Dusting Off The Golf Clubs
Top 5 Cigars of 2009
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Women In Lounges
From Homebrewing to Microbreweries in America
Louixs Rosados
Habanos Day 2009
Totalmente a Mano

      Of course anytime I go to the golf course, I bring cigars. Today I brought a Dominican TTT Trinidad Petit Robusto (Rat Tail) recently purchased from JR Cigars which I was curious to try. I also brought a Tatuaja Havana VI Angeles as well, but I didn't get a chance to smoke it. I grabbed a bucket of 75 golf balls, found a nice spot at the driving range, changed into my golf shoes on a nearby bench, and lit up my Trinidad. I closed my eyes. I took pause to feel the sun on my face, to enjoy the sound of golf clubs slicing through the air and the smack of the club making contact with golf balls, and to feel a slight breeze carrying the scent of freshly cut grass. My senses were tingling, I had a good cigar, and I was about to smack the hell out of some golf balls. Deep breath...life is good.

      I stretched a bit and started swinging. It was immediately apparent that yearlong break took a toll on my golf swing. It took about half of that bucket to actually feel comfortable with my consistently mediocre swing. I take my time at the driving range hitting golf balls and take several breaks to enjoy my cigar. The Trinidad had an easy draw with an enjoyably smooth, medium toast flavor. I finished that bucket and grabbed 50 more golf balls. Again taking my time working on my swing, enjoying my cigar and enjoying a beautiful (pre) spring day. By the end of my cigar and an empty ball bucket, a little twinge in my lower back reminded me to use those muscles more often swinging a club. I finished off my afternoon with 30 minutes on the practice green. Man, I need work. I guess I'll just have to go more often to smoke cigars and ,oh yeah, work on my golf game.

      I love playing the game of golf. But I go more often to the driving range than to the golf course itself. There are a few reasons for this. First and foremost, I am not a "shop talk" type person. The golf course has turned into a the "conference/board room". I also have to explain that here in Germany, they don't have affordable public courses like in the states. It is expensive to golf here. So most people that you run into on the golf course are businessmen or daddy has some money. Chances are slim you'll find a down-to-earth person to share the day with here on a German golf course.

      I do have a group of guys I enjoy spending the day with hitting the ball around a golf course. Unfortunately, we all work different hours and seldom have off days at the same time to play a round of golf together. So when I do go by myself, I always get paired up with some guy who wants to chat about his job the whole game. Even though you change the subject, he always finds his way back to work. People live such various lives and have such interesting experiences and such interesting stories to tell. They just choose not to share them and go with the safety net of shop talk. How boring is that? Until the guys and I have a free day at the same time, I'll just enjoy the safety net of a good cigar at the golf course.

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by Kurt Wolaver

     From time to time people ask me which cigar I enjoy the most. It is a tough question because I enjoy so many different cigars. It really depends on my mood at the time. But for this article I decided to compile a list of my top 5 favorite cigars of 2009. At times I come by really great cigars that are either way too expensive (Cohiba Siglo VI GR) or too hard to come by (Arturo Fuente OpusX). I consider these special treats to enjoy for the moment. But the list I compiled has the cigars I would most likely smoke on a regular rotation. Here they are:

     Again, these are our top 5 favorites we've enjoyed throughout the year. We will continue to try new brands in our quest to learn as much as we can about the cigar. And we will give other not-so-wonderful cigars a second try in hopes that aging has done them well. All of us here at KCL wish each and every one of you a happy, healthy and successful New Year in 2010.

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by Kurt Wolaver

     A century ago smoking premium cigars showed a status of power. Premium cigars were expensive, ergo smoking one meant you were successful in business or it showed your wealth or affluence. Successful business women a century ago were rare, ergo no cigar toting women. We all smoke cigars for our own reasons. Some like the taste, some like the aroma, some still see it as a status symbol, and some enjoy the camaraderie smoking cigars brings out in people. These reasons are true for both men and women. But how quickly are women accepted into the circle at a cigar lounge? I ask this question after my recent journey into cigar lounges in the United States.

     After every cigar lounge we went into, whether having a good experience or not with the lounge itself, every lady that went into the cigar lounge with me, initially noticed an unmistakable surprise reaction from the male customers in the store. A reaction of, "What are women doing in our cigar lounge?" Why are women still receiving this reaction in this day and age? It's quite simple really. Cigar lounges are still men’s territory. How men treat ladies that venture in their territory is what determines the quality of the cigar lounge and the patrons in that particular establishment.

     In Europe I regularly frequent cigar lounges with my girlfriend and she's rarely befuddled by men’s reactions to her presence. It's accepted here in Germany as not unusual. Is taking a woman to a cigar lounge a good barometer for determining the quality of the cigar lounge? You bet! Men have to assume the responsibility of treating these women courteously and respectfully. The tone of the patrons is determined by the staff at a cigar lounge. Staff set clear guidelines and boundaries for behavior, whether direct or indirect, of their regular customers. In your lesser quality cigar lounges, these are not set by staff nor adhered to by patrons. Customers will also regularly frequent a cigar lounge with staff they enjoy being around. Another wards, staff and patrons are usually on the same wavelength.

     Do societies norms and mores affect reactions solicited from women by men in a cigar lounge? You bet! Look at where you are and also think globally. Entire countries of women would not think of entering into men's territory. Some countries even have laws separating rights of men and women. But sometimes it is only a feeling amongst people in a region of a state or country. Are you in a city or rural area? Another example is the United State's east coast, west coast and the deep south. Different norms, mores and attitudes are even shared amongst older and younger generations.

     There is a considerable element of male-bonding when smoking cigars. Woman know this and most respect this. Most women can tell when it's guy time and most will gracefully bow out. But smoking a cigar I think can also be a time to enjoy basic camaraderie amongst fellow cigar smokers, be it male or female. Will cigars and cigar lounges remain men's territory? You bet they will! Should cigars stay masculine? Hell yes! Are woman a threat in the cigar world? Not at all! I think they are a welcome addition. I enjoy various perspectives on life's crazy journey and women definitely bring that into a man's world. The difference between "guy time" and the pleasure of each other’s company while enjoying cigars are something understood quite well by female cigar smokers.

     I personally enjoy smoking cigars in the company of female cigar smokers. Give them a fair shake. The experience might surprise you (depending on the woman). I suspect that most women who do smoke cigars understand they are visitors in a man's world. How their host treats their guest will determine where and with whom women choose to smoke their cigars.

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by Kurt Wolaver

History

     Brewing beer is an old trade. How old no one really knows, but beer may well be as old as humanity itself. Stone carving dating from 4000 B.C. showed that beer already played an important role in the life of the Sumerians of Mesopotamia. Much has changed and improved since then, but the brewing process has in essence remained the same throughout the centuries. Clean water, carefully selected barley, hops, and yeast are the basic natural ingredients of beer. The many types of beer numbers at least 20,000. How beer is brewed is The Brewmaster’s secret. But we can lift that veil of secrecy a bit to get a general idea of how beer is brewed.

General Description of Brewing Beer

     At the center of beer brewing is the brewhouse, the brewery’s kitchen. But before the natural ingredients – water, barley and hops are mixed in the brewhouse, they have to be pretreated. The water is softened. The barley is malted, that is to say, it is allowed to germinate and then dried. This drying is called kilning. The grain is then crushed under large rollers, although the husks or chaff are left whole. And the third basic ingredient, hops, is provided by drawing female unfertilized flowers from the hop plant.

     Four kettles are used for brewing. Water and ground malt are mixed in with mash tun. By heating this mixture, called the mash, to different temperatures in the brewing kettle, the starches it contains are turned into sugars.

     This sugary liquid is then filtered in the lautertun. The lautertun has a sieve at the bottom, which separates the husks from the liquid, which seeps through and thus becomes clear. This clear liquid, called the wort, flows to the wort copper where it is boiled and where the hops are added. The hops give the beer its pleasant bitter taste.

     After being boiled, hopped wort has been filtered again, the work in the brewhouse is finished. Yeast is added to the wort once it has cooled. The yeasts turn the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, and accounts for the clear, pleasant taste and aroma of beer.

     Fermentation takes about a week, after which the beer is called green beer. The green beer is transferred to storage tanks, where it matures over a period of several weeks at a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius. The remaining yeast cells slowly continue to make alcohol. The alcohol content thus rises in general to 5%. The carbon dioxide formed at this time, which can no longer escape will eventually help to produce the head on the beer. After storage the beer is filtered under pressure through a natural filter mass which filters out everything that makes the beer cloudy without any way altering the taste. At this point we finally have beer. This is a more modern approach to beer brewing used today by many of the larger brewing companies. However, beer was brewed differently in the past.

Pre Prohibition

     Long ago during the Middle Ages before yeasts were understood, beer brewing became a seasonal activity, due to the lack of refrigeration. Beer making would begin after the fall harvest, when the heat of summer had subsided. At that time, the only type of brewing practiced was a process called Iambic Brewing. Rather than using cultured yeasts, brewers fermented a barley and wheat wort by exposing it to airborne microflora and yeast in the atmosphere. Only during the Industrial Revolution did brewers and scientists begin to understand and control yeasts. Since then, the trade of brewing beer has been constantly refined due to technological developments.

Post Prohibition

     Today in the United States, only a handful of large beer brewers monopolize the beer industry. It hasn’t always been this way. A century ago in the U.S. over 4,000 regional breweries produced their own beer. Then Prohibition brought a halt to over half of the breweries. In 1933, when Prohibiton was repealed, a change in tastes did away with most of the remaining small regional breweries. New laws required bars to serve food as well as alcohol. This created a more family style atmosphere, turning local pubs into a social gathering place. This along with superhighways and advertising made large national brands (mostly mild and watery tasting) more popular than stronger beers.

     When Prohibition was repealed lawmakers made a Federal law stating that people were allowed to manufacture up to 200 gallons of wine in their homes. Due to a clerical error, the law should have read “wine and beer”. The longstanding law was not changed until 1978, allowing people to brew beer in their homes. Since then, a new beer culture has emerged in the United States.

     According to the American Homebrewers Association, based in Boulder, Colorado there are an estimated 1.5 million homebrewers and 190 homebrewing clubs nationwide, with a growing rate of people getting involved in home brewing at 20% per year. There are also 238 microbreweries according to the Institute of Brewing Studies in Boulder, Colorado. The growing number of microbreweries has provided a means for homebrewers to introduce their product to consumers. But due to lack of constant advertisement, regional breweries still can’t compete with the larger national brands, even though the regional beers are cheaper in price and comparable in quality.

Homebrewing

     But this doesn’t discourage most homebrewers. Most brewers enjoy making several varieties of beer, and say it’s not as difficult as most people think. A large complicated still or an expensive chemistry set are not required to brew beer at home. Most beginner kits for brewing beer cost under $10, and come with only the basic ingredients and an instruction book. The rest of the equipment can be scavenged from a household kitchen. From there the brewer just experiments with different batches to get a type they are satisfied with. Each batch takes about 8 hours to make in the kitchen, but then has to sit and ferment for at least two weeks. Most brewers say that is the hardest part of the process: waiting for the beer to ferment so they can taste it.

     Most homebrewers brew beer only as a hobby, because they cannot legally sell their product. Most homebrewers clubs sponsor festivals where homebrewers from all over the nation can bring their beer to be sampled by the general public and also be judged by their peers. The best homebrewed concoctions are awarded medals. Of the homebrewers who gain recognition for their beer, some go on to form their own regional breweries or license other established companies to make their beer.

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"Louixs Rosados by Goldwin Tobacco
These hand-rolled cigars are priced at $50 a pop."

     "There are reasons why the new Louixs Rosado cigar is so pricey. First, it's hand-rolled in Rosado--a rare Nicaraguan leaf that only recently became available for export--and hand-selected in the field by fifth-generation tobacconists. Second, it's an eye-catcher, with a mahogany red wrapper and an embossed and bronzed gold foil band. Third, this six-inch, 60-gauge cigar delivers a potent, hour-long smoke. Enjoy.

For more information, visit www.louixs.com."

--Lauren Sherman

Click here for the original article.

     In the words of Tennis legend, John McEnroe..."You can NOT be serious!!" As a daily cigar smoker, I give more consideration to the price of a cigar. Even though I have some expensive cigars in my humidor which I bring out to smoke from time to time, I have many affordable cigars I smoke for my neccessary daily ration. But this article reminds me of the Pulp Fiction scene about a $5 milkshake:

VINCENT:Did you just order a five-dollar shake?
MIA: Sure did.
VINCENT: A shake? Milk and ice cream?
MIA: Uh-huh.
VINCENT: It costs five dollars?
MIA: Yep.
VINCENT: You don't put bourbon in it or anything?
WAITER: Nope.
VINCENT: Just checking.

VINCENT: Can I have a sip of that? I'd like to know what a five-dollar shake tastes like.
MIA: Be my guest. You can use my straw, I don't have kooties.
VINCENT: Yeah, but maybe I do.
MIA: Kooties I can handle.
VINCENT: Goddamn! That's a pretty f***in' good milk shake.
MIA: Told ya.
VINCENT: I don't know if it's worth five dollars, but it's pretty f***in' good.

     Now replace 'cigar' for 'milkshake', $50 for $5, and 'tobacco' for 'milk and ice cream' in the dialogue. I think it gets my thought across. But I don't want to pay $50 dollars for 1 cigar to find out, in the words of Vincent Vega, if "that's a pretty f***in' good milk shake". I think this cigar manufacturer is just being too damn greedy.

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     Noon arrived, the official opening of "Habanos Tag 2009" and we headed toward the registration table to check in and pick up our welcome package. We received a bag with a few things inside. It contained our personalized itinerary for our workshops we previously signed up for, pencil and paper for taking notes, two cigar magazines (ECCJ and Cigar Clan), a sample bottle of Ziegler Jubiäums-Bierbrand, a guillotine-style Solingen Cigar Cutter embossed with "Habanos Day 2009, Germany", and a Humipak containing 3 Habanos Cigars (H. Upmann Magnum 50, Juan Lopez Robusto, and a Montecristo Edmundo). We kept our Workshop schedule and packed everything back in the bags and took them to the car, where they would stay for the remainder of the day.

     The courtyard quickly filled with guests almost all of which held a lit cigar in their hand. The wait staff walked about the crowd with trays filled with free soft drinks and Cuba Libre's. I settled on a Cuba Libre to compliment my cigar and continued to watch the ever-increasing amount of people filling the courtyard. Smiles were abound, friends greeted old friends and others shmoozed with the big names of the cigar industry hoping to also mix some business with pleasure. I found Joachim from my favorite Tobacco Shop this side of the Atlantic and said my hellos. Good start.

     At 1300, the opening "Welcome" was given and all the honored quests and lecturers were introduced and thanked for being there. We all broke off to our first workshops and the courtyard emptied. First workshop for our day was "Cigars & Rum". The lecturer for this class, Herr Jürgen Deibel, we already knew. We attended a Whisky tasting given by him this past winter. For the next hour he would be lecturing about Rum and we would be tasting 6 different Rums he brought for us to sample. Most of them I enjoyed but my favorite was the "Pussers British Navy Rum" with "Plantation Rum Barbados" coming in a close second. Herr Deibel really is a treat to learn from. What this man doesn't know....

     A belly full of rum and two hours to kill before my next class. What's a man to do but grab another Cuba Libre and light my second cigar of the day, a Romeo Y Julieta Short Churchill. Luckily Joachim was also on the same workshop schedule as me and we found plenty to discuss, enjoying the afternoon sun and atmosphere. My second workshop came. "Blind-Tasting" by Herr Thomas Hammer. He is more of a wine guy, but gave a class on cigar tasting. I really didn't learn anything new during that hour. But we all got a free cigar, without a band, and we had the chance to guess which Habanos cigar it was. Long story short, I guessed wrong. Turns out it was a Romeo Y Julieta.

     I met up with my girlfriend who just came from her last class, "Cigars & Chocolate" and we adjourned to the "evening gala". We found a table with friends and also met some new people. I lit my fourth cigar of the day, a Bolivar Royal Corona, while my girlfriend enjoyed her first cigar of the day, a Romeo Y Julieta Short Churchill she obtained at her chocolate class. The dinner was first rate as well as the wait staff. My wine glass never came close to being empty the entire evening. A wonderful band, Kel Torres, with a salsa flare played live throughout the evening. And the last complimentary cigar of the day was distributed in the traditional style by pretty girls carrying a cigar tray. This one being I believe a H. Upmann Double Sir Winston. I saved this one for another day as I was all smoked out.

     It was a long day but a great day. Any cigar aficionado (self-proclaimed or professional) should definitely make time on their schedule for this event next year.

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     I must admit Magne Falkum, a family run Tobacconist since 1948, is my favorite Tobacconist this side of the Atlantic. Every time I enter the store, I feel as though my chest puffs out more than humanly possible and my testicles swell with dangerously high levels of testosterone. While there I forget about the real world for a while and enjoy my time with the cult of cigars. The first floor has a huge selection of pipes and tobaccos. Venture down the wide winding metal staircase and arrive in the man cave of man caves. Here you find a wonderful display of Rums and elegant cigar accessories. The roof is a curved archway made of brick. At the end is a large walk-in humidor with a large selection of Habanos and some non-Cubans. Right in front of the humidor is a small smoking corner with old leather chairs set upon a Persian style carpet with every accessory necessary (including a coffee or schnapps) to enjoy a good cigar. The staff, Gerd and Joachim, is very helpful and incredibly knowledgeable about pipes, tobacco and Habanos cigars.

     It was a wonderful setting for my first "cigar event" per se. I've been researching cigar construction, regions of countries where tobacco is grown, comparing prices of cigars at various locations, and buying, smoking and comparing many many different kinds of cigars. All of this came about because my girlfriend bought me "The Connoisseur's Guide to Cigars - Discover the World's Finest Cigars" by Anwer Bati & Simon Chase for my birthday. And I've been hooked since. It's hard to find people who actually have a clue about cigars and enjoy discussing them or just sitting down and enjoying each other’s company while enjoying a cigar. This was my first time being around people who all appreciated the beautiful lifestyle of cigar smoking. Cherry successfully popped!

     My buddy Marc and I were one of the first guests to arrive. As always I received a warm welcome from Gerd and a happy hello from Bine (Gerd's brindle boxer). We ventured down the winding staircase and were greeted with a waft of cigar smoke coming from Señor Garzia's cigar placed casually in his mouth while busy rolling cigars for the guests. Joachim greeted us and introduced us to Señor Garzia. He spoke no German and very little English. My Spanish consists of counting to 15, ordering beer and asking where the bathroom is. So I asked him to roll a Cohiba Lancero for me. He acknowledged with a friendly smile and went diligently back to work rolling a cigar after my brief interruption. He seemed focused but very at ease with his work.

     I had read about this process but never seen a cigar rolled live before my eyes. He started with two leaves he cut in a oblong half-moon shape laid flat on the wooden board in front of him. This will become the binder leave. He then took about 4-6 leaves folded lengthwise and bunched them together in his hands. This is the filler leaf. He then laid the filler leaf on the previously laid binder leaf on the wooden board in front of him and rolled that leaf around the filler to give it a cigar shape. He would then select a wrapper leave and form it similar to the binder leaf, lay it on the wooden board and roll the filler and binder leaf into the wrapper leaf. He would form the head depending on what he was making (torpedo, rounded, pigtail, etc...). He would then cut the foot of the cigar to the required length of the particular cigar he was making. During the whole process he would add a bit of leaf here or make a snip there. It was quite hypnotizing to watch and amazing to see a pile of leaf formed into a cigar in only a few minutes. He placed it on the small ledge on his work bench and went to work on the next cigar.

     I took my Lancero thankfully and retired to a comfortable leather chair in the smoking corner. Marcos was perched comfortably with a Robusto Señor Garzia had previously made. The cigar felt sponge-like to the touch and had an almost sweet aroma, reminding me of honey. I snipped the head, warmed the foot and finally lit the cigar in my mouth. The head was soft (common for a freshly rolled cigar) and got a lot of flame on the initial (and only) light. This cigar lasted almost two hours. The entire smoke was very consistent. It had an even burn, excellent and cool draw. I sensed a leathery and pleasant spice taste throughout with an earthy finish. It was really a heavenly smoke.

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