A quartet to enjoy in autumn

Now at the gates of autumn and after a summer in which there has been everything as far as temperatures are concerned, the next season is presented as a sufficiently mild weather so that we can still enjoy our favorite Habanos outdoors.

This is a beautiful season to pair the work and flavors of hunting with Habanos in any part of our country, whether a person is a hunter or a visitor to one of the gastronomic temples in Spain, where hunting and mushrooms are at their peak in September, October and November.

Thus, for hunters, hunting days are a great attraction at this time of the year, when they gather in the hunting grounds to give free rein to their hobby and enjoy a few days outdoors with great enthusiasm, which for many of them begins when they go to their corresponding cellars to choose the Habanos they will enjoy those days. 

But since not all of us Cuban cigar aficionados can turn our leisure into hours at the stand and then discuss with the rest of the hunters in the game with cigars in hand, what we can -without a doubt- is to enjoy the products of the hunt in good restaurants on the peninsula.

And to name a few, it is enough to mention the Arce in Madrid of my good friend the chef Iñaki Camba (a great lover of Habanos) who, last year, after preparing us a Pigeon Torcaz and an exquisite Pato Azulón, dared to light a Montecristo Double Edmundo in a place outside the hotel establishment, stating that the blend of this brand (strong) is the one that goes best with the game dishes.

In the same seasonal vein, Iñaki offers dishes in which mushrooms such as Amanitas Cesarea and Boletus, Pinicola or Edulis, as well as Cantarellas shine at a high level, as well as its smoked and pickled dishes always very popular and unavoidable, after which we slipped away to a friend’s house and tasted for over an hour the new H Upmann Connossieur No. 2.

And it was another friend who went to the vicinity of Olot (Girona) to enjoy at Ca l’Enric, a plate of chamois meat that tasted like glory, so after dessert, he went to the outdoor garden and smoked one of my recommended Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure Especial.

But following this news from some of my friends, I had no choice but to stop at the Mesón del Ermitaño, in Benavente (Zamora), where the brothers Pedro Mario and Oscar Pérez offered me an exquisite stewed deer, and later in the outdoor garden I had a short smoke (because I was traveling) and lit a Romeo y Julieta Short Churchills.

 

So these are precisely the four Habanos I have selected for this autumn so that we will be able to enjoy our rich seasonal gastronomy of hunting and mushrooms together with the indicated vitolas.

MONTECRISTO DOUBLE EDMUNDO

Format: Length: 155 mm., Diameter: 19,84 mm., Strain: 50, Weight: 20,43 gr. 

Tabaco: Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Río, Cuba) 

Before lighting: Color: light carmelite. Aroma: vegetal 

Combustion: First third: quite spicy and slightly spicy. Second third: the spiciness is maintained, with woody notes and soft saline hints. Third third: earthy touches, very strong flavor and great density of smoke.

Smoking time: 65/70 minutes 

Comment: Within the Edmundo line, this galley vitola called Dobles maintains a very good intensity of tobacco flavors, with a rather high type of strength and, given its weight, extends the smoke for more than an hour.

MONTECRISTO DOUBLE EDMUNDO

Format: Length: 155 mm., Diameter: 19,84 mm., Strain: 50, Weight: 20,43 gr. 

Tabaco: Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Río, Cuba) 

Before lighting: Color: light carmelite. Aroma: vegetal 

Combustion: First third: quite spicy and slightly spicy. Second third: the spiciness is maintained, with woody notes and soft saline hints. Third third: earthy touches, very strong flavor and great density of smoke.

Smoking time: 65/70 minutes 

Comment: Within the Edmundo line, this galley vitola called Dobles maintains a very good intensity of tobacco flavors, with a rather high type of strength and, given its weight, extends the smoke for more than an hour.

MONTERREY PIT EPICURE SPECIAL 

Format: Length: 141 mm., Diameter: 19,84 mm., Weight: 15,2 gr., 

Tabaco: Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Río, Cuba) 

Before lighting: Color: colored. Aroma: woody 

Combustion: First third: slight beginnings in its flavors with good perception of tobacco traces. Second third: remains with soft tones accompanied by some spicy notes. Third third: strong flavors and woody notes very present.

Smoking time: 55/60 minutes 

Comment: This vitola, called Gordito in galera, is magnificent to appreciate the soft tones, its tobacco traces and touches of wood, characteristic of the brand’s blend with one of the lowest strengths in the vitolario of Habanos.

ROMEO Y JULIETA SHORT CHURCHILLS

Format: Length: 124 mm., Diameter: 20 mm., Strain: 50 Weight: 11,66 gr. 

Tabaco: Vuelta Abajo (Cuba) 

Befora lighting: Color: carmelite. Aroma: vegetal 

Combustion: First third: very smooth, spicy and woody tones. Second third: slight priority of aromas over flavors. Third third: maintains the line of medium strength without losing aromas. 

Smoking time: 40/45 minutes 

Comment: Robust in which you can perfectly appreciate the best aromas of Havana cigars, with great ease for smoking, which can be maintained for about three quarters of an hour without great effort. Deliciously smooth and aromatic.