So Jimmeh and I took the day off from our respective jobs and decided to celebrate my increasing age. We started with a smoke in my back garden. I just had the small-ish Oliva O, pleasant but nothing amazing.
We headed into Tunbridge Wells to one of my favourite restaurants, Thakerays. Lovely place, great Japanese garden that we could smoke in after the meal, great cellar and stunning food.
I started with a venison appetiser and sweet sherry as an aperitif, then I had the truffled quails eggs followed by seared Atlantic cod in a seafood jus. For pudding there was a summer pudding that had a special touch since I was the birthday boy. Each course came with its own glass of appropriate tipple. The meal ended with a port from 1988 and coffee. Jimmeh can tell you what he ate.
Following the good meal we retired to the Japanese garden. Jimmeh is currently doing contract work, he lost a days pay by joining me so I rewarded him by letting us smoke the one cigar he has wanted to have from me the most. We smoked the Montecristo 2001 LE Double Corona. It started light but grew in strength and turned out to be a lovely mellow and relaxing smoke. The weather was fantastic and we had cocktails and champagne with the cigars. The champagne was not my Krug of choice (the '85 is a must) but passable. Jimmeh would not know the difference anyway, LOL.
Late in the afternoon we relocated to the Hotel du Vin. At first we enjoyed the comfy chairs and the view but as the sun started to set the temperature dropped a little so we retreated to the smoking "shack" and the fire. I proceeded to smoke the Partagas Maravilla from No.10 Manchester street and Jimmeh had the Pardon 45th maduro. This was a second run at both these cigars for both of us. I enjoyed the Partagas far more than my first, which is not hard as it was horrid. This one was good to very good, my main annoyance being that I could source no more of them. Jimmeh enjoyed the Padron more this time then we did when we initially sampled it but still fails to see what all the fuss is about. I drank Ron Zacapa XO rum (again, good, not great) and Jimmeh kept off the drink as he would have to be driving later.
We bumped into two friends there who had just returned from Cuba and they had many tales to tell and pictures to show.
Grand day all in all and hopefully to be continued on Saturday in London with as many of you as can make it.
T.
We headed into Tunbridge Wells to one of my favourite restaurants, Thakerays. Lovely place, great Japanese garden that we could smoke in after the meal, great cellar and stunning food.
I started with a venison appetiser and sweet sherry as an aperitif, then I had the truffled quails eggs followed by seared Atlantic cod in a seafood jus. For pudding there was a summer pudding that had a special touch since I was the birthday boy. Each course came with its own glass of appropriate tipple. The meal ended with a port from 1988 and coffee. Jimmeh can tell you what he ate.
Following the good meal we retired to the Japanese garden. Jimmeh is currently doing contract work, he lost a days pay by joining me so I rewarded him by letting us smoke the one cigar he has wanted to have from me the most. We smoked the Montecristo 2001 LE Double Corona. It started light but grew in strength and turned out to be a lovely mellow and relaxing smoke. The weather was fantastic and we had cocktails and champagne with the cigars. The champagne was not my Krug of choice (the '85 is a must) but passable. Jimmeh would not know the difference anyway, LOL.
Late in the afternoon we relocated to the Hotel du Vin. At first we enjoyed the comfy chairs and the view but as the sun started to set the temperature dropped a little so we retreated to the smoking "shack" and the fire. I proceeded to smoke the Partagas Maravilla from No.10 Manchester street and Jimmeh had the Pardon 45th maduro. This was a second run at both these cigars for both of us. I enjoyed the Partagas far more than my first, which is not hard as it was horrid. This one was good to very good, my main annoyance being that I could source no more of them. Jimmeh enjoyed the Padron more this time then we did when we initially sampled it but still fails to see what all the fuss is about. I drank Ron Zacapa XO rum (again, good, not great) and Jimmeh kept off the drink as he would have to be driving later.
We bumped into two friends there who had just returned from Cuba and they had many tales to tell and pictures to show.
Grand day all in all and hopefully to be continued on Saturday in London with as many of you as can make it.
T.
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