DAS Blog

To celebrate getting another paper out after so long, I smoked a Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur Maduro Cigar I've had for some time, accompanied by some Benjamin (Australian) Tawny Port. I thought I had lost my taste for cigars (the last Onyx Reserve I smoked was a disappointment) but I guess I just needed a change of pace. The Tawny Port (and an excellent one -- cheaper than the Portuguese stuff, but just as good if not better ... it had the creamy and slightly maritime richness of certain sherries) brought out violet and other floral notes that I had not noticed before in this cigar (although it suppressed the coffee and tea notes, transmuting them to a pleasant, but too subtle note of cocoa).