Hotel Melia Cohiba Art Gallery (Havana)

                I love coming to this hotel, besides the excellent La Casa del Habano one floor up, it also has quite a collection of Art on display. At any given time, on this same floor in-between the various restaurants and the cigar shop, 40-50 pieces of art are hung on the walls or sit on stands or freely on the floor...and that's just on this floor. It's Cuba so obviously you can smoke in the cigar shop but just in case it's too crowded or smokey, you can also sit on the comfortable couches just outside the shop to have your drink and cigar...and admire the art.



Hotel Melia Cohiba
Ave. Paseo entre 1ª y 3ª Vedado
Tel: (53) 7 8333636

Flora Fong

Cuty Ragazzone

Alejandro Sainz Alfonso

Ruben Rodriguez

Lozano

Manuel Alvarez 'Lolo'

Vladimir de Leon Llaguno

unknown artists

Mabel Poblet

Ruben Fernandez (3 in one painting)

Aviva Aguiar Perez

Fidel Mico

Zaida del Rio

unknown artist

Sergio Hernandez Moliner

Alberto Lago

Alejandro Gomez Canga

Ernesto Garcia Pena

unknown artist

Vegueros Tapados (cigar review) Current Release

                These cigars were not very popular when more of them were in production but once they discontinued the line for a year and talked about a change and repackaging, all of a sudden everyone was interested in them (myself included). The Vegueros line started in 1997 with 4 vitolas and was discontinued in 2012. It didn't really sell too well. They were more on the stronger side back then (a little too rough for my tastes), the newer ones are made more on the milder to medium range. They were slated to be released in 2013 but didn't come out until just a few weeks ago. They're all sold in either cardboard packs of 3 or in a metal tin of 16 cigars. The ones I purchased were a 3 pack of the 'Tapados' which weigh in at 46 x 120 (4.7"). I don't know when it was packaged but they had just been released maybe only several weeks before....Sept.-Oct. 2014.
                 All 3 of these cigars were rolled exceptionally well. All as hard as a rock but once clipped and lit they all had a perfect draw. Smooth wrapper, light coloured, few if any imperfections. It was just a really good looking cigar that happen to have a Vegueros band on it. Priced a little cheaper, I really wasn't expecting much from it but there it was.
                 So now it's lit, the draw is great and the burn is spot on well into smoke. It's big on wood with a bit of a creaminess to it. A quarter of the way through and a little earth tries to creep in. Near the half I flick the ash (smoking indoors) otherwise it could have held on. The flavours don't change much, this is a mild to medium bodied smoke.
                 Past the half this is still an easy cigar to smoke, still quite smooth. The burn begins to be a bit off at this point but certainly not affecting the flavour. It begins to pickup strength through the last quarter. Stopped when it became difficult to hold.
                 Excellent for what it was. The construction was better than with some of the more expensive cigars. There is definitely a time in the day for this cigar. Will always have some with me in my travel humidor. You have to try them, do what I did, buy a 3 pack of the vitola you like. The other 2 vitolas are the Petit Robusto & the Petit Pyramide.

Cafe El Escorial (Plaza Vieja) Havana

               Cuba is known for several things; cigars, beautiful beaches, classic American cars....and let's not forget coffee. From the time I began travelling to Cuba it's inhabitants have raved about their coffee. Being of Italian heritage, I take my coffee seriously and my coffee of choice is espresso. I can tell you from personal experience that espresso in Cuba, most of the time, sucks. I prefer the stuff they offer you in someone's home, at least they have an excuse, it's made from a stove-top coffee maker. But in a bar?...With a proper espresso machine?? Some can be downright horrible. To find a good coffee in a Havana restaurant or bar is a difficult thing. The Partagas Cigar Shop can make a good espresso when the machine has been running for some time. The lobby bar at the Hotel Saratoga make a nice espresso served with a little cookie until they closed it off to people who don't stay in the hotel. Other than these two place it's been hit and miss (mostly miss). A couple of weeks ago while on my last trip to Havana I had to check something out at Plaza Vieja in Old Havana. I was due for an espresso and thought, let me finally check out this coffee house that I've walked by so many times but never entered. I'm glad I did because it's now become another spot to add to the good espresso list.
                Cafe El Escorial is located in a restored mansion in a corner of Plaza Vieja, across from the the Cerveceria Factoria (a spot I love to go to) and is open from 9am-10pm. They toast and sell their own beans at this location and claim to make 50 kinds of coffee. I suppose if you include all the Liquor Coffees they make such as Irish Coffee....and any coffee with a shot of alcohol in it, the numbers could rise quite easily. They also sell sweets and sandwiches and have a fair bit of tables and chairs outside and a few inside where you can enjoy them. I opted for my usual espresso and had it while standing at the bar. It had a great head and was full flavoured....4* stars out of 5 (5* for Cuba). I would go out of my way to have a coffee here and I'm sure I will in the future. Give it a try and let me know what you think.




Cafe El Escorial
Mercaderes no.317
corner of Muralla
Open 9am-10pm