At last. One of those times of the year when one can light up with impunity. No hectoring, badgering, snide comments, disdainful looks. Christmas is a green light period for cigars.
Other green light occasions include weddings (positively encouraged) the birth of a new child (expected) funerals (defiantly offering the two-fingered salute to the Grim Reaper) and on one's birthday (one-day pass).
At all other times of the year, the discerning cigar lover knows he may well face anything from nagging to downright abuse before he gets to relax with his beloved stick.
I've stocked up on all relevant materials for this year's festivities; bubbly, whisky, sherry, beer, port, wine and of course, cigars. Never pleasant to run out of sticks at such a time of excess.
It's been a blitzkrieg of a year at Cristo Towers; from launching the website in April, through a summer of London cigar events including auctions, dinners and taste tests through to a late flurry of articles including my piece on vintage Havanas for the FT How To Spend It magazine at the end of the year, it's been a blast.
Personal highlights for me have been a mind-blowing cigar luncheon at The Lanesborough, a wonderful evening of like-minded company at my first Prohibition Dinner and last, but by no means least, the long-awaited trip to Cuba in November.
This was a pilgrimage and a privilege, the first of what I hope will be many trips to this incredible, pulsating, paradoxical Caribbean island.
I thank you all for your feedback, especially those who have been good enough to say they have enjoyed some of my pieces; there's nothing worse than a wall of silence after pouring your efforts into a project.
May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas - and a sackful of smooth, complex, flavoursome smokes this festive period. It's time to light up.
Best,
M.
