"Going to America"

The second game of golf played on the trip home to Ireland was at the K Club with Mikkel, my old friend and golfing rival.  I nearly always meet up with Mikkel for a game of golf when home in Ireland, a tradition stretching back about 8 years or so now.

The K Club is famous for staging the Ryder cup in 2006 and still milking it for all it's worth.  I was at the Ryder cup in 2006 and 2010, did I ever mention that...

This was the first time I smoked a cigar on a golf course and it wasn't that easy.  Well the smoking part was easy but lighting wasn't. The course is described as an inland links, which basically means that wind is pretty much a permanent feature.  Thankfully though, it wasn't a particularly windy day.  It was actually quite mild but it still took 6 or 7 attempts to get the cigars going.

When we arrived at the K Club, for some reason we struggled to find parking, even though we were actually in the car park.  All the spaces appeared to be reserved for members.  All members appeared to be elsewhere so we parked up and went inside.  We left shortly thereafter as we had selected the wrong course and had to drive back the way we came.  In the car park, K Club security had pulled up alongside my car but they made off as soon as they saw us coming.  Lucky for them.

We had no problem find a parking space at the Smurfit course, which by the way, is not the one the Ryder cup was played on, but a pretty course all the same.  Not too long with some nice holes and I somehow managed to score 36 points while playing off 20.  Mikkel was a little bit behind on the score sheet, which basically means he lost the last golf day between us on Irish soil.  I think we're about even now, but the trophy (pictured below) stays with me.

As the title of this blog suggests, somebody's going to America and isn't me.

Best of luck to Mikkel and his family as they up sticks and head across the pond.  This of course means that the golf rivalry will have to recommence on American soil.  Maybe we'll do it Ryder cup style but I somehow doubt Ireland will be hosting it again.

The cigars I went for were a Grafton reserve and a Juan Lopez Havana.  The Grafton is only available on the Irish market.  A great little cigar.  Perfect burn and smoke.  I bought a few of these over in Dublin and really like them.  Mikkel had the Grafton.  I had the Juan Lopez which was OK but not great.  Maybe it was a bit too windy to really enjoy the cigar.  Next time I'll save the cigar smoking until after golf with a pint of Guinness.

I wasn't the slightest bit sad that this was my last golf day in Ireland with Mikkel, which is not to say he and his family will not be missed.  I was just very happy for them and so wish them the best of luck on their new adventure to America, which no doubt will be an exciting and amazing experience for them and the kids.

I shot J.R.

If I was my brother and J.R. was my ass.

It hurt.  It hurt a lot.  I know, it was my ass, so believe me, it hurt.

OK, so it wasn't a real gun.  I was shot in the backside by a BB gun.  A double tap from a BB handgun to be precise, marking my fleshy rear end with two BB sized wounds that stung like nothing every stung before, only twice.

The shooter as I said was my brother.  An airsoft extremist who likes to shoot people from behind.  People who happen to be running away.  My crime? I made mocking shooting noises Ali G style, see link Ali G Shooting for more precise details of the pow pow noise I went for.  The disturbing picture below shows one of the wounds in graphic detail.  It also shows part of my ass.  Be warned, it's not pretty.

Before the shooting incident, I enjoyed a Romeo y Julieta Churchill and a Cohiba Maduro 5.  The R&J Churchill is a great cigar and I enjoyed this one from start to finish.  No complaints there. 

The Maduro 5 was sitting in my humidor for about 3 months and I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately though, it was disappointing at best.  It was weak, uneventful and tasteless. Big fail.  Not sure I'll go for a Maduro 5 again.  I smoked the Maduro before the Churchill, only smoking the Churchill because I needed some cheering up after the disappointment of the Maduro.  That said, it was a much more enjoyable double tap.

A great night at the brothers house, even if it did end with me running out of the house screaming like a girl, while he laughed like a loon at the door after putting a cap in my ass, twice.

"Burn in Hell for all Eternity"

I suppose if you're going to do anything that flies in the face of religious tradition, you might as well have a BBQ on Good Friday, which is supposed to be a day of abstinence from meat and alcohol.  I'm not sure if alcohol is supposed to be included in that but either way, the pubs are shut on Good Friday and we're not supposed to drink.

Most people stock up on drink the day before and sit at home drinking or have a party, but most people don't celebrate by staging a massive BBQ, the likes of which, Finglas has never seen.

Thankfully, the Menendez-Jevins's are not most people.  Massive steaks, huge sausages, an octopus!  Beer, Cuban rum and of course cigars aplenty.  Oh and salad.


Apart from the lovely and delicious food laid on by the Menendez-Jevins's (the MJ's from now on), Mr. MJ (a.k.a. Raul the wise) generously produced a 6 pack of Vegafina Robustos.  I brought two cigars with me, cigars I was really looking forward to sharing with Mr. MJ.

The two I brought were Luis Martinez Crystal Churchill's.  They come in a glass tube supposedly to ensure they remain in good condition.  Slight damage was visible and once out of the tube, felt extremely dry and flaky.  I cut mine and it fell apart.  Bad start.  Mr. MJ left his one alone and saved the day by handing me one of the VegaFinas.  Great cigar which I don't think is available on the English market but is on the Spanish market so I'll be buying a few of these next time I'm in Spain.

I emailed Fox of St. James's who apologised and offered a free cigar with my next purchase.  A bit presumptuous but can't complain.

The cigar was enjoyed with a great Cuban rum, pictured below.  Mr. MJ insisted I take the remaining Vegafinas home with me.  None of these cigars have made it back to the UK.  All gone.  I only hope the Churchill I left in return is enjoyed at some stage in the future.

Back to Reality

After almost three weeks in the old country, roaming the land, searching out new cigars and new places to smoke them in, we're back across the Irish sea, full from hundreds of sausages, rashers and spuds, three stone heavier, tired but happy with the memories of a great trip home.

The blog will continue shortly with pictures and stories including a shooting, a run in with the law, new cigars, exotic locations, pubs, barbecues, pints of Guinness, more Easter eggs than I care to remember plus a special guest appearance.

New postings to follow shortly...

Royal Fail

Royal mail annoyed me today.  A lot. So much so that I even updated my Facebook status with a mini-rant.

It all started yesterday, when I received a letter from them saying that a package was being held until I paid them £25, £17 duty plus an £8 handling fee.  They pay the duty on my behalf and then charge me for the privilege.  I didn't ask them for this nor did they ask me if I wanted it, but they went and did it anyway.  I paid the £25 and the package arrived this afternoon, but more on that later.

This morning, I went to the post office.  Not an experience I enjoy but it had to be done and it gets me out of the house.  Anyway, I had to return a small piece of computer hardware, no bigger than a PC card.  It was to be registered first class and I needed an envelope.  How hard could it be.

Hard enough as it turns out.  First off,  the envelope.  I queued up, asking the lady for a padded envelope about so big.  She charged me 80p for a white non-padded envelope with airmail written on it.  "Will this do..?" she bellowed..."mah, 'suppose" I replied.

I had some bubble-wrap with me and didn't really care so off I went to stuff the envelope and address it.  My pen, being a felt-tip, did not work with this plasticy vessel so I went back to the counter and grabbed the one and only pen available, a Bic.  Sorted.

I did the addressing and rejoined the queue.  The next person to serve me suggested that it would cost me £45 to insure the item...insure it?  I want to post it, not insure it...Is it valuable she asked...£30 says I...and what pray tell am I insuring against? Theft?  Can you not be trusted then?  I just want it registered first class please?..She then holds up a piece of wood with a letterbox size hole cut in it, and demonstrates the envelope not fitting this letterbox...I didn't know what to do...so I suggest that if the postman is faced with a letterbox when he gets there, and is unsure about what to do, that he tries pushing it in, as its mostly bubble-wrap that I'm sending anyway.

That'll be £2.48 please...I hand over £2...she gives me a look...I raise an eyebrow...another 48p please...I hand over another £2...she hands back a pound, then some change...job done..."Do you want any mobile phone top-up?"  I'm sorry?  "Mobile phone top-up? Do you want any?"...Well the battery is a bit flat but no thanks, I'm grand.

I thought that was it with Royal mail for the day but no, there was more to come.

The package they stopped and charged me £8 for stopping, arrived in the afternoon.  The postman rang the doorbell and almost immediately rapped his knuckles on the door.  I was barely up out of my seat when he was disappearing back to his van...how much time does it take him to answer his door?  Was I supposed to be at the door waiting for him?  He didn't get away and I got my package.


I have another delivery on the way.  A package of cigars from Fox of St. James.  They emailed me this morning to say the order has been sent registered first class, and here is the tracking number and so on.  (I wonder if they were offered the mobile phone top-up service).  I wasn't sure if it would arrive today or tomorrow so a few hours after the email arrived, I decided to check out the tracking website.  Royal mail again obviously.

The status was "On the Way" and that their records did not show that the package had been delivered.  Well that's reassuring, but I already know its on the way because the people who posted it told me so.  When it arrives, maybe I should check back with the tracking site, just to be sure it really has been delivered.

Royal mail failed me today and we are now enemies.

Short Spring in my step

Spring lasted about 3 days then summer hit London.  Hopefully summer will last a bit longer.  Monday and Tuesday were terrible, proper bad wet windy stay indoors weather. Certainly not cigar smoking weather. Then it all changed on Wednesday. Perfect for outdoor pursuits, such as sitting down to smoke a cigar and drink ale.

So I've spent some time in sun this week and managed to pick up a bit of a farmers tan, or sportsmans tan as I like to call it.  I also picked up some cigars and beers.  Probably more than I should but hey, it is summer after all and some of us don't have to get up for work in the morning.  I did do a 30 minutes power work-out on Tuesday and Wednesday so I feel good about myself.  Might do another one today.  Bit tired though.  My little angel woke up at 4:10am and didn't get back to bed until 6am.  The joys.

The cigars this week were a Romeo y Julieta Exhibition No. 4, a Partagas Serie P No. 2, a Oliva Serie V - Belicoso and a Ramon Allones specially selected.  The RyJ was the best cigar I've smoked in a while.  Not the biggest of cigars, but it lasted over an hour and was great from start to finish.  The roll was perfect.  Great price too.  The Partagas was also very nice but not up to the same standard as the Romeo. Bigger and more expensive.  The Romeo was sitting in the humidor for 3 or 4 weeks so maybe that had something to do with it.  I think I've proved, that when it comes to cigars, bigger is not always better.  The Oliva was a nice surprise.  A fine cigar that I would recommend and I look forward to trying again.  The RASS was great too.

Another of my hobbies is the garden, which I have to say, is looking good again.  As this is the place where I do most of my cigar smoking, I think it should be treated with the respect it deserves, so I might as well put some effort in.  The plants are all in order, pretty much, and it's just the seating needs sanding and staining, so I guess that's the weekend sorted.

I went a bit over the top with plants last year, which involved way too much effort for the returns we got, so this year, all I've got on the go are onion, lettuce, basil, strawberry, mint, carrots, tomato and raspberries. The raspberry plants were put down last year so this year is the first year to fruit.  Fingers crossed, but it's looking good so far.

Here's to another day in the sun.  Enjoy the weekend and the Masters.

Spring has arrived. Yay!

At least according to my Magnolias.

I like Saturdays and today was a pretty good Saturday.  Years ago, Saturday was a day spent at the Grandmothers house watching the 6 channel telly.  Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks were wrestling other hairy fat men, horse racing galore, Dickie Davies, Corned beef (salt beef to Englishmen) cabbage and potatoes for dinner, and Clarke's the bakers cakes washed down with supercans of coke.  Great times.

This Saturday began at 5:30am.  A brush of the teeth and a coffee later, I was motoring my way to Essex to pick up Rob for a 7:30 rendezvous with big boy Jim.  A game of golf was a foot.

18 holes later, we finished golf and went home.  I won't go into who won and who lost.  Let's just say I didn't win but I had fun none the less.  36 points off 16 so good enough for me.

I must tell you of some stunning views on the way out.  The sun was coming up over the 2012 Olympic site and if I had my phone at the ready, I would have had a great photo to show...but I didn't and I don't and I was doing 60 in a 40mph zone.  I'll have the camera ready next time.

Later that day (today), United came back from 2-0 down at half time to beat the Hammers 2-4 so that was nice.

It wasn't all play today mind.  The garden needed attention, as did the wife and son.  Once the garden and wife were sorted, the son came out to play and had a great time. Earlier though, while the boy was sleeping, I did a bit of cigar research.  You see, we have a big weekend planned for June, when we hit Rock-a-field, which is in Luxembourg for 1 day only.  The task I assigned myself to complete over the next few months, is to pick out cigars worthy of Raul the wise and The Big Johnny D.  Two great afficionados.

First up will remain nameless, as this is a big contender for the honour.  Next up was the Cain Maduro 654T which was crap.  A heavy cigar, tasteless, tight, veiny and spotty.  It looked good enough at first but was hard to cut like rubber.  Smoked like it was made of rubber too. The band was on the toe so that had to be removed before lighting, which I think is a mistake as the band nearly unraveled the wrapper.  Disappointing cigar.

Later tonight, it's the turn of the Rocky Patel Robusto Vintage 1990.  Not sure what to expect with this one but I'll let you know once it's gone.

Change of plan...  it's gone...When I wasn't looking just now, i.e. blogging, the boy managed to get his hands on the Rocky Patel and do serious damage, so that review will have to wait.  I suppose something else will have to do...gone for a Ramon Allones Specially Selected. Oh well.

Today was sponsored by St. Peters Best Bitter.

 Cigar and wheels

C

Cigar and Mint

Cigar and gardening fingers

Flowers