When the Sun Lies: An Afternoon at the Cigar Lounge

I don’t mind sitting with a heater on the enclosed porch on a cool evening to enjoy a cigar. Sitting there with a heater running while the sun is shining in the afternoon, however, generally doesn’t excite me. Maybe my brain automatically equates sunshine with warmth and refuses to accept cold but bright days. To work around that disconnect, I headed back to Hogshead Cigar Lounge this week for an afternoon smoke.

For the occasion, I lit up a My Father Blue in the Toro vitola. I’ve smoked several of the Blues in Robusto and always enjoyed them, but a visit to the lounge calls for a longer, more leisurely cigar.

My Father Blue is something of a milestone for the brand, as it’s the first My Father cigar made in Honduras, and it has already found its way onto a number of “Top 25” lists. The Toro is a 6 x 54 box-pressed cigar wrapped in a dark, reddish Connecticut Broadleaf Rosado, with Honduran Corojo and Criollo tobaccos from the García family’s own Finca La Opulencia farm making up the binder and filler. After years of producing everything in Estelí, the García family opened a new factory in Honduras in 2024, finally putting that long-cultivated tobacco to use.

Flavor-wise, the cigar comes out swinging with cocoa and cedar, backed by a gentle sweetness and plenty of richness from the first draw. As the smoke develops, notes of espresso and roasted coffee join in, but the overall profile remains steady and satisfying all the way to the finish.

After roughly a 90-plus-minute smoke — though I wasn’t watching the clock — the cigar burned down to a warm nub, and it was time to head home. The flavorful cigar, the warmth of the lounge, and the easy conversations with fellow smokers all combined to make for a thoroughly pleasant afternoon.

Now, with the first major winter storm of the season apparently on the way, it’s time to make sure the propane heaters are topped off for some cold-evening smokes on the porch.

Cheers!

A Pour Too Cold

My disdain for the frosted beer mug, in most situations, is no secret. Recently, however, I encountered its lesser-known but equally misguided cousin: the frosted whiskey glass.

We were enjoying beer and pizza at a restaurant in Blacksburg, Virginia. The place also boasts a large and surprisingly interesting whiskey menu, with prices that are remarkably budget-friendly. I decided to order a pour of E.H. Taylor Small Batch. When I made my request, the server asked, “On ice, or on the rocks?”

My mind went blank for a second before I replied, “No ice. In either form.” He laughed, realizing his slip, and confirmed my request.

When the pour arrived, I could only stare in amazement.

The glass was neither on ice nor on the rocks — the glass itself was frosted, rimmed with ice on the outside.

After wiping it down and letting it warm, the bourbon was, thankfully, quite enjoyable. In hindsight, the bar menu does feature a wide assortment of “shooters,” so perhaps, in their world, all whiskey is meant to be consumed quickly — and cold, like a shot.

Still, good bourbons deserve better than a deep freeze.

Cheers!

A Good Day for an Indoor Smoke

It had been a while since I spent time at my local cigar lounge. I’d often intended to head over to Hogshead Cigar Lounge for some indoor smoking pleasure, but, if we’re being honest, convenience often won out. Why drive when I can simply step onto my enclosed porch and enjoy a cigar? Still, the simple luxury of smoking indoors — with other cigar lovers — is worth the extra effort now and then.

When I rolled in one early afternoon this week, a few patrons were already settled in with their smokes, even if the angle of the photo failed to capture them. Before long, the lounge filled and the room buzzed with lively conversation.

Since it had been a while since my last visit, I made a few leisurely circuits of the humidor before settling on an Aganorsa Leaf Supreme Leaf Toro. This Nicaraguan puro features a Corojo ’99 wrapper over binder and filler tobaccos also grown in Nicaragua. The 6 x 52 cigar had a satisfying heft without feeling over-packed, and the draw was spot on.

It opened with a touch of pepper, though the spice stayed on the milder side. As the cigar settled in, a pleasant sweet woodiness emerged, supported by abundant smoke production that only enhanced the full-flavored experience.

The Supreme Leaf delivered nearly two hours of relaxed smoking. When I finally stepped outside, the cold felt noticeably sharper than it had when I arrived. Sitting in my car as the wind rocked it gently, I was reminded just how welcome the warmth and comfort of indoor cigar smoking can be in the heart of winter.

Cheers!

Good Cigars and a Week That Forgot It Was January

What is one to do when January temperatures climb into the 60s? Spend time outside, of course. Last week’s weather offered a welcome break from the usual winter chill (yes, I know the real cold is still lurking). Along with some refreshing walks around the neighborhood, I took advantage of the mild evenings by spending time on the porch — often without the need for a supplemental heat source.

I decided it was a good opportunity to work through some of the Cigar of the Month selections I’ve received over the past few months from Cigar and Pipes. I enjoy these packages and have discovered some excellent new smokes, but the cigars do tend to “back up,” especially when I’m also adding to the humidor through regular purchases.

One of the cigars I smoked this week was the La Gloria Cubana Los Gloriosos. This 6 x 50 Toro, received last September, features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It was crafted by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo for the La Gloria Cubana brand he helped establish. The smoke delivered notes of leather, espresso, and cocoa, and its smooth, medium-bodied profile paired especially well with a glass of DOM B&B as an evening digestif.

As the warm spell continued, another evening found me lighting up a November COTM selection: the Partagás Y Nada Más Santiago. This 5 x 50 Robusto is part of a lineup introduced at the 2025 PCA Trade Show. It features a Habano 2000 wrapper, a Sumatra binder, and a complex filler blend of Piloto Cubano, Corojo, Ecuadorian, and Broadleaf tobaccos. The cigar was milder than I expected, drifting into the mild-medium range at times. The draw was very open and airy, which likely contributed to its muted profile, though there were pleasant notes of cream and cocoa throughout.

I paired it with a pour of Four Roses Small Batch Select, though I waited until about a third of the way in before sipping, hoping the cigar’s flavors might build a bit. The bourbon brought dark fruit, vanilla, and oak, along with lingering sweetness and spice, adding a welcome flavor boost to the pairing.

These two cigars were new to me, which is exactly why I maintain a COTM subscription. It’s fun to receive cigars I might not have tried otherwise. Occasionally one doesn’t quite click, and other times I enjoy a cigar so much that I end up buying more. From time to time, one arrives that I’ve already smoked before — such was the case when the Black Works Studio Killer Bee showed up in October. Still, seeing it in the package made me smile; it’s a cigar I truly enjoy.

The Killer Bee Robusto is a 5 x 50 stick wrapped in dark Ecuadorian Maduro leaf. The cap is accented with thin stripes of lighter tobacco, giving it the bee-like appearance that inspired its name, while the foot is neatly and tightly closed. Inside, aged Nicaraguan tobaccos make up the binder and filler.

From the first draw, the medium-to-full-bodied smoke delivers white pepper, dark roasted coffee, and cedar spice. The burn is razor-sharp and consistent, producing thick, aromatic clouds that fill the space around me. By the second half, the cigar has settled into a fuller expression without becoming harsh. Despite its strength, I stuck with water for this after-dinner smoke.

Those pleasant January temperatures gave me the chance to enjoy several good cigars over a few days and make a dent in my Cigar of the Month backlog. And yet, as I write this, the next shipment has already arrived on my doorstep.

Ah, the struggle continues.

Cheers!

A Morning of Smoke and Silence

Most of my enjoyment of cigars takes place at home on the enclosed porch. In the colder months, I am usually alone (not lonely). So when I found myself sitting by myself in John B. Hayes Tobacconist in Winchester this week, it didn’t feel all that odd — surprising, perhaps, but not unusual.

When I arrived for a morning smoke, the familiar early morning crowd was present. They lingered only briefly before heading out, right on schedule. I can be confident it wasn’t me; this group tends to disperse around the same time most mornings, though there’s usually at least one other patron who remains. Even the proprietor spent most of the hour tucked away in his office, leaving the shop unusually quiet.

I selected a La Flor Dominicana Air Bender in the distinctive 6½ × 54 “Chisel” format. I hadn’t smoked anything from the Air Bender line in five or six years and couldn’t recall ever trying the Chisel vitola, so curiosity won out. The dark, oily Ecuadorian Habano wrapper looked especially inviting, while the ligero-heavy Dominican binder and filler promised a suitably robust morning smoke.

The Chisel shape — flattened and wedge-like — does indeed resemble a woodworker’s tool or perhaps the mouthpiece of a reed instrument. The end comes already open, and I’ve read that some smokers simply pinch it to create a larger opening rather than cutting. I opted to cut it anyway, though airflow remained somewhat restricted. After a few minutes, I took a bit more off the tip. Even then, the thin, flattened mouthfeel never felt entirely natural — despite my brief stint with the clarinet in my youth.

The Air Bender delivered exactly what it promised: a bold, flavorful smoke that never crossed into overwhelming territory, despite it being several hours before lunch. Peppery spice led the way, joined by cedar, dark chocolate, and coffee notes in a well-balanced profile. I had stopped for a creamy, vanilla-flavored chain coffee on the way in and its sweetness paired surprisingly well with the cigar’s darker character.

After about seventy-five minutes, it was time to set the cigar down — though it easily had another fifteen or twenty minutes left — and head out for lunch with my wife and a friend before the long drive home. Sitting there in the quiet shop, cigar in hand, watching the steady rhythm of people and cars pass outside, I was struck by how refreshing the moment felt. No conversation, no distractions — just good tobacco, and a pleasant morning stillness. It was a pause that was memorable long after the smoke has cleared.

Cheers!

The Best Cigar Is the One in Your Hand

The personalized license plate on my car offers a subtle hint at my enjoyment of cigars. Recently, while pumping gas, the guy behind me called out, “What’s your favorite cigar?” I hesitated, then stumbled through a reply listing a few brands I’ve enjoyed lately. In truth, my usual answer to that question — whether it’s about beer, bourbon, or cigars — is simply, “The one I’m enjoying at the moment.” It may sound flippant, but it’s also the most honest answer I have.

In my 2025 year-in-review post, I went out on a limb and declared a couple “favorites” of the year: the El Pulpo by Artesano del Tobacco and a Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Wegmans Private Selection. If I could distinctly recall every cigar smoked and every whiskey poured over the past year, would I still choose those two? I’m not entirely sure — but they clearly left a lasting impression. Reflecting on that choice, I decided to enjoy them together as my first sip and smoke of the new year.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Woodford Reserve Double Oaked store pick doesn’t appear to have been mentioned previously in these Musings, though it has shown up more than once on my Instagram feed. Compared to the standard bottling, this pick leans less on peppery spice and more toward a sweeter profile of caramel and oak. It’s an easy, enjoyable pour — and since no trips back to New Jersey are planned (or desired), I’ll be savoring this bottle while it lasts.

The El Pulpo, on the other hand, has been mentioned here before. Although it debuted in January 2023, it wasn’t until the summer of 2025 that I picked up a five-pack — and promptly followed that with a full box in the Robusto size. It’s a balanced and flavorful cigar, offering notes of dark chocolate, coffee, roasted nuts, and earth, capped by a pleasingly spicy-sweet finish.

After revisiting these two “favorites” together, I’m comfortable standing by my 2025 declarations. Still, the next time someone asks, “What’s your favorite cigar?” I'll prepared to answer a bit more quickly — with my usual reply: “The one I’m having at the moment.”

Cheers!

2025: A Year of Recovery and Small Pleasures

It’s time for the requisite year-in-review post. Although 2025 marked my first full year of retirement, it was a low-key and, at times, frustratingly sedentary one. After a previous year marked by chronic pain and ineffective treatments, I underwent back surgery — including a spinal fusion — in February. Healing from the procedure and recovering from months of severely limited physical activity has been slow and, to some degree, remains ongoing. Only in the final months of the year was I able to be a bit more active, and even now there is some lingering pain and restricted movement.

Unsurprisingly, that reality is reflected in my shooting journal. In 2025 I managed a meager four trips to the range for practice and just two IDPA matches. On the bright side, that represents a meaningful improvement over the zero outings logged in 2024. I fired my first shots since December 2023 in August and finally made a tentative return to competition in October. With luck — and continued progress — I’m truly hoping for more shooting sports participation in 2026.

Travel plans were also shaped by recovery with most travel in 2025 limited to weekend or overnight outings. We did attend several Virginia Tech Hokies football games. Weekends in Blacksburg, joined by our son and daughter-in-law, were enjoyable, even if the final scores were seldom in our favor.

We did get away for a week centered around a horticultural-focused convention that helped feed my indoor gardening passion. The event was held in New Jersey, which isn’t typically high on my vacation destination list, but I was pleasantly surprised — and pleased — to do a bit of bottle shopping and return home with a couple of excellent store-pick bourbons. Among them was a Wegmans Private Selection of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, a bottle that may well be my favorite find of 2025.

On the upside, one doesn’t need to be especially mobile to enjoy good cigars and fine whiskey. Despite other limitations, I’ve been able to maintain a fairly regular “smoke and sip” routine, usually on the screened porch that we renovated into a three-season room over the summer. That space has quickly become one of my favorite places to slow down and enjoy an evening.

The one true vacation of 2025 was a week at the beach, taking in the surf and sand, good food, and cigars by the sea. During our stay on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, I paid a couple of visits to the OBX Cigar Lounge. Being able to pair a cigar with a beer or whiskey — while smoking indoors — was a particular pleasure. Under Virginia’s nanny-state regulations, that combination is nearly impossible, save for a handful of exceptions.

We managed to squeeze in two very different musical outings this year. May brought Metallica to Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, while December closed things out with a Tab Benoit show in Leesburg, Virginia — about as big a genre shift as one could ask for.

On the blogging and social media front, I remained fairly active. Despite the limited activity, I managed 156 posts in 2025. In addition to these blog posts, I regularly share cigar and beverage pairings on Instagram. I also added an option for readers to receive these Musings by email, providing another way for readers who follow along to stay connected.

One final note for those who care about such things: my favorite cigar of 2025 was El Pulpo by Artesano del Tobacco. It’s not often I reorder a cigar while I still have some on hand — make of that what you will.

All told, 2025 wasn’t a year of big adventures or bold accomplishments, but it was a year of recovery, small pleasures, and quiet progress. If nothing else, it helped lay the groundwork for a more active and engaged 2026 — and I’ll gladly raise a glass and light a cigar to that hope.

Happy New Year!

A Post-Christmas IDPA Match

I’m not getting to the range nearly as often as I’d like. Even so, deciding to shoot the Cavalier IDPA match just two days after Christmas wasn’t an easy call. With family visiting for the holidays, it would have been easy to stay home — but instead I headed out early Saturday morning to spend the day shooting with friends.

Realizing I hadn’t fired a single live round since October’s IDPA match gave me some pause. A sore back, creaky knees, and “old man eyes” don’t help either. Still, the point is really the fun of the sport and the camaraderie — not the score. That was the mantra I repeated to myself during the morning drive.

Our squad was on the large side, and the match staff clearly set out to increase the round count. Four of the five stages featured multiple strings, which naturally extended the time required to complete each course of fire.

The first stage we shot was a straightforward “stand and shoot” skills test. Eight paper targets and four steel were arranged symmetrically. One string had us engage four paper and two steel on one side, followed by a second, separately timed string on the opposite side. As a twist, starting magazines for each string were downloaded to just five rounds.

The next challenge was the dreaded two-string, one-handed shooting stage. Standing in a shooting box, we completed the first string shooting strong-hand only (SHO), engaging four targets. The second string required weak-hand-only (WHO) shooting. One of the four targets was hung upside down, which caught more than a few shooters — myself included — sending rounds a bit too high for the -0 circle.

A not-quite-traditional IDPA stage followed. Six targets were positioned around barrel stacks — two on each side and two in the center — with three tables placed across the stage. All magazines were downloaded to just four rounds, with a maximum of four magazines allowed. One magazine was placed on each table, with the final table allowing an optional fourth. The firearm started empty and holstered.

This stage was also shot in two strings and felt distinctly USPSA-inspired. Starting a few feet behind the first table, we loaded at the table, engaged the associated target array, then moved to the center table to reload and engage the center targets, repeating the process at the final table. The second string reversed the direction of travel. The unconventional format brought plenty of smiles, laughter, and good-natured ribbing — especially as shooters hurriedly reloaded magazines off the clock between strings.

The next-to-last stage was a “sit and shoot” course. The loaded firearm and all magazines were placed on a table and all shots were from a seated position. A tall table and low chair made for some awkward positioning. Again shot in two strings, the first required engaging four targets with two body shots each. The second string required one head shot on each of five targets. A couple of overlaid non-threats added an extra layer of difficulty.

My final stage of the day was a full movement course. Fourteen targets were arranged along a curving path behind a mix of low and upright walls. All targets were oriented sideways, representing a pack of attacking animals. They presented varying amounts of exposed head and body, with occasional non-threats mixed in. Unfortunately, I neglected to grab a photo of the setup.

The stage brief required each target to be neutralized with either one head shot or two body shots — shooter’s choice. I opted for the body-shot option, reasoning that more rounds but faster shooting would benefit in the end, though a fair number of shooters chose the 14-shot head-only route. I really enjoyed this stage, particularly the opportunity to shoot on the move.

Overall, I was pleased with how I shot. Though I no longer consider myself competitive, I still enjoy the activity. I had a few misses, but I’ll gladly take the small victories: no non-threat hits and no procedural errors. Best of all, I got to reconnect with some old friends, including a few I hadn’t seen or chatted with in many years.

Normally, this is where I’d say I’m already looking forward to the next match. Unfortunately, the host club announced that the monthly match is moving to a different weekend, one that conflicts with another long-standing commitment. As a result, opportunities to shoot this particular match will likely be few and far between.

Though longer-than-expected, the day was thoroughly enjoyable. Despite a late-afternoon return home, there was still time for dinner, a couple of football games on the TV, and the continuation of holiday time with family. All in all, it was a good way to spend a winter Saturday.

Cheers!