Category: Blog

Whisky Review and Pairing: Lagavulin 16 paired with a Cohiba Cigar

Artificial Intelligence Reviewing Whiskies

Chris KhatschLeave a comment

Skimming through New Scientist articles this morning, I came across one titled “AI beats human experts at distinguishing American whiskey from Scotch.” Apparently, artificial intelligence can now tell the difference between Scotch whisky and American whiskey, and it can also identify the main aromas of the spirit it is analyzing. It can detect the peaty, malty, fruity, spicy, and woody notes of the whisky, and so on. Moreover, as the title of the New Scientist article indicates, the AI proved to be better at this than human experts. Whisky (as well as wine, beer, etc.) connoisseurs, reviewers, and dilettantes like myself may soon need to find new pastimes. If there’s a machine out there that is able to deliver a more comprehensive review of a drink, then whisky or wine tastings won’t be as fun anymore, will they? The cold analysis of an objective machine will kill the phenomenology of the spirit. Philosophizing about the single malt Scotch you’re having is half the fun… However, it is important to note that, technically, the AI (which is an “AI molecular odour prediction algorithm”) isn’t really tasting the drink; it is analyzing the chemical compounds in it. So, for the time being, I’d say it’s still too early for us to worry about AI replacing us in bars and pubs, drinking all our booze, picking up the hottest women, and everything. And even though AI may understand the construction of the spirits much better than we do, it cannot experience that nice buzz we get after the second glass. Not yet, at least.

I wonder if, in the end, insobriety — the Dionysian state many of us enjoy — will remain one of the few characteristics reserved for humans, inaccessible to machines. Or will we also one day witness a (self-aware) machine deliberately exit its Apollonian state to get drunk and have some fun?

After all, it’s only worth it if you can enjoy it. And sentient machines may desire to experience drunkenness…

Reference: Odor prediction of whiskies based on their molecular composition

Reviewing the CAO Flathead V660 Carb cigar, smoking it at Club Mareva Beirut, Lebanon.

Bored Absurdist’s Top 10 Cigars of 2024

Chris KhatschLeave a comment

It’s that time of the year again, gentlemen. So, here are the Top 10 cigars I smoked in 2024:

Cigar Review: Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Espressivo

10. Aging Room Quattro Nicaragua Espressivo

Here’s a strong and aromatic robusto that has a 60-minute smoke time. It’s a masterfully constructed box-pressed cigar that has a firm draw and burns slowly. It’s good-looking, too. I liked pairing it with Islay whiskies. But it also goes well with espresso.

Smoking a Cuban Partagas cigar while driving in Beirut

9. Partagas Petit Coronas Especiales

At number nine, we have a small Cuban cigar that is enjoyable behind the wheels. It would also be nice to pair it with a cappuccino while listening to the birds singing in the trees on a sunny summer morning. If it were up to me, I’d label the Partagas Petit Coronas Especiales as a “breakfast cigar.”

Smoking a cigar at Chateau Pape Clement in Pessac, Bordeaux.

8. Sin Compromiso Seleccion No. 5 Parejo

This is the cigar I smoked at Chateau Pape Clement, so I will always remember it because it’s attached to amazing memories. (My wife and I spent a night at Chateau Pape Clement when we were in Bordeaux. It’s a beautiful place, and their wine is unforgettable.) I smoked the Sin Compromiso after dinner and paired it with espresso and water.

Adventura The Royal Return King's Gold Toro cigar review in Lebanon by Chris Khatsch

7. Adventura The Royal Return King’s Gold Toro

A medium-to-full-bodied toro that will stick around and burn slowly for 90 or so minutes as I lay back and meditate.

Sancho Panza Double Maduro Cigar Review at Mareva Club Lebanon

6. Sancho Panza Double Maduro Gigante

Not the best first impression, but this double toro did grow on me eventually. It’s a big, practical cigar, and it deserves its number six spot on my list. It’s an excellent choice for a “casual smoke.”

Cigar Review Lebanon: Have a Cigar Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente King T

5. Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente King T Natural

Sometimes, I think that Arturo Fuente’s great name in the cigar industry has ruined Arturo Fuente’s cigars a little. I often expect a little more from their cigars than what I eventually get. Now, the Chateau Fuente King T Natural is an amazing cigar, and that’s why I placed it at number five. But I felt there was something missing when I was smoking it, and I don’t know what it is.

Reviewing the CAO Flathead V660 Carb cigar, smoking it at Club Mareva Beirut, Lebanon.

4. CAO Flathead V660 Carb

Big cigar, great construction, majestic burn, generous smoke, beautiful ash, and bold notes. Smoking the CAO Flathead V660 Carb was one of my big cigar moments of 2024.

Review of Club Mareva Beirut's double corona cigar called Odyssey A

3. Club Mareva Beirut Odyssey-A

This one is definitely the longest cigar I smoked in 2024. It was released by one of my favorite cigar lounges in Lebanon, and I just had to try it. It was a great experience.

Arturo Fuente Opus X Destino al Siglo Maduro Perfecxion X - Cigar Review - Mareva Lebanon

2. Arturo Fuente Opus X Destino al Siglo Maduro Toro

This was my birthday cigar. It was an excellent cigar and one of the best I smoked in 2024. Definitely a great choice for a celebration cigar.

Smoking and Reviewing the Liga Privada H99 at Club Mareva Beirut, Lebanon.

    1. Liga Privada H99 Toro

    A strong, full-bodied, good-looking, toro-sized cigar. All my preferences in one amazing smoke. This year, the Nicaraguan Liga Privada H99 Toro takes the number one spot.

    If you enjoy reading my cigar posts, you may also enjoy my book about cigars. Check it out here.

    Quotes from Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince

    Chris KhatschLeave a comment

    How important is Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince? I’d say that it’s not so important anymore. Anyone who’s half-aware of what’s going on in the world would find that Machiavelli is stating the obvious. In today’s world, the Machiavellian nature of politics is a given. We do not need to discover it; we know it from the start. There isn’t a man out there who believes politicians are honest folks just doing their job. They lie to us every day, and we know, but we believe them anyway. It’s how the world works.

    So, in that respect, we can say that the contemporary man understands Machiavelli without even reading his work. In the past, people may have believed that there were honest princes or politicians, so The Prince could have shocked the readers of the past who could not even have guessed we’d have something called the internet one day. (In fact, 16th, 17th, and 18th-century readers were so disturbed that they believed Machiavelli was inspired by the devil.) In the 21st century, however, The Prince has become literature for the necrophiles. It is still readable, of course. But more than half a millennium has passed since Machiavelli’s death, and if one’s goal is to conquer the world, he’ll find books like Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power much more useful to him than merely The Prince.

    Nonetheless, since I have revisited the book anyway, I’ll save some of the sentences I have underlined here and make a blog post out of it. Enjoy the quotes!

    Quotes from Machiavelli’s The Prince

    “It is in the nature of things that as soon as a powerful foreigner enters a province, all the weaker powers in it will become his allies through envy of those who have been ruling over them.”

    “A prince must have no other objective, no other thought, nor take up any profession but that of war.”

    “He who causes another to become powerful ruins himself.”

    “A prince, therefore, should always seek advice, but only when he, not someone else, chooses.”

    “A prince should avoid joining forces with someone more powerful than himself for the purpose of attacking another unless necessity compels him to do so.”

    “A wise prince must provide in such a way that, in whatever circumstances, the citizens will always be in need of him and of his government. Then they will always be loyal to him.”