Indholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2016 i Cigar Aficionado

The Padrón family doesn’t add new cigars to its portfolio very often, but when it does, the cigars typically are superb. Two new Padróns excelled in this taste test. The Padrón Serie 1926 No. 90, which hit the cigar market a mere few months ago, was made to honor the 90th birthday of company founder José Orlando Padrón. It’s a stunningly rich smoke, scoring 94 points, higher than any other cigar in this issue. The Hermoso, added to the company’s 22-year-old 1964 Anniversary Series brand earlier this year, was close behind with a score of 93. A Cuban cigar that was plucked from the archives, the Por Larrañaga Picadores, also scored 93, and it’s as tasty as it is attractive.…

Baron Enrico di Portanova (Ricky to friends) was a man of outsized appetites, a multimillionaire jet-setter who considered sun, sex and spaghetti the best things in life. The heir to a Texas oil fortune, he owned a string of palatial homes, entertained a who’s who list of the rich and famous and thought of his Lear Jet as a taxi. But the image for which custom clothier Harris Reiss remembers him best is a 1981 photo taken in Monte Carlo showing Baron Ricky smoking a cigar while styling an ascot under an over-shirt. Custom made by a tailor in Rome, it housed six cigars in slots across the breast. Reiss, who had an earlier career in cigar retail, first saw the picture in his youth. He retained the memory long…

Sunday dinner was looming, and this was an important one, celebrating my lovely wife’s birthday with a large contingent of family. I offered to prepare the feast. “What would you like?” I asked. “Beef Wellington,” came the reply. At first it was a jest—this is a complex, difficult dish, a tenderloin of rare beef wrapped like a Christmas gift in a cloak of puff pastry, with treasures buried within. But I enjoy a challenge, and I like to cook. Game on. To prepare Beef Wellington, one must first understand Beef Wellington, and at first glance it seems like an impossible dish, the meat version of a ship in a bottle. How do you get rare steak within crispy pastry? It’s a famous dish, taught in culinary school, and its origins…

I’m not a survivalist. In the occasion of a zombie apocalypse, I would likely be the first casualty. Without a steady infusion of Robusta, what’s the point? So imagine me, avowed prey, scrolling through online forums populated with hunters, former-Marines, and doomsday preppers. Before I began my search, I owned one flashlight—if you count an iPhone—and I wouldn’t have dreamed that a flashlight could summon help, stun an assailant or batter him senseless. My friends, I have seen the light, and it is bright. So what makes a flashlight tactical? First, it’s much brighter than your average plastic clunker. Tactical flashlights typically feature LED bulbs rated at 1,200 lumens— that’s about as bright as your vehicle’s highbeams, compressed into a five-inch baton. Units bundle preprogrammed modes, ranging from low-, medium-,…

Who knew a continent could have a birth certificate? Well, “America’s Birth Certificate” is the unofficial name of the 1507 Martin Waldseemüller Map, the first to depict America as a continent and name it, and in effect redraw the world. In 2003 the Library of Congress paid $10 million for it, a record for a map. Then there’s the famed John Mitchell Map—also known as the red line map—used to determine the shape of the United States during the 1783 peace treaty negotiations. Appraised at $27,000, it’s one of just two copies; one is in the British Museum, the other is in the private collection of Murray Hudson, aka the Map Man, who owns the largest private cartographical collection in the world. Though Hudson’s Antique Maps, Globes, Books & Prints…

Geoffrey Zakarian is tucked next to a Kentia palm plant, sitting in a leather, semicircle booth at The National, a restaurant he opened more than a year ago in tony Greenwich, Connecticut. He’s sipping a sangria from a metal cup shaped like an owl that matches the warm intensity of its holder. It’s a fitting vessel for Zakarian, who has amassed quite a bit of food wisdom in his 34-year career and never shies from voicing his opinion. “I love sangria, but I never like to see what the hell is in it,” he says, adjusting the thick, black frames that seem to magnify his dark, piercing eyes. “At most joints, a bartender takes all the old fruit and leftover wine from the night and he throws it in there.…

It has happened only seven times—a sub-60 score in an 18-hole PGA round. Jim Furyk is the only man to have done it twice, and the sole player to have scored 58. But which round is the best? We looked closely at the scores to analyze each performance, considering the toughness of the course, the playing conditions and other factors to rank them in order. 7 THE ATTACK IN VEGAS Golfer Chip Beck Score 59 Date October 11, 1991 Tournament 1991 Las Vegas Invitational Course Sunrise Golf Club (Now Stallion Mountain Golf Club) Las Vegas, Nevada Course Rating 74.8 / Slope 130 / Par 72 No round under 60 is easy, but this 59 was played in the dry, desert air of Las Vegas, on a course that was under…

Fernando Domínguez, 57, is the premium cigar director of Imperial Brands, a London company that is one of the world’s largest tobacco concerns. Domínguez has been part of the company for more than three decades, joining Spain’s Tabacalera S.A. in 1985, which later merged with France’s SEITA to create Altadis, now part of Imperial. Among Imperial’s holdings is a 50 percent ownership in Habanos S.A., Cuba’s worldwide distributor of Cuban cigars and the company that oversees the creation of all of Cuba’s cigar brands. The Madrid-born Domínguez, who lived in Cuba for nearly six years while he served as a copresident of Habanos, oversees all of Imperial’s premium cigar brands—from its vast non-Cuban portfolio to the Cuban cigars themselves. This summer Domínguez sat down with CIGAR AFICIONADO executive editor David…

A trend for light and thin designs reflects that cigar-accessory makers have wised up to the idea that a lot of smoking is done on the go. But the ultimate in travel-friendly cutters—a tool that attaches to a key ring and makes a perfect cut every time—has been around for generations. Now, punch cutters are getting some improvements that make them even more versatile and lightweight. The punch cutter is a difficult-to-misplace tool whose cut offers a few perks, including that it’s nearly impossible to screw up. You simply press the circular blades into the head of a cigar, turn gently, and voila! A small amount of cap is removed. Some cigarians prefer this perforation because it leaves much of the cap intact and feels smooth on the lips. The…

If you passed him on the street in any of Manhattan’s envelope-pushing downtown neighborhoods where his restaurants are located, you might not give chef Mario Carbone a second look. He could be any hipster in a denim jacket and plaid shirt, sporting a second- or perhaps third-day growth of beard under dark, friendly eyes, a spotless, uncreased baseball cap perched on his neatly trimmed head like a crown. • But, at the age of 36, Carbone is something else entirely: a rising star in the New York restaurant firmament. Only a few years removed from opening his first restaurant with the company Major Food Group, Carbone and his partners now have 12 eateries to their credit, including Carbone, the New York restaurant that has made its namesake a culinary comet.…

Dressed in a gray hoodie and knit cap that covers his bald pate, Philadelphia’s Marc Vetri walks into the restaurant that bears his name on a snowy winter night. He’s not here to cook—he’s come to kidnap his chef de cuisine. He finds his target and stuffs his captive into the back of a white limo, along with a group of friends, and they head out on a mission to dine. First stop, the sushi bar at Morimoto, a 10-minute-drive away. “Holy shit!” Vetri exclaims after taking a bite of Japanese snapper. “Nobody talks about the rice when they eat sushi, but this is the perfect texture.” After that meal, the party grows, and now Morimoto’s head sushi chef is among the hostages. Next stop, Kanella, a Cypriot restaurant. Vetri…

As Jim Furyk pounded ball after ball on the range Thursday night, his head was filled with disgust with the number he posted that day—73. • It was August 4, and he was annoyed with himself for playing a poor first round in the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. So annoyed that he told longtime caddie and confidant Mike “Fluff” Cowan to leave him alone on the range. It was just him, his clubs and a diminishing pile of balls. He called his father, Mike, who also serves as his coach, between swings. He was seeking a solution to his errant driving. • Furyk needed better numbers. He needed a good score on Friday just to make the cut. He needed a good position on the final leaderboard to…

WHEN IT COMES to real estate, location is everything, and waterfront property always commands a premium. Whether on a hot, tropical sandy beach or perched on cliffs atop rugged rocks and crashing waves, our love for the shore is primal. Seventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered with oceans, and those oceans are dotted with islands—a lot of islands. Such islands as Hawaii, Bali and Tahiti are time-honored destinations. Some are lesser-known islands with loyal fans. Others are just being discovered. With thousands of possibilities, the question is which are the best? We’ve answered that by polling a panel of experts, ranking Best Islands in numerous categories, from luxury lodging to cuisine, fishing to golf, adventure travel to quality family time. For more than a decade, our uniquely critical…

RACE YOUR ENGINES AWAY FROM THE ROAR OF THE ENGINES AND THE WHIFF OF GAS, THE SPEEDSTER THROTTLES DOWN WITH A GOOD SMOKE. Clockwise from left: Ferrari SF 16-H Formula One model by Amalgam Collection; Prometheus Slimline lighter; VSB London leather cigar pouch; Tonino Lamborghini Matrix cigar case; World Cup sunglasses by Maui Jim atop Colibri Quasar humidor; Tonino Lamborghini Pergusa lighter, Ferrari Prancing Horse ashtray atop Built to Thrill book; Peccary leather driving gloves; Bell & Ross BR03-94 AeroGT watch; Xikar VX keychain cutter and Xidris lighter; Lotus Serrated v-cutter. For more information, see page 206. ON THE DEEP BLUE SEA ONE HAND ON THE HELM AND THE OTHER HOLDING A CIGAR, THE SAILOR ENJOYS THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS. Clockwise from top right: Persol Vintage Celebration sunglasses atop…

RACE YOUR ENGINES page 128 Clockwise from left: Ferrari SF 16-H Formula One model by Amalgam Collection ($1,440 at the Ferrari Store New York, store.ferrari.com, amalgamcollection.com); Prometheus Slimline lighter in black matte ($45, prometheuskkp.com); VSB London cigar pouch in black leather ($110, vsblondon.com); Tonino Lamborghini Matrix Carbon Fiber cigar case in black ($250, visolproducts.com); World Cup sunglasses by Maui Jim ($299, tommybahama.com); Colibri Quasar humidor in matte red lacquer ($1,500, colibri.com); Tonino Lamborghini Pergusa lighter in black ($155, visolproducts.com); Ferrari Prancing Horse ashtray in yellow ($70, store.ferrari.com); Built to Thrill by Clive Cussler ($60, penguin.com); Peccary leather driving gloves ($236, leatherglovesonline.com); Bell & Ross BR03-94 AeroGT watch ($8,800, bellross.com); Xikar VX keychain cutter in black and Xidris lighter in Daytona red ($45 and $70, xikar.com); Lotus Serrated V-cutter in anodized…

What makes one brand of car more special than another? Is it 22-way leather seats, hand-crafted wood accents? A 420-horsepower V-8? Or perhaps its hood ornament. Plenty will pay extra for the Mercedes-Benz tri-star or BMW spinner. But what about the winged badge adorning the new Genesis G90? The name doesn’t ring a bell? Genesis is the new luxury arm of Hyundai. Yes, that Hyundai, the same company that produces plebian models like Accent, Elantra and Veloster. It’s not entirely new to the luxury game. It first used the Genesis name a decade ago on a midsize sedan aimed at the likes of the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes E-Class. And it was good enough to be named North American Car of the Year by a panel of 50 U.S. and…

There are ski towns—and then there is St. Moritz, the birthplace of winter tourism, the spot where the ski vacation was invented. Bobsledding was created here. The town has on-snow polo season, followed by the “White Turf,” a month of wintry horse racing. St. Moritz has held the Winter Olympics twice, and looks to bid for 2026. In 2017, it will host the World Alpine Championships—for the fifth time. But St. Moritz has been a winter haven for “only” a century and a half. For two millennia before that it was already a spa and summer vacation hotspot. Then, in 1864, the town’s most famous hotelier and host, Johannes Badrutt, introduced winter tourism by staying open past the fall. His spirit lives on today in one of the world’s grandest…

They are names any food lover will instantly recognize: José Andrés of Jaleo in Washington, D.C. Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin in New York City. Emeril Lagasse of Emeril’s in New Orleans. Thomas Keller of The French Laundry in Yountville, California. Charlie Palmer of Aureole in Manhattan. Marc Vetri of Vetri Ristorante in Philadelphia. Michael Cimarusti of Providence in Los Angeles. Geoffrey Zakarian of The Lambs Club in New York. Each of these star chefs shares more than the acclaim of critics, fame and success in the tough world of the restaurant business. Each of them has a passion for enjoying handmade, premium cigars. 􀁑 CIGAR AFICIONADO reached out to this group of star chefs to share their stories and find out why they love cigars. JOSÉ ANDRÉS Washington, D.C.…

The right arm moves constantly, forcefully stirring the mixture—water, butter and flour. To the right sit white bowls of minced herbs. It’s a French version of herb gnocchi, very light, very simple. But in the hands of Chef Thomas Keller, it becomes something special. “Get that nice four-pinch in there,” says Keller, tall and lean in chef whites, as he explains that a pinch can be one to four fingers. Next, the eggs. “You can see each time I’m working it, how the egg is becoming incorporated into the mixture.” Now cheese. “Looking beautiful,” he says as he stirs. “I just love the smell of Gruyere cheese.” Keller, who started cooking in his native Florida, is now the American chef who inspires and intimidates. Many have called him a perfectionist.…

Furyk’s round of 58 on August 7, 2016, the lowest round in PGA history, was devoid of bogeys and close to perfect. Drives found the center of the fairway and most of his approach shots left him short putts—or none at all on the case of the third hole, where he found the cup from 135 yards away. Here are his 58 shots, hole by hole, on the par-70 TPC River Highlands Course. 1 434 yards Par 4 Furyk hits driver off the tee, then a 9-iron approach shot to 15 feet, two putts. Par. Even 2 341 yards Par 4 Driver, 60-degree wedge to 15 feet, one putt. Birdie. 1 under par 3 431 yards Par 4 After he smacks his drive 296 yards, Furyk holes out with a…

Mike Piazza is storming. He is part owner of AC Regiana 1919, an Italian soccer team, now losing to Bissano Virtus 1-0. “It’s the 53rd minute,” he fumes, looking at the TV screen behind his desk and pacing across his home office. In jeans and a pullover shirt Piazza is muscular. Even as he enters the Hall of Fame, his build is indistinguishable from the 6-3, 200-pound frame of nine years ago, when he played his last major-league game. His newly boyish face—clean-shaven and friendly, vulnerable and less hidden—makes it difficult to summon those mental images of years past: from mustache to goatee, from brown locks to blond. Running five miles a day in South Beach has left him tanned and more youthful than the 49 years the calendar shows.…

Carlos Fuente Sr., the patriarch and longtime chairman of Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia., died on August 5 in Tampa, Florida, after a battle with stomach cancer. He was 81 years old and surrounded by his family at the time of his death. Fuente ran one of the world’s largest handmade cigar companies, presiding over such storied brands as Arturo Fuente and Fuente Fuente OpusX. His company also makes many brands under contract for others, including all the Ashton and Diamond Crown cigars. He worked alongside his son, Carlos Fuente Jr., who is president of the company, and his daughter, Cynthia Fuente-Suarez. Both are actively involved in Fuente today, continuing the long family tradition of making fine cigars. From a humble beginning in Ybor City, Florida, making cigars in his…

1 PERSONAL FLYER—ICON AIRCRAFT Looking for a last-minute stocking stuffer? How about a personal aircraft? The Icon A5 ($189,000), a two-seat amphibious plane that lands and takes off on land or water, is a sci-fi dream come true. With limited payload, it’s more like a sports car, but the wings fold up, so you can tow it with your car and stow it in your garage. Easy to fly—with a spin-resistant frame—it also has a parachute that softly lands the entire plane if things really go wrong. iconaircraft.com 2 WELL SHOD—FERRAGAMO TRAMEZZA The most prestigious line in Salvatore Ferragamo men’s footwear—Tramezza— just got better. Now you can purchase the top of the line shoes, with their elegant styling and premium materials, on a custom basis. Ferragamo Tramezza Made to Order…