I have long believed that south-east Queensland/northern NSW, for the period from mid-March to early September, has simply the best weather on the planet. Bar none. That horrible enervating, soul-soaking heat and humidity have gone. Day after day, nothing matches it. I reckon I have travelled enough to be able to make a reasonably unbiased judgement on this and if anyone doubts my impartiality, I will also concede that the rest of the year is possibly the worst weather on the planet. Hate it. 

For a short period of isolation, I have decamped to the little place by the coast for a few days. For the last two/three days, there has not been so much of an illusion of a hint of a whisper of the merest cloud at any time throughout the day. The sky is a radiant blue. The ocean is literally sparkling, as though the gods split their jewellery box and diamonds cascaded across the water. The heat has gone, replaced by a pleasant early/mid-20s. From a cemetery stillness in the mornings, a gentle breeze filters through around midday. A walk on the beach early morning is utterly idyllic (although perhaps some locals should understand that just because we have distance now, it does not mean you can’t say hi when there is no one else 500 metres either way – people are weird). 

And what better conditions to pull forth the outside couch, find some good drinks, a great book and settle back with a cracking smoke. I pulled out an older one, taking a break from the Robusto Rumble, the Ramon Allones Estupendos. Regional Release Asia Pacific. TEB OCT 07. This was a stick floating around in a box of odds and sods, but I was hoping I liked it as I think I still have the best part of a cab and a half somewhere deep in the humidor (sounds like an ad for a Cadbury’s chocolate cigar). 

Lovely Colorado wrapper and this is a cigar which is an ideal size – gauge and length. 47mm by 7 inches (can never work out why so often the sizes are given metric for the ring gauge and then inches for length?). It was a 2006 cigar that was released in both 2006 and 2007. 

Firm draw, nice gentle caramel notes to kick off. Hint of biscuit. Some complexity which built as the cigar evolved. Hint of the biscuity. Soft and velvety texture. The caramel continued and it remained a very fine and likely cigar throughout. Terrific length. It seemed to be a much younger cigar than it really was. 94. 

The Archie Rose Signature Dry Gin was a fine match, a perfect drink for such a glorious afternoon. Go with a top gin and tonic. 

The Yalumba ‘The Caley’ Cabernet Shiraz 2014, as a match, proved to be the utter trainwreck I suspected it would be. Why I continue to return to that well is beyond me. Red wine and cigars works about as well as locking Greta T in a cell with oil and mining executives. Messed up the cigar and destroyed the wine. So I stopped that, very quickly. 

At this stage, I can assure you that it was not the fault of the individual components. They were both stellar. It is just a match which really is the square peg in a round hole. 

The Caley (at A$365, one of our more expensive reds and therefore not one worth wasting on an ill-conceived match), celebrates Fred Caley Smith, one of the great travellers in the world of wine. Ironic when we find ourselves locked down. Young Fred, a horticulturist and still in his twenties, left home and family to venture forth and seek adventure, almost 130 years ago. He visited agents and customers around the globe on his two-year sojourn. His letters, articles for newspapers, reports for the government, diaries and a collection of botanical specimens that would have caused chaos had anyone tried to bring them through customs these days, have proved invaluable. This treasure trove of historical information allowed Yalumba to learn so much about themselves and their history. 

The wine itself is stunning, definitely a wine which will give so much more if given a lengthy spell in the cellar. It opened with black olive notes and cloves. The wine is powerful but balanced, concentrated but refined. Underlying acidity gives a youthful sappiness. There is great length and it maintains intensity throughout. Black fruits, black cherries and cassis notes with some chocolate on the finish. Plenty of grip, very fine tannins. A hint of austerity. Certainly some oak, but well integrated. 24 hours later, the wine had lost that austerity and blossomed gloriously. Florals and those black cherries dominated. For me, 97. And still room to improve. 

Just don’t let it anywhere near a cigar. 

KBG