This Wednesday its not about Whiskey and Cigar pairings, but Cognac and Cigars, oh, and a Tag too. But first the dram.
Cognac is a liquor distilled from grapes and made in one region of France. This specific Cognac comes from Famille Vallein Tercineier, a producer for over 150 years. This particular expression the Napoleon Vieille Reserve is fantastic. I actually won this in an auction a couple years ago at the Houston based Southern Smoke Festival, a wonderful and amazing charity for folks in the restaurant business. So I don't break this out very often, but it is worth it when I do. This is a blend of older and younger spirits with notes of citrus and vanilla on the nose. The mouthfeel is smooth, unctuous, sweet, floral, orange marmalade. It's nice, if not overtly complex, but as someone that doesn't know a ton about Cognac I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Cigar
For whatever reason I was feeling in a special mood, not only breaking out the Cognac, but smoking one of my favorite special occasion cigars. This cigar was one of the first that I had that really blew me away with its complexities, robustness and flavor. It comes from my favorite cigar brand Oliva and is their Serie V Melanio. This won Cigar Aficionado Cigar of the year back in 2014 few years back, and unfortunately the prices went up and they can sometimes be hard to find, but when I was introduced to them about a decade and a half ago I felt like they were a steal. Now that's not necessarily the case but I still consider it a well priced smoke. This is their Toro sized cigar and is one of my favorites. Ecuador wrapper with fillers and binders from Nicaragua. This is a full bodied cigar full of black pepper, bitter chocolate, leather, creamy coffee notes. While it's robust and full flavored it's not harsh, I find this an exceptionally smooth smoke. One of my most highly recommended cigars for those interested in something that is full bodied.
Tag
My newest edition to my watch collection comes from Tag Hauer one of the brands that falls under LVLH brand. Originally called just Hauer they are the maker of one of the most iconic watches in the world, The Monaco thanks to Steve McQueen. The brand was purchased by TAG back in the 80's and sometimes gets a bad rap for the quality of watches they produced after TAG bought them. However, in the last couple of years they are producing some amazing watches. Last year they introduced a glass box Carrera their round dialed chronograph to the delight of many. This year they took it a step further and introduced this vintage inspired panda dial with brushed silver steel and black sub dials. This watch is absolutely stunning hands on. It shines with radiance. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it so I called up my local watch store (Houston's own Zadok Jewelers) to see if could put my name down for one. Not only did they do that, they got me the first one. Amazing customer service! I've had the watch for a couple of weeks now and I have really enjoyed it. I've worn it on several different straps including the steel bracelet it comes on, some NATOs and some nice leather rally straps. My favorite is the rally strap as that is the iconic look for these Carreras.
It's well proportioned and the sapphire glass box allows you to read the dial from almost any angle and adds some depth that I think would be missing with a standard flat crystal. The legibility is perfect and spot on. The chronograph buttons have a nice give to it, and let you know they are engaged with a noticeable click sound. My one complaint on the watch is the bracelet it comes with. It looks great, but I am not a big fan of its comfort nor of the lack of micro-adjustment. If you are buying a luxury watch it should come with the ability to do easy micro adjustments, so I do think Tag missed the boat. But for the watch itself? It think they absolutely nailed it. My full thoughts are at the video below. Check it out.
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