I was worried about what to expect.  The wine was $12 and had a screw on cap.  I know those are becoming more widely used even on some really good wines, but this was still cheap bottle of wine from the grocery store.  I didn’t know what to expect.  What I got was a pleasant surprise.  It is a very drinkable wine, well suited for any time and just about any situation.  It was fruitier than i was expecting with a distinct plum flavor.  A more refined wine taster might call it currant but plum works for me.  There was also a bit of pepper on the back end.  The finish was a little short and the body a little thin but for the price I thought it was quite good. It held up well to the Davidoff Short Perfecto Colorado Claro  I was smoking, and yet I don’t think it would over power any but the lightest and most delicate foods.  If you are a cigar guy like me and you enjoy the occasional glass of wine you should give this one a try some time.  It is pretty good and the name alone almost demands that you give it a try.

When the first vintage of this wine was made, our wine maker noticed subtle hints of “Cigar Box” on the nose… the name stuck!

What cigar lover wouldn’t be intrigued.  I am taking the bottle up to the cigar shop this evening to share with the fellas.  I hope it can live up to expectations.  I’ll post my thoughts on the wine after I’ve tried it!

The much anticipated Tatuaje Tubos cigars hit the shelves this week.  The Tatuaje Blacks are a favorite of mine so I picked up a box of them and grabbed 2 of the Red Tubed Havana VI Verocus as well.  The presentation of these cigars is beautiful.  The boxes are huge (it didn’t fit in my converted wine fridge humidor)and the tubes are beautiful.  I am going to give these a few months to acclimate to my humidor and them I’ll be firing a couple of these up for some reviews.

Here is one of each cigar outside the tubes.

I had the great pleasure of attending a scotch and cigar tasting recently featuring The Glenlivet scotches and cigars that were provided by my local cigar shop, Empire Cigars.  I have to say that this event was a blast.  I learned a ton about scotches and smoked some good cigars.  I even left the event with some pretty nice swag.  The scotches we were sampling were the 15 year old French Oak Reserve, the 16 year old Nadurra, and The Glenlivet 18yr old.  All three are single malts of course.  As for the cigars, featured were the Nub Cameroon 358, EO Series 601 Habano Rabito, and the Ashton VSG Illusion.

First up was the 15 yr French Oak Reserve paired with the Nub Cameroon 358.  The Nub, well I’ll be honest.  It isn’t my favorite, however it performed better than the Nubs I have had in the past and turned out to be a pleasant enough smoke.  The scotch was fantastic.  The French Oak Reserve is aged for 15 years.  It spend the first twelve years of life in an American White Oak recycled bourbon cask with a light medium char.  The last three years are spent in a virgin French Limousin [lee-moo-ZAN] Oak casks.  Apparently the French Oak is a much softer wood than the American and if the whiskey spends too much time in the French Oak it would absorb too much from the cask and be ruined and probably almost black in color.  Finishing a whiskey in French Oak like this is almost as much art as science and is a difficult process to pull off.  Any amount of over aging can ruin an entire barrel.  We were told that the whiskey is babysat very closely in these final years of aging.  The French oak Reserve was my favorite of the night.  It is very creamy and smooth with a slightly sweet taste.  It has strong notes of Honey and Vanilla and a very smooth finish.

Next was the 16 year old Nadurra.  Nadurra is Gaelic for natural.  This is an unfiltered, cask strength whiskey.  It is very oaky with floral notes and a sharp aroma.  This scotch is a fireball.  Drinking it straight is not recommended.  I tried a sip straight and to be honest most of the flavors were lost to the alcohol burn for me.  I added a healthy dose of water which took of that edge and really allowed the floral perfume and oak flavors to come through.  It was very good, but honestly my least favorite of the three we tried.  This one was paired with the 601 Habano Rabito.  A nice full Nicaraguan cigar that went nicely with the strong and aggressive Nadurra.

We wrapped up the night with a very special whiskey paired with a very special cigar.  If you are a cigar smoker than nothing needs to be said about the Ashton VSG.  It is a top shelf cigar, full bodied, smooth and refined.  Well you can use that sentence to describe The Glenlivet 18 year old Scotch.  A drop of water helps to open up the aromas of this top shelf whiskey, release a wonderful floral bouquet.  A sip delivers a myriad of flavors, floral at first, the finish is more oak and vanilla.  This is very smooth and very refined.  The only reason I liked the French Oak more than the 18year is the creaminess that the French Oak gave the whiskey which I really enjoyed.  The 18 year is a fantastic scotch in its own right as well.

We were all given a very nice double guillotine cutter and a Chivas Regal torch lighter that burns with a green flame.  I also received a Glenlivet money clip, all pictured below…

The Crown Jewel of night though was the personalized bottles of the 15 year old French Oak reserve.  This is just an incredible souvenier from what was truly an incredible night.

As many of you have probably heard, Tatuaje has a limited release cigar this Halloween and for several Halloweens going forward.  Of course, being the Tatuaje homer that I am, I had to have a box.  This year Pete Johnson brings us the first of his Tatuaje Monster Series of cigars.  The 2008 version is a Double Corona called The Frank.  From what I understand, this is the regular Brown Label Tatuaje Taino blend but with a Broadleaf Wrapper instead of the usual Corojo.  It sports a green band and comes in a Coffin box of 13 cigars.  Only 13 retailers each year will get these cigars and each year the retailers are chosen by a lottery.  This year my local, Empire Cigars was lucky enough to be chosen.  Here is the details regarding the Monster series from the Tatuaje website:

Today on the 13th of October we are announcing the “unlucky” 13 retailers that will be getting the first release of the Tatuaje Monster Series – The Frank (7 ⁵/8 x 49 – Box Pressed).

Gloucester Street Cigar Co. – Boston, MA 617-424-1000
L.J. Peretti – Boston, MA – 617-482-0218
Sabor Havana Cigars – Miami, FL – 305-436-8860
W.Curits Draper – Washington DC – 202-638-2555
Empire Cigars – Raleigh, NC – 919-870-0081
J. Barbara Tobacconist – Garden City, NY – 516-284-7806
Cigar Shop & More – Addison, TX – 972-661-9136
Up Down Tobacco – Chicago, IL – 312-337-8505
Havana Manor – Longmont, CO – 303-776-2332
Ambassador Fine Cigars – Scottsdale, AZ – 480-905-1000
Azucar Cigar Lounge – Corona, CA – 951-734-9714
The Big Easy – Studio City, CA – 818-762-3279
Mission Pipe Shop – San Jose, CA – 408-293-5144

Suggested Retail is $13 per stick. 13 cigars to a box… $169 Suggested Retail before any state or local tobacco taxes.
Each retailer listed will get a small allocation of the first edition.
Customers should not call any other retailers inquiring. These will be the only stores to get them this year.

Cheers,

Tatuaje Monster Series releasing October 31st in 13 locations.
First size will be ‘The Frank’ – a Double Corona box press. 666 boxes will be created.
Thirteen of the top 100 retailers will be selected via a lottery to receive an allotment of 50 boxes each.

Here are a few more pictures of my latest acquisition. Click for enlarged views…

Related Posts:

• Tatuaje “The Frank”
• Tatuaje Monster Series “The Frank”

Nike+ says 3.89mi, Miles actually ran – 7.2 miles

That is complete bunk! I was running, and running, and running, and I started to think when will I ever get there. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t there yet so I diverted my route to run a loop that I knew was very close to a full mile. That is almost 2k. When I started the loop my Nike + said I was at 6k complete. At the end of the loop is said I was 6.25k complete. So I ran almost a full 2k and it said I ran .25k. Almost a full mile ran and it gave me credit for running an eighth of a mile!!! Holy cow!! So I turned for home and ended my workout when I got there. I then jumped in the car an drove the route I just ran. Turns out I actually ran 7.2 miles. A 10k is only 6.2 miles!!! I have no idea how long it actually took me to run the 10k. No idea at all, but by God I did it and then some!! So the hell with Nike+. I may not get credit on their site for running the full race, but I know I did.

Here is a picture of the signed box sans cigars…

(click to enlarge)

So here it is at long last. I have been obsessing over this thing for months now and I finally have it. The jar is beautiful and of course having already smoked the cigar before, the cigars will be a joy to smoke. I could clumsily try to describe it in words but instead I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. Each can be clicked for a large version or click the picture above for a slide show.

Oh my…

A couple notes about the above pictures. The Blacks have been in production for a while. They are not new cigars. They were up until this point Pete Johnson’s private line of Tatuajes made exclusively for him, and why not, he owns the brand after all. That is why you see the name Private Reserve in some of the pictures above. The bottom of the jar has Pete’s signature on it. The fourth picture down in the first column is the inside of the jar lid. I have to say this jar has lived up to the hype. It is one of the most beautiful presentations I have ever seen for cigars. It is truly special and I am one happy cigar smoker today.

Related Posts:

• Tatuaje Blacks
• I Dream of the Day
• Tatuaje (Black Label) Private Reserve [Review]