Well, all good things must eventually come to an end, and that is certainly true for my 3600 km trip. You know, I set out to southern France, but in the end I had to cross over the Pyrenees and make it into Spain. Once in Spain, I just had to go a little further down and so on… but at last I saw my little old Parisian apartment again.

Man! You won’t believe the price of Cuban cigars in Spain. Some are less than half the price they go for in France and certainly the UK. Below are the prices of some of my favorite cigars by the box in Euros:

• Bolivar Coronas Extra: 136.25
• Bolivar Royal Coronas: 185.00
• Cohiba Siglo III: 230.00
• H. Upmann Magnum 46 : 182.50
• Partagas Serie D No.4: 212.50
• Partagas Serie P No.2: 223.75
• Punch Punch: 182.50
• Ramon Allones Specially Selected: 185.00
• Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme: 137.50
• Trinidad Coloniales: 138.00

Anyhow, you get the picture. When it comes to cigars, Spain remains the fatherland of the habano. I don’t need to tell you that I came back loaded! Now, I just need to get some sleep, after a 14 hour drive back to Paris. Well… maybe after counting my cigars one more time.

This little blurb comes straight from the table of a tiny restaurant in the middle of nowhere; well, somewhere in the Pyrenees. What else could I order with this typical local meal? I had to go with a locally produced wine, and this 1999 Madiran Vignes Vieilles was just the thing.

The robe on the wine is dark and present. I expect a wine with body, not a Beaujolais… more like a good Bourgogne. The nose has a woody and spicy character that goes extremely well with the fruit. It was certainly corpulent and tannic but yet ready to drink; though it can surely sit still a few years.

Rich plums come to mind on the palate. Ripe red fruit is present as well and a woody undertone that made me dream of the cigar I would have right after dinner; and may I add that for the first time I finished an excellent French dinner and wine with an equally worthy French cigar. Concerning the cigar, though, that’s another story entirely.

You may have noticed that today’s article came in a little later than usual—eight hours late, to be exact. That’s because today’s installment is the first ever published while Humiblog is on the road. Ever since I heard that France was getting ready to release a premium cigar made entirely of French grown leaf, I resolved that I would have to witness this momentous affair myself. Today, I’m at the start of a 900km trip that will take me from Paris to a small fortified town called Navarrenx, near the Spanish-French border, the birth place of the cigar they named the Navarre.

It turns out that in 1995, following the dissolution of the tobacco monopoly by the company now known as Altadis, a business man by the name of Noël Labourdette, himself a cigar enthusiast, decided to attempt what at the time seemed like a crazy idea: he would produce premium tobacco in a southern most region in France that is already well known for its tobacco, and produce a French puro, religiously adhering to the Cuban cigar tradition.

Well, if you know anything about the French, you will know that passion and tradition are not simply marketing ploys. When they say they want to produce a ‘Cuban’ cigar, they both mean it and believe it can be done, with lots of effort and zealous dedication; and so earlier this spring, nearly ten years later, their adventure culminated with the birth of the Navarre Robusto, a cigar made from their 2003 harvest. Following what has been reported to be a beautiful 2005 season for wrapper leaf, they are expected to release another vitola later in the year—a Navarre Esplendido.

I don’t need to tell you that I’m pretty excited to make this trip and hope to bring out all my findings, including a review of their first Navarre in the weeks to come. Cheers!

I was feeling a bit adventurous today and decided to try out one of the cheapest Cuban cigars on the market. The Fonseca Delicias is so cheap that I just had to pick up a few while at the tobacconist some time ago. I hadn’t touched them in so long that there was a bit of bloom on them.

You can expect a cigar that was decently rolled by a machine and bears a rather rough and rustic wrapper with a lumpy cap. It’s alright, though, I mean, the thing cost about two euros, so I’m well prepared for this. The scent is definitely of leather with quite a bit of pepper. As a whole, I would say that the cigar had a nice oily sheen and feel.

Once lit, the little stick gave off a very pleasant leathery aroma and taste with excellent buttery properties at first; not bad at all so far! As the dark gray ash builds up there is a nice sort of bitterness that comes out in the smoke.

The second third kicks up the flavors a few notches. There is more pepper and leather. The smoke is turning out to be quite rich and earthy, if one-dimensional. I am compelled to puff and puff though… The last third is fuller still. A woody undertone begins to be added to the earthy base. I puff away pleasantly, and am finally left with a rather sweet leathery and persistent finish.

Now, granted, I can see how this little cigar can get harsh on some smokers, but I somehow enjoyed the earthy profile and event the more bitter notes. For two euros a pop, I’d say it’s a playful little habano; my first ever machine made cigar!