Celebrating the Eve of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

One of the oldest celebrations in the Catholic Church, the Nativity of St. John the Baptist was June 24. Traditionally, a bonfire marked the eve of the Saint's birthday. For our part, we decided to enjoy a small commemoration with a fire, food, cigars, and drink.

We were joined for our celebration by a good priest friend, the evening starting out with a delicious slow cooked pork dinner. Afterwards we retired to the back yard for the main event. I grabbed a couple of the newly redesigned Wise Man Maduro selections from Foundation Cigars. We poured The Macallan Edition No.1 Scotch, and Colleen set out a selection of cheeses and salami to nibble on.

The fire was small, in deference to the high temperatures outdoors, and sat further back from the fire pit than usual. Still, it was warm! 

Foundation Cigars recently released a redesigned Wise Man line. The Wise Man Maduro and Wise Man Corojo. The older El Güegüense and Wise Man Maduro lines were discontinued. The new cigars are made at the My Father Cigars factory, another change. The previous lines were produced by the Aganorsa team

The 6 x 52 Toro has a dark reddish, Mexican San Andrés wrapper. Two Nicaraguan binders from Nicaragua Estelí and Jalapa regions, with a mix of fillers from Estelí, Condega and Jalapa.

The Wise Man Maduro was an excellent smoke. The cigars had been resting in my humidor for 6 weeks. I prefer a little longer rest for new arrivals but they performed wonderfully. The medium to full bodied smoke had hints of toasted nuts, earth, and sweet chocolate. There was a pleasing cedar spice throughout. At the cigar progressed, there was an occasional increased tasted of the spice, but the flavors remained in balance. Smoke production was thick with a creamy mouthfeel. The cigar was quite enjoyable and I suspect with just a bit more resting time, the spice notes would even out.

Afterwards, we cooled off inside with some chocolate icebox pie. All in all, a feast fitting to celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist, the last and greatest prophet.

Cheers!