Rahim’s European Tour – The Pharmacy Pit Stop

It’s not much that I post on our pharmacy cigar meetings anymore, they are a well-known regular event and except for maybe the big summer meeting not worth mentioning.

It’s only when a special person arrives to smoke with us that we realize what a special cigar gathering we have in the village.

Rahim from Kuwait is an avid traveller and a passionate and very knowledgeable cigar smoker so it was no coincidence that we met in Havana some time ago. I mentioned the pharmacy then and he promised to drop by one day.

The World Expo in Milano and being responsible for Kuwait’s pavilion there gave him a good excuse for another road trip in Europe and here he was, knocking on the pharmacy door ( which we opened to him despite of his yellow “Niente Lira” licence plates…. 🙂

He arrived mid afternoon after an evening in Düsseldorf at Cigarworld and so had the chance to chat with a very relaxed Andreas explaining his night duty every 13 days and how it all started while we smoked a two year old Hector Luis single Vega farm rolled cigar. One thing Rahim was envious about is the way we store our cigars, having cool and humid cellars here we basically stuff our cigars into metal lockers and forget about them.

I then took him around the area to see the wine region we live in, the roman chapel and small villages plus the golf course and then back to the village for a good early dinner at Cafe Fritz and a glass of local Riesling.

I had planned on offering Rahim cigars that are not easily found and a more “out of the box” experience – after all, he has access to all the best boxes himself and a great collection.

So we continued with a freshly rolled single Vega cigar from Hector Luis, a bigger, 59 ring sized stick.

It was time to move over to the pharmacy and meet our friends, being a Sunday it was quiet with ca. 15 people attended.

It was long conversations and interesting exchanges and I passed Rahim a third cigar, a three month old custom rolled Salomones that I love, from a roller in Havana who has become my favourite figurado roller in recent years. Smooth, creamy, mild and perfectly constructed – we agreed and Rahim was a happy smoker.

In the end it was just Andreas, Rahim and me enjoying the breeze and the cool night while nubbing our cigars.

Next day it was a long conversation on our Cuban experiences and Cuba’s political and economical future as well as the impact of the embargo being lifted on the Cuban cigar industry and our collections and cigar quality while we smoked a HdM des Gourmets with all the time of the world at our hands.

For Rahim it was a leisurely drive to Luxemburg and then up to see his Belgian friends in Knokke.

We will see each other soon – either in Havana or the village …

Nino