Thursday, December 20, 2007

Nicky Blaine's, Birthdays, and Padrons



Yesterday for my Birthday Jose and I went to my favorite little place called Nicky Blaine's Cocktail Lounge. It's in the center of Indianapolis right at the circle. You'll find this in the basement, fitting for an establishment that throws back to a speakeasy.

The bar is dark, and by that I mean dark leather furniture, dark wood work and dark lighting. What's not dark is red. When you walk in you are greeted by a hostess dressed as you would expect in a nice dark cocktail dress. She leads you to a table which is surrounded by wingback chairs or love seats, very comfortable. Then the whole night you are waited on by a true cocktail waitress. She pours your drinks and cuts and lights your cigar...that's right I said cigar. You see this place is a rarity nowadays. It's a martini and cigar bar. It offers some of the finest cigars and you are even allowed to smoke in the place...that just isn't allowed in Indiana anymore. Oh and I almost forgot, live Jazz.

So I treated myself to my favorite cigar a Davidoff Millenium Pyramid. It's was rated as a 93 from Cigar Aficionado and well deserved. The surprise of the night was the Padron 1926. I had read several very good things about the Padron 1926, but had never had the opportunity to try one. I saw it on the menu, but was scared by the "market price". I asked and while expensive it wasn't out of the world, so Jose and I each lite one up.

This was a full bodied cigar which I don't typically enjoy, but it was so flavorful and had such a mild finish for such a strong cigar that I quickly found myself falling in love with it. The Padron 1926 line was introduced to commemorate the 75th birthday of Jose O. Padron and also got a 93 from Cigar Aficionado. Only 16,000 of these are produced every year which explains the "market price" on the menu. I liked this one so much I think it will become my new Birthday Cigar! How fitting for a Padron designed for a birthday to be my new birthday cigar.

No comments: