Milam and Greene is a Hill Country based distillery that has been around for a few years now and is incredibly well respected. One of the really cool things they do is take pride in blending whiskey, something that is too often under appreciated in the US, and looked down upon. It's not a bad word if you are doing it well, and are open and honest. They are up there with one of my favorite Texas Distilleries. In a state where many Texas 'craft' distilleries cut corners, or bring in out of state products and try to brand it as Texas Made, Milan and Greene are doing things differently. They are also one of the few women owned and with a woman head distiller. This particular expression, their Triple Cask is one of those aforementioned blends. Taking whiskey distilled at their Blanco headquarters, along with whiskey distilled in Bardstown, KY, they blend the product and age it all in TX. The malt bill is the same for the both; 70% Corn, 22% malted Rye, and 8% barley and it comes in at 94 proof. It's got notes of vanilla and spice, and oak. It's not too hot which is a common problem with younger Texas whiskies. It's smooth, but has a some body. Not overly big, or tannic, but enough of a bite that lets you know you're drinking. Good mouthfeel, if just a little light bodied. While its not my favorite M&G expression (I love their rye, and some of their reserve series more) this is seriously good, and for under $50, well priced and worth a pick up.
Avo cigars is a sister brand to Davidoff which I've spoken about before. These are a little lower priced, but are still incredibly good cigars. They make a handful of cigars, but this one was recommended to by my local smoke shop. Comes in a beautiful orange capsule, the AVO XO is a beautiful smoke, and may become one of my go to's. This XO is their Intermezzo 5x50 with an Ecuador wrapper and other tobaccos from Dominican. This hits my preferred sweet spot of being medium bodied, big and bold enough to let you know that you are smoking a cigar without being overpowering and killing your palate. It's incredibly smooth with oaky notes, vanilla, spice, and dried fruits, with just a hint of sweetness. The flavor profile is incredibly similar to that of the whiskey. So a more complimentary pairing, vs a pairing that plays off of the notes in the whiskey. It works for a nice midweek sit down. I've smoked a couple of these recently, and will definitely be picking up some more in the future.
Now our shocking finale. OK, OK, enough with the puns, it's time to talk about the Casio G-Shock. The watch collectors GO-TO for a rugged every day, digital watch. These are next to indestructible and have been designed that way since the 1980's. This particular G-Shock is their GAB2100GC-3A and is a gorgeous monotone olive green with splashes of color around the octagonal bezel. It's very light weight as well. This is a solar powered model, which means while there is a battery it gets its power from the sun (or other light sources) helping it last for a very long time. You won't need to replace the batter like you do in standard quartz watches. Additionally it has what's called a Smartphone link that allows it to receive data like timezone, day and date making it very easy to set. It has multiple function to track lap times, timer, count downtimer, world timer, full scale calendar year to 2099, and a slew of others. My wife got me this watch for Christmas and it has become my GO-TO weekend watch. I can go out and grab some coffee, or I can go do some yard work. It's made for both. It is a big watch with a case size of 41mm and a lug to lug of 48mm. But it wears fairly well on my 6.75 inch wrist. If I had one complaint it's that the screen that has date and seconds on it can be a little hard to read. But the lume on the watch is amazing. For under $200 I think this is a no-brainer watch to add to the collection, or start your collection.
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