Hello Mammy

Apologies.  I know it's been ages since my last post, but due to sickness, busyness and other things, I've not posted in a while.  The post below is one I drafted a few weeks ago, so it's a little out of date, but here goes anyway...

My Mother came to visit recently, and apart from the sausages and stuff she normally brings, she also brought a little something for me.  A cigar no less.

This particular cigar flew all the way from Las Vegas to Dublin, and from there to London.  It's now happily resting in my humidor, the lucky thing.  Very lucky in fact, as somebody had it living in a fridge for a while.

All said ,after two flights and a stint in the cooler, it actually feels and looks pretty good, if just a little bit squished from my Mothers handbag.

My Dad, who got the cigar from a bloke in the pub, was told that the fridge was the best place for it.  Luckily though, he phoned me and asked if this was true, and I put him straight.  I heard my mother voice in the background, softly shouting those immortal words... "I told you so".

Arriving early Friday afternoon, my Mother was on baby minding duty, so I took advantage and started off early with a Ramon Allones Gigantes.  The cigar was excellent but I was suffering from cold fingers, as it's getting a bit cold over here now, so I'm in search of cigar-mittens for the winter months.  It was nice and warm out when the cigar started, but not when it finished.  The fingerless gloves search begins.

A few hours after the RA Gigantes, I smoked another Cuban great.  A Cohiba Siglo IV.  This one was from a pack of 5 that recently made it's way here from Hong Kong, courtesy of Gearoid.  The Siglo IV is a great cigar and Cohiba are not cheap, so many thanks to Gearoid, and a fine choice too.

Both cigars were flawless.  The Cohiba looks and feels like a quality cigar and that's exactly what it is.  I love Cohiba.

On Saturday, we brought the boy to the London Transport museum.  Now for a little boy who's absolutely mad about cars, we thought he might enjoy himself a little, and he did exactly that.

He absolutely loved it.  Running everywhere, shouting his head off.  KAA! TACI! BUZZTS!

Not sure he has a word for train yet, but he went mad for those too.

The London Transport Museum is a great place for both kids and grown ups, with lots to keep both interested.  Not that I had much time to get interested in anything, as I was busy running after that car-razy (sorry) child of mine.

On the way home, we stopped off at the cigar shop in Selfridges.  I've never visited it before, and I certainly won't be visiting it again.  It's a branch of JJ Fox's, and being Selfridges, I thought prices might be a little bit higher than normal, but I was wrong, they were in fact, a lot higher than normal.

The shop is layed out with the Cubans on the right side and rest of world cigars on the left, with a good selection of both to choose from.  Seeing as everything was way over-priced, I went for a new cigar to the market, a Ramon Allones Limited Edition 2011.  At £18, I knew I was being ripped off and when I checked their website later, I found out I was ripped off by about £5.50.  


Despite the price, the cigar itself was a revelation.  I don't think I've ever smoked anything as smooth and balanced as this cigar.  It did burn a bit unevenly and needed a few relights, but even so, it was generous with smoke and went down to the nub.

The thing that really grabbed me straight away with this cigar was how smooth the smoke was.  It was slightly warm but never hot or harsh.  It was the most moreish cigar I ever had.

The wrapper was dark with the foot coming up slightly darker than the rest.  It has its' own unique look, a mature cigar that's pleasing to look at, but it's not about aesthetics with this one, it's way beyond that.  Although I did think the band looked pretty cool.

An absolute winner for me then, and I'll definitely be looking to pick up a box of these babies sometime soon.

We finished off the weekend with a trip to the Museum of London.  Yes, I know, a cultured weekend was had, more culture than I'm used to anyway.  After the MoL, we took an elevator ride to the roof of that new shopping centre opposed St. Pauls, which gives a great view of south west London and St. Pauls.  It's worth checking out.

So that's another visit over.  Donnacha was in great form all weekend and had a great time with his Granny.  Shame it's going to be two months before they get to hang out again, but two months isn't really that long.

No photos for this post, but I should have some next time to make up for it.  I'm three weeks behind and have to catch up, so I'll have plenty of pics in the next posting which should be in a day or two.  Until then so.