Whiskey and Cigar Watching

Making it to midweek and finding some time to relax and enjoy a small pour and a cigar from two of my favorite brands makes work and hectic life just a tad easier.  It's a special time just for me to sit down and enjoy two of my favorite things, three if you include the other part of the picture above.  But let's talk some whisky.

Balvenie is my favorite scotch.  I mentioned Speyside in an earlier post as being my favorite region of Scotland.  I think scotch from here is the most balanced and some like this have a hint of peat.  This particular expression of Balvenie is their Week of Peat, once a year Balvenie distills a batch of peated malt  using their traditional malt bill and then bottle it.  This is a lovely balanced peated Scotch, not overly smokey, but just a hint that toys with the more traditional Balvenie flavors of honey and vanilla.  It's a lovely dram aged for 14 years.  Easy to drink and enjoy, but bold enough to hold up to a nice cigar.

Which brings me to this smoke from Cabal Cigars.  Its important to note that Cabal is owned by a local here in Clear Lake, the same fine gentleman that owns Beers Looking at You, a bar that I wrote about many years ago on the Houston Beer Guide.  So it's nice to smoke something that while not local of course, is owned by a local. This particular smoke is from their Esoterica line I believe with a Dominican wrapper and fillers from Nicaraguan nd Dominican.  It's a nice mild to medium smoke.  A great every day smoke in my opinion, well priced as well and something that paired really well with the Balvenie.  Smooth, notes of leather, coco, a slight sweetness it's a nice easy smoke.  This isn't a smoke that hits you over the head, but it is a great grab and go cigar.  So sit back light up, have a smoke and watch the time go by.

Watching the time, brings me to my last point, this beautiful watch from British independent watch maker Christopher Ward.  I think they have moved beyond the micro brand label.  While they are still primarily on line they are making their own movements, as well as doing a ton of unique things like the horolgoical master piece Bel Canto and the stunning Moonphase.  This particular watch is their Trident a dive watch that has a beautiful green dial.  It is good to down to 300 meters and is a date just watch.  The date window may be my one nit with the front of the watch as I really hate that it is not color matched to the rest of Its a great priced watch at just under $1000 which you can't really complain about.  Its got a great weight to the watch, not to heavy not to light, thin-ish body so it fits under a cuff and nice open style case back. While the movement isn't overly ornate, it is still nice to look at.  It also works on a number of different straps.  The one I purchased came on a very nice metal bracelet with a quick release clasp, however, I have been wearing it on different straps for the last few months.  Primarily a khaki Nato from Bark and Jack, but last week I switched to a one piece leather strap (which is what its on in the picture) from Theo and Harris.  I think it dresses the watch up nicely. So you can buy one watch, with 3 different straps and it really changes the overall style of the piece. I can't recommend Christopher Ward enough, their customer service was top notch when I ordered the watch and for a little bit extra they will size the bracelet for you (sending you any extra links they have removed).  The bracelet fit perfectly when it arrived.  As I stated before they are doing some really interesting things and they are incredible value for the product. Some of the best value out there in my opinion.  If I had any complaints about them, I do feel like their catalog is getting a little large and unfocused.  Too may variants of the same watch, although this is an issue with some of the big luxury brands as well, Omega, I am looking at you!  Overall though they are doing some really great things and keeping the price down which is a great thing since so many watch companies are raising their prices.

Sunday Morning Musings and Formula 1 Predictions

 

I’m sitting in a hotel lobby Starbucks in Vancouver, drinking not so great coffee, staring at the rain coming down outside and figured now was a good time to do some musing.  We’re up in the PacNW celebrating my wife’s birthday, but while she’s sleeping, I’ve got some thoughts!  

 

As I write, Liverpool are about to kick It off against Chelsea for the Carabao Cup (the second tier English Football Trophy).  Fingers crossed they win and give Klopp the first of a few trophies in his final year as Manager of the mighty Reds.

 

Another TV recommendation, geared towards car lovers, but really anyone that loves a good sports docu-series should be watching Drive to Survive on Netflix.  For the uninitiated this show, now in its sixth season follows all of the different Formula One teams during the race season.  Each show focused on one particular team while also giving general ideas of the big storylines for different races.  It’s always a fantastic look at things that are going on behind the scenes and has been tremendous in educating a largely ignorant US public on this type of racing.  I’ve been following F1 for 15 or 16 years at this point, but the number of friends that have gotten into F1 because of this show is unbelievable.  It’s the prime reason we have 3 races in the US now. The videography is tremendous as are the sit-down interviews with the drivers and the team principals (the individuals that run each F1 team).  The latest season is now out, and I’ve already watched about half of the series.  So many things I had forgotten that happened at the beginning of the season, nice to be reminded of what happened during Formula Ones previous season.  A must watch before the first race of the newest F1 season next week.

 

Speaking of the upcoming F1 season I figured I would put down my predictions for where the teams will finish in the constructor cup.  There are some obvious predictions, and maybe some not so obvious ones.  Without further ado:

 

1.     Red Bull Racing - Like it or not this is the obvious choice and one of two on this list that I am sure will end up where they are ranked.  Preseason testing shows they are starting where they left off last year as the dominant team in F1. The question is, will anyone step up and be close to them…

2.     McLaren – Full disclosure, this is my team, the one that I have been following since 2008 or so. They have been struggling the last few years and seemed to aways be 2 years away. However, the last half of last season they were the 2^nd best team in the paddock, and I think that continues into this season.  Norris will get his first race win as well as he leads team papaya back to near the top of the constructor’s cup.

3.     Ferrari – I’ll be honest here, as much as I think McLaren will be at number 2, I could see a flip flop here with Ferrari making it to number 2.  They have 2 great drivers that should be closer to the top than they should be.  However, even with a change in principal last year they were still plagued by unreliable cars and poor track strategy.  What will Ferrari do before Hamilton joins them next year?  Let’s see.

4.     Aston Martin Mercedes – I can’t ever quite put my finger on it, but I’ve never been a fan of the Stroll’s (father or son), but there is no denying what Daddy Stroll has done for Aston Martin.  He has turned around this team in spectacularly quick fashion and brought in one of my favorites all time drivers in Fernando Alonso to lead the team to victory.  Yes, Alonso is the lead driver of the team not Stroll the younger.  Near the end of this season expect chatter about Alonso leaving to maybe replace Hamilton. I think this unlikely, as I expect him to finish his career at Aston.

5.     Mercedes -I expect Hamilton’s last year for the team he made so dominant to be a frustrating one.  Mercedes is no longer top of the pack and many of the formerly also rans have made some huge strides where they have stayed stagnant.  Hamilton will go another year without a win, which will beg the question of why does Ferrari want someone at this stage of his career?  In the modern era drivers at his age don’t win many races let alone championships.

6.     Williams – Have this iconic British racing team turned the corner?  Formally one of the top teams in F1 they have been near or at the bottom for many years, including years of not scoring an entire point all season.  They made a huge leap last year finishing 7^th with new team principal James Vowles (formally of Mercedes under Toto Wolf).  He was able to make some significant midseason updates to the car last year they helped them score some much-needed points.  My bet is that with a full off season he can more strides and move up an additional slot.

7.     RB Racing – Red Bull racings younger less important sibling also features another one of my favorite drivers Daniel Ricciardo.  They also have one of the worst names in F1: Visa CashApp RB Racing.  Absolutely horrid.  But who doesn’t love Daniel and his giant genuine smile.  As much as it pains me, I am just not sure he has the ability to drive this team higher up the standings, especially considering how the other teams have improved over the off season.

8.     Alpine – Just not a whole lot to say here.  A team that I used to have high hopes would make a strong mid-tier run just can’t get it together, their drivers don’t seem to be in sync, competing and crashing into each other more than anything else.

9.     Kick Sauber – I was really hoping that Bottas would leave Mercedes and make an impact somewhere else.  Alas the only thing that is making an impact is his hair choices and his calendar.  The team is not good, and the drivers aren’t good enough to take a poor car and do anything with it.

10.  Haas – The other choice I am confident is that Haas will finish dead last.  The lone American team (as it will be in the future unfortunately thanks to F1 for not accepting Andrade’s bid) run by someone that has no desire to spend any money on his F1 team.  He can just pocket it and his company continues to make a profit.  And Mr. Haas fired one of the stars of Drive to Survive Guenter Steiner, now former team principalof Haas.  While Guenther may not have always done the best job, he was not the prime reason Haas has been in the doldrums and firing him will not improve where Haas finishes the season.

 

That’s it for the team predictions.  I’ll get my top 10 individual drivers’ predictions out before next Sunday’s race.  What are your predictions for the Formula 1 season?

Whiskey and Cigar Wednesday

It's a great thing to have a partner that encourages the things that you love.  My wife just so happens to be one of those partners, and while we typically don't do much for Valentines, she did surprise me with this wonderful bottle of whiskey.  Recently I was able to sit down and enjoy a dram along with a cigar.

 I am a huge fan of wheat forward Whiskies and this expression from Heaven Hill is a great example of why.  Aged 7-9 years and barrel proof this bottle weighed in at 60.7% abv. This could typically lead to an overly hot mouthfeel, but that wasn't the case here.  The wheat mash bill of 51% wheat and 37% corn, softened the heat, adding a sweet note as well.  It's honey, vanilla, a bit of spice and everything was indeed nice.  A splash of water toned down any residual heat if that bothers you.  

The cigar I paired with it, is my old standby.  Oliva Connecticut.  Oliva has been my go to cigar for well over a decade after I was introduced to it at my kids preschool.  Yes you read that correctly as random and weird as that may seem.  Obviously there is a back story, so here it is.  The daughter of the regional Olive rep went to the same preschool as my daughter.  When the preschool hosted the annual spring fling they also have an auction where various business and people donate things like dinners to restaurants or gift cards.  Well this fine gentlemen donated an Oliva cigar gift pack that came with a cutter, a lighter, a nice size cigar ashtray and a wide selection of cigars including samples of their off brand Nub.  Needless to say I won the item in the auction and after smoking a few sticks became a big fan of Oliva and haven't looked back since. While do love smoking cigars, and want to KNOW I am smoking one, I don't love overly robust smokes.  So this Connecticut has quickly become a regular for me.  A Ecaduadorian wrapper and Nicaraguan filler, this cigar smokes very smoothly.  It's a long smoke for me, full of notes of coffee and cream, cedar and a bit of oak, smooth, mellow and silky.  Yes its smooth, and some would call it light, but I do think its full of flavor, its just not a big in your face cigar, and that's just fine with me.  It played well with the soft sweet honeyed notes of the wheated whiskey as well. Made a for a great enjoyable night thanks to my dear wife. 

Greater Goods Coffee and Sunday Morning Musings

 

Sunday mornings are my favorite.  It's a day that has no real plans.  It starts off quietly, me getting up early because well, I always get up early, everyone else is asleep so I get to make myself coffee and have some time to do things for myself.  The first thing I always do of course is make a cup of coffee.  I'll talk about my coffee set up another time, but know that usually I make some sort of pour over, or French press.  Today is no different, and I used my new MIIR Chemex style carafe that I supported last year on Kickstarter.  I use it when I want to make a larger amount of coffee that I can drink on all morning, in other words, it's perfect for a Sunday.  The coffee I used, I just received in the mail from Texas Roaster Greater Goods.  They are based out of Dripping Springs, and roast some amazing single origins and blends that I have been a big fan of for many years. Today's particular brew is a blend that celebrates the Year of the Dragon.  It seems everyone is releasing something special (this is never truer than in the watch industry where everyone seems to have a dragon related watch out).  But I digress, back to the coffee. This particular blend, called Prosperity Blend is made with beans from Kenya and Mexico.  It's medium roasted and I used a ratio of 15:1 which is my standard.  It makes a beautiful cup with chocolatey and plum notes, maybe slightly sweet, with a nicely balanced level of acidity.  Well balanced for a long morning of drinking.  

In addition to sitting down with a nice cup of coffee, Sunday's are for musing, so join me while I express some thoughts on a couple of things near and dear to me.  First up is Liverpool F.C. my favorite football club in the world.  I've been a LFC fan for almost 20 years dating back to 2006 when I had the opportunity to live over in Europe and became infatuated with European football.  LFC has one of the best managers in the world in Jurgen Clop who surprisingly announced that this year will be his last with the club.  Shortly after the announcement the Reds played some inspired matches, charged up to make Klopp proud, but the last few matches they've had to eke out wins or even ties.  That won't be good enough if they want to stay atop the table.  So it was with that in my mind that I sat down to watch their match yesterday agains the lowly club from Burnley.  On the positive side of things before the match it was announced that Mo Salah would be back in the lineup after a month away playing for his national team and being injured.  On the negative side it was announced that their starting keeper Allison would be out.  Liverpool doesn't have great depth between the poles so I was a tad worried, but hoped that because we were playing Burnley we would be OK.  Luckily I was right.  The Reds (even though they were playing in their atrocious lavender inspired third kits, they are always the Reds) dominated.  Salah played like he had never been gone, making some tremendous assists and getting his own goal as he helped lead the team to a 4-1 win.  In other good news Man City tied, allowing the Reds to stay 4 points ahead at the top, and 3 points ahead of Arsenal.  I am hopeful that the Reds can stave off the gunners and city and allow Klopp to ride off into the sunset with another Premiere League title.  You can't write a better ending to his stay than that.

Speaking of endings, that leads to me to my next topic.  I'm an unabashed petrol head.  While I have never had the pleasure of owning a performance car, I love them.  I love watching racing, particularly Formula 1, and I love the engineering behind high performance vehicles.  As a petrol head, my leaders have always been that British Trio of Clarkson, May, and Hammond.  The crazy, imbecilic, moronic, hilarious and yes educational group behind Top Gear and then Amazon Prime's Grand Tour.  I've been watching them diligently for over 20 years.  Yes sometimes they make me grimace with the comments, but they also make me laugh out loud and cry because I am laughing so much.  A few weeks ago they announced that the Grand Tour would be ending and they would be breaking up the band so to speak, which honestly doesn't come as to much of a surprise.  Yes they are getting older, but they do have their own shows, Clarkson with his farm show, May with his travel shows, and Hammond with his own business and show on Discovery. But with this announcement came the release this past Friday of their penultimate episode Sand Job.  The idea of the show is for them to build a high end Dakar Rally vehicle for cheap, so they modify a Jaaaaag Type F (called the F-off of course), and Aston Martin DB8, and a Maserati.  Their usual hijinks ensue and while I felt this show wasn't quite up to par with some of their other excursions it was a lot of fun and it is always nice to see these three back behind the wheel.  They honestly do hide some smart and intelligent insights in between the bickering, insults, and pranks.  I look forward to their last show together (for now) coming out later this year.  With a trip through Zimbabwe it should make for good TV at least.

Enough musing, I need more coffee. 

A Mission Ends, A Celebration

One week ago I posted the above photo on Instagram, celebrating the end of a mission that I had supported.  I used to it to highlight how I was planning on celebrating, and with the rebirth of the blog I realized that this picture also highlights a few of my favorite things, watches, scotch, and cigars.  These are the type of things I plan on talking about here. What do I like and why.  What draws me to these things.

A Davidoff cigar is definitely not my usual smoke (that will definitely be in a post coming up), but it is one that I reach for to celebrate special events, and last Friday was one such occasion.  This particular expression the famous Churchill is just about perfect.  A little expensive to be a regular smoke, well at least for me, this is what a celebratory smoke should be.  Long lasting, robust, chocolatey, spicy, and oaky its just about perfect.

When it comes to Scotch, I love peat, however there are times when I want something a bit milder, fruitier, a bit spicier and on those occasions I typically reach for a treat from Speyside.  My go to tipple is usually a Balvenie expression (again, more on them in a later post I am sure), however, last week I reached for something that I hadn't had before, Aberlour 18.  This was a tremendous scotch, and one that I was extremely happy I had purchased.  Aged in two different types of Sherry casks it is definitely sherry forward.  If you love sherry, you will love this scotch.  Notes of citrus and butterscotch on the nose with a rich spicy palate, stone fruits, and just a touch of honey.  Combined with the Davidoff Churchill and its notes of vanilla and oak, made for a tremendous flavor combination.  I love how the flavors of whiskey and cigars play off each other, sometimes complimenting eachother, other times fighting one another for dominance.  Both of these can make for a wonderful experience and is one of the reasons that I look forward to sitting down and trying new combinations.

Last but not least is my watch.  Not something that I typically reach for to celebrate, but like many watches has a story.  I got this watch recently to celebrate a raise at work along with getting a special assignment.  I went to my local Omega AD and fell in love with this watch.  The iconic Seamaster 300.  But not the traditional blue, or white dial, this deep dark rich green.  In certain pictures like the one on the left it shows up almost black, but in others it's a vibrant green.  I love how it looks, the heft of it.  It's a big watch to be sure at 42 MM, but on my average wrist I think it still works.  On the steel 5 link bracelet it looks amazing, although I may try it out on a Nato in the coming months.  The sapphire caseback is a beautiful showcase for the Co-Axial 8800 movement.  It's a fantastic tool watch that represents more than just a dive watch.  It was by my side, or well, on my wrist throughout the recent mission, helping to keep me on track during periods where it was hard for me to remember where I needed to be next.  But it never overloaded me with input (something that has scared me off of smart watches now).  It's also just an absolutely beautiful time piece and a welcome addition to my admittedly small (for now) collection.  

Last Friday as I enjoyed the scotch and the cigar, thinking about the previous few weeks and all that had occurred, I looked down at my watch, seeing the date marveling at how the time had flown by and smiled.  This is my alone time, the time during the week, with a cigar and a smoke, that I don't have to look down at my watch to tell the time, I look down at it to admire the tremendous amount of engineering that went into designing it.  It's about appreciating all the people that helped make this thing sitting on my wrist.  The people that helped harvest the tobacco leaves, and the person that rolled my cigar so perfectly, and the distillery master that over almost two decades created such an amazing beverage.  That is why I enjoy these things.

"Tap Tap'. Is this thing on?

 WOW!  It's hard to believe it's been almost 8 years since my last post.  Now the question is, can I revive this blog?  Not the same old barleyvine, but a new evolved BarleyVine!  These last 6 years my interests and taste it things have changed.  I've started new journeys into new interests and now I am at the point where I want to write about them, and yes maybe even talk about them, but stay tuned for that announcement in the next few weeks.  For now, welcome new readers and join in on my ride through the wonderful world of watches, whisk(e)y, travel, cars (mainly some F1 talk) and who knows what else.  What I promise is my full unvarnished opinion, hopefully some good photographs and good conversation.  I hope you'll drop me a line or reach out to me on X, Threads, Instagram, or whatever else your favorite social media app is these days.  If you don't see me there, drop me a line here and I'm always happy to chat about one of my favorite topics.