Indholdsfortegnelse for September - October 2016 i Cigar Aficionado

My pocket watch collection began, quite by accident, on a train journey across Russia in the 1990s. I found myself in the station at Yekaterinburg with nothing to do, nothing to read, and—seemingly—nothing to buy, when something in a display caught my eye: a stainless steel pocket watch with an ornately carved exterior case that, when opened, revealed a classic-style dial with an elaborately engraved face. It went for the then-grand post-Soviet price of $20. It came with a simple chain and I wore it in the simplest way: in the aptly named watch pocket of my jeans or slacks, with the chain threaded through my belt loop. I liked taking the watch out and opening the cover—taking 15 seconds or so to check the time seemed to be a…

For the whiskey lover—and there are a lot of us out there now—a visit to the distillery of a favorite brand is a bucket-list no-brainer, ranking right up there with playing St Andrew’s for golfers. But you don’t have to be a whiskey geek to enjoy the experience. Distilleries have ways to charm even brown-spirits neophytes—not the least of which are the come-hither aromas. (My own wine-loving wife exclaimed, “It smells like maple candy,” upon entering a barrel-aging warehouse, and it convinced her to try Bourbon for the first time.) Autumn is a beautiful time to visit their typically picturesque settings and also coincides with the time that many stills go back online after summer maintenance. Seeing a plant in full swing will boost the educational value. You’ll find that…

Ray Lewis enjoys a cigar late each night, when he sits down to write. But prior to about 10 years ago, he had never smoked. His grandfather on his mother’s side, who he called Papa, always had a cigar in his mouth. When Lewis asked him why, he told the young Lewis: “The day you figure out why I keep a cigar in my mouth is the day you figure out manhood.” He died before he could reveal the secret behind his saying. Lewis went over a friend’s house in 2005, a few years after his Papa died, and the man handed him a cigar, a Padrón. Lewis initially refused, then took the cigar and lit the smoke. “I took three puffs,” says Lewis. “Tears started rolling down my eyes,…

Golf by the sea, links golf, is an especially moving experience for the traveling player, and Americans by the charter bus full have sought out the great links of Southwest Ireland for decades. But today the storied old courses at Ballybunion, Lahinch and Waterville are playing better than they have in years, and newer courses like the Old Head Golf Links and the newly renamed and reminted Trump Doonbeg have become bucket-list destinations of their own, making a trip to Ireland’s southwestern corner a most rewarding trip. The economic downturn of 2008 hit golf globally and Ireland was dealt a significant body blow. But nearly a decade later there is a bristling optimism in the seaside air of Ireland and it can be felt and seen on the links of…

Most people avoid driving the Pan-American Highway at night, especially in the mountainous region of northern Nicaragua where the Estelí valley becomes mired by a very particular kind of darkness, dense and disorienting. The road here is unreasonably narrow and guardrails are nonexistent. Street lights are scarce and so is electricity for that matter. One wrong turn, one moment of distraction could mean a tumble down a steep cliff into the valley floor far below. But here we are, and what was originally supposed to be a trip to the A.J. Fernandez cigar factory in a busy, well-lit town has been rerouted. Our SUV is now headed on this winding and unpredictable highway to the tobacco fields in the dark of night. Our halogens can only do so much, throwing…

The stuff of science fiction is rapidly becoming everyday reality, especially when it comes to automobiles. By the end of the decade, we may see the first fully self-driving cars. And the completely made over 2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 will get you amazingly close today. The new E-Class sedan (always popular for introducing new technology) can now not only operate its brakes, accelerator and steering wheel without driver intervention, but can pass another car in traffic. As you sit behind the wheel, what’s bound to catch your eye are the twin video screens, a 12.3-inch LCD display operating the updated comand infotainment system, and a second, reconfigurable display replacing conventional, analog gauges on all but base models. Those two huge screens help you manage a high-tech fantasyland of features that come…

Life is a wake-up call at the Cal-a-Vie Health Spa. If you think the spa culture is entirely too sedate, too precious, maybe even too feminine, Cal-a-Vie could change your mind. It did for Rick Holton, a venture capitalist from St. Louis, whose wife Kristen came back from a visit with a friend and made a request. Or was it an order? “She and Stephanie went last year and came back and said you guys are going with us next year,” says Holton. “I was not really looking forward to it. It turned out to be an amazing experience.” Cal-a-Vie is the creation of Houston businessman John Havens and his wife Terri, a more than 200-acre property in the low coastal mountains an hour north of San Diego and a…

Snaking gently through the gridlock amid a cacophony of car horns while riding my trusty Tern Verge S8i, I pull up on the sidewalk near a subway entrance in Brooklyn. With one hand on the seat, I unclasp the bike’s two joint locks located on the top tube and handlebars, and in one swift, smooth motion, fold the front wheel until it magnetically locks next to the back wheel. With one hand on the seat, I roll the collapsed bike down the steps and into a packed subway car, where I’m able to neatly place it between my legs. Given America’s historic love affair with the automobile, it may be hard to believe that the number of bicycle commuters in U.S. cities has increased 60 percent in the last decade.…

Do you think you know Ray Lewis? You may know the player who ruled the NFL for 17 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, a linebacker of immense strength and desire who learned the art of defense as a Miami Hurricane and always seemed to know where the ball was going. He led the Ravens to two Super Bowl victories, was named Super Bowl MVP in 2000, and was a key member of what many believe is the greatest defense of all time. Or you may think you know the Ray Lewis who stood accused of a double homicide in Atlanta, a charge that was later dropped and a crime that he— and even the lead detective in the case, Ken Allen—says never should have been levied against him. But you…

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Taj Mahal of India, New York City’s Empire State Building—each edifice strikes a chord of recognition for its place. In Havana, the building that enjoys such emblematic stature is the Partagás Real Fabrica de Tabacos. Born on Calle Industria sometime in the 1850s, according to Partagás, The Book, the orangeand-red façade of the four-story structure with the Partagás name emblazoned across the roofline has been a beacon for every cigar lover around the world. No longer. The factory has moved. The new Partagás Factory is on the corner of Calle San Carlos in Central Havana, about a block down from the Romeo y Julieta factory and less than a 10-minute drive from the former Partagás venue. According to local histories, the current factory has…

On the nose you get a nuanced meeting of delicate fruits with oak, nuts and vanilla. On the palate come pears, ripe berries, cocoa and toffee. It’s the hallmark elegance and complexity of one of the hyperpremium Cognacs crafted by big houses like Hennessy or Rémy, with their vast storehouses of aged wine and spirits. Except this is from family-owned Frapin, which makes single-estate brandies, with its own grapes fermented, distilled and aged in-house. Such finds populate the widening options of the modern Cognac market. While Cognac touts one of the most exclusive definitions in the spirits world—it arises strictly from about 200,000 acres of vineyard surrounding the southwestern French town for which it is named—the region’s output is multidimensional. First there’s terroir, with six official growing regions—including the chalk-rich…

With many foods, fresh is considered best as we buy produce that’s been raced to market and carefully check sell-by dates on dairy products. Yet the true royalty of the meat world is aged beef, a food that, like fine cigars, whiskeys and wines, clings to the virtues of time well spent in slow curing. While it may seem a contradiction to anyone who has watched meat spoil in the refrigerator, hanging up cuts for as long as six weeks before selling them is the path to attaining the utmost in flavor and tenderness. But it also is a preparation that adds so much expense to the process that aged beef is rarely available outside of the best steak restaurants and the most select meat purveyors. Furthermore, the uninitiated may…

AFC EAST Patriot powerhouse tight end Rob Gronkowski (left) is expected to help Tom Brady deliver New England yet another AFC East division title in 2016, while Brandon Marshall (bottom right) and the New York Jets are seeking relief from a five-year playoff drought. 1 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS The us-against-the-world mentality that carried the 12-4 Patriots to their seventh straight division title returns with ageless QB Tom Brady facing an overly harsh four-game Deflategate suspension he evaded a year ago. Tom Terrific fashioned his best season in four years (4,770 yards, 36 TDs) only to fall short against Peyton Manning in the AFC Championship game. Party animal TE Rob Gronkowski (1,176 yards, 11 TDs) was practically unstoppable. Bill Belichick, who has Jimmy Garoppolo in reserve but could probably win with…

When we last saw Abraham Ford, the zombie-hunting, red-haired tough guy from the hit series “The Walking Dead,” he and his companions were kneeling in the dark, surrounded by a score of bad guys and staring down a particularly nasty adversary, armed with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. That bat was then swung with bad intent, raining a (presumably) fatal series of mighty blows upon someone’s unlucky head, the victim’s identity a mystery. Viewers were left with a cliffhanger—who lived? Who died? Michael Cudlitz, the actor who plays Ford, walks into a Palm steakhouse in midtown New York looking very much alive. He’s wearing dark brown biker boots, jeans and an untucked blue shirt. Six-foot-two without the boots, Cudlitz has a powerful build and a bushy mustache the…

1 TABLES GO STEAM PUNK—VINTAGE INDUSTRIAL Fans of the steam-punk movement’s Victorian-era aesthetic (cranks, valves, gears and mechanical machinations) will be riveted by the Train Crank Table from Vintage Industrial. It is part miner’s cart, part pump trolley and all table, with steel or wooden tops and distressed finishes. Turn the crank to adjust from 30" (dining height) to 42" (bar height). Base models start at $14,695, but can be customized. Vintage Industrial will even install tracks in the floor if you want to take your love of locomotives to the next level. retro.net 2 ARTISTIC ASHTRAYS—IRON HAMMER FORGE Blacksmith/artist Gerald Biresch turned his love of cigars and skill at sculpting metal into ashtrays that are pieces of art, yet functional. Each is unique, made by Biresch with a wire-feed…