Tag: Reflections

Have a Cigar: Cuba Aliados Cabinet Selection Robusto

Chris Khatsch1 Comment

Name: Cuba Aliados Cabinet Selection Robusto

Country: Honduras

Shape: Parejo

Size: Robusto (5 inches x 50)

Strength: Medium

I had to work overtime on Monday night because I had a deadline to meet. And I needed a cigar to go with it. I chose the Cuba Aliados that has been sitting in my cigar box for over a week. From its look and feel, I could tell it was a good one. It smelled pretty good, and it promised me a good time.

Let’s just say it was a cigar I could work with.

Overall, it was a decent stick, and it went well with peated whisky. It burned evenly, even though I smoked the whole thing rather quickly, in less than 45 minutes. I got hints of chocolate and leather, and, at the end, a nutty aftertaste.

Cumpay Volcan Cigar Review. Beirut, Lebanon

Have a Cigar: Cumpay Volcan

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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.

Have a Cigar: Umnum Canonazo

Chris Khatsch1 Comment

Name: Umnum Canonazo

Country: Nicaragua

Shape: Parejo

Size: Robusto (5 1/4 inches x 52)

Strength: Medium to Full

The Umnum Canonazo is a medium-bodied cigar, leathery and earthy, perfect for casual hangouts and night outs.

I smoked mine while I enjoyed a couple of glasses of Johnnie Walker Black Label with my fiancée at a place called BistroBar Live in Dbayeh. I feel you can also pair Umnum Canonazo with a simple gin cocktail like gin basil or gin tonic. But I’ll have to try that another time.

Cigars are something, aren’t they?
While some find it rude
or disrespectful
when you light one in their presence,
the cigar actually humanizes its smoker.

Fire and smoke.
Thinking and thoughts.

You can gaze into the red eye,
and you can read the words in the rising smoke.

“I accomplished something, and this is my reward.”
“I need a break, and this is it.”
“Stay away! I need time to think.”
And sometimes, “Let’s converse
and lick each other’s thoughts.”

A cigar every now and then will do you good.
Don’t be afraid to burn your hourly rate on a night out,
and, on special occasions,
burn your daily wage bravely.
Taste a good cigar! You deserve it.