A Birthday in Lent: Quiet Moments and Simple Pleasures

My birthday each year falls somewhere within the season of Lent. That means any celebrations are typically subdued, with the occasion often more notably marked after Easter. This year, the day landed on a Friday in Lent, and combined with my ongoing recovery from back surgery, the observance was especially low-key.

But that doesn't mean the day wasn't enjoyed. After a relaxing afternoon, we had a simple dinner of fish and chips. As is proper, a tall glass of Guinness Stout Nitro accompanied the meal. While it didn’t quite have the same magic as enjoying a pint in a pub in Ireland, it was still thoroughly satisfying.

During this post-surgery period, I've been limiting my indulgence in both alcoholic beverages and cigars. Part of that is simply because pain and disrupted sleep diminish the enjoyment of those finer things. However, marking another completed year—an accomplishment not without its challenges—certainly warranted a special treat. Or two.

I had, not surprisingly, been anticipating the pleasure of a cigar and bourbon for some weeks. I wanted something flavorful but not exceptionally strong, so had a while back had decided on an Oliva Serie V Melanio. The selected cigar, a perennial favorite, is a box-pressed 5 x 52 Robusto with a chocolatey Ecuadorian grown Sumatra-seed wrapper. It has a Nicaraguan binder and the filler leaves are a blend of Nicaraguan Habano tobaccos from the Jalapa region. 

The rich blend of aged tobaccos produced a smoke brimming with creamy notes of chocolate, coffee, and toasted bread. Subtle hints of black pepper and sweetness lingered in the background, and the finish left a pleasant nuttiness alongside the spice. It's a cigar that pairs wonderfully with sweet bourbon or even a black coffee.

For my drink, I spied a bottle of Old Grand-Dad 114 with just a small pour remaining. It seemed like the perfect choice for a relaxed evening. This high-rye bourbon, bottled at 114 proof, offers an aromatic nose of spicy rye and brown sugar with a noticeable yet not overpowering alcohol warmth. On the palate, it delivers a delightful blend of brown sugar and caramel, accented by bold rye spice and a touch of cinnamon. The long and satisfying finish leaves a lasting impression of warmth and spice. At under $35 a bottle, Old Grand-Dad 114 deserves to be a staple on my shelf, and I’ll be sure to replace this one soon.

I savored the cigar and bourbon while enjoying a peaceful hour on the screened porch. The springtime air had a slight chill, comfortably mitigated by the propane heater nearby. It's likely this will be the last time the heater sees use until the fall. While my enjoyment of cigars will remain limited and sporadic over the next few months, this celebratory interlude was deeply appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed.

Cheers!

Irish Cheer at Home: Cocktails, Comfort Food, and Classic Cinema

As I continue to recover from back surgery, the days have started blending together. But the Feast of St. Patrick provided a welcome break from the routine. Even the simple act of getting a ride to the barbershop in the morning felt like a treat! However, the highlight of the day was undoubtedly the food and drink enjoyed in celebration of the Feast Day.

To kick things off, I prepared a pre-dinner cocktail — a twist on a bourbon classic called the Revolver. This variation, the "Irish Revolver," features Irish Whiskey instead of bourbon. I used 2 ounces of Jameson Black Barrel, half an ounce of Mr. Black Coffee Liqueur, and a few dashes of orange bitters. The ingredients were combined in a rocks glass over a single cube of ice. To finish, I expressed and garnished with an orange peel. The result was a sweet, coffee-forward drink that was quite enjoyable.

Next came our traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner of Irish Beef Stew, served alongside Irish Soda Bread. The brown stew, made with Guinness Stout, was hearty with tender potatoes and carrots. True to tradition, we enjoyed it with an extra scoop of mashed potatoes, a custom we picked up during our travels to the Emerald Isle. Colleen had actually baked the Soda Bread over the weekend, and we had already been savoring it with our morning coffee for a couple of days. Thankfully, the stew promises to be just as delightful in the form of leftovers over the next few meals.

And what’s a feast without dessert? Colleen prepared a decadent Chocolate Whiskey Cake to round out the evening. This dark chocolate indulgence, made with both coffee and whiskey, was a perfect ending to our meal. I was pleasantly surprised that the Irish Whiskey's flavor remained distinct and enjoyable. Despite its rich appearance, the cake was wonderfully light and moist.

We concluded the evening by watching The Quiet Man, starring Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne. In just a couple of days, we’ll be celebrating the Feast of St. Joseph, when our culinary traditions will shift toward Italian fare.

Coincidentally, my birthday soon follows these Feasts each year. While that personal celebration will certainly be enjoyable, it will remain subdued compared to the grandeur of the Saints' Feasts—it’s not quite deserving of a break from Lenten sacrifices.

Cheers!

Sláinte to St. Patrick (and No, It’s Not ‘St. Patty’)

Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhaoibh!

It's that time of the year when a Saint revered by many, especially in the Irish-Catholic community, is embraced by people of all backgrounds. As a Catholic of Irish decent, I can find little fault with people bettering themselves. :-)

This year, the feast day falls on a Monday — I suspect many restaurants and pubs that typically close on Mondays will stay open. As we typically do, we’ll avoid the local pubs on the 17th. I don’t drink green beer — and I’m fairly confident St. Patrick wouldn’t have either. But do as you wish. For my celebration, I’ll stick with a dark Stout or an Irish Red Ale. And surely a wee pour or three of Irish Whiskey will be enjoyed. In our house, there’s always homemade Irish Soda Bread and Irish Beef Stew served as well.

While you’re in the midst of your celebrations, I hope you’ll take a moment to think about the man behind the Feast Day. Whether you accept the traditions associated with St. Patrick’s life or not, there’s no denying the good he did. Some of the stories can’t be proven — but they can’t be disproven either.

Kidnapped as a young boy and sold into slavery in Ireland, Patrick grew to love the Irish people. Later in life — around the age of 60 — Saint Patrick returned to Ireland to teach and convert the people had come to see as his own. Certainly that is worthy of our respect.

Our family has long had a devotion to St. Patrick. That admiration was made all the more tangible when we were blessed to make two pilgrimages to the Emerald Isle, in 2012 and again in 2019. During those visits I was reminded just how much the Irish love Patrick. Over there, he’s far more than just a marketing gimmick.

Each year, leading up to the holiday, I feel compelled to remind people (and pubs) that St. Patrick was a man — not a woman. His name is Patrick, which comes from the Irish, Pádraig. Shorten his name to Paddy if you must. But we do not, under any circumstances, celebrate “St. Patty’s Day.” Patty is short for Patricia — a lovely name, but not his.

Feast-related debauchery is one thing, but turning our Saint into “St. Patty” is a step too far. As much as it pains me, I refuse every year to take advantage of “holiday discounts” from businesses using discount codes like “STPATTY.” I take it as a sign that there are probably no real Irish folks running the event. I’ve also enjoyed the small satisfaction of seeing a local establishment correct their marketing after a gentle reminder.

Let’s all celebrate the memory of St. Patrick. Enjoy a drink or two and some good food. There’s nothing wrong with bringing a little revelry into the world; God knows we need it. I enjoy a good party as much as anyone and I can appreciate a good Irish drinking joke. Drink your green beer if you must. Dress up in silly clothes. (But remember: St. Patrick was a man, not a leprechaun.)

Remember the reason for this feast. Take a moment to honor the man and all the good he did. In our house we'll raise a drink of uisce beatha — the water of life — and say a prayer in honor of St. Patrick and his beloved Ireland. These days, as Ireland navigates profound cultural shifts — from the rapid secularization of a once deeply Catholic nation, to the challenges brought by immigration and an evolving national identity — the people of Ireland could use St. Patrick’s courage and clarity more than ever.

All the children of Ireland cry out to thee:

Come, O Holy Patrick, and save us!

Sláinte!

Raise a Glass: Study Finds Alcohol May Boost Good Cholesterol

These days, we could all use some uplifting news. A recently published study by Harvard University researchers suggests that alcohol consumption may have a beneficial effect on cholesterol levels.

The study tracked a cohort of 57,691 individuals undergoing annual health checkups in Japan.

According to an Ars Technica summary of the study:

Researchers found that when people switched from being nondrinkers to drinkers during the study, they saw a drop in their "bad" cholesterol—aka low-density lipoprotein cholesterol or LDL.  Meanwhile, their "good" cholesterol—aka high-density lipoprotein cholesterol or HDL—went up when they began imbibing. HDL levels went up so much, that it actually beat out improvements typically seen with medications, the researchers noted.

On the other hand, drinkers who stopped drinking during the study saw the opposite effect: Upon giving up booze, their bad cholesterol went up and their good cholesterol went down.

The cholesterol changes scaled with the changes in drinking. That is, for people who started drinking, the more they started drinking, the lower their LDL fell and the higher their HDL rose. In the newly abstaining group, those who drank the most before quitting saw the biggest changes in their lipid levels.

While previous studies have suggested health benefits associated with alcohol consumption, this Harvard study may be one of the largest to date.

That said, while these findings may be encouraging, it remains essential to weigh the risks of excessive alcohol consumption. Still, this report gives me one more reason to look forward to responsibly enjoying a good bourbon—once my post-surgery healing progresses a bit further.

Cheers!

The Spirited Origins of Instagram

I ran across this fun tidbit recently — Instagram’s roots are soaked in whiskey!

Back in 2010, Kevin Systrom, a Stanford University graduate and self-proclaimed whiskey lover, launched an iPhone app called Burbn. The app was designed to let users check in at bars, plan whiskey meetups, and share photos along the way.

As fate would have it, Burbn didn’t catch on — at least not for its intended purpose. Users weren’t particularly interested in the check-ins or event planning features. What they did love was sharing photos.

Seeing this, Systrom and his team decided to change the app's focus. They reworked Burbn down to a simplified photo-sharing platform, creating a streamlined app that put photos front and center. That app became Instagram.

From The Rise Of Instagram: From Burbn To A Billion-Dollar Buyout:

The initial prototype of Instagram was called Burbn, inspired by Systrom’s love of fine whiskeys and bourbons. It allowed users to check in, post their plans, and share photos. However, after receiving seed funding of $500,000 from Baseline Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, Systrom and Krieger decided to pivot towards creating a photo-sharing app. They studied Hipstamatic, which lacked social media-sharing capabilities, and decided to build an app that bridged Hipstamatic and a social media platform like Facebook.

Burbn was stripped down to its photo, commenting, and “liking” functions, and was renamed Instagram. Their focus was on creating a minimalist app that would require as few actions as possible from the user. After eight weeks of fine-tuning the app, they gave it to friends to beta test and evaluate its performance. On October 6, 2010, the Instagram app was launched, and it had 25,000 users in one day. At the end of the first week, it had been downloaded 100,000 times, and by mid-December, the number of users had reached one million.

Today, Instagram has more than 2.1 billion monthly active users worldwide — all thanks to one guy’s love of whiskey.

If you’re one of those 2 billion Instagrammers, I invite you to follow my own whiskey and cigar adventures over at @va_sigfan.

Cheers!

Post-Surgery Reflections: Pain, Progress, and Gratitude

It’s now been a week since my back surgery, so I figured it was time for another update — part catharsis, part progress report. The best news of all, by every measure, the surgery was a success. I’m still dealing with plenty of post-surgical pain, and my activities are very limited, but overall, things are heading in the right direction.

The surgeon gave an encouraging report after the extensive procedure. He removed a good amount of arthritic bone, along with disc and ligament material, and also took out a substantial cyst — big enough that he held up the tip of his thumb to show the size. After clearing out all those extras, he placed some hardware and fused the the L4 and L5 vertebrae.

That fusion is why this recovery will be a marathon — the bone graft needs time to fully heal. Fortunately, the surgeon noted that my bone quality is excellent, so he expects the healing process to go smoothly, even if it takes time.

My hospital stay was brief — just one night. Since my vitals were stable and I could (very carefully) move around, they discharged me about 24 hours after surgery. I knew the goal was to get me up and walking quickly, but I didn’t expect my first walk to happen at 1:30 in the morning! Apparently, healing doesn’t follow regular hours.

The most encouraging part of all this? From the moment I woke up, the pain I’d lived with for over a year — in my back, legs, and feet — was completely gone. It’s surreal. The surgical pain is still intense, but that’s a very different kind of pain — and one I can handle, knowing the old pain is finally behind me.

Of course, I’m not getting through this alone. I’m deeply grateful for the support of my friends, the surgical team, and, most importantly, my wife — my primary caregiver in the weeks and months ahead. Her patience, care, and steady presence make this recovery possible. I’m also incredibly thankful for the outpouring of prayers, encouragement, and love from so many people. My faith — and the faith of those walking this road with me — has been a profound source of comfort and strength.

For now, my focus is on slowly regaining strength and expanding my mobility. I’m already drifting into the “bored” phase, which is its own challenge. I’ve got some interesting books lined up, but staying comfortable enough to focus has been tricky. The highlight of each day has been my short walks — and with the weather warming up and the first hints of spring in the air, even a few minutes outside feels like a gift. Those outdoor walks are far more enjoyable (and probably more healing) than endlessly circling the living room.

I can feel progress, and that’s what matters most. There’s a long road ahead, but I’m encouraged by every small step.

Cheers!

Cigar Hiatus — But My Humidor Still Needs Love

I may be on a brief hiatus from enjoying cigars while I heal from surgery, but there’s still work to be done. A few weeks ago, I noticed the Boveda humidity packs in my humidor were starting to feel grainy. When they start to feel like there’s sand inside, it’s time to swap them out.

My small NewAir 250 humidor uses ten 60-gram packs to maintain a very steady 69% humidity. I also use a few Boveda packs in the plastic containers where I store some boxes. In these well-sealed setups, the packs typically last about a year before needing replacement.

Each time I replace the Boveda packs, I pull out all the trays with the intention of reorganizing the cigars — but in reality, they mostly end up going back right where they were. I do check for any signs of mold or damage, but aside from loosely grouping cigars by variety, my humidor organization is essentially “wherever they fit.” My whiskey shelves have evolved into a similar system.

To counteract my lack of organization, I use the Cigar Scanner app to keep track of my inventory. It’s not a perfect system — sometimes it takes me a few minutes to actually find what I’m looking for — but at least I know what’s in there.

Now that the Boveda packs are replaced, I’ll leave the humidor closed for a couple of days to let things stabilize. After that, I’ll return to my daily ritual of just opening the humidor to look inside — until the day finally comes when I can light one up and return to regular cigar enjoyment.

Cheers!

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Note, Musings will be infrequent as I recover from surgery. But, I have some new bourbons and cigars waiting to be enjoyed in due time.

Cheers!