St.Dupont with a glass of Chateau Petit Bocq 2004

A few weeks ago, Thomas arrived at my place, carrying a bottle of red wine. So instead of studying, we decided to enjoy our sunday in a different fashion. He told me he bought the bottle at Magnus, a famous place in Antwerpen for the wine afficionado, it was their 2006 selection of the year.

From the moment I took the first smell, I immediately noticed that it was of great quality! A very refined bouquet,  and after a first sip, this feeling got conformed: this is a top wine! Subtle honey flavors, wild flowers, and a hint of pineapple gave this miraculous drink a hefty kick!

Of course this called for a cigar to match the wine, but not any cigar. No, the cigar of choice had to be a real winner, a top notch cigar which would integrate best with the wine.  A very hard and difficult task indeed! I decided to go with the St. Dupont, which was taking up his space in my humidor for a few weeks now, while I was desperately finding an occasion to smoke it!

The band is on the end of the cigar, I dont know it this was intended or not, but I surely thought it was remarkable. The Dupont feels like a charm, it looks lively with a lot of colors on the wrapper.

After a clip, a dry tasting of the cigar confirmed my hopes, this was an excellent cigar to accompany the excellent wine.

So, up to the smoking of the cigar. I lit it up, it got on fire very quickly, leaving  a nice gray ash. The smoke was cool, not overwhelming, leaving subtle notes of butter and flowers, and a hint of coco.

I ended up smoking it until my fingers almost got burned, a sign this cigar never reaches the point were the fumes become heavy and nasty. I loved it! The taste is never overwhelming, so it leaves a lot of room for the taste of the wine. An ideal companion!

C&G leopardos

Found this cigar at Vierstraete, the box looked really cool with the leopard skin, like a cigar for the "Hugh Heffner"-types ;)

I never heard about the brand, Condal & Peñamil, a canary island brand (tenerifé, to be exact), which has produced these Leopardos, a 1000 box limited cigar.

So, how could I resist one? I took it home, and waited for the perfect time to smoke it.The corona did feel perfect in my hand, the cigar was sleek and looked perfectly rolled.
A dry puff before lighting the cigar gave me courage, it tasted like a nice cigar.

I put the lighter to it, and took some puffs. Great tobacco flavor, combined with wild flowers gave a very nice taste. It burned slightly uneven, but it corrected itselve.

Then, with about 2/3 to go, all went wrong. The cigar went out for no reason, and after reliting it, it tasted quite bad, and it burned very uneven. I tried to correct it a few times, but the taste was really bad, so I tossed it away with about half way to go.

Too bad, the cigar was building up quite nice, but I think a roller error confronted me with a harsh reality.

Really too bad!

sigarendiner editie 4 @ De compagnie

De Compagnie en Publieke Werken nodigen u uit deel te nemen aan een gezellig sigaren diner. De culinaire kant van de avond wordt verzorgd door eetcafé Publie­ke Werken, in Caribische stijl. De Compagnie selecteert de sigaren.
Dit diner kiezen we voor Aston sigaren. Ashton is een nieuwkomer in de sigaren markt. Gestart in 1985 vanuit Philadelphia. Het grote succes kwam met de introductie van de “Ashton VSG” serie. Een volle sigaar met een dekblad uit Equador. Het dekblad wordt 4 tot 5 jaar gelagerd en geeft de sigaar een complexe smaak. De mening van de vak­pers was juichend en de sigaar werd uitgeroe­pen tot de beste van het jaar. Aan u de gele­genheid te proeven of u het daarmee eens bent.
Wij ontvangen u met Caribische cocktail. Tij­dens de ontvangst kunt u genieten van een mooie corona uit de “Aston Classic” serie en kennis maken met de overige gasten.
Na het voorgerecht is het tijd voor de tweede sigaar een donkere “Ashton aged ma­duro ” robusto. Het Connecticut maduro dekblad krijgt de donkere kleur door een dubbele fermentatie. Bij aanvang van de sigaar geeft dit een beetje zoetigheid. De sigaar komt dan mooi op smaak met wat notige tonen. De sigaar blijft mild tot het omslagpunt ondanks zijn donker uiterlijk.
Voor het hoofdgerecht heeft u de keuze uit een vlees– of visgerecht.
Na het dessert gaan we genieten van een heerlijke after-dinner sigaar. De derde sigaar heeft een van de hoogste scores ooit behaald. Een “Ashton” virgin sun grown sorcerer. Hierbij wordt koffie geserveerd en een heerlijk digestief.

We hopen u graag op het sigarendiner te mogen verwelkomen.
Anneke en John Bodar
bodar@decompagniebreda.nl

De prijs voor deze bijzondere avond bedraagt € 59,95 per persoon.
U kunt toegangskaarten kopen bij:
De Compagnie Torenstraat 15 Breda tel.: 076-5212244

Cuba's 2008 Edicion Limitada's

The word is out of the 2008 Edicion limitada's:

Cuaba Piramides
Montecristo Sublimes
Partagas Serie D No. 5

Coming soon to a humidor near you !

2008 Regional cigars

As listed on Cigar Afficionado's James Suckling's blog, these are the 2008 regional cigars:

Spain: Ramon Allones Grandes (49 ring x 180mm)
Asia Pacific: Por Larranaga Belicosos Extra (52 ring x140mm) and Bolivar Short Bolivar (50 ring x 110mm)
France: Ramon Allones Especial de Allones (52 ring x 140mm) and Bolivar Petite Libertador (50 ring x 102mm)
Lebanon: Ramon Allones Phoenicios (54 ring x 164mm)
United Arab Emirates: Punch Robustos (50 ring x 124mm)
Hong Kong: Bolivar Amonia (57 ring x184mm)
Portugal: Vegas Robaina Petit Robustos (50 ring x 102mm)
Switzerland: Bolivar Legendarios (50 ring x 155mm) and Juan Lopez Maximo (48 ring by 157mm)
Caribbean: Juan Lopez Short Torpedos (50 ring x 12mm)
Adriatic: La Gloria Cubana Marshall (50 ring x 124mm)

if anyone is visiting these regions, drop me a line ;)

new Cabinet

Last week I encountered Ron De Kok 's website, and saw he was offering handmade humidors.

Because of my desktop humi is just filled ( I really cant smoke the limitada's, I just want to keep them), I really needed another one, and a big one!

That's why I bought a cabinet, 5 drawers, good to keep about 500 cigars!
It looks great in my living room, and I am sure it will attract many curious looks.

He even gave me a digital hygrometer, which is just awesome! It keeps the max and minimum temperature and humidity!

So I spend all evening preparing it, to store my sticks in..washed it inside, all the trays with distilled water, threw in my old humidifying device. The humi also contained crystals, the new way to humidify the humi.

So, now waiting for a few days, and then I can transfer my smokes!

By the way, anyone interested in a desktop humi ? ;)



Just look at that beauty standing in my room, next to the big screen..This way I will never hesitate to light one up when watching a movie.

Thanks Ron! And I hope you like the Fonseca !