Memories of Italy: Cigars and Spicy Cocktails in Venice

Venice was the final stop on our recent vacation in Italy. The group tour included a two day stay, and we extended our visit by another two. It was fun spending extra time exploring on our own, and we quickly grew surprisingly comfortable navigating the maze-like city.

An added benefit of the extended stay was enjoying two sunny days, as the first two had been plagued by intermittent rain — not unlike our previous visit, when our lone day in Venice was spent mostly taking cover from torrential downpours.

Of course, the pleasant weather also provided more opportunities to enjoy a cigar. Our hotel, the Palazzo Veneziano, was a beautiful four-star property that also boasted an excellent bar. Not only was it exceptionally well stocked, but the specialty cocktail menu was particularly impressive. What caught my attention most was the extensive selection of Negroni variations, several of which I happily returned to a few times during our stay.

The featured cocktail, however, was the Santa Margherita. The spicy drink is made with Altos Tequila Blanco, locally produced Select Aperitivo, lime and orange juice, agave syrup, and a Tajín-spiced rim. When the bartender first served one, he remarked, “There’s a straw, but I recommend you don’t use it.” Wanting the full experience, I followed his advice — and ended up enjoying several Santa Margheritas over the course of our stay.

On our final evening, the patio furniture at the hotel entrance had finally dried out after the earlier rains. After ordering another Santa Margherita from the bar, I settled in outside with a cigar. Fortunately, I had brought along a suitably spicy companion: the AJ Fernandez New World Decenio Robusto.

The Decenio opens with the rich, dark flavors typical of AJ Fernandez blends. Bold notes of dark cocoa and espresso, accented by a lively black pepper spice, remain consistent throughout the medium-to-full-bodied smoke. The cigar paired particularly well with the spicy cocktail, though I found myself using the straw for most sips, only occasionally drinking from the seasoned rim so as not to overwhelm the cigar’s flavors.

After finishing the flavorful pairing, we enjoyed one final sunset stroll through the streets of Venice. The evening light shimmering across the canals and the quiet, narrow streets provided a fitting finale to our visit. Though weary from sixteen days of touring, it felt bittersweet returning to the hotel for one final round of packing before our flight home the next morning.

It’s hard not to smile in Venice

Cheers!

Memories of Italy: Beer, Cigars, and the Alpine Charm of Bolzano

During our Italian vacation, we spent two nights in Bolzano, in South Tyrol. Situated at the gateway to the Dolomite Mountains, Bolzano has the look and feel of an Alpine village, with spectacular mountain views in every direction. Making the region even more intriguing is the strong German influence in its culture, food, and architecture — at times, it feels more like Austria or Bavaria than Italy.

The area was part of the Austrian Empire for centuries before becoming part of Italy after World War I. After the war, Mussolini’s Fascist government attempted to “Italianize” the region by encouraging Italian migration and suppressing the German language. Those efforts largely failed, and the people of South Tyrol still proudly maintain their German heritage and language today. The result is a fascinating blend of cultures where espresso bars and aperitivo traditions coexist alongside Alpine customs, German dialects, and Austrian-style mountain cuisine.

The bar in our hotel offered a couple of locally made, German-style beers, and naturally I was eager to try them. On the first evening, I joined some fellow travelers to enjoy pours of Felsenkeller Bier from Birra Forst. Served in a tall chalice, the cloudy, unfiltered, and unpasteurized beer delivered notes of sweet bread, yeast, and a touch of banana. It was remarkably refreshing and easy to sip.

On another late evening, after a day spent hiking wooded trails and wandering the city streets, I settled into the hotel’s outdoor garden to enjoy another local beer — this time paired with a cigar. I selected the V.I.P. Pils, also from Birra Forst. The crisp pilsner, brewed in the German tradition with a notably dry finish and refined bitterness, proved especially refreshing in the cool Alpine evening air. I paired it with a Las Calaveras Edicion Limitada 2025 LC52 that I had packed from home.

I’ve long enjoyed the annual Las Calaveras releases from Crowned Heads. The 2025 version features a mid-priming Mexican San Andrés wrapper that shows a lighter appearance than the darker maduro tones usually associated with San Andrés tobacco. Beneath that wrapper are Nicaraguan binder and fillers. The cigar treated the palate to notes of coffee and espresso, touches of cocoa, and mild pepper. Underlying it all was a gentle sweetness that softened the richer flavors.

Ideally, the cigar might have paired even better with a darker ale, perhaps a German Dunkel or Bock. However, that wasn’t an option at the time, and I found the combination thoroughly satisfying nonetheless. The crisp bitterness and clean, dry finish of the V.I.P. Pils highlighted the cigar’s cocoa and espresso notes without adding competing sweetness. The cool evening air and tranquil garden setting only enhanced the relaxing atmosphere.

The region’s German influence is readily apparent in the food as well. During a stroll through the market area of Bolzano, we stopped at a vendor’s cart to enjoy some Weißwurst. The sausages were served on paper with a generous dollop of spicy mustard and a hard roll — simple fare, but immensely satisfying.

One evening, we enjoyed dinner at Batzen Häusl, a local brewery and restaurant — not exactly the experience we had expected to find in Italy. I ordered a Batzen Bräu Bock alongside a South Tyrolean bratwurst platter. The beer was rich with dark caramel malt flavors and a mild sweetness.

The sausages were equally delicious, served with roasted potatoes and sauerkraut. I especially enjoyed the creamy sauerkraut, which struck a pleasing balance between sweet and sour flavors.

The food, the beer, the architecture, and the dramatic scenery of the Dolomites towering above the town — not to mention the ever-present German dialect — often made it easy to forget we were in Italy at all. Yet that unique blending of Italian and Germanic cultures is precisely what makes Bolzano and South Tyrol such a memorable destination. It’s a place where Alpine traditions and Italian hospitality coexist seamlessly, creating an atmosphere unlike anywhere else we visited during the trip. For this beer enthusiast, it was like two vacations in one.

Cheers!

The Celebration That Almost Slipped By

The day almost slipped by unnoticed. Monday marked the second anniversary of my retirement. Unlike that first year, which was heavily shaped by back problems and the surgery that followed, this past year has felt much more normal. The routines have settled in, and retirement has begun to feel less like an adjustment and more like a way of life.

To mark the occasion, I opened a bottle of Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked Bourbon that I recently picked up. I’m a longtime fan of the standard Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, and this special expression takes an already excellent bourbon to another level. After the regular Double Oaked bourbon has fully matured, it spends an additional year in a second heavily toasted, lightly charred new oak barrel, creating a whiskey with remarkable depth and richness. Once available only as an annual distillery-exclusive release, this special bourbon now enjoys limited national distribution.

The bourbon’s deep, maple-syrup color immediately reflects the influence of that extended oak aging. Rich aromas of maple syrup and caramel rise from the Glencairn glass, while notes of butterscotch emerge as it opens up. The dark, inviting profile continues on the palate. Waves of caramel and maple lead the way, followed by hints of dark cherry and gentle spice. Taken as a whole, Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked is dessert in a glass.

After savoring the bourbon for a while, I lit a Rocky Patel DBS. The 5 x 50 Robusto features dual Nicaraguan and Pennsylvania Broadleaf binders along with dual Honduran and Nicaraguan Broadleaf fillers. “DBS” stands for “Double Broadleaf Selection,” an appropriate name for a blend built around broadleaf tobaccos. Completing the package is a Mexican San Andrés Maduro wrapper.

The DBS opens with black pepper layered over bold cocoa and nut flavors, supported by subtle wood and vanilla sweetness. This cigar had been resting in my humidor for nearly a year, and while it remained full-bodied, it seemed slightly less intense than earlier examples I smoked closer to release. One characteristic that remained unchanged, however, was the draw. Although the cigar never appeared overly packed, every DBS I’ve smoked has drawn like a thick milkshake through a straw until about the first third, when airflow finally begins to improve. Draw issues aside, it remains a cigar I consistently enjoy.

The Woodford Reserve Double Double Oaked and Rocky Patel DBS proved to be fitting companions. From the start, the bourbon’s caramel and maple notes complemented the cigar’s vanilla and wood flavors. As the pairing progressed, espresso, cocoa, and dark fruit characteristics from both began to intertwine, creating seamless transitions across the palate. Near the finish, the cigar seemed to coax additional pepper and baking spice from the bourbon, adding another layer of complexity.

The evening of slow sipping and leisurely smoking provided plenty of time for reflection. It has taken a while, but it feels as though we’ve finally found our rhythm in retirement. The freedom to set our own schedule, whether for travel, social gatherings, household projects, or simply relaxing, is a reward earned through decades of work.

Perhaps the best indication that retirement suits me is that it took two days to find the time to sit down and write these thoughts. Boredom, it seems, is not a problem.

Cheers!

Spring Sunshine, a Spritz, and a Cigar

After a record-breaking streak of rainy days, the sun finally shone brightly this weekend. We spent a good part of it attending our 45th (!) college reunion. It was a blast seeing old classmates and even meeting a few people I hadn’t known back then. When Sunday rolled around, we recovered by enjoying the spring weather and an afternoon aperitivo on the back deck.

While Colleen prepared a selection of snacks, I mixed up a couple of Aperol Spritzes. A trip to the humidor yielded a Crowned Heads Blood Medicine Limited Edition 2026 B Positive Toro to complete the afternoon’s indulgences.

The Blood Medicine Limited Edition 2026 B Positive is a reimagining of the popular 2025 Blood Medicine release. It features a Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, an Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. The 6 x 54 Toro’s reddish-brown hue glistened in the afternoon sunlight.

The Blood Medicine B Positive had been resting in my humidor for just seven weeks. It probably could have benefited from a bit more time to acclimate after shipping. I’ve often found that newly released cigars, especially those shipped quickly from retailers, improve with additional humidor rest. Still, I was eager to give this one a try, and I have several more waiting.

The burn was somewhat wavy, requiring a few touch-ups, and the ash was a bit flaky. Those minor annoyances aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the cigar’s flavor profile. Starting out medium bodied, the Blood Medicine B Positive delivered a balanced array of notes, including dark cocoa, espresso, cedar, and black pepper. In the second half, the profile picked up in strength, pushing firmly into full-bodied territory.

The bright, bittersweet notes of the Aperol Spritz were somewhat overshadowed by the darker notes of the cigar, which took center stage on the palate. While the deeper vegetal bitterness of a Cynar Spritz might have made a more complementary pairing, the warm spring afternoon seemed to call for a lighter drink.

I found myself alternating slowly between smoking, sipping, and enjoying bites of food. That approach allowed me to better appreciate each element on its own rather than forcing the pairing to compete for attention.

An amazing chorus of birdsong filled the air throughout the afternoon, occasionally interrupted by the distant din of leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and pressure washers. Though the thick woods surrounding our home hide the neighbors from view, the sounds still detracted somewhat from the otherwise peaceful atmosphere. I’ve long believed that Sundays are meant for rest and relaxation, though that apparently isn’t a universally shared philosophy.

Our table was decorated with floral arrangements brought home from Friday evening’s reunion gathering. A visiting Swallowtail butterfly seemed to enjoy the flowers as much as we did, adding another touch to the bright spring ambiance.

Cheers!