FRIDAY CIGAR CLUB

NEWSLETTER 

Kaizad Hansotia created a five-of-a-kind smoking experience in 2006 with his $115,000 chest of specially made Gurkha Black Dragon cigars that was featured in the holiday edition of the Robb Report.

"The five chests were each filled with 100 of a new blend he called “Black Dragon Edicion Especial” that featured 15-year-old tobaccos: a Connecticut maduro wrapper, Cameroon binder and Dominican-grown filler. Offered in one size, a massive 8 1/2-inch long by 52-ring giant, it was packaged in a 75-year-old antique camel bone chest hand carved by East Indian artisans. 

Wow! At $1,150 a cigar, there weren’t many takers, but Hansotia said he sold three of the five chests to buyers from the Middle East. But that’s not the end of the story. The cigars were such a sensation that Hansotia re-blended the Black Dragon with currently available tobaccos and has made it available to smokers around the world…at substantially reduced prices! The Gurkha Black Dragon is now available in three sizes at retail prices of just $10-13 each, plus local tobacco taxes. The blend is still fullbodied, but is now made with a five-year-aged Cameroon wrapper, a Dominican binder and Nicaraguan and Peruvian filler leaves. It’s well constructed at the Torano family factory in Danli, Honduras. 

The sizes include a Robusto (4 1/2 inches by 52 ring), offered in boxes of 40; Presidente (8 1/2 x 52) in boxes of 20 and Torpedo (6 1/2 x 53), also in boxes of 20. The presentation is outstanding, but not quite as over-the-top as the 2006 carved chests. The cigars are cradled in a lift-out tray inside an all-black box with a grained leatherette surface. The interior surface is a stunning red velvet. “We are confident the market awareness of our quality and unique presentations,” said Hansotia, “will create a rush to experience some of the opulence of the original, ultra-exclusive Black Dragon release. The new, more accessible Black Dragon will give them an opportunity to live that dream.”  ~~~~~~~www.cigarcyclopedia.com

GUN RANGE BLOG...........random notes between dialysis treatments....also known as "life"

Lately I've been contemplating purchasing a hand gun for protection. I don't know enough about guns to be able to make a choice like that right now, I only know enough to believe that gun control laws are important, and no one needs an uzi  for deer hunting.  I have a friend who is well versed in gun safety, and so I asked him if he could take me shooting someday in his spare time. 

So, my friend, Mr. “I”, recently took me to the gun range and showed me how to handle and fire a handgun.  The weather was sporadically overcast and threatened rain, but most of the day was nice and bright.  It was an outdoor range so I dressed to be warm.  I thought it would be more intimidating, but there was another woman there besides me at the range and I felt a little better. However, as I approached the shooting area, she was no where near being a novice like me. She was receiving instructions from her husband on how to fire a 9 mm automatic AND some big huge rifle type gun that sounded like a  friggin cannon!! 

Maybe a better metaphor would be........... HER: Israeli Commando Special Forces...........ME: Palestinian with a sling shot.

The guys there are actually pretty nice, and are patient when they can tell someone is new. I first thought to myself, "wow, these guys are really friendly" because when I walked up to the shooting area they waved at me.  So, trying to be friendly, I waved back. They waved again, I waved back. It took a few seconds then Mr. "I" told me that they were waving as the "ALL CLEAR" sign so I don't shoot them in the back when they walk downrange to pick up their target.  'OHHHHHHHHHHHHH", yeah, no wonder they were waving so frantically at me........I didn’t get all the signals down yet, but at least I understood that waving doesn't mean "hello", it means, "you look like you don't have a clue what your doing here..........please don't shoot me in the back?"

 Its a bit humbling being around Mr. "I", since his gun knowledge is pretty extensive, and he knows quite a bit about the laws, and how to safely handle a gun, and stuff like that. He’s an impressive shot, and seems totally at ease when firing his weapons.

I, on the other hand, I think made everyone nervous. But, Mr. “I” remained calm, and just said calmly, “ok, now, keep the gun pointed down range at all time, stick the bullets here, close this like this, and cock the handle back, then pull the trigger.” (By the way, that was Gun Class 101, Mr. "I" style....)

 Ok, sounds simple enough. Sure, it was easy, with a .22 revolver, that has no recoil.  If you’ve ever seen my hands, they are about the size of a child’s. I could easily grip a .22 and a .38 revolver, but didn’t have the strength to keep the .38 in my grip once I fired it. The recoil was so strong it would actually come out of my hands.

                      This is what a .38 caliber revolver looks like.                                       This is close to what a 9 mm automatic looks like with its magazine clip.

 So, the 9mm automatic was out the question, because its recoil was probably 4x stronger then the .38.  That was the gun that Tom Cruise used in Mission Impossible III. It always looks and sounds cool when they flip the switch and slam a new magazine into the gun, pull the slide back, and fire off a bunch of bullets at the bad guy.

 I was able to get the bullets in the magazine, and I could even slide back the top part of the gun which loaded the first bullet into the barrel. But, forget firing it, or else I’m sure I would have knocked Mr. “I” out as the gun flew from my hand into his forehead. So much for getting a ride home after that!!!

 I stuck to the .22 all day, and had a lot of fun. I even improved from being way off target to being able to shoot them in a cluster. The next trip will be to learn how to handle a .22 rifle with a scope. NOW that sounds fun. 

PUTAH CREK CAFÉ

1 MAIN ST.

WINTERS, CA 95694

530-795-2682

http://www.buckhornsteakhouse.com

(click on the “Putah Creek Café” Logo)

After our trip to the gun range, we worked up a pretty good appetite, so Mr. “I” took us to a nearby café called Putah Creek Café in the small town of Winters about 25 miles from Sacramento.

 The word “quaint” is perfect for this café. As if it was straight out of a story book about a town called Mulberry, it’s the quintessential  small town corner café. With its ice cream counter near the front, and the booths and tables occupied by eager locals, and a few visitor who are traveling through. It had even been voted the best breakfast place in Yolo County. 

 In the entrance is the cashier counter with all their fresh baked goods. Pies, cookies, x-mas desserts, muffins, etc…..and a few empty chairs to sit and wait for your table to be ready. The weight time for us that day was about 20 minutes since it appears we walked in right as the breakfast crowd was thinning and the lunch crowd was arriving

2 of us ordered Hamburgers with french fries, and Mr. “I” ordered the Charizo. My burger, the “bacon bleu”, had 2 strips of bacon and blue cheese crumbled on it. The patty for all the burgers are 8 ozs, and I think they said its made out of Angus beef. Well, its huge, almost the size of my head.  Ok, not that big, but easily 5 inches tall. The fries were near perfect, tasty, but I thought they could have made them just slightly more crispy.

 Dr. “S”, who also came with us, ordered the regular hamburger, no frills, but almost as large as mine.

 Mr. “I”s Charizo was impressive. He REALLY liked it, thought it was great. Lots of cheese, with the eggs, but also had good flavor. But the potatoes were delicious. I even tried them and will definitely order them if I ever eat there again. They are perfectly cooked, soft, with just the right seasoning.

It only took about 20 minutes for us to get our food once we had ordered, and that was fast considering how packed they were. The menu is All American in general, but their breakfast menu looks especially good. Browse through their website when you have a chance and you can view the menu for yourself. (It does look like the menu might be a couple years old on the website.)

 I could not finish my burger, so half of it and the rest of my fries, went into a take home container. 

Prices were just slightly above average. Mr. “I”’s Charizo I think was about $8 and so was my burger. Burgers are usually about $6 at a restaurant, so it being $8 was slightly above average. However, it was 8 oz, and large, so I felt that made up for the cost.

Well, the drive back home was pleasant. All the caffeine I drank at the café made me talkative, so we, well actually, I, chatted most of the way home.

Certainly I’d eat at the Putah Creek Café again if I ever was near Winters. Its such a cute little town, it would be easy to make a day trip down there, and have breakfast or lunch, and walk around the rest of the day exploring all the little shops and the local culture.

A big Thank You to Mr. “I” and Dr. “S” for taking me to the gun range and finding a nice place for lunch afterwards!!!

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