El Presidente

....possibly some cracks in his cold water theory ....

Madrid 1970 Habano advertisement in local magazine. "Light another One!"

Vintage photograph of Spanish aviators Mariano Barberán and Joaquín Collar, Havana, Cuba, 1933. Features advertising for Trinidad y Hno. cigars.

Olga Kuznezova (Ukraine,b 2000)

Hmmmm I can't say I'm buying much of what Jasim is selling on this one.

Relative Humidity Sweet Spot for Cigars? Couple of questions popped up over the last week in terms of Relative Humidity/Storage for CC and NC. Let's see if we can bang it into one poll for a better visual summary of members thoughts.

Substitute "Padron" for "Fab 5" and I agree completely. My personal CC generally 62% ish. Fab 5 anywhere from 65% to high sixties works fine. Personal choice. We do pack the bunch tighter than most NC companies. I can't tell much (if any) difference between 62% and 65% RH on Fab 5 performance. Consensus from devotees is mid 60s works best. However that could simply be because there are far more people who humidify at 65%-69% than 62% to 64%

https://www.themanual.com/culture/cigars-and-books-ritual/ Why cigars and books are the perfect pairing for slowing down You deserve a hobby that includes leather chairs, great prose, and even better smoke. By Paul B. Published November 22, 2025 5:00 AM In a world that moves at the speed of notifications, there’s something absolutely magnetic about the old-school cigar and book combo. It creates a pocket of time that’s entirely yours, like really slowing down. Think about it. When was the last time you sat still for an hour? No phone buzzing. No screens glowing. Just you, a good book, and maybe a quality cigar keeping you company if you’re into it. This isn’t your grandpa’s stuffy gentleman’s club thing anymore. This is about mindfulness meeting pleasure. Intelligence dancing with indulgence. And honestly? It’s perfect for our burned-out, always-on generation. Both cigars and books do this wild thing to your brain: they slow it down while simultaneously lighting it up. Weird, right? When you’re puffing on a cigar (slowly, always slowly), your breathing changes. Gets deeper. More regular. It’s basically meditation with smoke rings. Now add a book to that equation. Boom. Your focus sharpens. Distractions fade. Suddenly, you’re in the story, deep in that philosophy text, or completely absorbed in whatever biography you picked up. The legends knew this secret. Mark Twain? That guy burned through 20+ cigars a day. He called them “smokeable poetry.” Pretty sure his writing benefited from all that contemplative puffing. Winston Churchill made cigars part of his whole vibe—the man was rarely photographed without one after a certain point. Hemingway. Another cigar devotee. The guy wrote some of the most stripped-down, punchy prose in American literature, and he did it with a cigar in hand. Coincidence? I think not. Even Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle used cigars to symbolize intellectual leisure in his stories. The detective’s pipe-smoking was all about thinking time, processing, and letting the mind wander while the smoke curled up. Here’s the beautiful part: cigars force patience. You can’t rush them. Try it and they’ll punish you with bitter flavors and uneven burning. Books? Same deal. Rush through Moby Dick and you’ll miss… well, everything. The rhythm matters. The pauses matter. The savoring matters. Both activities engage your senses on multiple levels. With cigars, you’re tasting cedar, maybe chocolate, and definitely some earthiness. With books, you’re tasting words—rolling them around, feeling the texture and depth of a particularly delicious sentence. Creating the perfect environment for cigar smoking and reading You can’t just plop down anywhere with a book and a cigar and expect an epiphany. This is about creating a vibe—a whole mood. Lighting is everything. Harsh overhead fluorescents? Absolutely not. You want warm, soft light. Maybe a reading lamp. Some people swear by candlelight, but let’s be real—open flames near books and cigars require coordination not everyone possesses after a long day. Your chair? Non-negotiable comfort zone. You’re settling in for the long haul. Leather is classic. But honestly? Whatever cradles you for two hours without making your back scream works. Tools of the trade: Get yourself a proper humidor. Cigars are temperamental creatures. They like 65-70% humidity. Not too dry or too humid. Nobody wants cracked or moldy cigars. A good cutter is essential. Guillotine style is foolproof. V-cutters if you’re feeling fancy. Just please, for the love of Hemingway, don’t bite the end off. This isn’t a spaghetti western. Torch lighters or long cedar matches only. Regular lighters taste like butane. Cedar matches? Now that’s class. Plus, the ritual of lighting with a match slows everything down even more. Where to set up shop? Options abound: Home is an obvious choice. Ventilation is key, though, unless you want your whole house to smell like a 1950s detective’s office. A dedicated smoking room with climate control? That’s the dream. Cigar lounges offer built-in ambiance and fellow enthusiasts. Sometimes, you want company in your solitude. It’s a weird paradox, but it works. Outdoor spaces are underrated. Fresh air dilutes the smoke, and nature provides the soundtrack. A porch, a balcony, or even a park bench can become your reading sanctuary. Some libraries and quiet cafés still allow cigar smoking. Rare, but they exist. The combination of books everywhere and a cigar in hand? Chef’s kiss. Choosing the right cigars for reading sessions Felix Adams / Pexels Now, not all cigars play nice with reading. You want something that enhances focus, not destroys it. Too strong? You’ll be dizzy instead of absorbed. Too light? Might as well be smoking air. Medium-bodied cigars are your sweet spot. They’ve got enough oomph to keep things interesting but won’t knock you sideways. Connecticut wrappers are your friend here—smooth, creamy, approachable. Nicaraguan blends bring a bit more spice without going full throttle. Now, let’s get to the fun part. Match your cigar to your book genre: Reading a thriller or mystery? Go bold. Full-bodied. Something with pepper and leather notes. Let that cigar amp up the tension. Your heart’s already racing from the plot twists—might as well lean into it. Essay or philosophy book on your lap? Light and nuanced, my friend. You need clarity for those big thoughts. Something with subtle cedar notes. Maybe a hint of vanilla. Nothing that screams for attention while you’re pondering life. Adventure and travel stories call for aromatic cigars. Spicy. Exotic. Something that makes you feel like you’re right there in the Amazon or scaling Everest. The cigar becomes part of the journey. Classic literature or hefty biographies? Definitely medium to full. These books have weight. Gravitas. Your cigar should match that energy. Think rich, complex flavors that develop over time—just like the stories you’re reading. Book recommendations to enhance your cigar experience Aldino Hartan Putra / Unsplash Now let’s talk reading material. You want books that reward slow consumption. Quick beach reads? Save those for the actual beach. Pick up beloved classics and biographies like Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, or Churchill: A Life by Martin Gilbert, because who better to read about than the man who made cigars iconic? You’re literally sharing their ritual across time. It’s weirdly intimate. Contemporary literary fiction pairs beautifully with contemplative smoking. The kind of books where every sentence matters. Think along the lines of Haruki Murakami’s thoughtful fiction or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s layered narratives. Non-fiction is cigar-friendly territory. Business books. History. Philosophy. These genres benefit from the focused attention cigars encourage. Some specific suggestions that work: Management classics like Jim Collins’s Good to Great make you feel like a CEO even if you’re middle management. History books, especially military history, seem designed for cigar accompaniment. Maybe it’s the Churchill connection. Maybe it’s the weight of the subject matter. Either way, it works. Strategy books make you think big picture. Both pair well with medium-bodied cigars that suggest authority without shouting it. Titles like The Art of War by Sun Tzu or Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond stretch the mind while you stretch out with your smoke. Spiritual or philosophical texts open differently with a cigar. The smoke becomes part of the meditation—think Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations. The ritual enhances the reading. Cultivating a personal lifestyle: Combining cigar smoking and reading in daily rituals Pexels / Pixabay Making this a regular thing requires intention. Late afternoon or early evening is prime time. Work’s done. Dinner can wait. This is your transition period, your decompression chamber between obligations. Some people do morning cigars with coffee and newspapers. Bold choice. Respect. But for most of us, this is an evening affair. Keep a journal nearby. The combination of nicotine and narrative sparks thoughts. Consider joining or starting a cigar and book club. Yes, they exist, and yes, they’re awesome. The real beauty is that this ritual forces digital detox. Your hands are busy holding a book and managing a cigar. There is no room for phones, and there is no temptation to scroll. It’s an enforced presence, mandatory mindfulness. Some guys make this their Sunday thing, while others claim thirty minutes every evening. The frequency matters less than the consistency. This is about creating space, claiming time, and saying, “This hour is mine.” Conclusion Coppertist Wu / Pexels Look, we live in a world that’s forgotten how to be still. The art of combining cigars and reading is about choosing to engage with one thing—really engage—instead of half-watching three screens while anxiety-scrolling through social media. This ritual says something. It says you value depth over speed, quality over quantity, and that you understand that some pleasures can’t be rushed, downloaded, or delivered in two days with Prime shipping. Whether you’re a complete newbie or have been doing this for years, there’s always room to refine the ritual. Try new cigars, tackle challenging books, and create your perfect environment. Start small if you need to. One cigar. One book. One hour. See what happens when you allow yourself to slow down. To savor. To think. The modern world will still be there when you’re done. But you? You’ll be different: calmer, more focused, maybe a little bit wiser. Paul B.

Say hello to the lads from me

Thursdays overnight boat trip was the best way...and the worst way...to finish up a the working week. Friday's hangover made me close to useless and now I find myself playing work catchup on a Saturday morning. Still there is no better sleep than the night after the hangover. Relatively quiet weekend. I need to pack for Kuwait and Cyprus as I fly out midweek. Packing takes me a half day at least so I like to give myself plenty of time. Layout everything you think you will need...and then ruthlessly strip it by 30%. Works for me Sunday we are taking mum and dad to their favourite Chinese restaurant for lunch. My brother and his beautiful family will join us as we snack down on Peking duck and steamed ginger/shallot fish. It is tradition that mum needs to see me the weekend before I fly out.....anywhere. She will give me pearls of wisdom like "don't lick the door handles at the airport bathrooms" and "stay away from terrorists" I will nod and acquiesce. This is literally a "rite of passage" for each trip. Throw in a couple of gym sessions, some long walks while practising a few speeches...and it will indeed be a relatively quiet one by our standards. What's up for your weekend?

"The casu marzu or casu martzu is a sheep cheese from Sardinia, in Italy. This cheese is famous for being the 'maggot cheese' or 'grub cheese'. At first sight, it doesn't look tasty." Casu Marzu (aka Maggot Cheese) Amy Scheuerman | April 2, 2014 This article is from: Web Exclusive While most of us go to great lengths to prevent maggots in our food, Casu Marzu, a traditional Sardinian cheese, features them in all their live, wriggling glory (or should that be gory?) How it’s Made The cheese is steeped in history and has been made by Sardinians for hundreds of years. Sans maggots, it’s similar to pecorino: an Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk. The main difference is that after it’s made, a hole is cut in the top and the cheese is placed outdoors where cheese flies (Piophila casei) can find it and use it as a cheap hotel room for trysts and baby making. Why would you want flies to lay eggs in your cheese? Well, the eggs hatch to become maggots and these larval flies eat the cheese, leaving behind excretions of pre-digested fats, proteins, and sugars. Basically, the larvae are fermenting the cheese to an extreme degree. While cheeses that are aged in ways we’re more familiar and comfortable with tend to lose moisture while developing flavor, casu marzu becomes very soft as it develops flavor. Hazards of Dining Aside from the sheer cringe factor of eating live worms (Sardinians believe that the cheese is unsafe to eat when the maggots have died) eating casu marzu can be logistically challenging. The maggots in the cheese get upset when the cheese is disturbed and can actually jump around. And when I write jump, I don’t mean inch around a little, I mean launch themselves for distances of up to 6 inches! To prevent their meal from literally hopping off the plate, diners will hold a hand above the cheese spread bread slice as they raise it to their mouth. Personally, if I were to try it I’d go with some stylish onion goggles. Not Alone While casu marzu is the most well known “maggot cheese” it’s not the only one. Other cheese known for containing live insect larvae include: Casgiu merzu in Corsica, France Marcetto in Abruzzo, Italy Casu du quagghiu in Calabria, Italy Cacie’ Punt in Molise, Italy Can I Try It? You can’t buy casu marzu in the US (the legality of the cheese is a matter of contention in the EU, which means it can’t be exported for purchase here). It used to be that if you were dying to try a cheese created by living critters, you could get a hunk of Mimolette, but as of October 2013 the US FDA started banning the import of Mimolette from France due to the tiny mites that live on its rind. Until the FDA relaxes its standard of 6 mites per square inch, you’ll just have to enjoy less lively cheeses.

Victorian Oak Coldstream Guardsman Humidor, 1882, with Harry Payne (English, 1858-1927) watercolor on paper of sentry officer, signed and dated 1882 lower left and stamped "Reynolds & Co. / 32 St James Street SW" lower right, in oak house form box, the door opening to three drawers with "W. Thornhill Co. / 144 New Bond St" plaque to the interior door and British registration kite mark to reverse.