Another fall weekend, another road trip. This time we were headed to Blacksburg to catch the VA Tech football game. In Southwest Virginia, nights can get chilly this time of year, but Friday evening’s mild weather let me comfortably enjoy a cigar on t…
With the days getting shorter, I’m drawn to the deck for an after-dinner sip and smoke when an early sunset meets unseasonably warm weather. I was grateful for just such an evening this week.Still Austin Single Barrel Cask Strength Bourbon was my choi…
I picked up a bottle of J. H. Bards Skipper’s Select Toasted Barrel Bourbon while visiting the tasting room a couple months ago. I had nearly forgotten about it until now but on a very pleasant Halloween evening, I decided to open it. Trick or Treatin…
We escaped for a weekend in Blacksburg, VA, to catch another Virginia Tech football game. It was also a chance to spend time with our son and daughter in-law who also came to town for the weekend. The weather in southwest Virginia was unexpectedly plea…
We kicked off October with an exciting whirlwind trip to northern Italy, which explains the brief pause in posting. Our journey took us through Venice, Murano, Burano, Padua, Ravenna, Bologna, Modena, Parma, Pisa, Florence, Siena, and Milan. What a rid…
The Rocky Patel A.L.R. Second Edition is a cigar I find myself coming back to time and time again. The name stands for Aged, Limited, and Rare, though mentions of it in my musings are anything but rare. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed this cigar in severa…
I’d been eagerly waiting for a few months to try the Rocky Patel DBS. After letting it rest for a few months in the humidor, I couldn’t hold off any longer and decided to light it up on a Friday evening, pairing it with a glass of Larceny Barrel Proof …
Today marks the 17th anniversary of this blog. It all began on a lazy afternoon, experimenting with Blogger. I was looking for a place to share my thoughts—and, occasionally, my rants—about the growing “craft beer” scene, especially in my local area an…
Our annual celebration of “all beers Oktoberfest” continued with beer, a cigar, and a fire. Despite a late afternoon temperature of 80°, it wasn’t raining for a change, so we decided to get in the first fire of the season. Center of the Universe …
It’s that time of the year when the local craft breweries put on their Oktoberfest celebrations. I haven’t gone to many of them in recent years so was glad when our schedule made this one doable. I do have fond memories of the events held by Blue and G…
