But even if we can't get there, you should definitely go to the Smokey Pilgrim event!
(We're still trying to figure out how to be in two places at once.)
On Saturday, June 13, 2015 from 3:00-8:00 (p.m., obviously), in good old Plymouth, MA,* an awesome group of folks is putting on quite the cigar herfing shindig.
Plus! This event, while super fun, is a fundraiser at heart, raising money for Cigars for Warriors and the Young America Club.**
*Yes, Plimoth, where the Pilgrims landed. Unless they didn't land there, which Nathanial Philbrick discusses in his awesomely cool book Mayflower.***
**The Young America Club is a non-profit community based organization located in Plymouth Massachusetts. Founded in 1910 by Portuguese-Americans, the club has been providing local men with a place to socialize and network with friends and family within the community.
***As an aside, because you know I love asides, my Mayflower-travelling ancestor is Richard Warren, a London Merchant Adventurer, which sounds incredibly fun.
Honest to everything, sometimes I am the dumbest person ever to walk the earth. Or lie on the couch on Earth. Or have snacks on Earth. Or second-hand smoke on Earth.*
When this happens, my BFF (Hi Jame!) will look me straight in the eye and ask, "Have you been drinking from the lead cup?"
The answer is probably yes. Here's why:
1. I lived in Westport, MA for umpity gajillion years and never knew the Premium 70/70 Cigar Shop and Lounge existed. Westport is not a big place. There's no reason we haven't been going in there for umpity ages. I never connected the giant neon CIGAR sign outside to We Like Cigars.
Look what I was missing:
Look at this delicious lounging area.
Valentino could smoke and chat up a storm with the regulars here!
(We hear they're wicked nice!)
(Obvs they're not in the picture. I'm not THAT bad!).
BTW, I could totally second-hand smoke here.
I could write here. Let's be honest. I could nap here no problem.
AND!**
You guys! You have to go here and be amazed at all the great cigars in this massive humidor that made Valentino weep with jealousy--even though this is a shop and we aren't (although the new humidor makes us look a lot closer). You'd be jealous of these humidors too! You should visit them to see for yourself. We'll meet you there!
So very very pretty. And what's inside is pretty great too!
[Here's an extended aside-too big for a sparkle--Premium 70/70 is hosting a J Grotto event on Friday, February 20, 2015. We've told you a million times about how much we love all things J Grotto and adore their creator, Paul Joyle, he of Mr. J's Havana. Clear your calendar and get your butt there. We'll probably go! ::runs to tell Valentino I'd like to go::]
Anyway, while we were at 70/70, Valentino picked up one of these little babies (below) to smoke while we pestered Manager and Awesomely Cool Guy*** Nolan Perry. You have to go and you have to say "Howdy!" to Nolan. He's super fun to talk to and he knows about one thousand cubic tons of cigar things.
And when you go, say "Well helloooooo" in that creepy way to Los Carajos, "All the power & flavor of a full sized Ligero concentrated into a quick smoke that will surely leave you yelling its name… in a good way!" according to the La Flor Dominicana website.
So very very tasty!
So...this 4 x 34 is the new house favorite for a quick smoke--for example when Valentino is waiting for me to get my crap together and leave the house, even though I was ready to go three minutes prior.**** I'm thinking I should buy this for him, since my losing things and getting sidetracked is a regular occurrence.
Perfect packaging if you have OCD.
In case you didn't know, because you don't live on Planet Earth, "La Flor Dominicana is one of the premier Dominican cigar producers known
for growing full-flavored and full-bodied Dominican tobacco on their La Canela
farm. They then carefully age and roll these tobaccos into some of the
best-selling cigars in the world." [source]
We recently emptied out the overstuffed humidor and split the goods into its newly-arrived 2,000-count twin. Guess what we found as we started sorting? Yep! Lots of LFDs because--hand to the heavens--there's not a bad one in the bunch, so each time we're at an event, we buy more new things to try and old favorites to stock up on. Contrary to popular belief, I am not an enabler.*****
"Offered with a variety of wrappers,
the La Flor Dominicana Little Cigars provide the same great tobacco flavors that
fans of La Flor Dominicana have come to expect but in a smaller package. These
short smokes are guaranteed to give you your cigar fill in a shorter smoking
time with medium to full-bodied smoke and terrific flavors." [source] Speaking of none of that, guess who lives at Premium 70/70!!!
Bob the Cat!!
How can you not love a place with a cat?
You thought I forgot I was making a list, didn't you?
2. So--70/70 Cigar Shop.
I'm embarrassed at how long it took me to figure out what the shop name means. I'm not saying it took a couple of days to click. I mean MONTHS! Maybe even YEARS! I can't remember.
I looked at Valentino the other day, all proud of my perhaps deleaded-cup brain and said, "Did you know that the 70/70 shop name means the perfect temp and humidity?"
He didn't actually say, "No der," but I could see his thought bubble. It read "No DER."******
3. Before we walked into this amazeballs shop, standing outside in the effing freezing cold, we agreed, "We're not buying anything while we're here."
Hahahaahahhahhahhah. As if that could happen--us walking out of a fabulous shop empty-handed. Obviously he's been sipping from the cup as well.
[As another aside too big for sparkles, we did walk IN empty-handed. We hadn't planned to visit the shop, so we left Will at home. When I introduced myself, Nolan said, "Where's Will?"]
Anyway, we plucked these from the shop's magic humidor, with Nolan's help. We like to ask shopkeepers what they're enjoying and what they recommend.
We're going to write about these cigars in the near future--and I promise not to forget. Although I can't promise I won't get distracted choosing a pair of earrings or shooing Will out of the humidor--so no actual timeframe... but someday! Someday!!
In the meantime, we'll see you at Premium 70/70 in Westport, MA!
*Keeping it relevant, people.
**Me yelling, for emphasis.
***His official title, according to me.
****I swear I am not doing girly things, like my hair. I'm usually looking for my other glove or Will or running back upstairs to get earrings or a scarf. I am Valentino's version of unorganized hell. And proud of it.
*****Lie. I'm a total enabler. Does it make you happy? Get it!
******In case this phrase isn't common in your land, it essentially means, "What are you, fucking stupid?" in a more sarcastic and much nicer way.
Valentino and I had a couple of errands to run, one of which was actually paying for the tickets we'd reserved for the Broadway Cigars' February dinner at Ciara Restaurant on February 9. (For details, give the shop a call* (401) 272-9600 or visit the event Facebook page.)
We took Will the Travelling Owl because sometimes it's just easier to bring him than it is to listen to him bitch because we didn't.
We landed at Broadway first, whereby Will demanded a photoshoot:
Oh, we'll do what you want, little owl,
but we're going to photobomb you.
You know we love the La Flor Dominicana Myster...oh, we mean TCFKAM (The Cigar Formerly Known As Mysterio). Will's also a fan.
Will would like to own this box. Just sayin'...
This Alec BradleyNica Puro Diamond Rough Cut is on our to-do list. I guess it would be a to-smoke list. We don't want to call it a Cigar Bucket List, as we'd like to have more than one before we do any bucket-kicking. The limited-release (which you know makes us swoon) 6 1/2 x 54 toro is a line extension of the already beloved Nico Puro. As the name states, this cigar screams heaven for our Nicaraguan-loving Valentino.
Yep. These AB babies. Where the Nica Puro line all began...
way back in 2012.
This is a super favorite of the entire household!
This is the super-limited, 75th Anniversary release Joel Sherman, from our friends at Nat Sherman. The double corona (7 1/2 x 46) is a perfect blend of an Ecuadorean Connecticut wrapper and Dominican binder and filler. Every once in a while, we'll gift one to a friend and as his** face lights up with delight, we mention that (hahaha) they're hard to find.***
We were super surprised to find that Broadway had them, as few other folks do. So, if this is your great white whale that you relentlessly seek, run and get them!
P.S. We cropped the photo so you couldn't have your heart broken, as we did when we saw someone wrote the price on this gorgeous box in permanent marker.
Will is saying, Ah, I remember when
I was first to have one of these...
Broadway also has the J Grotto perfecto P-555 (5 x 55--get it?), which sold so quickly that they, too, are difficult to find. Will wanted to hoard them all. We told him if he wanted to get a job and pay for them, we'd be happy to carry the bag for him.
But we can also understand his desire to have them. We've loved them since Paul Joyle shared them with us pre-release. The Connecticut broadleaf wrapper and Dominican Habano binder work lovingly together to hold the Dominican and other Central American super secret fillers. Want to know more? You should go here!
We turned away for one second and found Will
rolling around in the box of another favorite cigar. Sigh.
We've told you a hundred gazillion times**** about our love of the Leaf.***** It's another we tell folks about all the time. We could probably hand-sell them throughout the land if we were so inclined. But then we'd feel like we were playing favorites, and that wouldn't be right. After all, we are staunch reporters, committed to true journalism. (Hard to say without laughing, so we can imagine how hard it is to read.)
If you haven't had a Leaf by Oscar, from our friend Island Jim Robinson, then let us know and we'll point you in the right direction. Wrapped in a tobacco leaf, this cigar is as awesome as it looks.
Arrrrgh!
Very few cigars can be both awesome and annoying. There's another all-Nicaraguan cigar (awesome) we dig and every time we see it, whether at Broadway, another shop, or in the humidor when we're looking for something delicious,****** that damn Commodores song pops into our heads (annoying). (You're welcome, by the way, for the earworm.)
We have been remiss in telling you about our Brick House love, and promise to get to that soon, but in the meantime, here's an interesting story from their website: "In 1937, J.C. Newman launched Brick House; a true Cuban puro cigar made with the finest Havana tobaccos. To honor his family and heritage, J.C. modeled the Brick House label after his childhood home – the only brick house in their small, Hungarian village. Locals and visitors would gather at the house nightly to eat, drink, smoke and enjoy each other’s company. But with the Cuban embargo came the end of the Brick House." But you can't blow a brick house down, and they are back and waiting for you!
Yes, Will likes the name of this cigar. Sigh. Again.
Mr. J's Havana introduced us to the Crux Cigar family at one of their monthly dinners, waaay back in October, and we've been fans ever since! Crux is relative new to the marketplace, and this Ninfamaniac pays homage to the classic Cuban Ninfa, at 7 x 33, although the tapered cap and foot makes it uniquely Crux. With a Habano Jalapa wrapper, Indonesian binder, and Nicaraguan filler, one of the most interesting things about the Ninfamaniac, besides the fantastic taste, is that the cigars are handcrafted by only two rollers.
*But not today, Tuesday 1/27, because they are closed--as is the rest of Penny World because of, um...all the snow in the world being dumped on us!
**Always "he." We know very few local lady cigar smokers.
***We are horrible people. We know this. We know you love us anyway.
****Go to the right-hand side of the blog, scroll down, and click on Leaf. Then you'll see all the times we brought it up in casual conversation. Blogging conversation, that is.
*****Hey! We said the name of the blog!
******Everything in the humidor is delicious, so the search isn't a difficult one.
Right now,* Valentino and I are transporting goods across state lines. (Teehee!)
We really are the world's most innocuous mules. I have nothing stashed in my bouffant hairdo** a la Marge Simpson. Valentino has nothing sewn into his jacket. (I was going to go with another image, one more traditional in the smuggling world, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Hi, Mom!)
Instead of being supercool and in the midst of a car chase with guns ablazin', we're driving along Interstate 80 in Pennsylvania, minding speed limits and listening to 70s on 7. (I love Sirius/XM radio.)
And a backseat full of these:
In boxes, obviously. Not a back seat full of loose cigars.
We spent a couple of afternoons/evenings at Island Jim Robinson's Leaf and Bean this past week, but couldn't actually smoke any of his signature cigars. They were totally sold out. He told us some had been produced and were sitting in Honduras, silently aging.*** He stressed that he wouldn't have them shipped to himself or anyone else until they were practically perfect in every way. (I'm paraphrasing, obvs. I just can't see Jim quoting Mary Poppins.)
Then we saw on Facebook (my major source for news) that the cigars were wide awake and U.S.-bound.
They were on their way here!!
THEN! Our friend Bobby from Broadway Cigars said, Hey, 10 boxes please! And through a series of cryptic messages, we wound up with a backseat full of boxes.
The interesting point here, and there actually is a point, is this: Cigar makers want to make sure every cigar is as perfect as possible. Our friend Paul Joyal, he of J Grotto cigars, told us he was out of the Anniversary Series double perfecto, an amazing cigar in its own right. We saw them at Jim's place, and at Broadway Cigars, but Paul himself didn't have any in his own shop.
(He's going to kill me for using this picture!)
The J Grotto double perfecto in PA!
Were they hand rolled and ready to go? Yep.
Would they be travelling to the US? Nope.
"I'd rather they be perfect," he said. "It's not a financial decision. It's a quality decision."
Valentino and I like to say, "You're only as good as your last envelope," meaning people remember the last thing you did for them, the last plate you served them at a restaurant, whatever. The metaphor crosses into a zillion professions--although I'm fond of the saying's mob ties.
If you have a bad cigar, especially if it's your first time with that premium cigar, you might not go back to it, especially with so many other options on the market. Boutique cigar crafters make the right decision when they hold off until the cigar has enough aging under its belt.
Cigars International says in their article, "Properly Aging Cigars," "Aging is often what makes a good cigar a great one."
We actually know this from experience.
For his birthday, I bought Valentino a box of his own blend of cigars, thanks to George Rico, head honcho at Gran Habano Cigars. So cool (both George and the ability to create your own blend). Valentino chose the filler, binder, and wrapper, by using their super-fun blending kit, which contains "10-20 puritos of each tobacco leaf available at the time...detailed menu of the tobaccos included, and a blending sheet," according to the feature article on cigar.com, from whence the kit comes.
The choices...
So he puffed away on the puritos, mixing and matching, trying to figure out his most favorite.
The choosing...
(Thanks for taking the pictures, Nathalie!)
Then, because Valentino is Valentino, much research ensued, including lots of discussions with our cigar pals in-the-know, including Mr. J Grotto himself. Finally, he settled on a blend. And a few months later, this arrived:
Yes, those are angels you hear singing.
More angels singing.
This is the sticker that held the paper covering the cigars together.
(Weird sentence. Too lazy to fix it.)
(We do not promise perfection here. Just a few laughs.)
By all that's right and holy, he should have fallen in love with them on first puff.
That does not look like a man in love with his cigar.
Not the cigar's fault. It needs more time to, as we incorrectly say, "marinate."
"3 weeks stabilizes the mechanical tensions and moisture of a cigar, making it smoke better, particularly if it was shipped ‘green’
3 months allows the oils to begin their natural dissipation so that the flavors of the blend ‘marry’ [Hahaha. I should have said "marryinate."]
3 years (in a temperature/humidity controlled environment) allows some more complex chemical processes of true aging to take place, creating deep, rich and subtle layers of flavor
Beyond 3 years – Carefully stored, cigars just keep getting better and better"****
At the launch of the J Grotto Anniversary series, Valentino had a nice chat with Philip Zanghi, of Debonaire Cigars, about how fermentation during the aging process reduces the ammonia and other chemicals that make, if smoked too soon, the cigar taste like ass.***** Longer-aged cigars result in mellowed acridity.
So, yes, we know he shouldn't have smoked the Cabellero #1 so soon upon its arrival, but come on. That's like buying an edible gift early on in the shopping season and not eating it.
At least Island Jim and Paul Joyle keep their cigars in another country to ensure proper aging. Lucky bastards. Although I bet they would leave the edible Christmas gifts alone too. What are you guys? Robots? Sheesh.
Anyway, the moral of the story is this: We will certainly entertain offers to mule cigars for you, if necessary. For a price, of course. Like, maybe, some Christmas gifts you're still holding onto... nom nom nom. Please just don't make us wait too long.
Will's not happy with the Idiot Handler who took the lousy picture.
He says it doesn't show the extent or importance of his work.
*Hahaha. As if I could finish a blog post in the same year I started it.
**I wish I could even keep a bouffant bouffanted for more than 13 seconds.
***Shhhh. The Island Jims are sleeping.
****Naturally, there are exceptions. But that's a post for another time!
The Leaf and Bean is one of the most awesomely coolest places ever!! For realz!
In fact, it's a deliciously smoky island of relaxation in the loud, choppy sea of macaroni and gravy.*
When we strolled in, in full lollygagging mode,** we were hit with many layers of eclecticity.*** I'd try to explain it, but instead, let's refer to Valentino's pictures, shall we?
And here is Island Jim himself, in his natural habitat!!
See right behind Jim? That's the shop's humidor, which features some of our super favorites, including Leaf by Oscar (of course, because that's Jim's best selling cigar), along with others like our friend Paul Joyal's J Grotto, the ever-awesome Padron, and another new fave, New Workd by AJ Fernandez.
I know what you're thinking: Uhhhh...what about the Island Jim? You know, the proprietor's namesake? Don't you think you should mention that, dear, sweet bloggess?
Well, home skillet, I would mention it, except they're sold out!! So why should I get you all excited for something you can't have? That's just mean!!
But they will be back in house sometime in January, so save your Christmas money.
Here's another treasure of the Leaf and Bean: Melody, Jim's better half. She's a kindred spirit; she doesn't actually smoke cigars but knows tons and tons about them. But she's super friendly and fun to chat with.
Here's the dealio: I don't actually want to live in Pennsylvania because it's way too far from the ocean. But if IF I found some reason I found myself inhabiting a home with a western PA address, I've already picked out my barber chair in the back, where I could write and write and write.
So come here. It's on The Strip on 22nd street. (I know the mailing address is Penn Ave. Ignore that.) if you're at the intersection of the two streets, looking toward the thousands, no, millions of vendors hawking fruit and Steelers merchandise, go left on 22nd. You're going to come across an island of color. Go towards the color. Go. Now.
*For those who don't know, the Italians call sauce "gravy" and pasta "macaroni." Yes, they are weird.
**Stuffed from the Primanti's sandwich, if you must know. Look how big the darned sandwich is!
It's a darned good thing I like the Monday night class I teach (Hi all of you!), and the students keep me entertained and happy.* And sometimes bring me Diet Coke.**
I know you're going to email me and say I shouldn't drink this
because I'll grow another head on my shoulders or whatever,
but without the sweet brown poison,
I'd totally fall asleep in front of the class. In front of every class.
No one wants that.
If I didn't like them so much, I'd be all BOO! and DAMMIT! and CRAP! because most of the fun cigar things seem to be happening on Mondays this semester. So Valentino goes to the fun things and sends me texts and pictures, and generally recounts that fantastic fun-ness he's having.
I try to share the fun I'm having too. For realz. He's not, however, buying that my two-and-a-half hours talking about writing and reading is more fun than hanging out with cool cigar folks, eating and drinking, and smoking. In my defense, and to keep the playing field level, I had malted milk balls with the Diet Coke.
Oh, malted milk balls, why must you be so delicious?
And so small? And come in packages of five?
Do you have any idea how many little packages must be opened
and consumed in order to remain happy during the whole class?***
So during my repetitive sojourns**** over the course of the semester, he's had these adventures, of which I am mucho jealous. In no particular order, other than this is how they popped into my head:*****
Hanging with Island Jim, he of Leaf by Oscar, at Churchill's (Hi Bryan--even though I've technically never met you in person. And do you know why? Yep. Work. Boo. Soon we'll remedy that. I hear you have MBombays? We have been dying to get our hands--and taste buds--on those!)
Honestly, how can you not want to own some of these darlings?
As soon as the man returns from Man Camp, we are so there!
An Eiroa/CLE dinner with the Mr. J's Havana gang (at that seekrit location). Hi Paul! Hi Tom! Hi Mark! Hi Lauren! Hi people who were there and who I should give a shout out to, but since I wasn't there, I don't know who that might be!)
"Are you ready for some football?"
Definitely. Especially if there's delicious food!
Some fun nights at Broadway Cigar for Monday Night Football. (Although he does get credit for bringing me dinner home from those festivities! Thank you!) Each week, the awesomely cool Bobby and the gang (which would actually make them Cool and the Gang) feature a different cigar to accompany that night's noshing. So it's win-win. I just wish I could have also been a winner. I have to go sulk now.
This is representative of Man Camp.
By the way, have you liked Will the Travelling Owl yet?
You totally should. And you'll be glad you did.
There's another dinner from the fabulous folks at Mr. J's this coming Monday, which, in Valentino's defense, he will also miss because he'll be at Man Camp. (Hi Jerry! Hi Will! Hi Marlin! Hi Billy! Hi Jerry! Hi Tom! Hi Billy! Missing you, Valentino the Elder!) I can't decide whether to be happy (Man Camp!) or sad (not Penny Camp!) at this time of year. Missing festivities doesn't help. I can't even live vicariously. Unlessssss... Unless you go and tell me all about it. Take pictures! Send me random texts throughout the course of the night! Just call Mr. J's to chat with him about tickets!!
You should get yourself some of this! And you can--and much more! at the Roma dinner!
Call Broadway Cigars for more info!
The following week, on Monday the 8th, a big shindig is happening at Roma on Federal Hill in Providence. The dinner will feature the cigars of J Grotto, good old Mr. J, Paul Joyal, himself! So two of our favorite people are getting together and having a party. Again, you should go; I'm going to need to get to the store before then so I can drown my sorrows in whatever malted milk is.
Then, we found out that on Monday, December 15, Jim Robinson is going to be in town again. Let me stress the Monday in the previous sentence.
Why does everything have to happen on a Monday? And then I remembered...
This is the point in the story where the angels sing with joy.
...I remembered school will be over by then! I can join the festivities!! So come to Broadway Cigars in Providence, RI and we can party like rock stars!******
Lots more things are on our calendar for December. Stay tuned for updates!!
*What? that's not supposed to be what's happening?
**It's not really a bribe; more a way to keep me awake and off-kilter.
***In case you were wondering, it takes seventy umpity thousand tiny packages of malted milk balls for one long class.
****And I say this ironically
*****The ideas don't just pop into my head. In fact, it's more like this:
Very painful indeed!
******Aging, tired, end-of-the-semester melt-down rock stars. But rock stars nonetheless.
I have been very itchy lately, as I am allergic to...something. Could it be work? Ummm...maybe? Anyway, I get through the day thanks to Benadryl. You need to know all that in order for the rest of this silliness to make sense.
Hello, friend
I printed out all the names of folks who entered the October cigar giveaway and was going over to the drawer to get the scissors* to make little strips and put them in a vessel of some sort and get Valentino to pick one. I put the paper down in order to freshen up the Benadryl level in my system. While attempting to pop that little pink bitch out of the hermetically-sealed packaging, it fell out and bounced a few times on the paper, ultimately landing smack dab on one person's name.
Look, I know a sign when I see one. And this was a sign, the little bouncing neon pink pill.
Usually, the winners receive cigars stolen directly from the 2,000-count humidor here at Casa Awesome.** BUT! The super kind folks at Mr. J's Havana Shop gave us the cigars to give our winner! Thank you thank you thank you!! So Nina will receive two of these, although I can't remember which two... It'll be a surprise!! For both of us!!
*We are very organized here at Casa Awesome and the scissors are always ALWAYS in exactly the same place.
**You might be thinking, Well Valentino would never even know they're missing if you have that many! You'd be very wrong. He knows what's in there and, if you must know, each cigar is lovingly placed "just so"... so he'd know.
