Archives for the ‘Blog Entries.Local’ Category

John J. Bowman With Crowned Heads Le Pâsittier

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Aug 14th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
The liquid piece of this pairing is an old favorite bourbon, John J. Bowman Single Barrel, from Fredericksburg's own A. Smith Bowman Distillery. Surprisingly it doesn't get many mentions here, despite being regularly poured. The cigar for the evening was a new one for me, Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier No. 50. 


The John J. Bowman Bourbon comes in at 100 proof, which is right at my sweet spot for an easy sipping bourbon. (Though I truly enjoy high proof whiskies, especially with a strong cigar.) The bourbon is very aromatic with notes of honey, vanilla, sweet bread, and a light fruit hint. Sipping brings out oak, vanilla, dark fruit, caramel, and a bit of spice. The flavors coat the palate with a lingering creamy oak and spice. It's a near perfect bourbon in my opinion, and at a wallet-friendly $40, has a permanent spot on the shelf, as well as a backup bottle or two in the pantry.

The Crowned Heads Le Pâtissier was intitially an exclusive release for the 2021 PCA Convention & Trade Show. The line is now a regular production, in four vitolas. The one smoked here is short robusto designated as No. 50. The 4 3/8 x 50 stick has a dark oily Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The cigar comes right out of the gate with full flavors of dark chocolate, coffee, and black pepper. The full flavors stayed right to the end, with an occasional charred wood addition. The cigar burned well, and remained cool throughout. I only put it down when it was too short hold.

The Crowned Heads cigar maintained a bold flavor profile but the Bowman bourbon held its own with just enough spice bourbon flavors. The pairing was enjoyable and offered a pleasant end to the evening.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Five O’Clock Friday: Hey, Bartender There’s A Big Bug In My Beer

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Aug 11th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
Some music to kick off the weekend.


 May your glass have only beer this weekend.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Major Victory for Cigar Rights

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Aug 11th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
Cigar Rights of America sent the following press release on Wednesday. This is a huge victory against government overreach.
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***  
Premium Cigars Score A Victory As Federal Court Rules Against FDA 

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to exempt premium cigars from tobacco regulations that the Agency put in place in 2016. This ruling, which follows nearly seven years of litigation, is a historic victory for the industry and a significant pushback against arbitrary FDA regulation. 

Cigar Rights of America (CRA), which funded and led the successful challenge, argued that the inclusion of premium cigars in a 2016 “Deeming” rule by FDA was fundamentally misguided and based on unsound science. In its appearance before the court on May 23, 2022, CRA demonstrated that the Agency had failed to demonstrate a public health rationale and improperly rejected a previously considered option to exempt the category. 

On July 5th of last year, Judge Mehta agreed, ruling that the inclusion of premium cigars was arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. Specifically, Judge Mehta found that FDA ignored scientific evidence on the use of premium cigars that CRA submitted and “instead of addressing the relevant data before it, the agency resorted to a common refrain to obscure the issue.”

Since that time, the industry has eagerly awaited today’s official announcement by the court that establishes a federal definition for premium cigars, allowing their exemption. The ruling effectively brings much-needed regulatory relief to the entire industry. 

Robert Levin, president of CRA, stated upon learning of Mehta’s ruling, “today is a monumental day in the history of the premium cigar industry.” Levin continued, “The court’s ruling is further testament to the years-long effort by the CRA legislative and legal teams to give voice to our long-held belief that premium cigars should never have been regulated by FDA in the first place.”
This ruling is the end of a 7 year fight. (Although the government could decide to start it all over.) Judge Judge Mehta ruled that the Agency had acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” and ordered that premium cigars be immediately removed from FDA’s power entirely. This power grab by the FDA threatened the livelihood of thousands of small businesses, intruded into the private lives of millions of cigar enthusiasts, and would have decimated the economies of untold towns and people in cigar producing countries. And it was all based on falsehoods, bad science, and obfuscation. Fortunately the courts were able to see through this power grab by unelected bureaucrats.

You can read the decision by Judge Mehta striking down all FDA regulation of premium cigars here.

If you enjoy hand rolled cigars, you should be a member of Cigar Rights of America.


Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Uncool Hazy IPA

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Aug 10th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

The Richmond Kickers have a cool special where at the 70 minute mark of the match they have NA beer happy hour with 12 oz cans for only $4. Of course, I had to partake.

The Uncool Hazy IPA (by local brewery Three Notch'd Brewing) is just fine. It tastes like a lower IBU Hazy IPA. In the pantheon of NA IPAs that I have drank, it is solidly in 2nd place, behind the Sam Adams Hazy and ahead of the Athletic Brewing IPA.

I will drink it again, after I try the Citrus Wheat NA that they also have at Kicker's matches.


J. H. Bards Spirits Company

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Aug 10th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
The J. H. Bards Spirits Company in Pulaski County, VA is a regular stop whenever we visit the Blacksburg area. The micro-distillery opened in 2020 as the result of mutual love of bourbon by two Blacksburg natives. They are currently producing a line of bourbons and rye, as well as a vodka.


J. H. Bards operates a small tasting room and retail shop where you can enjoy a drink or two and pick up merchandise and spirits. Besides their regular line up, limited release whiskies are also available at times. Per VA ABC regulation, the tasting room can only serve a maximum of 3 ounces of spirits to an individual per day. This limits your options to one flight of three 1/2 ounce samples and a cocktail, or two cocktails. There is also a maximum of four spirits that may be sampled, so ordering two flights for more variety is not permitted. Sometimes I think the State Revenuers just make this stuff up on a whim. 


We will typically enjoy a couple mid-afternoon cocktails at the tasting room before heading out for dinner. Their smoked Old Fashioned made with rye and a house prepared cherry is a favorite. Even though I am quite fond of my own Old Fashioned recipe, I've been converted into keeping their Blackstrap Old Fashioned Syrup on hand. The J. H. Bards Rye is often my choice for my home Old Fashioned as well.

We diversified a bit this last trip and decided to try one of the summer drink recipes offered, their interpretation of a Painkiller. This one is made with bourbon instead of the classic rum, nutmeg, and pineapple coconut syrup. We found the Painkiller very tasty and refreshing, but we still switched back to our favorite Old Fashioned for our second round.


Each time we've visited one of the owners, Jayson or Jason, has been doing the serving in the tasting room. They are very knowledgeable about whiskey and the Blacksburg area in general and we've had some enjoyable conversations.

After our drinks I picked up more of the Blackstrap syrup and a replacement for my recently emptied bottle of rye. Also available this time was a limited release finished bourbon made in collaboration with the local Beliveau Farm Winery. It's a four year bourbon aged in port barrels from the winery. I decided to bring a bottle home and look forward reporting on it in the future. 

When visiting the New River Valley region, I suggest adding J. H. Bards to your itinerary.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Casa 1910 Revolutionary Edition Cuchillo Parado

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Aug 9th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
I've smoked many cigars that sport a Mexican San Andrés wrapper. It's a widely popular leaf and one of my favorites. I've also seen cigars that use Mexican leaves as an ingredient. However, I don't recall smoking an all-Mexican leaf cigar. I was very interested in trying out the Casa 1910 Revolutionary Edition I received as part of a My Cigar Pack monthly shipment. 


The Casa 1910 Revolutionary Edition line boasts a San Andrés Sumatra wrapper, with San Andrés grown tobaccos also making up the binder and filler. The wrapper was aged for five years and the rolled cigar then aged for five to six months. The stick smoked was a 5 x 50 vitola, which Casa 1910 calls Cuchillo Parado. The Casa 1910 cigar company takes its name from the year of the Mexican Revolution. 

The cigar is a dark tan color, oily and a bit rough in places. I noted an interesting wet straw aroma that was not unpleasant but it gave me pause. Upon lighting I was hit with a rush of pepper along with some woody smoke and bread flavors. As the smoke progresses the peppery spice remains, and I begin to pick up some sweeter cream notes that moderated the sharpness. I was admiring the seemingly solid ash when it suddenly dropped, which happened to me several times. Near the end of the smoke, the flavors took on more a bitter aspect which was layered over the peppery, smoke, and sweetness. 


Overall, I enjoyed the Casa 1910 Revolutionary Edition Cuchillo Parado quite a bit. The end minutes of the hour long smoke were not as pleasant, but did not inspire me to end it early. I was sipping only water as I smoked and read. I had the thought that I'd like to try the cigar with some bourbon as well. As it turns out, My Cigar Pack, without explanation when asked, shipped my June mailing twice. So I do have another one to smoke in the future. (Despite this unintended benefit, the double shipping, and the subsequent double charge, led me to cancel that particular subscription.)

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Afternoon Cocktails and a Cigar

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Aug 8th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
Sunday afternoon cocktails, and a cigar, on the deck are a pleasure we look forward to on many weekends during the warmer weather. It's a great time to talk, reminisce about the week past, plan for the week to come, and also just sit and relax. This past weekend was warm and humid, so we looked for a refreshing summer-suitable libation. What resulted was a bit of an experiment using a recipe found online. Some Sparking Ice Mango Orange carbonated water, Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon, bitters, and an orange peel made a refreshing concoction. The Four Roses is one of my favorite bourbons for cocktails. Of course, I always have suitable single "rocks" of ice at the ready. I initially used a few splashes of orange bitters in the drink. While not bad, the drink seemed somewhat flat in flavor. When I made a second round, I switched to Angostura Bitters. A bit of bitterness to balance the sweet of the sparkling water was just the touch needed. We added some veggies, humus, and tzatziki to the table and we were all set!


For my accompanying cigar, I grabbed an Eiroa The First Twenty Years Colorado. The 6 x 54 soft box pressed stick has an Honduran Colorado wrapper, and Honduran binder and fillers. This particular example was in poor shape. The cap was loose for about half the circumference. I used some PerfectRepair to glue it back in place, which led to a short delay in lighting while the pectin dried. Once I removed the tissue paper foot band, I saw a few cracks in the last quarter of the cigar, which I also touched up. Sadly when the band was removed a bit later, I also need to glue the wrapper back in place as it seemed only the band was holding it in place. I did purchase this cigar from an online "warehouse" seller, something I do infrequently, and I suspect mishandling as the culprit behind the damages. I have another in my humidor, which appears to be in better shape, at least judging by the portion of the cigar visible.

Initial repairs completed it was time to finally light up and enjoy. Initial flavors reminded me of a lightly toasted sweet bread. There's a bit of cinnamon spice in there as well. The flavor profile was pretty consistent for the entirety of the smoke. The latter half did pick up just a hint of pepper. 

It was sunny for most of our afternoon, despite being serenaded by the rumble of thunder far off in the distance. About the time we began discussing going inside for dinner, the rain sprinkles appeared but did not devleoped into heavier rain until much later in the evening.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

Cigars And Bourbon On The Road

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Aug 7th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
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!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

All Hail our Great Blue leader

Author: From https://odonnellweb.com/pelican/ • Aug 4th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local

We went birding this morning at Echo Lake Park, right down the street from our home. I was just trying to get a good shot of the Great Blue Heron, and when I got home, I loved how this looks like the turtles are all lined up to worship their great blue leader.

photo of great blue heron on a stick island with many turtles at its feet


Five O’Clock Friday: I Don’t Need Dessert

Author: From http://www.musingsoverabarrel.com/ • Aug 4th, 2023
   Category: Blog Entries.Local
Happy Friday. 


I frequently feel that way myself. But then again, a good bourbon is a fitting dessert in itself.

Cheers!


[ This content originated at Musings Over a Barrel ]

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