Partagas Culebras – the twisted cigar

I was recently given a Patagas Culebras which is the wonderful twisted three cigars in one.

On Friday I was in London visiting the cigar stores featured on the Cuban Cigar Walk London and I spent some time at Davidoff where Armando, who is in the UK on a break from his usual job as a roller at the Partagas factory in Havana.



I spoke to Armando and Edward Sahakian about the Culebras and got some really interesting details.



I asked Armando about rolling the Culebras and he told me that in order to achieve the twist it was necessary to roll the very loosely and also with very moist tobacco.



Edward told me that he had been told the history of the Culebras by one of the old Cigar importers.

The rollers are apparently allowed to smoke any number of cigars while they are rolling but are only allowed to take 3 cigars home every evening.


In order to discourage them from selling them the three cigars were twisted together.


However as they were for their own consumption the rollers made sure they always used the very best tobacco.

I told Edward and Armando that I intended to smoke mine with a couple of my friends who love cigars. Remember said Edward "that you are smoking the tobacco not the shape".

Newly released Trinidad Robusto T

Just a quick note this evening, while I was at Davidoff in London today I saw the new Trinidad Robusto T cigars which were released today.

Just look at that lovely little piggy tail there!

Yummy!

I haven't smoked one yet but James Suckling likes them:
Cigar Aficionado

Sir Winston Churchill's cigar part of War Time bunker exhibition

The Cuban Cigar Walk London naturally has many references to the life and cigars of Sir Winston Churchill  as on our Audio guide we visit two of the Cigar stores (Robert Lewis and Alfred Dunhill) which supplied Sir Winston during his long life.

The Cuban Cigar Walk London finishes at the Churchill Museum Cabinet War Rooms just next to Downing street and a new exhibition revealing the day to day workings of life inside Sir Winston Churchill's secret World War II headquarters is being opened to the public this week.





Marking the 70th anniversary of the start of the conflict, the exhibition will showcase the stories of the people who worked alongside Churchill in the secret bunker.

For those of you who are keen Cigar smokers interested in the specific cigar that Sir Winston smoked you can see an example of one of his cigars in the museum.

It's partly smoked and well chewed but it's a contact with the great man himself.



Whether you can get to the exhibition or not I strongly recommend that you buy a copy of the book "Churchill's Cigar" by Stephen McGinty.

Stephen was kind enough to read extracts of his wonderful book for inclusion in the Cuban Cigar Walk London and it's a authorative and beautifully written book.

For more details see :

BBC News Article
Churchill Museum Cabinet War Rooms Web site.

The Ultimate Humidor? (Part 1)

If you like good Cuban Cigars then you need somewhere to keep them and while working on a group version of my Audio Guide the Cuban Cigar Walk London I recently met Simon Chase of Hunters and Frankau who told me about the new Humidors which Hunters had commissioned from Linley the famous bespoke furniture company which is run by the Queen’s nephew.

The Cuban Cigar Walk London passes very close to the Linley store in Mayfair and you can be sure that we will be making a detour on group walks to ensure that we get to see these wonderful pieces of design.

Of the three designs, the reproduction of the El Laguito factory in Havana, the home of the world famous Cohiba cigars is the most stunning.
Only one of these humidors will be made and it will be available filled with a fabulous selection of Cigars all carefully selected by Hunters and Frankau.

Slightly more accessible to mere mortals are the two other designs in this exclusive range. The Skyline Humidor is the second in the collection and five of these will be produced. This humidor contains 50 cigars and features the panoramic skyline of London in marquetry detailing around the box.


Finally The third humidor in the collection marks the bicentenary of the Cuban Revolution. Only fifty of the Cuban Flag humidors will be available and each one is numbered.

The box features marquetry inlay depicting the Cuban national flag in ripple sycamore, satin walnut and Santos rosewood encased within walnut lippings.

The box is distinguished by an undulating ‘ripple’ effect on the surface which evokes a flag fluttering in the wind.

For full details and to place your orders go to the Hunters and Frankau web site:
Hunters and Frankau Humidors

Top ten jokes at the Edinburgh Festival 2009

If you are in Edinburgh for the Edinbugh Festival, for the Edinburgh Tatoo or just for a visit Cities in Sound has two Audio Guides for Edinburgh Old Town and Edinburgh New Town:

http://www.citiesinsound.com/


Found these on the BBC News Web site:

The Top 10 jokes were judged to be:

• 1) Dan Antopolski - "Hedgehogs - why can't they just share the hedge?"

• 2) Paddy Lennox - "I was watching the London Marathon and saw one runner dressed as a chicken and another runner dressed as an egg. I thought: 'This could be interesting'."

• 3) Sarah Millican - "I had my boobs measured and bought a new bra. Now I call them Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes because they're up where they belong."

• 4) Zoe Lyons - "I went on a girls' night out recently. The invitation said 'dress to kill'. I went as Rose West."

• 5) Jack Whitehall - "I'm sure wherever my dad is; he's looking down on us. He's not dead, just very condescending."

• 6) Adam Hills - "Going to Starbucks for coffee is like going to prison for sex. You know you're going to get it, but it's going to be rough."

• 7) Marcus Brigstocke - "To the people who've got iPhones: you just bought one, you didn't invent it!"

• 8) Rhod Gilbert - "A spa hotel? It's like a normal hotel, only in reception there's a picture of a pebble."

• 9) Dan Antopolski - "I've been reading the news about there being a civil war in Madagascar. Well, I've seen it six times and there isn't."

• 10) Simon Brodkin (as Lee Nelson) - "I started so many fights at my school - I had that attention-deficit disorder. So I didn't finish a lot of them."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8216991.stm

H Upmann Magnum 48 Limited Edition

I had a wonderful afternoon yesterday and I sat with Edward Sahakian at Davidoff in London . It was the first day of the release of the 2009 limited edition Cuban Cigars and I sat with him and smoked one of the new H Upmann Magnum 48 Limited Edition 2009.


It’s a great cigar, not to strong, which is ideal for me. It is made with tobacco which as been aged for a minimum of 2 years. Edward had smoked one the day before and he says they will age very well.

We will be heading back to Davidoff on the Cuban Cigar Walk London on the 19th September for a group walk which will be followed by a Herf.

http://www.citiesinsound.com/shopWebSite/php/showProducts.php?plu=13