Smoking and meeting new people: even an introvert likes it.

 Rushing this blog out on the eve of my big trip

It's Saturday evening. Tomorrow I leave for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail bright and early. I packed and ran errands to prepare for the trip. I cleaned the house (because hubby and son won't clean it while I am gone). Finally I sat on my porch with a roaring fire in the pit, puffed on an Alec Bradley Texas Lancero, and sipped mocha decaf coffee with Irish Whiskey. And I typed this blog.

Enjoying a Lancero while writing this post

This week - smoking with company

While I will definitely follow up with some posts about my trip to Kentucky, this week I wanted to discuss smoking with people, and particularly meeting new people. As an introvert who expends most of her "social energy" with other people's kids teaching high school, I generally prefer to smoke alone and meditate and decompress after a long week at school, or even mid-week after a long day. And this is really only partially true, for I have made connections in the various smoking establishments I frequent: Bob and Joe at Shakers; Paul and Jen, and Jarrod and Nikki at Metro, and a few others. These are connections, however, made up of people who own and/or work in those places. I also smoke with my sister and brother-in-law, who have joined me at Shakers and at Metro. Otherwise, I have very rarely talked to other patrons. And then this past week it happened, on Sunday at Metro.

Spiking the coffee with Irish Whiskey since I'll be hitting bourbon all next week.

Sunday with Arturo Fuente, and three lovely people.

Teachers get the "Sunday Scaries" with the best of them. Last week I got my exercise and chores done, so I headed to Metro in Germantown to have a smoke, a Jack Daniels, and a quiet mediative session before returning home to make dinner. When I got there, I was reminded that Metro has new seats, and everyone is talking about them. On the east end of the lounge they are arranged in fours, with two seats facing each other. You have no choice but to look other cigar connoissuers in the eye! When I first sat down at around 1 pm, the seat next to me was empty but across from me were two men, one older and one younger. They were together and likely a father-son duo. They talked intently to each other, and the body language communicated that this was their one-on-one time, so I puffed on my Arturo Fuente Untold Story while I typed an itinerary for my Kentucky trip. I know that makes me sound like a nerd, but my bourbon and cigar tour was self-planned, so I had to coordinate tour times, check-in and check-out times, and driving times across Kentucky's bourbon country. 

Metro - Jack Daniels and Arturo Fuente

Eventually father and son left, and they were quickly replaced by three others, a brother and sister, and a lady who was their cousin. They were about 10-15 years younger than I, maybe in their forties. (I am 58). They lit up their smokes and sipped cocktails. I had at least half of my Fuente to smoke as I finished my itinerary, and as soon as I closed the doc on my laptop, the cousin asked me how long I had been smoking cigars. (Shit - I really had to think about it, lol.) Thirty years, I finally, said. The cousin commented that I must have started really young. And that was it. We engaged in at least two hours of conversation. First, I explained that, on my radar, cigar smoking was not a thing when I was young. Rather it seemed to become a thing in the 1990s when I was in my mid to late twenties, with cigar bars popping up in the Milwaukee area.

Secondly, and thirdly, and so on, I found out they were all professionally employed, and the brother had a side business selling cigars. They all had adult kids, as do I. We discussed how diverse the crowds were at all the cigar bars in and around town. The brother commented about how cigar smokers made up a subculture that crossed all demographics of people. And then the conversation became more familiar, talking about parenting, extended families, divorces, the tragedy and emotions involved with losing loved ones, and finally about getting older. Finally, I looked at the clock, and it was after 4 pm and I had to head home to start dinner!

Arturo Fuente Untold Story

At the very least, this was a good warm up to being more social with fellow patrons as I head to Kentucky by myself. However, for my future as a cigar buff, will it change me? I think mostly no - I will likely smoke alone and meditate a lot. But I will be more open to it. And sooner or later I will run into the brother, sister and cousin, and I will definitely sit by them and catch up! It was really meaningful. 

So that is all for this week's blog post. Stand by for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and its nearby cigar bars!

Cigar of the Day salvaged on a Snow Day

 I smoked a lot of decent cigars this week, but as a teacher and cigar connoisseur, nothing beats a snow day. Well, only if you smoke a stick during what would normally be the regular school day. I have had snow days when it was just too nasty to smoke one on the porch, and the roads were too hazardous to drive to a cigar lounge (if they were even open).

Well, the nasty weather started this past Sunday, but preceding the snow storm was the rain. The day was cold and windy, with sideways rain at about 37 degF. I did go out on my porch like a fool and smoked a Rocky Patel, The Edge Maduro, and it was adventurous to say the least. I will confess it was entirely out of vanity and for attention, because I posted it in my various social media groups and threads. The internet indulged me, calling me "boss lady," and "hardcore," and even "Supergirl," for smoking in those conditions. The Edge Maduro is a regular go-to of mine: woodsy, spicy, and great tasting, even though it was hard to focus on the flavor. I was lucky to persist out there in my cowboy hat, and layers and layers of warm clothing, like back in my track and field coaching career, when I stood outside in that shit while the poor kids competed. Brrr.

Later on, since I am in a bowling league that competes alternate Sunday nights, I went in and bowled. Several teams called in and forfeited because the rain was predicted to switch to nasty snow. Somehow the excitement of it all aroused my performance level, because I bowled well above my average. Then the notice came on my phone in the form of an email blast - no school on Monday due to the weather. Sure enough, it was snowing by the time I was driving home from bowling. Snow Day! For teachers and students this is a happy time. However, I had to contain my joy. The other bowlers were pissed off that there was a winter storm so close to St. Patrick's Day. I stayed out of there way by not dancing to the tune of my snow day, as they complained about Wisconsin weather patterns. They were not in the mood to hear celebrations that I would be off work the next day.

My "pre-snow day smoke" on the porch with Rocky Patel

Monday morning I awoke, started coffee, and shoveled. Then on social media I conformed and fit in by bitching about Wisconsin and how crappy it was "to get all this snow in March," blah, blah, blah...even though I was like a kid, elated to have the day off. I went out and shoveled a second time. It was coming down and it was cold and windy as heck. I was not performing any encore cigar smoking on the porch, that was for sure. So I decided to roll with the weather. I put on snowshoes, hiked through deep snow for two miles, burned a lot of calories, and broke a sweat in the frigid winds. I started to come to terms with the fact that this leisurely snow day was not going to lend itself to enjoying a stick. Oh well, I thought, it was still a blizzard out there.

Actually I own several pairs of snowshoes

And then it happened. I got home from snowshoeing, and the snow stopped, and the sun came out. The plows came through. My son emerged from his bedroom cave, and he shoveled what would be our third and final wave of snow removal. After I got out of the shower and cleaned up, it was 1pm, and the roads looked passable. Online websites incidated that cigar shops were open. So I headed out into the winter wonderland.

I landed at Havana Lounge in West Allis. I had not been there since the summer, and I don't really go there that often. I think it is a great place, but it is just out of my way in terms of where I live and where I travel to work or to visit family. They were open the earliest. The small parking lot was full - so obviously the snow did not stop other connoisseurs either. The plows in West Allis had not hit the side streets nearby so I parked a few blocks away, on the other side of Greenfield Avenue. No problem. I snowshoed. This was not far for me.

March 16th looked like January 16th

The spacious cigar lounge has two rooms and a bar. Several men were there ahead of me enjoying their smokes. A few were working on computers. (I laughed inwardly - wondering if they were "working virtually from home" due to the weather?). The owner was working the bar and humidor. I don't know her name, but she was very friendly and helpful. She remarked about how some of her staff could not make it in due to the snow. I ordered a Makers Mark on the rocks and a 6 X 60 Asylum 13 Ogre, with a barber pole wrapper. It lit up and the initial bite was not as intense or bold as the regular Asylum 13; it had the woodsy flavor of the regular, but also a hint of cream from the green half of the wrapper. It was 2pm by this time - and I was smoking during what would be my normal school day! When I was a kid, I would be sledding and playing in the snow, but as a grown woman I did my adulting by shoveling snow, and got my exercise in by snowshoeing, and got my playtime in by enjoying this Ogre. The greenish strip of the wrapper was also keeping with the green Irish feel of St. Patrick's Day.

Asylum 13 Ogre

I am glad the snow day allowed this time at Havana for me. I will have to head back there again soon, even if I have to drive out of my way. A very memorable snow day to be sure!

Pairing the Ogre with Makers Mark

 

The Humidor and the Gurkha Cigar that Survived the Dry Cold Winter!

Being a cigar blogger does not mean I know what I am doing. I do have a small humidor in my home and for the most part I am pretty happy with it. This past winter, however, I noticed that I had some trouble regulating it, especially during the frigid spells we had. I am curious if other cigar connoisseurs with humidors experienced the same issue I had over the winter: unlike summer, when I found maintaining a 69% reading on my humidity gauge was no problem, the winter brought significant fluctuations up and down. Even with a humidifier running, the house got dried out and my humidor dropped close to 60% - a lot! And I was constantly filling the reservoir with humidor solution, especially when the furnace was running extra hard during the coldest nights. I did some investigating online, and one possible explanation was that my humidor, made out of wood, warped over time, and was no longer sealed. This would result in the solution evaporating faster. Maybe that was the reason?

My simple humidor setup

 Finally, I tried something else. I started buying those big Boveda 69% humidity packs and that actually helped quite a bit. I held 69% a lot longer with those. At any rate, I shook my head many times all winter and cursed myself silently for being such a bad cigar mom to my smokes.

Well, now it is March and spring is around the corner, and last Friday we had a beautiful day. The Milwaukee area hit 70deg F. When I drove home from school, I had a hankering for a big cigar on my porch, and the whole way home I was wondering about the two Gurkha Cellar Reserves I bought last summer, one aged at 15 years and another aged at 21. And then I wondered if I ruined them over the winter with my humidor fluctuations. I had half a mind to stop at Total Wine and just buy a fresh Churchill or gordo, but I resisted - I had to see if those two good cigars survived.

Friday night sushi and coffee.

I did stop to buy some sushi on the way home. When I arrived, I started a fire out by the porch, poured some Sagamore Rye Whiskey, made coffee, and ate. By the time I finished my supper, the fire was blazing and the weather was still warm and pleasant. Now it was time to see how the cigars were. I grabbed the 15 year Gurhka.

Gurkha Cellar Reserved, Aged 15 years, with Sagamore Rye Whiskey

When I lit it up, it was actually was really, really good! The initial bite was a burning wood sensation, like having a great smelling campfire in my mouth. And the rest of the smoke kept me happy with a solid, stable woodsy flavor. The rye whiskey had a hint of clove which went well with the wood flavor of the cigar. It was a good experience, making me yearn for summer more than ever - and either the cigar proved to be more resilient with my humidor fluctuations, or proved that maybe I did okay managing the humidor through the dry months? Perhaps I need a new humidor, or maybe it is just a fact of life for cigar smokers during Wisconsin winters in a dry house? I suppose I should reach out to my cigar smoking acquaintances around town and ask.

A smooth woodsy smoke. Great for a spring day!

Either way - that 21 year Gurkha is ready for the next warm day. That makes me smile. 

Shakers Premiers its Women's Only Wine Tasting Event

 Introduction:

You all know that bourbon and whiskey are my passion, but I do like wine, especially with good food. I have seen wine nights and wine events from afar, gazing across the room while smoking a cigar and sipping whiskey. In fact, I had never taken part in a wine tasting ever, anywhere, let alone a cigar bar. So this past Wednesday evening I thought I would attend the Shakers first "Women's Only Wine Tasting Session." The owner Bob also gave me a nudge.  Twice. I made recent stops at Shakers to eat their delicious Cajun Mac N Cheese, drink a Ghost Ale, and enjoy a whiskey and cigar for dessert. Both times he handed me the flyer. I finally had Joe sign me up and made it in before it would eventually sell out.

Reception and Proseco:

I arrived and checked in. The staff provided me with a raffle ticket and seated me at an empty table. (I forgot to pay attention but there were maybe 4 tables, each with seating for seven??) The information on the flyer did not mention cigars, so I was not expecting any to be provided like Shaker's does at other events. However, I was hoping that I would be able to buy a stick and smoke one anyway, but when they seated me, there were no ashtrays on the tables. But the seating was beautiful! The tables where donned with winter-white linen and glistening wine glasses. None of the ladies already seated, nor those who came in after me, were smoking. Oh well. Psychologists call it normative social influence - conforming in order to fit in and maintain social approval. I did not smoke during this event. That is not to say I didn't have a wonderful time!  Soon my table filled up with other ladies. There was a rep there from Trinchero Wine & Spirits, and they started everyone off with a glass of sweet and crisp Avissi Proseco. It was refreshing and sweet, and I quickly forgot that I was not going to be lighting up for a while.

A lovely white linen event

First course:

Three lovely servers with wide smiles waited on us. They poured us each a glass of Bieler Pere & Fils Rose. This paired really well with the salad they brought out: three robust and spicy shrimp, with small slices of jalapeno over field greens. Yum! After a sip of the rose, each bite of that salad hit your mouth with the same kick! I love spicy food so this was excellent and I was happy. It was a tasty start to a delicious night.

Second course:

The servers next brought out Cerreto Blange, another crisp and fizzy white, which the rep explained cleared the palette. This removed the fireworks in my mouth from that first spicy course, and prepared me for the main entree. This was chicken breast with a red bell pepper stuffed with a goat cheese blended with seasonings, all with a side of shredded carrots. It was all delicious, but I really liked the stuffed pepper! Meanwhile seated at my table were the rep and her sister and her cousin, and two ladies who were kindred spirits of mine in that they both came from the south side of Milwaukee, as did I. The conversation moved beyond the initial introductions and was now prolilfic, warm and genuine. I was at a great table. We talked about spouses and a little bit about wine geography. This was lucky for me because I am a bourbon girl so I don't know much about wine, but I did teach high school geography for eight years so I was able to chime in as a contextual resource to the winery locations!

I bought a tasty trio of wines.

Third course:

Trinchero Ersol Pinot Noir preceded dessert. It was my favorite wine of the night. I imagine it stands alone really well as an after-work drink for a lot of women, but it was an excellent partner to Shakers amazing dessert. The servers had to navigate carefully, as they gracefully delivered the sweet treats lying within a hollowed-out half pineapple on its side, crown and all. The visual presentation was capitivating as the servers set this down before us without swatting anyone with those tall crowns protruding over the sides of the dishes! Inside the pineapple was ice cream, fruit, and some kind of cheese and/or gravy. All of that with the pinot noir made for a satisfying conclusion to the meal. And again the company was great, as the conversation now branched off from wine and geography to children and pets.

Adorable ghost candle I took home as a gift!

Aftermath: wines for sale & the raffle

I bought one bottle each of the rose, blange, and pinot noir - each was discounted as part of the event. They also raffled off a few bottles of wine and a few Shakers Ghost Tours. I didn't win any raffle prizes, but the night was a winner. There was also a few gifts for the guests, too, including a Shaker's teeshirt and a ghost candle. (From what I heard one of the servers makes those candles herself, from beeswax. I didn't get all the information about it, but I intend to follow up in a future blog post!)

I did meander over to the bar after the wine session ended and sat by Joe, who is a friendly, informative, and consistent presence at Shakers. I don't know how to label his status there, but he has status. He socializes and smokes good cigars, but he also sells them behind the humidor, and he is the one who actually signed me up for the wine tasting event a couple weeks earlier. I smoked two great cigars and chatted with him before I went home, but I will have to catch you guys up and review those later. This post was about the wine provided by the Trinchero Family and about the delicious food provided by Shaker's! When I started this blog I never imagined I would be reviewing food and wine! Thank you, Shaker's!

I promise next time I will review the cigars

One post a week - and today it started at Metro Cigars in Germantown

 Now that I am back on the blog, I have set a reasonable, attainable goal. I will smoke at least one cigar a week, and write one post per week. I feel pretty good about this.

I didn't waste any time. I left home this late Sunday morning and went to one of my favorite places - Metro in Germantown. They open at 11 am on Sunday. There is no more football and the Olympics are over, so this left me with a good quiet Sunday to break the ice.

When I got there, Nicole was tending bar. Although I had not been keeping up with this blog, I have been to Metro, but only during the week. She only works weekends so it's been awhile since we saw each other. She was glad to see me, and I was glad to see her. I will have to swing by on more weekends! She is very warm and fun.

 So today I chose an Alec Bradley Black Market Gordo, and I ordered Jack Daniels on the rocks. I know, I know: it is not my typical bourbon but this cigar lounge just vibes "Jack Daniels" to me. It is only at Metro that a Jack Daniels is my drink of choice. At Shakers I will do bourbon or scotch or port. But Metro is Jack Daniels. Go figure.

The Black Market Gordo lit well with a match, and the initial surge of flavor was creamy rather than that bold maduro kick you sometimes can get with other dark cigars. It is actually fairly mild, like a hot chocolate. Well, more like a dark chocolate, because it is spicy more than sweet. I will definitely try it again. I highly recommend it.  At Metro it is 13 dollars and some change and well worth it.

The crowd looked like a typical Sunday outing. It was mostly men, off work for the day. The clouds of smoke helped the quieter patrons meditate, while the drink and tobacco facilitated philosophical and political discussions with the more talkative ones. But nothing was toxic. It was all thoughtful and intelligent. That is why I like it at Metro. If you have never been there, I suggest you try it!

Okay. That was the first review in three years. I think this blog shall be sustainable. Later in the week, I have an event at Shaker's Cigar Bar. My next blog post will be all about that!  Thanks and it is good to be back.

I am back - and the "trail" is why!

 I launched this blog over three years ago and posted a lot in late 2022 and early 2023! My last post was exactly three years ago today, March 1, 2023, and then life happened, and school happened, and I got so darn busy. And I lost it. I lost the persistence to keep this thing going.

And in the years since then, I still went to cigar bars, and the staff at my favorite haunts commented how they read my blog, and I felt kind of bad about not keeping up with it. Well now I am back, and let me explain why:

I am retiring from the teaching profession at the end of this school year, in June. And I have one last spring break before my income is reduced and more "fixed." So I wondered about taking a trip. I considered Europe. I have never been to Europe, and people always tell me how much I would like it. I started shopping around online and saw that I could afford a trip to France, or Croatia, or anywhere really - I looked at places in Latin America, Asia, and Australia. However when I got to the airline tickets and saw the time dedicated to flights, I just couldn't do it. For a trip to France, we were looking at 19 hours, 16 hours, 17 hours, and that was only the flight there, and  so there'd be another long flight home. I did not want to spend almost two full days just traveling via airports, terminals and in the air. I hate flying anyway. I am not afraid of flying on a plane, but I hate the whole process: arriving at the airport early, going through security, occasionally getting searched, sitting packed like a sardine on an airplane, and dealing with the delays. Nope. Maybe I won't ever go to Europe or anywhere far away and exotic. I think I am really okay with that.

Then I started thinking about this large country I live in, and that despite the political division that dominates the news and social media, I imagine that most people are very decent, and that the Ameican landscape is utterly beautiful. I would love to drive somewhere instead. And that is when it hit me: bourbon and cigars! The Kentucky Bourbon Trail! My hairstylist of all people suggested it to me years ago, since he knows I love bourbon and cigars. So I went online and planned a trip! So at the end of March I am driving to Bardstown, Kentucky and I am touring several distilleries and checking out several cigar bars. I might even fit in a horseback trail ride to boot. Yay!

And then it occurred to me. The blog. Oh yeah. People actually read it. I have to step up my game! I cannot go to the whiskey trail in Kentucky and pair all that amazing booze with cigars and not write about it!  SO I AM BACK!