Tag: Nick Hammond

The Hamster Ratings

The Hamster Ratings are a mark of tongue in cheek respect from none other than Nick Hammond, master wordsmith and doyen of the Good Life.

Howzat?

English Summertime is forever linked with the sound of leather on willow. Whether you love or can’t stand the intrinsically British pastime of cricket, there’s no denying that the sound of bat on ball and the gentle ripple of applause from the spectators gathered on the boundary is one of those lazy, hazy Summer sounds that bring to mind hammocks and droning bees, soft breezes and warm afternoon naps.

In Answer To Your Question…

A cigar just does it for me. It really is as simple as that when it comes down to it, isn’t it? Sometimes you can find yourself justifying your love for the leaf over and over again; to your friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues – even, to be honest, to yourself.

Catch The Fish, Not The Fisherman

Being a cigar lover is a bit like being a fisherman – with the quarry being an elusive cigar rather than a shimmering trout. We could stretch the analogy to tortuous limits and tell you that clipping and torching your cigar is like tying your deadliest fly and making sure your rod, reel, line and hook are in fighting form.

Chevy to The Levy

There’s the trill of schoolchildren mixing with the sound of traffic. Dappled sunlight filters through the swaying leaves of gargantuan overhead trees. And a pair of cigar enthusiasts are having the time of their lives.

The Queen of Havana

The art of handrolling cigars is one that’s easy to become blasé about. Once you’ve been around the cigar world for a while, you will get the privilege of seeing rollers quite regularly. While the travelling Havana expert roller itinerary, which used to see the best rollers from the city’s factories come over to regularly to showcase their talents in the UK, has been defunct for several years, if you’re lucky enough to hit the Cuban cigar shops, you’ll come across a roller soon enough.

Sautter in Cuba

Cuba grows while you watch it. Everywhere you look, thick, green, verdant undergrowth; perhaps a rich slash of vermillion as a riot of flowers reaches for the sky. Tobacco is no different.

Havana Here We Come…

There are times in everybody’s calendar that world-weariness takes hold. It’s often around now, in the back-end of what has seemed an interminably long and grey-cloaked Winter.