Dropped in to see a friend of mine last night at his art gallery in South Vancouver.  There was an opening going on and, from time to time I love checking out what he has hanging on his walls. OK OK, maybe I really stopped in to hang out on the back deck with a glass of fine wine and do a bit of a cigar swap with him, which is something we do a few times each year.

I had a few Cuban Robustos that I wanted him to have and in turn we walked over to his humidors in the office and took a look at what was available and ready to smoke. We were drinking a lovely British Columbian Syrah and each decided to smoke a medium strength Cohiba Siglo III that he had been hanging on to.  What struck me was how the humidor smelled when he opened the lid.  This is one thing that, I have to admit, is a bit of a fetish I have and love the sweet barnyard smell of a humidor filled with beautiful cigars.  I had grandparents who owned a farm and as a child, I spent many a summer helping out and killing time in their beautiful barn yard.  The smell of fresh hay, horses and peaceful quiet afternoons can creep out of a humidor when the lid is lifted and the row of perfectly rolled Siglos in the top tray gave off all that I needed to bring me back to my youth.

The quiet jazz band and the people milling around the art gallery were of no concern to us as we smoked these beautiful cigars and drank the wine I brought.  We sat in silence and didn’t say much, simply smoked and occasionally commented on either the perfect burn or what we were both tasting as we went from third to third.  I have only a few friends that know and can identify all of the beautiful flavors that a Cohiba can give you and I take every opportunity to see these guys and learn whatever I can from them.

Well since we’re on the topic of people that bug me here is another example.  A cousin of mine came over last night with a few cigars to smoke and after dinner we went out on the the deck for Scotch and Cuban cigars.  He brought a few Siglo No 4’s with him and that suited me just fine.  With a cigar of that strength I felt that my old standby, Oban Scotch would work out and it was a fine pairing.

This is a cousin I rarely see and although we are quite close he is a guy I occasionally get into pretty good arguments with.  His family was always very comfortable, financially speaking, and he was an only child….. Strike one……. This guy would come over to visit and bring always the biggest and best toys with him and then the bragging would begin….. Bragging?? … Strike two……

He has been smoking cigars for the past 2 years now and although he is a bit younger than I am, by 2 years, he feels and has always felt somewhat superior……. Strike three…….

Last night he started out by telling me all of the facts he knows about Cohiba cigars and I sat silently and listened to him go on and on…. and on….. and on……. and on…… about his feelings towards this wonderful cigar… He told me about the cigar’s obvious flaws and weaknesses compared to the original Cohibas…… I had to hear about his feelings towards the cigar’s development going into the second third and how he felt that this cigar was letting him down…… Good grief!!!!!!!!  I was having a fine time smoking the beautiful Corona Gorda but he wasn’t letting go of it…..

Just when I had had about enough, he started telling me that I should come over to his place more often so he could give me cigar tutorials and if I paid attention I could really learn a few things from him… That was it!!! I couldn’t take it any longer and started to plan a little accident for him!!   He had chosen a chair that I was going to spend a bit of time repairing since it had a weak back leg that would sometimes give out and cause the person sitting on it to fall back… Off to the washroom he went and I knew what I was going to do.

When he was in the house I reached over and loosened the bolt holding the left back leg and quickly sat back down in my chair without him noticing as he strolled back on to the deck.. He reached for his drink, stood over me and continued braying on and on about all of his vast cigar knowledge and then sat down again….. Nothing happened…..

Talk about lucky, this guy must have been holding on to a lucky rabbit’s foot in his back pocket as he smoked, drank, had another drink and then started leaning back onthe back two legs of his chair when it finally gave way….. I sat quietly watching his drink spilled over him as he hit the deck and saw the sparks of his cigar as it smashed onto the floor…….. The argument began…….

I pretended to be sorry and offered to give him a dry shirt but he wasn’t having any part of it.. All of the things that he didn’t like about me started spewing out and before I knew it, he was blaming all of our family’s problems on me….. I was into the final third of the cigar and it tasted great.. I took another sip of the Oban and told him that maybe it was getting a bit late…….

The last Cohiba Siglo VI I smoked was some time ago during a trip to Alberta…. I felt terrible about it because I think it was a total waste of money… Not buying the cigar, but where and when I chose to smoke it… Smoking a cigar, especially one of that calibre, in less than perfect conditions is a real waste of time.. Anyone thinking about going outdoors and lighting up one of Cuba’s finest works of art during a snowstorm in sub-zero weather should have their heads examined… That is exactly what I did, except for getting my head examined…

Last night we had a fine evening in Vancouver, and out on my deck with a glass of Oban, I felt it was time to light up a Siglo VI..  It was a very different story from my last experience with that cigar.

This is a rock star cigar in every sense of the term starting with the construction.  A bit of a tightly rolled Canonazo ( I love that word ) but after clipped, still had an easy draw.. How do they do that????  Pre-light draw revealed a bit of wood and grass but subtle at best…. Hmmmmmm, subtle may be a great word to have on hand when describing this cigar.  The choice of Oban may or may not have been the best pick for a beverage since it really had more power than the cigar because of the very slight flavor changes that happened as this cigar progressed… Not a lot of change and progression, sort of reminded me of a Trinidad Robusto Extra in it’s delivery…..

It burned perfectly and required only a small amount of correction as it got into the final third but I love how cigars taste as they approach the nub…. All in all, a very different experience from my Alberta snow storm afternoon with this same cigar!!!!!

I keep writing about this fabulous little perla and, although some of you may be tired about me going on and on about them, today’s entry is for all of the other people…  I just smoked another from my humidor and I can’t say enough about the wonderful complexity of this short entry from Cohiba.

It will start off with the grassy signature Cohiba flavor but then hang on…. This one will take you on a very exciting ride of Cohiba flavors that include cedar, coffee, chocolate and also a hint of vanilla.  The construction is totally Cohiba quality and I’ve NEVER ran into any problems with the burn… NEVER !!!!

Another plus here is that the price of these little cigars is considerably less than what you’d expect to pay for a cigar of this calibre, making it the buy of the year, in my opinion.. Take my advice and pick up a box of them… Smoking them right away is just fine and aging them….. WOW !!!!!!!

I picked up a few cigars today since my humidor has been getting beaten up in the last few weeks and for some reason included in today’s purchase I opted for a few Siglo V’s.. Normally I don’t smoke dalias because I’ve run into a few with draw issues but after dinner tonight I thought I’d light one of these.  I paired this evening’s cigar after dinner with a Shiraz from Australia and at first I wasn’t sure if I was making the right choice but we had lamb for dinner and I wanted to finish off the bottle..

At first the two weren’t marrying at all but then I thought that having a glass of water with the cigar and wine and everything started working out just fine.  There’s something about keeping your palate clear when smoking a cigar that, more often than not, requires something clear and refreshing and, in my experience, water always does the trick.  The first few draws from this Cohiba revealed, as usual, a bit of a testy, rather powerful toasted tobacco and then it became a rich creamy smoke that started to reveal slight bean flavors.  This isn’t your average Cohiba, I believe that the creamy coffee you get from this cigar is considerably milder and takes a bit of concentration to detect the subtle nuances this one has to offer.

After the first third of the Siglo I decided to take the wine I had left and drink it all in one gulp.. Maybe the water was all I needed to be able to detect all that this cigar had to offer. As I entered into the second third I was really quite pleased to find that it became a bit more powerful and developed into a very satisfying experience I was hoping to find when I bought them today.

I always say to myself, whenever I buy cigars,  that they are going to sit in my humidor for a year or two and that I’ll get to them when the time is right but, alas, I think that I know myself better than that and I’ll probably keep going back and picking these Siglos and continuing my search for that ideal moment of smoking perfection…. Sometimes I hit it right… Sometimes not……. Hey, I gotta keep trying!

Yesterday I stopped in to the neighborhood “Quickie Mart” for some cream for my coffee and a newspaper when I was greeted in front of the store by one of the countless street people in our city asking for spare change.  Vancouver has more than it’s fair share of people who are down on their luck and live on the streets asking for change so they can either eat, drink, or in most cases, buy drugs that keep them where they choose to be in life. On the streets!!! I usually pass them by because I choose to help them get off the streets by making it just a bit tougher for them out there.

A lot of people would argue that by helping them out and giving them a buck or two, they would be able to survive, live another day and maybe get their lives in order. I, for one, think that we all are in charge of our own lives and are responsible for our own actions.  I work hard for every cent I earn and the last thing I want to see is my spare change going into someone’s crack pipe…. Well, enough about that rant!!!!  Yesterday’s meeting with an unusual elderly lady in front of the store floored me, to say the least.

I pulled up to the store, got out of the car, made sure it was locked ( not the safest of neighborhoods) and sure enough I hear, “Got any spare change?”  I looked up and a woman, who appeared to be in her 60’s, asked me that question and the most wonderful aroma wafted up to me.  There she was, smoking a Cohiba…. Of all things!!!! Wow…. I walked into the store, picked up a paper, cream for coffee at home and got my change and left the store.  As I walked to the car I felt the need to walk back and inquire what cigar she was smoking..  She told me that it was a Siglo II and that, although she is a fan of the Lanceros and Esplendidos, she bought it because the wrapper was a bit broken and she got it at a discount. What????  I asked her why she was on the streets and she said that she had a problem with alcohol and cigars.  I couldn’t believe it!!!

I didn’t feel the need to give her any money but I had a Montecristo in my shirt pocket and offered it to her.  She politely refused and said that she preferred cigars from the Cohiba brand.  Wow!!!!! Turning down my free cigar !!!  I drove home in amazement and wondered how long she had been smoking Cohibas… Had she ever smoked anything else??  How could she afford to be so choosy???

We live in a beautiful city and there is an interesting story around every corner.

The good people from Cohiba  launched the Siglo Series in 1992 to pay homage to the 500th anniversary of Mr. Christopher Columbus showing up in the “New World”.  Much has been written about the Siglo VI and for good reason but for now I’d like to turn my attention to the Siglo IV.

This beautifully rolled cigar comes in a 46 ring gauge and at a length of 5 and 5/8 inches.  This series is a bit milder than cigars from the original Cohibas and this one starts off tasting very mild.  After the first puff the taste of honey comes into the picture and to some degree stays throughout.  Coffee flavors appear soon after lighting this stogie and one is reminded of Cuban coffee and how it became a preferred flavor with so many coffee drinkers around the world.  As this cigar develops into the second third, chocolate appears and mixed with the taste of honey you are now getting what Cohiba had intended and developed as one of the sweetest cigars to come out of Cuba.

The final third delivers the taste of vanilla, mixed with chocolate, mixed with honey which causes one to wonder how all of this is possible by simply blending leaves together. All in all this cigar has become one of my favorites and as years go by the contents of the box I picked up in ‘04 age beautifully in my humidor.

Very excited today guys. Time to tell you about another Cohiba cigar that  I tried today. The Cohiba Siglo IV (4) - They say this is one of the best Siglos to age. Unfortunatley, mine was not aged, but I still enjoyed the
rich creamy flavor combined with cocoa bean aromas.

Siglos were introduced in 1992.  They are a little bit lighter than the rest of the Cuban Cohiba cigar brand but they do the job just fine. This Cuban beauty came in a box of 25 and is 100% hand made like the all of the Cohiba cigars (Except the Cohiba Cigarillos). Anyways, I lit this one up two hours after dinner.

Got my self a nice glass of Oban 14 year single malt, went to my patio as it was a beautiful day to smoke (Sunny in Vancouver at around 8pm, yeah believe it or not!)  So I just sat in the balcony and forgot all my worldly troubles and just kept puffing. I always was a big fan of the Cohiba Siglo brand but Cohiba Siglo IV might be my new favorite out of the bunch. I would say when its sunny outside, the Cohiba Siglo IV is just perfect.

Another handmade Cuban beauty is the Cohiba siglo I. The Siglo series or Linea 1492 is a sub-brand of Cohiba, produced to commemorate 500 years since the arrival of Christopher Columbus, and is characterized by a milder flavour than most other Cohibas.

Don’t let the mildness fool you because these are delicious cigars. I think the Cohiba cigar god designed the Siglos to help develop the Cohiba cigar enthusiasts’ palette before they tried the big boys such as the Cohiba Robusto or the Cohiba Maduro Genios.

However, the Cohiba Siglo I are in a class of their own. They came out arond in 1993 or 94, I’m not sure but since then, people from all over the world really appreciate this medium tasting cigar. Surprisingly, most people prefer to smoke these in the Summer - well count me in!This would be the first time that I would get to try these Cuban cigars, So naturally I’m very excited. Don’t worry boys and girls, I’ll let you know exactly how this cigar performs.

Cabinet of Siglo III

Wow! I finally had my first Siglo III - Cohiba Siglo III that is. I was just getting back from work when my buddy called me and said to come on over (I had to meet him for some new business ideas). So after I ended up getting there, I was shocked when he pulled out a couple of Cohiba cigars.

Now I wasn’t surprised that he had some some fine Cohiba’s on him (In fact, James is THE GUY when it comes Cohiba cigars), but I had never smoked the Siglo III yet, and I had been wanting to for some time. He said the Cohiba Siglo III was his favourite and that the aromas created by them are amazing - Plus it’s a very nice little treat for the palette.

Not only was he correct, but I was quite impressed by the size of this cigar. I’m a Robusto man myself but I really enjoyed this one in particular. If you ever get a chance to smoke a Cohiba Siglo III, don’t pass it up. Another brilliant cigar by the Cohiba brand, aren’t they all?