Name: Chateau Oumsiyat Syrah 2018
Type: Red Wine
Grapes: Syrah
Year: 2018
Country: Lebanon
Region: Mount Lebanon
Date Consumed: January 26, 2025
I can imagine emptying a whole bottle by myself on a Friday evening after a long workweek. This is a nice wine to pair with long breaks and full-bodied Nicaraguan cigars. It’s also a nice wine to pair with philosophical texts. I can taste darkness and depth. I can smell pines and petrichor. I can see words sinking in a purple ocean…
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
It’s that time of the year again, gentlemen. So, here are the Top 10 cigars I smoked in 2024:
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bored Absurdist 