UK Cigar Scene Magazine March Issue 3 | Page 25

MY MOST MEMORABLE CIGARS Having now published the “What’s in your humidor” feature for two months we have decided that it’s important to balance out some of these super exotic cigars with a feature of every day cigars which were memorable to the people who smoked them. Our first contributor is Greg Michael also known as Captain Quintero on the Friends of Habanos Cigar Forum I caught the cigar bug nearly ten years ago now and I've loved every second of it. The camaraderie and generosity of the people you meet still leaves me astounded to this day. I try to keep a healthy balance between studying everything cigar related I can find and burying my nose deep into the lore of J.R.R Tolkien. Luckily a good book and a good cigar are a fantastic partnership! Cigar One: Quai d’Orsay Panetela 2006 Where & When? Sitting in my garden on one of the few English Summer days where the stifling humidity is offset with a gentle breeze. I dedicate a good hour and a half to this brilliant cigar. Why was it memorable? Straight away the first cigar which pops into my head has to be my first ever Quai d’Orsay Panetela. This niche marca gets little to no press outside cigar enthusiast forums, the vitola even less, which may have sadly led to its eventual deletion from the Habanos catalogue in 2010. This particular stick was from 2006. You have to smoke these pencil thin cigars slowly and gently to experience the delicate flavours and perfect balance. This particular example was a sugar-sweet custard journey; rich vanilla pod and a decadent cream from start to finish, all intertwined with a subtle citrus element. The intensity of flavours and sheer richness of the smoke was incredible. Cigar Two: La Flor De Cano Short Robusto 2010 UK RE Where & when? Summer 2011, these were over a year and a half late in hitting the stores, but the wait was worth it! Why was it memorable? I was never going to try this release, I have to admit I found the Short Robusto concept quite frustrating in the wake of seeing so many of my beloved Coronas and Petit Coronas deleted en mass in the years following the millennium. However on a whim I grabbed two singles late one afternoon and decided to try one just for the sake of novelty. What a cigar! I had never experienced a cigar that could be described as ‘juicy’ before. The stick was a continuous wave of lashings of fresh cream swirling around the mouth mixed with perfectly ripe, sweet crushed grapes. I can still recall the way I sat dumbfounded and speechless during the hour and a half I savoured that delicious cigar for! 24