Many posts ago I mentioned that I had an uncle that lived in Victoria on Vancouver Island and that he is an old cigar smoker that has a very nicely stocked humidor.  We spent some time visiting him over the holidays and, as usual, we spent time smoking a few together with very nice Scotch and some very old port.  Talk about perfect pairings in both cases.

I thought I’d steer away from the very old Cohiba Lanceros since the last time I was there I was allowed to take one.  You can only go so far, if you know what I mean.  One Cohiba box that caught my eye on this visit was a box of Robustos with a date stamped on the bottom that read early 2000.  My heart really starts to beat whenever I know that I can smoke a Cohiba with at least 10 years on it.  Wow!!

I’ve tasted Cohiba Robustos that have been young, fresh and full of nicotine and I have to say that I don’t mind them at all.  They can be sweet, grassy and pack a pretty good punch but this 2000 stick had a few extras that I don’t get to taste very often.  This cigar was quite woody and had no shortage of that beautiful Cohiba herbal profile but the dark chocolates in the flavor profile were what really thrilled me.  Port and a cigar like that really DO go together well and one enhanced the beauty of the other in such a big way.

I don’t see my uncle often enough !!!!

Last night in an upscale neighborhood located in a Vancouver suburb, I attended a party that defined what the Christmas spirit is all about.  The host and hostess put on an event that had a french chef serving exquisite food which included caviar, local Salmon prepared in various ways, prawns flambeed in what tasted like Sambuca and the most tender roast beef the guests have ever tasted.  If I were to begin to write what was on the desert table this entry would never end.

The crowd at this mansion were largely from the entertainment industry so needless to say the music was exciting and as the evening progressed, so did the volume until you could swear that the walls were shaking from the dancing and full on partying.  Being included in the guest list was a gift I will never forget.

This great house was awe inspiring to say the least with rooms impeccably decorated with fantastic art and hand woven rugs to die for but I have to cut to the chase and begin to tell you about the ” Bat Cave”..  Our host, who is the picture of generosity, opened the door to his special room downstairs that had walls lined with rare and expensive bottles of wines and Tequilas that had all of the guests’ mouths watering but what got my attention was his humidor.  Yup, thats the magic word!  I saw a collection of cigars that included hard to find Non-Cuban gems and boxes of Cubans that got my heart pounding in my chest. He turned on the exhaust fans in the bat cave and a few of us relaxed in comfortable chairs as a strip of cedar was lit and cigars were handed to those who wished to participate.

A dark lacquered box that caught my eye contained some of my favorite Cubans, the Cohiba Maduro 5 Genios and I selected one with with a beautiful wrapper and intoxicating aroma.  It had been a while since I had smoked this cigar and I was reminded, once again, that this is NOT your traditional tasting Cohiba.  Rich rich dark chocolates kept coming to the forefront as it burned from third to third and pairing it with a Californian Zinfandel was the right choice as I soaked up the atmosphere and sank deeper into bliss.

On my 2011 wish list is another invitation to this exclusive annual event for a few reasons.  There were so many people that I met for the first time that I’d love to get to know better and seeing them in such a beautiful setting made the whole experience very unforgettable, but the down to earth nature of the couple who opened their door to their friends was the most heart warming memory I’ll have this Christmas.

Sure was a good cigar though!

Against my better judgement I’ll be hitting the links tomorrow with a Cohiba Robusto.  Yeah yeah, I know what you’re thinking… What could be so wrong with both of thoseideas on the same day.. Well, I’m in the middle of a big job that has to be finished very soon and I’ll be golfing instead of working.. Plus… I’ll be taking out a very special cigar to smoke when it’ll only be 5 degrees Centigrade at the warmest part of the day!

Well, I believe that you have to be a rebel from time to time and I’ll be with some very special friends that all smoke very nice cigars in any weather.  Yup, I guess I have some very crazy friends!!!  That’s not the point.. We will be in for some harsh winter conditions by Vancouver standards for, what the weatherman says, a considerable length of time this winter.  No matter, you have to make hay when the sun shines and we WILL be seeing sunshine tomorrow.. And it COULD be one of the last do-able days of the year for golf… So So who’s the crazy person after all??!!!!

I’ve found a box of Cohiba Robustos that have a few years on them and these taste particularly fine.  The Robusto from Cohiba can present varied flavors depending on the age and the batch.. Sure, they are very consistent but I’ve had some that are very sweet and then at other times I’ve smoked very grassy and spicy Robustos from Cohiba.  My personal favorite are the Robustos that lean toward to sweeter notes and in the past few years these tend to be a bit younger….  Goes to show you that aging cigars does eliminate the ammonia that occurs as the cigar is young but will also eliminate some of the sweeter flavors that have been showing up in Cuban cigars in the last 10 years or so….

Oh yes, there is one more thing I forgot to mention…. The golf course is closed to the public and I believe that we will be the only foursome allowed out tomorrow….  Now THAT is special treatment !!! Warm clothing and prayers for low to no wind will be in my horizon.. Should be fun!

Schadenfreude is the German word for the pleasure derived from others’ misfortunes.. Its a good word that applies to how I felt today as I sat on my front steps, with a Cohiba Siglo I in hand, and watched drivers on our street slip, slide and go careening into the traffic circle at the end of our block.. I’m only a few houses from the end of our street, so I had a bird’s eye view.

The cigar tasted great and the entertainment on the street was greater…. But…. The little cigar DID taste great, paired with a strong Italian coffee.

Vancouver’s drivers come from all over the world.  I love the diversity of cultures in our city and truly believe that we are rich with many fabulous restaurants, sights and sounds as we visit shops and neighborhoods that have been improved with the immigration of people from countries around the world. For someone like myself, who enjoys the antics I see on our streets after the first snow fall, the change of seasons is not unlike Christmas coming early.

We who grew up on the prairies and who learned how to drive in severe winter conditions, quite often choose to keep our vehicles in our garages and only go out at night when there is less traffic.  It is much safer and more often than not, our vehicles look the same upon our return as they did when we initially left home.

As Martha Stewart would say, ” Its a good thing.”

It takes a very brave, tough and a little bit extravagant individual to prop themselves up on a lawn chair in the back yard these days as the flurries blow by and the beer in the glass slightly ices over.. I’ve never been one to enjoy quality Cuban cigars in the cold but I really feel that I can’t let a day go by without lighting one up and taking my chances on how the elements will treat me.  This is why I wish to direct my attention towards the Cohiba Pantelas.  Not a lot of money, not a lot of time required to finish but more flavor than you’d expect from a cigar with a 26 ring gauge.. In fact…. Way more flavor than you’d expect!

I’ve smoked other Cuban brands in this size and some are better than others but the Cohiba reigns supreme when it comes to taste.  When you are cold, speed is of the essence and my feelings are that I want the best flavor for the money.  Gone are the days when I will light up a Cohiba Siglo VI in a blizzard…. In fact, I seem to remember that I’ve done that once before and ended up in a terrible mood that ended up in violence towards an inanimate object.. Life is too short for experiences like that.

Another thing is that these little Cohibas make great stocking stuffers… Affordable and tasty….. Try it, you’ll make a great impression.

I’m always poking around the internet and looking for good cigar deals on some of the sites that the public use to sell items and for some reason Vancouver is seeing a lot of ads from people who have just returned from Cuba with cigars to sell.  The last few days have seen more activity than usual and it gives me an opportunity to make a deal or two.

I’m not going to buy the first Esplendidos that come around.. ( I’ve done that a few years back )…. NOTHING is more annoying than getting a box of cigars for a great price, taking them home and after a few terrible sticks, you realize that you’ve been duped.  Well, let the buyer beware, I always say.. I’ve spent good money on counterfeit cigars and I won’t be doing that again.

After looking around the internet this morning I was, once again, amazed at the amount of information available to people who want to learn about Cuban cigars… It is actually mind boggling!  I believe that there are many many informed compassionate cigar smokers that  are more than willing, for no reason other than to help out, to share their experiences and knowledge with anyone who cares to read their pages.

The Habanos site is one of the greatest aides in checking to see if cigars for sale are actually authentic.  Go to their site and on the top of their home page there is an authenticity check that helps you identify cigars by the bar codes that are now on the green seals folded around the left hand side of the box.. No bar code= FAKES..  Of course there are always aged cigars without the bar code but its getting harder to find aged cigars in Cuba and the ones that people are buying are usually going home with them and smoked with extreme enjoyment.

I have nothing against the people who actually don’t know anything about Cuban cigars, my beef is with the people who sell the counterfeits in the first place.  Cohiba Esplendidos, Robustos, Montecristo No. 2 and 4 seem to be the cigars that get copied and sold the most because of the quality of the real thing so these are usually the first to be offered on the local buy and sell pages.

I guess it will only be a matter of time until we start to see the Behike copied and sold but that band is going to be either stolen from the factories ( good luck trying to copy that one ) and the boxes are going to be expensive to mass produce with any believable results.   Anyone who has had the good fortune to smoke a Behike or two has probably noticed the immense quality of construction and I’ve NEVER seen very many Cuban cigars that can come close, let alone a counterfeit.

Do a bit of research before blindly diving into the market of cigars from private sellers and you may just be able to pick up a good cigar at a good price.

Hey Tommy, thanks for leaving a comment on the Cohiba 1966 entry, I like your site and I think it provides great reading…..

There is no doubt that the cost of these humidors will be through the roof, not unlike a special vintage limited release wine from some of the finest regions in France.  One thing for sure is that when almost ANY cigar from Cuba has aged the right amount of time you can almost say that it’s time has come and the flavors can be extraordinary.  We are very lucky to live in Canada and to be able to buy Cubans whenever we want.  Our SIN tax is through the roof and Cuban cigars cost more than almost any others on the market today but once you get a taste for them there’s no going back.

When The Cohiba Behike became available many Canadian smokers had a bit of difficulty getting their hands on them because there were only so many boxes available to smoke shops around the country.  People were on a waiting list and it became a first come first serve situation that left a lot of smokers wondering what happened and why did it happen so quickly.  A lot of hard core cigar smokers in Canada have DEEEEP pockets and had no problem snatching the first VERY few boxes of these wonderful creations with the medio Tiempo leaf and the rest of us wandered the streets in search of the odd cigar here and there that were still available.

I was very lucky to get my hands on one of each of these Behikes and so far I’ve smoked the 52 and the 54.  I’ll let the 56 sit in my humidor until Christmas, I hope that it will probably be as fantastic as the other two.  Getting back to the 1966, I’m not sure I’ll ever get my hands on one but if I elevate myself to a different class of schmoozing cigar smoker, I just may find myself in someone’s private smoking rec room and with enough good fortune I may be able to sample one of them..

Thanks for leaving the comment!

1966 was the year that Cohiba started making a lot of the best cigars that the world has ever seen, smoked or smelled.  This was when diplomats around the world were given these cigars as gifts and were able to smoke the same cigars that Castro had known about and smoked himself until he stopped smoking some years back.

Not a lot is known about this special cigar from Cohiba just yet.  We can only guess the size, the price and the amount of cigars that will be in, I’m guessing, special humidors that will be up for sale next year.  Judging from the cost of past special edition Cohibas, most cigar smokers around the world will only be able to dream about lighting up one of these fine Cubans…… But what a dream!!!

A few days ago I dropped down to one of my favorite cigar stores in Vancouver, “The Vancouver Cigar Company” and my friend Trevor revealed to me that they had discovered a bunch of boxes of aged Cohiba Maduro 5 Genios from’08 and ’07 that they had forgotten about.  These guys have a nicely stocked humidor and I can see how things can get misplaced.  The cigars have been in ideal conditions for the last few years and I had to pick up a few from each vintage.

As usual, I thought that the best thing to do would be to try out the older of the two so after dinner last night I pulled out an ’07 and lit one up on the deck as I watched my neighbors re-shingle their roof.  I love it when someone else is working hard and doing something to improve their home, especially if I DON’T have to help.  My neighbor is a good friend and couldn’t help but walk over at one point last night to see what I was smoking.. We often smoke cigars together at night but he was in a hurry to get things finished before it got too dark to work.

When he dropped by I was getting into the second third of the Genios and my taste buds were experiencing as many different kinds of chocolate as I could imagine.  There were only about 3 years of age on these cigars but the smoothness was out of this world.  Very balanced, not one flavor ever taking over, and as I got into the final third the cigar was getting beanier by the minute without ever becoming harsh.  I wasn’t in a drinking mood last night and only had a bottle of mineral water with me on the deck which I think was a great idea.  I didn’t want to taste ANYTHING else but the Genios.

I can’t wait for tonight’s ’08 !!!!

After spending a week in Edmonton at the Canadian Country Music week I have to admit that I wore myself down to nothing.  Late nights, adult beverages and meetings that lasted long into the nights and then a long drive back to vancouver resulted in a flu of biblical proportion.  I found myself laying in bed, sweating, coughing and drinking as much fluids as I could possible take in but the worst of all of it was the total waste of money I spent on cigars that I simply couldn’t taste in the days following.

This morning I woke up with no residual sick feelings at all and so after breakfast I decided to celebrate with a Cohiba Siglo IV and a cappuccino on the deck.  Wow, what a difference this cigar was after the others that simply were fine but lacked any subtle nuances of flavor because of my inability to taste.  This corona gorda with a 46 ring gauge and a length of 5.6 inches opened up with a nutty tobacco taste that was creamy and slightly earthy.  The older Cohiba line was only slightly present in this cigar and by that I mean that it had the Cohiba spice that I love so much but slightly milder and easier to take in the morning.

I loved every puff as it moved into the final third with vanilla and subtle honey and it made me wonder why I smoked anything at all in the days before.  This might have been the best Cohiba I smoked this year, I still have a few more from this box from ’08 and a large part of me wants to start tomorrow the same way I started today but I don’t believe I’ll be able to re-live this morning’s experience with the same excitement and passion so maybe I’ll dig around my humidor for another Cuban and see what tomorrow brings.