taste and full body.  The original Cohibas before the Siglo series with their grassy profile are a favorite of mine but in recent years I’ve learned to enjoy the Siglos and can see that for every occasion there is a need for different flavors and strengths.  The world is made up of millions of different personalities and needs and adapting to the moment is what I’ve been striving for lately.  I guess we’re all looking for a balance.

Happy Father’s Day !

Cigar Aficionado’s latest piece on counterfeit Behikes was informative and heartbreaking at the same time.. Its great to know that we can access sites like theirs and learn so much about cigars, wine, scotch and well.. almost anything in life that is decadent and worthwhile.. I read their on-line magazine daily and believe that anyone who has ever put a match to the end of a cigar, whether it is Cuban or Non-Cuban, should take the time to learn from a site like theirs..

I’ve had the pleasure of smoking the amazing Cohiba Behikes and can agree with many of you out there that Cohiba has raised the bar and given us a new line of 3 sizes of cigars that will tantalize many a palate for years to come… The introduction of the Medio Tiempo leaf has added a subtle new dimension to these pricy little babies.. But….. Its always heartbreaking to know that the dark side of the underground cigar industry in Cuba is now counterfeiting Behikes as well and…. are we surprised??

I’m sad that many gullible cigar smokers going to Cuba for the first time will run into serpents of every description telling tales and taking hard earned money for the same old banana leaf and floor sweepings that we know all too well.. If you’ve been smoking cigars for as many years as I have, I’m sure you’ve tasted these mild nondescript counterfeits with the black, gold and yellow band… The individuals selling them on the streets of Havana need to feed their families and I don’t hold this against them but the next time I get the great fortune to walk those beautiful streets, I’ll visit the government stores and shell out my cash for the real thing…. Compared to the prices in Canada you can’t go wrong!!

I’ve been a big fan of many kinds of music through the years but as I get older I keep going back to the jazz albums I used to listen to in the early 70′s…. I was a big fan of Miles, early Coltrane and then Weather Report as time went on.  I wasn’t yet a cigar smoker back in the 70′s, something I regret today, but I can remember hearing albums that were beautiful and timeless.

One of my favorite composers was always Antonio Carlos Jobim and one tragic thing is that most people usually remember him for composing ” The Girl From Ipanema” , a great structured song, but certainly not the only masterpiece he composed.  He is regarded as one of Brazil’s greatest treasures and the more you listen to his music the more you’ll understand why that country considers him to be so valuable to their culture.

I was on youtube tonight and didn’t plan on having a cigar until I found this song… It is “Wave” by Jobim but NOT recorded by the master… Instead, this is a recording from 1973 by Oscar Peterson with strings arranged by Claus Ogerman.  The album is called “Motions and Emotions”… As soon as I heard this track I was stopped dead in my tracks as I listened to the song…. I played it again and then went over to the humidor and chose an Esplendidos, went back to the computer and lit up and played the song again…. Oscar’s piano solo at the end of this song is stellar and the strings are divine.

The cigar tasted better with a song like this in the background.  This made me sort of sad about the condition of jazz bars these days with no smoking policies  because when listening to something this beautiful in a live music environment, there is nothing better than a great cigar and a glass of Scotch on a table in front of you.. These days all you smell in a jazz bar is chicken wings…. Good grief!!!! Something is wrong with us…. Cuba is still where its at!!!! Period

So anyway, sit back, light up your most prized Cohiba and listen to THIS !!

Good Friday was the day to get out on to the links with a Cohiba Robusto I had been saving through the winter.  An 8 month old robusto from Cohiba will never taste better than when with a great foursome, a day with little to no wind on a golf course that was groomed to perfection and playing host to golfers from all over the lower mainland.

The Falls is a course that we’ve been visiting for years and when a few of us had a day off we saw no reason to golf anywhere else, so a quick drive from Vancouver got us to our destination, just past Chilliwack on Canada’s number 1 highway.  If you haven’t seen this course and you live in the lower mainland, I would seriously recommend you make the trip out to this beautiful course carved into the side of a mountain with the most beautiful scenery you’ll see on a golf course ANYWHERE..

If you’re expecting to shoot in the low 70′s your first time out you may want to lower your expectations a bit because of the surprises that await you.  Anyone would have a great time golfing here, regardless of your handicap due to the fact that all of the fairways are wide enough to hit from the t-boxes.  What makes this course impressive are the views that golfers photograph before they reach for their drivers from hole to hole.. The golf carts are equipped with GPS screens that let you know the number of yards you need to think about before each shot and helpful tips at the push of a button are always free of charge.

I lit the Cohiba on hole number 4 instead of waiting, like I usually do, for the back nine to light up.  This gorgeous par 3 actually yielded a birdie for me, my only bird of the day… My t-shot was short and to the right but a 58 degree wedge from the first cut was all I needed to use to drop it into the hole.. I walked back to my power cart and tasted the beginning of what was going to be a beautiful first third of the robusto.  Wind is usually the worst enemy of a great cigar but yesterday’s Good Friday weather at The Falls allowed me to see an even burn for the duration of the cigar.

This morning after breakfast I decided to go through one of the humidors that I rarely visit and to my surprise, I found an old Cohiba Secretos under a few Cohiba Robustos that I had been saving.  I’m not sure where this little guy came from but something in my distant memory tells me that this cigar was purchased in 2007 when this series first came out.  This is not a large cigar at 4 3/8 inches long with a 40 ring gauge so I decided that a trip to the back deck with a cup of coffee and the newspaper would be a great idea.

My neighbor was doing some lawn work and grumbling about his lawn mower, all the rain this spring, some neighborhood kids spray painting his front fence, the crow’s nest in the chestnut tree beside his house, his income tax problems, a flat tire his wife got yesterday afternoon and his concerns about the Stanley Cup playoffs while I clipped off the cap of the little maduro and felt nothing but contentment as I reached for my torch.

When this Maduro series came out, Cohiba introduced a five year old aged wrapper and now this being 2011, I was holding on to a little blast of rich chocolate with a 9 year old wrapper..  A blast of rich dark chocolate was the first thing I noticed after a few puffs but 10 minutes later this reyes mellowed considerably and a richer creamier chocolate appeared.. I wish I had the patience to hold on to cigars for this length of time all the time but I’m just not that kind of person.  Whenever I buy a box of new Cubans, I’m always seeing a great number of cigars to give to friends and smoke one after another until I’m seeing 9 or so left and then the feeling of panic sets in and I go into a hoarding mode..

I’m not sure how I was able to hold on to this cigar for this long but starting tomorrow, or maybe the day after I’m going to turn over a new leaf and buy MORE cigars…. Smoke LESS cigars and build up my reserve………… Yeah sure, and the Edmonton Oilers will win the Cup this year too!!!!

After Tiger finished the front nine today at Augusta I was clipping off the cap of a Cohiba Genios and was getting ready for a long awaited victory for the red shirted wonder.  Yeah, maybe I jumped the gun but I really didn’t care that I was celebrating a bit early, I wanted to smoke the cigar anyway and it was wonderful to see his name on the leader board so high up…

The win went to the golfer representing South Africa, Charl Schwartzel, who’s last year’s result was a tie for 30th.. Talk about a big day for a young man who just won his first major..  His shots on the front nine propelled him up the leader board when he started getting birdies and a fabulous eagle on a par four.

Now back to Tiger……..  Although I watched him slowly get edged out by the others I was so impressed with his ability to be a contender on this course and I wondered if this is the beginning of a strong comeback from this champ..  I know that I’m not alone when I say that I really want him to return to his former game and, with all that he has learned in this last year or so, become even more of a driven competitor… Time will tell..

So the Genios burned evenly and tasted wonderful as I watched these new young guns come up the field and I wondered if we are now seeing a whole new batch of fierce players completely take over…. Not if Tiger has anything to say about it, I’m sure…..

For the last week I’ve been glued to the Cigar Aficionado site so I can read Gordon Mott and David Savona’s daily posts about their experiences at the 2011 Habanos Festival in Havana.  Although I’ve been to havana and smoked cigars in that beautifully intoxicating city, I’ve never been to the festival….. Next year will be different…

I’ve loved hearing about the new cigars that are coming out this year and in particular I’m interested in the Cohiba 1966 and the Montecristo Gran Reserva…. BUT…. I love cigars from H. Upmann and Partagas as well so 2011 just may be a year to remember….

Reading short reviews about the cigars from these guys has been very entertaining but more to the point, who do you really want to hear a cigar review from?? You want to go to the ones who have had this passion for many years and have devoted so much of their time and energy in dissecting the subtle nuances of a cigar’s profile and writing their thoughts in their own prestigious publication that informs cigar lovers around the globe.  That’s called TRUST !

Also too, these men are educated and very adept at expressing their feelings and experiences in a writing style with a quality and beauty that towers over the rest of us mere mortals’ attempts at describing the flavor of a cigar or the surroundings in which it was smoked.  Bravo !

I’ll still continue with this blog since I love writing and will continue to so…. Hey, nobody has lost an eye yet!