It is a bright, sunny morning in July. However, the weather system states that there will be 70% chance of thunderstorms. This could be enough to ruin the Cigar Whiskey Fest, but little did we know there would be a mystery in the making.
The morning starts off to be a great day with an early morning haircut and then a list of things to be done before the party. It is the fourth cigar whiskey fest and I have a lot of work to do before the party.
Invitations went out a few weeks ago. But it is difficult to get people to commit because there are many obligations throughout the Summer with vacations and work situations. However, we had enough people commit to have a good party. New faces showed up and some old faces could not make it, but that’s life.
Planning The Party
A month ago I received a Pit Boss pellet smoker for Father’s Day. I cook on this thing about every 10 days and it is fun to use. So I did a baby back rib recipe a month ago which turned out great. Bill and Pam both said that the next Cigar Whiskey Fest should have Ribs. So the wheels started turning.
A visit to Costco to get some ribs and then the planning started. Days of preparation for the menu with Pam and I discussing what should be paired with the ribs. Also, Bill had some great ideas on what bourbon to include with the food.
He even went over and above to make sure we had the right stuff as he fought off many snakes on a fishing trip to get some blackberries. Not sure he caught many fish, but I heard he screamed like a little girl when the snakes were noticed. Ha.
The Menu
St. Louis Ribs were chosen for the party. Such a great rib for the occasion. Lots of meat and a perfect amount of fat. Even the semi-vegetarian among us liked them… I won’t oust that person but we know who you are.
Chili Cheese Rice. My favorite rice dish of all time. A little bit of heat with green chilis and then some sour cream and cheddar cheese. Amazing recipe you can find here.
Barbecue Baked Beans. You can’t have ribs without baked beans. Enough said.
Cheddar Biscuits. Holy cow these were amazing. I am not sure everyone got a biscuit but I am blaming Bill on that one.
Bourbon bread pudding. Not sure there is much more to say because that can go with every Cigar Whiskey Fest.
Blackberry Cake with homemade whip cream was the bomb. Thanks to Bill for fighting off the snakes to get the blackberries.
Given that the theme was St.Louis Barbecue Ribs we had to play Muddy Waters and BB King all night.
Oh yeah before I forget there was one more dish.
Old School Potato Salad. This is my mother’s recipe that I have enjoyed for many years. She has passed on but many of her recipes are in our cookbooks and soon to be on our family recipe website Pamelacooks.com
The Cigars
Romeo & Julieta Reserve Real Toros. One of my all time favorite cigars that is smooth, mild and not harsh.
Perdomo Champagne Anniversary. The last ones I purchased from the Famous Smoke Shop were Magnums but this time we had Toros.
Liga Privada Undercrown Shade Connecticut. This too has turned into one of my favorite cigars.
Finally the candela wrapped Kuba Kuba. For those that don’t know the candela wrapped is a green wrapped cigar. Think Columbo! We could have used him for the potato salad mystery.
You can get all of these cigars and more at my favorite online store The Famous Smoke Shop Here.
The Whiskey
Stagg Junior. We had this one before and it is so good it had to be included again.
Medley’s. This was a first! I hope Bill has more of this or maybe he can get more. This one is a keeper for sure. Very flavorful and not too hash with alcohol content.
E.H. Taylor. The Colonel. Smooth and balanced. Always a treat when that bottle is opened.
Before I forget we also had Weller Antique 107. Not sure what to say about a great classic that goes with everything. However, that bottle also disappeared at the end of the night. Yet another mystery to go along with this mystery theme. What the hell happened to that bottle?
The Festivities.
Saturday morning started off great. I confirmed the recipe and the timing of the cook for the ribs. Pam put together the side dishes throughout the day. Afternoon thunderstorms were in the forecast so I had to put up the canopy to cover the pellet smoker. You can’t get them too wet because of the computer system that runs the auger. So I devised this scenario to protect the smoker at least on three sides. The ribs went on at 1:00PM at 250 degrees with hickory pellets.
Once that was going I cleaned the outdoor patio and finalized some prep in the house. My son, Matthew, comes over early and helps me keep the canopy stable so we can smoke the ribs while the storm was approaching. I can’t believe the storm cell divided in half and left us alone with the exception for some mild wind. Matthew and I were able to stabilize the canopy so no wind damage.
Finally Tyler is dropped off by his wonderful wife Cady. We tour the house and finalize a plan so we can get together more often now that his work has changed. Bill shows up and Matthew helps him get the bar ready with the great whiskey available.
The ribs only have an hour to go…
Pam finalizes the directions for the side dishes with us so we can fix them properly for dinner time. As usual she prepares this entire feast and then goes to dinner with some friends to leave us to ourselves and solve the World’s problems. What a great woman!
As soon as Pam leaves everyone shows up and we dig into the food. It was like hogs at a trough chowing down. It was a great sight to see everyone enjoy the food and sip on some cold beer and great whiskey.
Once the first round of food was down it was time to find a cigar. Off we went to the my office/cigar room & bar. After a review of my new selection of cigars everyone who wanted a cigar was able to enjoy one. Some of us had more than one, or two, or three…
I was asked to explain how to pick a cigar, the structure of a cigar and how to light a cigar. So as I lit one, then we all lit one. Since it is hot and humid outside we all stayed in the cigar room/bar and watched golf.
We got a lesson on human reaction and timing of a golf swing but I am not sure how much anyone remembers. Also, like all instructions in golf, it works for a few rounds and then you’re back to square one. But hopefully it will help.
Next there were talks of MAGA hats, bad tweets and lower gas prices but politics was not discussed very much. We all have solutions to the World’s problems but those solutions will remain with the night.
The storm passes by and cools the evening. Therefore, we go outside and some of us practice our golf tips we perfected inside by hitting a bucket of balls in my backyard. There were a few adventurous guys who decided to go to the end of the yard as a target. However, after a few balls came close to impact we just put the bucket out there to try and hit. Nobody did.
Fat shots and Shanks everywhere!
What do you expect with drunk guys hitting a golf ball in the dark with a cigar in their mouth? My yard will never recover, but we did get to dig out some of the Damn Bermuda grass that has invaded my Fescue.
Once we were worn out from golf the party started to wind down. Back to the covered porch but a few guys had to leave and then it was time for the gun and red light discussion. Uh Oh. No big deal but we did have a good discussion about AR-15’s and the need for guards protecting ALL kids at ALL schools and not just elite private schools in Washington, DC.
On to the red lights! As usual with lights on outside the flying insects invaded. We were then given an education on light frequency and how red lights can keep the bugs and critters away. Thanks T! It was very enlightening, ha. But I will have to check on it further because it could be cheaper than screening in the entire porch.
It is getting late and we decide to have some blackberry cake and I get the whip cream out of the fridge. And Holy Shit the potato salad was in the refrigerator all evening and was never taken out for us to eat. I laughed but knew when Pam came home she would have many questions about this. Then in 10 minutes she showed up and according to Bill she went straight to the refrigerator and said why didn’t John put out the potato salad? I blamed it on Bill…
Finally it was time to end the party. A Lyft driver didn’t show, but a hitched ride back home for one, a wife picking up another and the party was over. Everyone made it home safe and to recuperate for the next party.
It was time to clean the kitchen and Motrin for me. As I finished the clean up I realized that the bottle of Medley’s is here, but where the Hell is the Weller? Bill!
Until next time…
Dr. B