My Brain is a Mess

My buddies ask me a lot, “What’s your favorite cigar?” “What are your top 5 cigars?” “In no particular order, name your top ten.”

I can’t.

I can tell you that my favorite is a Padron 1926 #6, natural wrapper. At least, it was yesterday when I enjoyed one. It had been aging for a year, which might seem odd because Padron already ages their cigars. I still like it with a bit more time in the humidor. Yep, definitely Padron 1926 #6… or Padron 1964 Hermoso, also natural wrapper. That might be my favorite. Or Montecristo #4… Point is, I love a good cigar, a great bourbon, a tasty beer, a juicy steak, a few slices of brisket with a nice charred crust. Not necessarily all together or in that order.

When I say my brain is a mess, I don’t mean in an attention-deficit way. I have no trouble focusing, when I need to. My job requires it. Raising children requires it. Writing and playing music requires it. Sometimes, though, I just want to spin a shiny, colorful wheel to see where it lands, and what topic I’ll jump to next. That’s kinda the point here. In my love for cigars, music, smoking meat, brewing beer, tasting bourbons, and other things, I purposely choose sometimes to blur the edges. It all parties together up there, the different hobbies getting to know each other and shaking hands, kind of like speed-dating. Gustav Mahler and Led Zeppelin can absolutely exist in the same conversation… Mahler probably would’ve loved “No Quarter,” right?

There we go… my brain is a mess. Hopefully amidst the roiling ramblings, you’ll find some of my cigar tips helpful, or learn something about smoking ribs, brewing beer, rock drums, Mozart, or Tolkien.

“All that is gold does not glitter

Not all those who wander are lost.”

J.R.R. Tolkien – The Fellowship of the Ring