Cigars And Bourbon On The Road

We took a long weekend trip to Blacksburg, VA recently to relax, do a little bit of hiking, and of course overindulge a bit on food and drink. Blackburg is one of our favorite "close by" vacations. During the summer, when VA Tech is not in session and the 30,000 students are not present, it still has some of that small town feel.

We had no set plans for the four days, only general intentions, so finding an evening or two to sit down with a smoke was not difficult. The weather for being outside was pleasant even though it was the first time this summer the area had reached 90°! We heard many of the town folk remarking on the hot temperatures, but we found it a nice respite, the low 90° daytime highs still being 9 - 12° degree cooler than we've experienced at home of late.

I bring along cigars and the necessary accoutrements anytime I travel. Often there is no opportunity for that pleasure, but it's good to be prepared. Hotels these days are notoriously anti-smoking, even outside. At one place we stay regularly, the prohibition is well signed, nonetheless I've spotted ashtrays and evidence of both cigars and cigarettes. 

After the afternoon drive and a big dinner I escaped to an out of the way patio with my travel ashtray and an Oliva Serie V. The Serie V is one of my go-to smokes. The creamy chocolate and cedar notes of the cigar goes well with coffee, bourbon, and even beer. On this evening, feeling satiated from the meal at a local restaurant and brewery, my chosen pairing of water was the perfect finish to the day.

On another evening, after a day of distillery and brewery visits, we settled onto the patio to enjoy the cool evening air while I smoked and sipped. This time I brought along a flask filled with Woodford Reserve Double Oak to go along with a Rocky Patel Hamlet Tabaquero. 

The Woodford Reserve was selected for travel since it's a bourbon that pairs well with most any smoke. The smooth, sweet oak flavor touched with some fruit and vanilla is always pleasing.

When it was announced last year that Hamlet Paredes was leaving Rocky Patel, the company stated that the Tabaquero line was being discontinued. As the Tabaquero by Hamlet Paredes is another favorite of mine, I immediately acquired a box of the cigar in the 6 x 52 Toro size. The Tabaquero blend uses a San Andrés wrapper, a Nicaraguan filler, along with a San Andrés and Brazilian Mata Fina double binders. The creamy sweetness, milk chocolate, cedar, earth, and oak flavor blend is always pleasurable. I've been rationing my supply, saving them for special-ish occasions, but I won't hold them for an extremely long time as I like the flavor profile just it is now.

It was a very refreshing mini vacation. It's fun to get away, but also nice now to be back on our regular eating and sleeping schedules, for a few weeks anyway. 

Cheers!

Déjà Vu Beer

Earlier this week I was in Washington, DC to meet with some folks from work. After the work of the day was done, I had some time to kill before we were heading out for dinner. so I stopped into the hotel bar for a beer. Sipping on a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA, looked at my Untappd account to confirm I had indeed "ticked" off that ubiquitous beer. Indeed I had. In fact, I saw that in December, 2013, within just a couple days of the date, I was in that very same bar, drinking that very same beer.

Either these business meetings are too regular, or the hotel's beer menu is very static. Or both.

Good Beer and Sports Celebrity Sightings

A lack of blogging recently isn't an indication of a lack of life activity, just the opposite in fact. It means I've been too distracted by life to sit down and write. We were out of town last weekend, in part to attend the Spring Game at VA Tech. I was pleased we had reservations at the same hotel at which we found good beer last year. Before I even checked in at the front desk I detoured to take a peak at the taps in the lobby bar. I was not disappointed.

Colleen and I visited lobby bar in the evening to relax over a few beers. Three of the offerings were old favorites, along with one new to me beer. I tried a sample of a local beer, River Company Dumpster Dog Porter, but opted to go a more hoppier route. Colleen enjoyed a pint of the Porter. I couldn't resist a pint of an old favorite, Loose Cannon from Heavy Seas, and later a pint of Bell's Two Hearted Ale.

As we were enjoying our drinks and talking with other guests, there was suddenly a lot of excitement in the lobby and bunch of folks leapt from their seats. Buffalo Bills Quarterback Tyrod Taylor was checking in to the hotel. He posed for a few selfies and things quieted down. For a bit anyway, until Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Bruce Smith walked in. He too posed for selfies and signed autographs and the lobby calmed once again. Seattle Seahawks player Kam Chancellor also made a pass-through of the lobby.

The commonality among the players is of course, they are all VA Tech alumni, in town for the Spring Game. In all honesty, if it wasn't for the other fans at the bar, and some quick Google searches, I wouldn't have known who they were, not being a big sports fan. Nonetheless, it added some excitement to an already enjoyable Friday evening.

Still Life: Hotel Room Dinner

We attended an amazing self defense-related class this weekend (more on that soon) which meant spending 10 hours a day in a classroom. After the long day, dinner out seemed like to much effort so we opted to eat in.

A carry out sub and can of beer never tasted so good. The second can tasted even better.

Beer, Good. Frosted Glass, Bad.

As I walked by the hotel lobby bar during a visit to Blacksburg this week I spied three tap handles; Hardywood Park Singel, Devils Backbone Vienna Lager and Foothills Hoppyum IPA. That was the entire draft lineup. "This will be good," I thought. I knew how I'd relax at the end of the day.

Late in the evening, as Colleen and I sat down for a late beer and snack, I noticed a Budweiser tap had been added but still, three out of four isn't bad. I was impressed. Then as our beers were set in front of us, we just looked at each other and shook our heads. Frosted glassware! Not just cool, but I can't even hold the glass iciness.

Foothills Hoppyum awaits the thaw

With such a fine selection, it was surprising to see how the beers were served. Obviously somebody is placing good beer in the lineup, but missed the memo about serving them. Buyer, brewers, distributor, somebody should care.

Anyway, once the ice melted, the glasses dried, and the lake that had formed on the bar mopped up, the beers were quite enjoyable. 

A Hotel Beer Surprise

I was attending a convention in a Roanoke, VA hotel this past weekend. Although I did stop at the Roanoke Railhouse Brewery before checking in, I expected to see little else in the form of craft beer during the course of the weekend. Imagine my surprise, and delight, when I discovered this menu at the hotel restaurant:

Click to embiggen

That's 19 honest to goodness craft beers! While they did also serve the usual array of factory beers, the place actually printed a special craft beer menu. Sadly, the hotel-catered events I attended as part of the convention weekend, did not feature any of the above mentioned beers. However despite a busy weekend of meetings and other events, I did manage a couple of visits to the house pub for a good beer, or two three.