What a wonderful champagne the Bollinger RD 2004 is. It has a glorious level of richness. It is complex with dark fruits, mushrooms, nuts and florals, and notably lemon blossoms. Its impressive length and wonderfully seductive texture make it a wine to search out.
Islay whiskeys may hold pride of place for Ken, but there are many other whiskys he thoroughly enjoys, and the offerings from Glenmorangie, at home in Scotland’s Highland region, are among them. Especially the delightful Signet.
Top-shelf Cognac: perhaps no more divisive drink exists. However, by any measure, Hennessy Paradis Imperial is a superb Cognac with finely balanced flavors and magnificently packaged. It is definitely worth the search.
To many, big must be bad. How often have we heard Johnnie Walker demeaned? Quite why is hard to fathom. Johnnie Walker Blue is a very fine whisky, and now we have something even more special: Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ghost and Rare. But is this expensive bottle overhyped or that good?
There is one wine producer that has taken on almost mythical status in recent years: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. And one of its wines, Romanée-Conti, stands out above all others. Many wine lovers, perhaps most, consider it to be the very best wine in the world. I’m one of them.
The last decade has been the most tumultuous for the Cuban cigar industry since the Revolution. There will always be the occasional “I miss the good old days” from old timers, but overall there has never been a more exciting time for cigar lovers. However, if there was one program that has not lived up to the expectations of many, it is the Aged Habanos Series called Habanos Añejados.
Seppeltsfield has just released its 1918 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny Port-style wine. There is, quite simply, no other wine in the world like it. Where else could you hope to find a wine whose current release is the 1918? It exists, but only thanks to the extraordinary vision of one man.
Ken’s search for the greatest rum in the world started nearly two decades ago, although he didn’t know it at the time. He was on one of his early visits to Cuba with a few friends to chase the “silver ghost,” a bonefish, when Fidel Castro’s personal cigar roller told him the story of the “Isla del Tesoro” (“Treasure Island”) rum.
Perrier-Jouët’s famous flower-trimmed bottle, the exquisite Belle Epoque champagne, is one of the most recognizable and well-known wines on the planet. Far less encountered are others in the range, including Ros and Blanc de Blancs. Ken Gargett thinks that the 2002 Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs is one of the finest champagnes on the planet.
The Limited Edition program (Edición Limitada) has been the great success story for Cuban cigars this century, and the recently released Cohiba Talismán Limited Edition 2017 is the latest in a line of superb smokes.