This summer, Maraya Cigar is offering 16 MARAYA Tango Torpedo cigars (50 x 54) in a round tin (pictured above). A $187 value; they will include a humidipak along with the tin and sales tax for $150. If you haven’t had the Tango, it is a pretty fantastic cigar, and I’d say easily one of the best house blends in the city.
In-shop pick-up at 87 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side, while supplies last. You can reach Joy Florentz, shop owner, via email. Otherwise, just head down to their shop on Orchard St.
Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon comes in an elegant glass bottle with an engraved four roses. The bottle has a simple yellow label with four red roses. Each bottle has a warehouse and barrel number. My bottle’s warehouse number is NS and barrel number is 12-5N. The dram of Four Roses Single Barrel is tawny in my Glencairm glass. When swirling the tawny liquid in my glass the bourbon lightly coats the glass.
Product Specifics
Maker: Four Roses,
Bottled By: Four Roses Distillery LLC, Lawrenceburg, KY
Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Website: http://www.fourrosesbourbon.com/
Proof: 100 (50% ABV)
Bottle: (750 ml)
Notes
Nose: I pick up spice, dried fruit, vanilla, floral, maple, and wood.
Palate: Four Roses Single Barrel has a thick velvety texture and is full-bodied. There are kitchen spices: pepper, nutmeg, and clove. Dried fruit, specifically pear is evident as well as sweeter notes of vanilla and toffee. Additionally, there are subtle floral notes that soften the initial spice.
Finish: The Single Barrel finishes clean and smooth.
Cigar pairing:
I would recommend a medium-full to full body cigar to complement the spicier notes in the Four Roses Single Barrel. Here are a few recommendations: Murcielago Hispaniola Cristobal Colon 1492, or Joya De Nicaragua Antonio 1970.
Where to Try: On The Rocks and Brandy Library.
Four Roses Single Barrel bourbon is excellent. The bottle can be found between $40-$45 in the New York area. I recommend finding this delectable bourbon at a liquor store or sip it at a bar.
Grade: A
Where to Buy
Manhattan (Chambers Street Wines, California Wine Merchant, Winfield Flynn Wine & Spirits, Sherry-Lehmann); Brooklyn (Heights Chateau).
By now, everyone is aware of the increasing push in the United States, headed by the FDA, to regulate the sale, advertisement, and enjoyment of premium cigars. In response, the industry as a whole has made a big effort to try to ensure that premium cigars can still be enjoyed. Small lounges, for the most part, have stuck to promoting the DC lobbying efforts and encouraging customers to join Cigar Rights of America. Some, however, have broken the mold.
The past couple of years has seen the growth of an interesting idea: mobile cigar shops. Broadway Cigar, in my hometown of Portland, OR, launched the “Lounge and Safe Haven for Cigar Smokers” – a mobile truck with a beautiful interior and thousands of premium cigars (pictures below).
And Broadway isn’t the only cigar company going mobile. Ron and Wendy Reidi of Moore Township, Pennsylvania created their own mobile cigar lounge called Street Car Cigars.
Street Car Cigars – photo courtesy The Morning Call
What’s in it, you ask? Not just cigars. Inside is an expansive space that can seat more than a dozen (that’s more than some New York City cigar lounges!) and also has flat screen T.V.s and a stereo system.
I’m not sure exactly how many mobile cigar shops there are in the U.S. so far, but I’ll be excited to see more. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be lucky enough to see one of these mobile cigar shops sitting somewhere in Manhattan.
Ok, that’s stretching the imagination a bit. But it would be pretty cool.
Know of any other cool lounges or mobile shops? Let us know about them in the comments section below!
FineTobaccoNYC recieved these cigars complimentary at an El Tiante meet & greet event at Nat Sherman. Luis Tiant, for whom the cigars are named, was an avid cigar smoker and a professional athlete. From the website:
“Born in Marianao, Havana, Cuba, Luis Tiant grew up with the love of two wonderful things in life: baseball and a great cigar. Since his first cigar at the age of 17, throughout his legendary professional baseball career and now in retirement, Luis has maintained his love and passion for a great cigar. This is the foundation that Tiant Cigar Group is built on… Rolled at the My Father Cigar factory in Esteli, Nicaragua with precision and care using finely cured tobacco, it is easy to identify the Garcia family pride in each and every El Tiante Cigar.”
The wrapper on this cigar is a dark, textured brown, with a good deal of tooth. The blue and gold band highlights “El Tiante” and you can see a miniature American flag imprinted on both sides if you look hard. Veins are minimal, and the smell off of the wrapper reminds me a lot of hot cocoa. Off of the foot, the same scent, but with more power behind it, some earth, and spice as well.
Taste & Smoke Characteristics
This cigar kicks off with loads of spice that, typical of Pepin, back down after the first half inch. Revealed are notes of coffee, dark chocolate, wood, with the spice remaining consistent and especially strong on the retrohale. At 2/3, the cigar has continued to tone down, with the coffee notes taking center stage – a very enjoyable profile. In the final third, the spice picks up, but so does the heat, so I put it down a few minutes early.
Conclusion
This is a very enjoyable cigar. If you find this in your local B&M, do yourself a favor and give it a try.
While the man himself never ages, the franchise built around James Bond turns 50 this year.
While for the past half-century the traditional image of the gentleman has suffered a backlash in politics, academia, and post-gender pop culture, the strength of the Bond brand is a testament to something within the male spirit which just won’t lay down and die.
To celebrate this anniversary, the Barbican museum has launched an exhibit called “Designing 007–50 Years of Bond Style.” The collection focuses on the apparel of the superspy, and thus showcases some pretty incredible tailored suits. Brioni, the tailor of the franchise for the past decade, has the largest section of the exhibit.
