Posted: 02:52 PM ET, 02/03/09I drove out to Pinar del Río yesterday with a couple of Cuban friends, including the great ballet dancer Carlos Acosta. We drove an old and battered Kia four-wheel drive down the main autopista from Havana to the town of Pinar del Río and then to near the village of San Luis. Read more
Posted: 10:27 AM ET, 02/03/09I like to think that I’m no Sally when it comes to the cold weather. I’ve lived in the northeast for my entire life, and winter can be pretty cold up here. But recently I encountered temperatures that kept me from enjoying a cigar—even for a very short time. Read more
Posted: 09:55 AM ET, 02/02/09We smoke a lot more Cuban cigars than you think we do. For years, I have been telling people – including CNN and other news organizations in interviews– that Americans illegally buy about 8 million to 10 million Cuban sticks a year. But I am way off. Read more
Posted: 03:05 PM ET, 01/30/09How many cigars are too many in a day in Havana? My girlfriend asked me not to smoke too many while I was in Cuba. Also, she was worried I might drink too much in the island’s fair capital!
I only smoked three cigars yesterday. Come on. Read more
Posted: 03:48 PM ET, 01/29/09I met one of my sports idols on Monday night—Joe Frazier, the former heavyweight champion of the world. Frazier was being honored by the Friars Club in Manhattan. I took the subway uptown, checked my coat and walked up the narrow, steep staircase to the Lucille Ball Bar. Read more
Posted: 09:36 AM ET, 01/29/09I just woke up with my first cortadito, which may be the best espresso and warm milk made in the world. Forget your Starbucks or Coffee Bean. It is a very condensed, reduced espresso with rich, sweet milk. Italians would call it a macchiato, but it’s better than what I get in Italy. Read more
Posted: 12:13 PM ET, 01/28/09I am sitting in the Virgin Atlantic Lounge waiting for my flight to Havana. It’s already an hour late, and I guess it will be later. Travel to Cuba is always a calamity, which I will go into tomorrow following my flight. I have plenty of stories of amusing flights – which is a nice way of phrasing it. Read more
Posted: 11:02 AM ET, 01/27/09I am buying a few extra things today, like medicine and photo equipment, getting ready for an extended trip to Cuba. Simple things like vitamins or camera batteries can be hard to find on the island, even in the best of times. I leave tomorrow on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Havana. Read more
Posted: 03:31 PM ET, 01/20/09Last week I dropped in on Ernesto Padilla. I’ve always enjoyed Ernesto’s smokes (his Padilla 1932 La Perla is my go-to short cigar) and I needed to see his new base of operations. Like several Miami cigar guys, he is interested in rolling cigars in the United States. Read more
Posted: 12:51 PM ET, 01/17/09Yesterday in Miami I stopped at El Rey de los Habanos Inc., the tiny Little Havana fabrica where Pepin Garcia, his family, and 11 cigar rollers make some of the best cigars on the U.S. market. Pepin splits his time now between Nicaragua (where he has a much, much larger operation) and the U. Read more
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