Today, I give thanks for a great man and mourn his loss

"Is that a Rum Soaked Crook?" asked Valentino's dad each and every time he saw his son with a cigar.

Yes, it is really a thing. I had my doubts.

We laughed each and every time. It was kind of our thing.

I can't remember the last time he said it. Maybe when he came to visit as a surprise for Valentino the Younger's birthday party?

He had no idea his dad had travelled all the way
from Pittsburgh for the surprise party!
I win the Best Girlfriend prize 2014.

I'm sure he also said it one or a hundred times when we cruised to Bermuda. Many cigars were smoked. Much time was spent with Valentino the Elder, so...yeah. After all, it was our thing.

On this cruise, he and I ditched his son and my family
and snuck off and had drinks and ice cream shakes.
I will miss my partner-in-crime.

And certainly when we visited in June for the annual jaunt when the Valentinos play golf and I hopped over to West Virginia to hang with my boy.*

I was going to make a sparkle (*) about how Valentino the Elder, since his back troubles and subsequent surgery, now mans the golf cart, taking pictures and hauling water to the troops while the younger men play whack the ball and smoke cigars. Er, play golf. But this idea seems too important for a mere sparkle; it deserves a paragraph all to itself.  Since no girls are allowed at Man Camp, from whence the event stems, naturally I've never seen this golf cart activity. But for years, whenever someone talks about his position as Executive in Charge of Hydration and Photography, this is what I picture:

You can never take this image away, no matter how many stories of reality you tell me. It will always be this.

In addition to these festivities, there's also some good old Italian family time, complete with lots of noise and yelling and jocularity,** continuously cranked up to 11. That's very different from Casa Piva--we maintain about a level 4 with occasional bursts to 8.

They're good people. No, they're great people.

Is that a Rum Soaked Crook he's smoking?

The patriarch, Valentino the Elder, he was a kind, caring, funny, thoughtful man, all wonderful traits he passed on to his children and granddaughters.

My mom wrote, "He was 'bigger than life' and filled the room with his presence. My world is a better place for having known him, I will never think of him without smiling." Yes. Exactly that.

Now, one of the greatest men I have ever known is driving the golf cart in the sky, where the folks are cheering for him like it's the 16th Hole at the Waste Management Tournament. Yeah, he's smoking a cigar. And yes, it's a Rum Soaked Crook. You know, because it's our thing.

Godspeed, Tino. XOXO

*Keep in mind, my boy is 6' 4" is and wears a size 14 shoe. But he'll always be my boy. Of course, I can't remember his age. 26? 27? In that range. Mother of the Year right here.

**I'm trying to use this word once a day. It's a very fun word to say and reminds me of Father Mulcahey.

In which Valentino Gets his Silk(y) Wish

I'm quite a tactile person. If we meet and you're wearing a soft-looking shirt, I may ask to pet it. Don't pull away in horror. Pretty please? The irony of this is that I have very little feeling in my hands,* so I probably can't actually get the full sensation of your soft shirt. Is that silk by the way?

Speaking of silk, or more specifically the J Grotto Silk Series...

Ooooh.  Pretty. Shiny.
And one of Valentino's Top 3 Cigars of all Time!

As you may remember, from me telling you a hundred million times, we love to visit Mr. J's Havana in West Warwick, RI and give Paul and Mark and Tom and Rob all our monies. If we could give them all your monies too, we would.

Located front and center, right where you would go to exchange cash or credit for cigars,** sit the J Grotto Series, J Grotto Series Reserve, and J Grotto Silk Series. (And stay tuned for the Anniversary Series--it's so close I can almost taste it.)

Valentino has always*** been partial to the Silk Series, an Ecuadorian Connecticut blend, usually purchasing the Gordo 6 x 60. "Partial" is too slight of a descriptor. How about whole-heartedly adores? How about it's one of his top three favorites? How about LUUURRRVES? What is the foundation of this adoration? The cigar has a million tons of flavor, he says (my paraphrase, of course). "It's like a full-bodied mild cigar. A full flavor for the Connecticut wrapper folks." In fact, he hearts it soooooo much that it made the cut and got to travel to Bermuda with us. Sadly (happily?), it did not make the return trip.

Horseshoe Bay.
Pinky swear, one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been in my whole life.
And with one of his favorite cigars? Heaven on Earth.

Paul Joyal said upon its release in 2012, "I was test-smoking samples for our new J. Grotto Connecticut boutique cigar, the latest addition to our previous cigars in the line. Suddenly, the word 'Silk' came to mind. I realized it was the perfect name to describe this cigar...the wrapper's silky smooth feel and appearance, along with its flavor...fragrant and delicate, but with a surprise fullness of lush flavor nuances." [source]

But don't just take our word (or Paul's, although he may be a bit biased) about its awesomeness (even though we're wondering why you wouldn't be hanging on our every syllable).  Our friend Jake Healey from Hanley's Ale House in Providence said, "Being a medium to full smoker, Connecticut wrappers are often similar to smoking air for me. I also prefer lancero and smaller ring gauge cigars since the binder and wrapper contain most of the flavor in a cigar. There are some smokes that I will only smoke in smaller rings because the larger versions of the same blend don't have the same amount of flavor. The J Grotto silk has always been one of my favorite Connecticut smokes because it lives up to the name silk. You get a lot of thick, flavorful smoke with each puff."

Since falling in love with the creamy earthiness, with some pepperiness, Valentino has frequently begged Paul for a lancero Silk. "How about now?" he'd ask every time we went into the store.****

"Now?"

Every. Time. Kind of like this:

"Now?"

And then behold, the angels sang.

""...and the angels said unto them,
'Fear not, for behold I bring you tidings of great joy...
the J Grotto Silk Series Lancero.'"

And the Silk Lancero was born.

Hello, friends...  [source]

We may have done a happy dance, but it wasn't nearly as fun to watch as a cute couple in a romantic comedy doing a happy dance. Or Snoopy doing a happy dance--although ours ended about this same way as this:

So we bought some--okay a box--of the 7 1/2 x 40, plus a couple to smoke so we wouldn't have to break the box open, because... It's kind of like buying a candle you like and never burning it because then it will be gone. So, yeah, we still have a full box of ten. Okay, not exactly like that because he's gone in and bought more singles to refill the box, if you must know. I guess we could just buy another box--but as you know, we're having a humidor issue.

Here's Jake again: "[W]hen Paul told me he was coming out with a lancero and I would be one of the first to try it, I was over the moon. The lancero lives up to the silk name by still providing the thick smoke it always does, but with even more flavor than the other sizes. It had an excellent nutty flavor that is far superior to most of the Ecuadorean Connecticut cigars on the market, and its Indonesian binder gives it a ton of thick smoke synonymous with the name. I highly recommend the Silk to anyone who usually goes for a heavier smoke but wants something a little lighter in addition to anyone who is a mild smoker but wants a thicker smoke. If you haven't yet tried it, make sure to get your hands on one!"

Or, you know, way more than one.

"The lancero is a heavier gauge silk than the others in the line," Valentino says. "More concentrated. More silky. It's a heavier silk.  It's a winter silk..." It's a Silk he's going to be smoking regardless of the season.

A dream come true.

The other day when we were leaving the shop, Valentino said to Paul, "Now you need a salomon."

Paul shook his head. "You're killing me, Val."



*Some people say I don't have any feelings at all. I call them students. And I say your grade stands.

**If cigars had a hard instead of soft C-sound, this would be one hell of an awesome phrase.

***Always since they were born and he discovered them.

****I will not reveal how many times this may have been. That's between us and American Express.