UK Cigar Scene Magazine January Issue 13 | Page 24

MY MOST
MEMORABLE CIGARS
By Kevin “KT” Thomas
My friends call me KT, and I’ve been smoking
cigars for over 30 years. I run a couple of martial
arts clubs and play the Saxophone. Actually, I used
to play at J.J. Fox in the old days when it closed at
midday Saturday. A group of us would show up
and chill out – like a club deal. I’ve been to Cuba 11
times in the last 3 years, so I think it’s safe to say
I’m addicted to the Cuba thing.

23

Cigar One:
Montecristo 520, LE 2012

Cigar Two:
Por Larranaga Montecarlos

Where & When?
Cigar lounge at La Terraza, Havana,
Cuba. mid afternoon.

Where & When?
Pre-wedding event, Haux, Bordeaux,
France, early evening.

Why was it memorable?
Anyone who knows me will tell you
that the mighty 520 is my favourite
cigar. So you can imagine my
excitement when I tracked down
2 boxes in Havana - they’re quite
difficult to find in the UK - and sold
out in Havana - or so I thought….
Three hours and a round trip to
Hemingway Marina later they were
mine! I decided to enjoy a 520 in the
cigar lounge at my favourite restaurant
in Havana, La Terraza. Paired with a
Havana Club Seleccion de Maestros
rum, I sat back and lit her up. This 55
gauge, 155mm Beauty was fabulous –
perfect construction and draw, with
a wonderfully cool start building in
flavour over a blissful 90 minutes in a
lounge where I was the only customer.
The long ashes said it all. Man, all I can
say is my usual mantra- 520, 520, 520 –
rah, rah, rah!

Why was it memorable?
A dear friend was getting married in
Bordeaux, so a few of us decided on a
road trip…via Andorra…All was well
until our second visit (in the same
day) when we were detained and very
nearly lost our precious cigar cargo!
We got out-just. So when I arrived at
the wedding venue the night before, I
bought a box of PL Montecarlos for the
table. We all just sat back and smoked
these small, but epic and flavoursome
wonders. We laughed as my trip
companion Stephan and I told the
story and the box dwindled…. a classic
pre-wedding herf in the open air in a
Bordeaux Chateau.