Name: Cumpay Volcan

Country: Nicaragua

Shape: Parejo

Size: Gordito (5 inches x 60)

Strength: Medium to Full

Cumpay Volcan proved to be a very good “alone time” cigar. I smoked one late last night when I was home alone. I paired it with Aerstone 10 Year Old Land Cask, one of my go-to peated whiskies these days.

Cumpay Volcan is a good-looking, medium-bodied cigar with a beautiful aroma. A little peppery and leathery. Hints of coffee and nuts, too.

I smoked it leisurely on my balcony while I read Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The cigar burned for about an hour and a half, and then it was time for me to sleep…

This last week I’ve been carrying Pedagogy of the Oppressed with me everywhere I go. I read it the first time earlier this year, back in March. For some reason, I cannot part with it. I keep rereading sentences I have underlined, paragraphs, pages, chapters… There is something there. I feel like I still need time with this book. Something will come out of it in the end, I hope. But what?

Tonight, however, I’ll continue reading Frank Herbert’s Dune. The movie will be out in September 2021, a month from now. I want to finish reading the book before that.