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.
No comments:
Post a Comment