Twenty-six guests, a terrace by the water, and a cigar that earned its pace
On Friday 17th July, twenty-six of us gathered on the terrace at El Puerto, The Old Custom House, right on Penarth Marina. The evening could not have asked for better weather. Clear skies, the water close by, and that particular kind of light that makes an evening feel unhurried before anything has even happened.
The cigar
The centrepiece was the Davidoff Millennium Piramides, a bold, refined cigar with deep, dark character and a slow, evolving profile. It is not a cigar that rushes to make its point, and on a terrace with nowhere to be, that suited the evening perfectly.
The pairing
Guests arrived to an Old Fashioned made with Black Barrel before settling in for a guided trinity of Mount Gay rums, the XO, the 15, and the celebrated 25, each one introduced at a different stage of the cigar. Throughout the night, people had the chance to hear directly from the Davidoff side and from the Mount Gay team, and it was clear how much that added to the evening. Guests told us afterwards how much they enjoyed hearing the thinking behind the cigar and the rum, not just tasting them.
The table
What stayed with us most was the simplest part. An open terrace, a table full of people who had never met an hour before, canapés moving round, and everyone settled into the kind of conversation that only happens when nobody is in a rush. We had one moment captured perfectly: a group seated together, cigars lit, mid-laugh, nobody looking at a phone. That is the evening in one frame.
Closing thought
Evenings like this are the reason we host them. Not the cigar alone, and not the rum alone, but the hour or two where good tobacco and good drink give a group of strangers a reason to sit still together. Thank you to everyone who came.
