During his lifetime, “Papa”, as he was known to some, published seven novels and six short-story collections, as well as a variety of non-fiction work.

Hemingway’s work over the years has gone in and out of fashion so many times that if anything, only reveals one thing, that being the true value of literary criticism.

He wrote with a distinctive style, a sort of journalistic brisk minimalism, and an approach that prided itself on understatement. Hemingway believed that it was far more important to tell a story by leaving things out.

Unfortunately, over the years, his image, and his machismo that went along with that persona, has come dangerously close to overshadowing Hemingway’s talent as a writer.

But, even without these tall tales, it’s understandable how people can get lost in Hemingway the man, versus Hemingway the writer. As a young man he was wounded in WWI while driving an ambulance for the Red Cross. He lived and worked in Paris in the 1920’s, when being a bohemian actually meant something.

During the 1930’s he embarked on various safari’s in Africa, covered the savage Spanish Civil War as a reporter, and traveled from his Key West home in Florida to Cuba, where he lived off and on for the next twenty years. In the process becoming a kind of beloved honorary citizen of Havana where he spent a great deal of time developing the Hemingway Daiquiri at the famous La Florida bar. And if that wasn’t enough, he also reported on WWII in Europe during 1944, and in 1947 received the Bronze Star for his bravery covering this war.

In the 1950’s he would go on to continue his pursuit of big game hunting, and survive two successive airplane crashes. In the midst of all of this he wrote constantly. And in 1954 he won the Nobel Prize for literature for his novella The Old Man and the Sea.

This book is Hemingway at his peak, and to many his greatest achievement. It’s a story that should be read now during these long hot summer days and nights, preferably with a Mojito and a Havana by your side.

It tells the story of an aging Cuban fisherman, Santiago, and his titanic struggle with an oversized Marlin that he is trying to catch and then bring home.

What resonates throughout this quick read is the power of a man’s will, and his desire not to be defeated, no matter what his age or the odds. It deals with the cruelty and the utter indifference that fate has towards our individual existence.

The beauty and power of this tale is that it truly is what you want it to be. It’s as simple as an old man trying to catch a fish, or as profound as how we as men choose to define our life. Either version is there, and both are equally valid.

Hemingway as a man, and even more so as a writer, was always on the search for truth. It defined him and his choices. Far too often today we talk ourselves out of that adventure or that quest because of that fear of the unknown.

If we, as “aspiring gentleman”, are trying to return to some of the traditions of days gone by, then perhaps we should all take a small page from this writer, and work towards discovering our own individual truths and let it lead us on what path it may.

In the end Hemingway suffered from a variety of ailments, both physical and mental, and the combination of these no doubt played a part in his unfortunate suicide.

Still, as a writer he left a considerable legacy, one that should be judged by his work and not his myth.

Hemingway himself said it best. “Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.”

© Copyright 2010, Francis Litzinger.  All Rights Reserved.  For more work from Francis, check out Francis Litzinger’s Goulash Fiction.

WHAT: An evening devoted to a pastime beloved by historical greats such as Winston Churchill and Oscar Wilde: cigars and cognac.  On September 14, “Pub Talk” at The Stafford London by Kempinski continues with an exploration of this perfect paring.  Join the U.K.’s leading independent fine cigar importer Hunters & Frankau and the world’s foremost producer of Fine Champagne Cognac Rémy Martin for a tasting and tutorial.  Hear tips on proper cigar storage, smoking etiquette and selecting a stogie that will please the palette each time; learn the keys to expertly matching a silky sip of cognac to a cigar’s flavor.  A live cigar hand-rolling demonstration will also take place.

Tastes of Rémy Martin VSOP and Rémy Martin XO will be shared throughout the night; a selection of freshly rolled Havana cigars will be available for purchase.  Please note: there is a nominal £1 entrance fee for this event (due to government regulations!) and smoking may take place.

WHEN: “Pub Talk: Cigars and Cognac – A Tasting and Tutorial” will take place on Tuesday, September 14, 2010 from 6:30pm until 7:30pm.

WHERE: The American Bar at The Stafford London by Kempinski; weather permitting, all events will be held outdoors in the adjacent courtyard.
* The American Bar requires all gentlemen to wear jackets.

WHO: Aficionados seeking to indulge in an evening devoted to their passion, novices eager to try a taste with expert guidance…all who enjoy stimulating, casual conversation about some of the finer pursuits in life.

Reservations are recommended as space is limited. Please e-mail rsvp.london@kempinski.com to reserve a spot.

Interestingly, The Stafford London hotel maintains a fully stock humidor for its guests.  For those interested in the cigar life around St. James, the hotel also offers a specialty cigar package.  Here are the details:

It starts with a bittersweet, lyrical piece of music that slowly swells as we see a black fedora gently blowing about on the ground in a forest.  For the next 114 minutes we are immersed in the world of men, their friendships, their notions of honor, and of course, their love for whiskey and cigars.

Released in 1990, Miller’s Crossing, by the Coen Brothers, is on the surface about two rival gang leaders vying for power in 1929, and the ensuing gang war that erupts because of their battle for control of the prohibition-era city. But that’s just the synopsis, it’s really about something much harder to describe – Men.

Our gender likes to drink, we like to smoke, and we even like to fight, and in this movie the men do all three – constantly.

The attention to every detail is what lifts this film to the “classic” status. The screen is filled with the authentic sounds of ice clinking ever so casually in a whiskey glass every time a drink is poured. When any of the suited men get up from a couch or a chair the worn leather lets out a sustained groan. Even the wooden floorboards get in to the act, creaking in protest when Leo’s boys or Johnny Casper’s hoods are walking across them.

In the films most famous scene, Albert Finney, a known lover of Montecristo’s, is lying in his bed, in a luxurious smoking jacket, listening to “Danny Boy” and lovingly smoking a cigar. Johnny Casper’s henchmen have just broken in and are walking upstairs to kill him. Before he does anything he takes his cherished cigar, and stubs it out, and then places it in his pocket. He then proceeds to show the hit men that, “The old man’s still an artist with a Thompson.” By the time the scene ends Leo has his cigar back in his mouth and is ready for a fight.

But that’s not what makes Miller’s Crossing, a film to be enjoyed with a Montecristo No. 2, and a Jameson Reserve Irish Whiskey, although that’s not a bad start.

What this film really does is to remind us that our Fathers and their Fathers before them understood the value of friendship and honor between men above anything else. We all know that as men, we will frequently screw up, and that we will undoubtedly sometimes cross a line. But it’s what we do after the mess on which we are judged. Fortunately, men have an innate capacity to “square things away.”

Tom, Leo’s best friend, spends the entire film trying to make things right with his pal. Maybe he does go too far, but in the end Tom knows that he can’t live with himself until he settles the score with his best friend.

The film is a tribute to all the good and the bad that men can do to one another.  But, best of all, it does it with a drink and a smoke in hand, and you can’t ask for much more than that in a movie.

© Copyright 2010, Francis Litzinger.  All Rights Reserved.  For more work from Francis, check out Francis Litzinger’s Goulash Fiction.

After receiving my 90 capsules of Drinkwel,  I approached some friends about testing, a proposition that was met with considerable excitement. Admittedly, I’m past the point in my life of frequent binge drinking. Planning a night to drink enough for a hangover in a controlled environment required that I administer the pill to someone else. So I (Dr. Honeydew) fed three pills to a willing friend (Beaker). “Controlling” the experiment with Beaker quickly spiralled out of control. We fed Beaker the following drinks, all under the premise that the chosen drinks are hangover-causing. I also gave Beaker 3 Drinkwel pills at the beginning of the night, and 3 more at the end.

-6 Acai Berry Coolers, sweet and unnaturally blue in colour

-2 Shots of cheap tequila

-6 Full-flavoured beers

-2 Double Rum and Cokes

The result was an exciting night, a deep sleep, and a mind crushing hangover the next morning for Beaker. Clearly a more reasonable experiment needed to be conducted.

I started taking 1 drinkwel tablet daily, and 3 more every time I had more than 2 drinks, which was 4 times over 3 weeks. The first 3 sessions, I  couldn’t say conclusively if the pills worked, as I still experienced some hangover effects. The 4th time, after consuming too much white wine( a notorious hangover inducer for me), I actually was surprised by how good I felt the next morning. I can’t say conclusively that Drinkwel cured my hangover, but I sure can’t say that it didn’t.

Perhaps the most interesting part of testing was when I exposed coworkers to the product. I specifically chose coworkers whom I know to be regular users of pharmaceuticals or supplements, the type that ask around every morning if you have a such-and-such pill. I gave out 4 samples to these people, and 3 of them were quite positive about the pills after using them.

Drinkwel produces two side effects that may in fact exceed their claimed goal of reducing hangovers: a general excitement and ambition to drink heavily when taking the product, and a general feeling that you’re taking care of yourself when taking the product, which may or may not be a placebo. Drinkwel is not approved by the FDA, since it is a dietary supplement, but who cares? I had a blast testing it. Visit Drinkwel’s website and educate yourself a bit if this product is interesting to you.

(1824) Alexander Reid, a local farmer known for his advanced farming methods and for the superior quality of his whiskies, obtains a license to distil whisky in Scotland – one of the first ever licenses. This was followed by the set up of a lease of eight acres from the Earl of Seafield to establish a distillery. With this, The Macallan is born (and in commemoration of this year is that we’ve created our The 1824 Collection available in Duty Free).

(1841) Date of the oldest Macallan bottle held in our archives.

Check out the full post here.  As a reference, here is the complete list of “in history” articles, the series of which is now complete: (if anyone knows a good source for modern-era whisky photos and images, please let us know)

Whisky in History — Circa 1900
Whisky in History — 1901-1919
Whisky in History — 1920-1929
Whisky in History — 1930-1939
Whisky in History — 1940-1944
Whisky in History — 1945-1949
Whisky in History — 1950-1959
Whisky in History — 1960 onwards

Cigars in History — Circa 1900
Cigars in History — 1901-1919
Cigars in History — 1920-1929
Cigars in History — 1930-1939
Cigars in History — 1940-1944
Cigars in History — 1945-1949
Cigars in History — 1950-1959
Cigars in History — 1960-1969
Cigars in History — 1970-1989
Cigars in History — 1990-1999

Individual songs weren’t skipped and flipped out of order like a batch of your mom’s homemade pancakes on a lazy Sunday morning. Instead, the entire record was listened to.  A mood was evoked, and one got lost, carried away in a kind of sonic envelope.

Nowadays, we’re all guilty of trying to rush through things, motivated by a desire to mark one more “to do” off our checklist. It’s become about the instant hit. Think about it. When was the last time that you listened to an entire album by any artist? More than likely you’re listening to your music via an ipod, your computer or maybe even your phone.  And it’s a safe bet that this same music and your playlist on your electronic device contains individual songs and not the entire album by the band or singer.

In keeping with the notion of bringing back traditions that made life more agreeable to men, we here at Aspiring Gentleman are going to be presenting albums by artists that need to be listened to in their entirety, and that compliment a fine cigar and a scotch or whisky. In other words, the kind of music that will create an ambiance for that special moment when you want time to slow down while you enjoy your drink and smoke alone, or with that special someone.

Our first album to be highlighted comes from 1967 and features an artist that put the “man” in gentleman – Frank Sinatra. The CD is simply called Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Jobim was a Brazilian songwriter, composer and singer who helped to pioneer the bossa nova style. The album itself is a sparse listen, with the entire disc coming in at just over twenty-eight minutes. But man, what a sultry, breezy half-hour.

Sinatra is very un-Sinatra-like on these tracks. The man practically whispers every lyric, every phrase. Together the two musicians manage to create a masterful illusion. The key to this aural vacation is to listen to the release in its’ proper order.

Somewhere, usually around by track four, you’ll find yourself transported to the best cabana chair in the house, with just a hint of a gentle, warm breeze blowing in from the Caribbean. That cigar that you’re smoking will taste just that much better and your drink will slide down that much smoother. And maybe, with just a bit of luck, you’ll find your own girl from Ipanema.

© Copyright 2010, Francis Litzinger.  All Rights Reserved.  For more work from Francis, check out Francis Litzinger’s Goulash Fiction.

“It’s no secret that the alcohol in drinks can get in the way of our enjoying their flavors. When alcohol makes up more than 10 to 12 percent of a liquid’s volume, we begin to notice its irritating, pungent effects in the mouth and in the nose. Spirits like whiskey and gin are 40 percent alcohol or more, and very pungent indeed.

Fans and judges of Scotch whiskies often sample their flavor by “nosing” them, or sniffing the aroma that gathers in the glass. Nosers have long known that diluting the spirit with roughly the same amount of water reduces the alcohol burn. And at the same time, strangely, amplifies the aromas.  How can water reduce one sensation and amplify another? Both alcohol and aroma molecules are volatile, meaning they evaporate from foods and drinks and are carried by the air to the odor receptors high up in the nasal cavity.

Aroma molecules are also more chemically similar to alcohol molecules than they are to water, so they tend to cling to alcohol, and are quicker to evaporate out of a drink when there’s less alcohol to cling to.  This means that the more alcoholic a drink is, the more it cloisters its aroma molecules, and the less aroma it releases into the air. Add water and there’s less alcohol to irritate and burn, and more aroma release.”

Very interesting.  In response to this, some of the folks over at thekitchn tried their hand at adding water to wine.  Here was the result:

“I decided to open up a few circa 15% abv bottles that I had been putting off opening. The results were quite interesting!

The wines I opened were:
• 15.2% Syrah blend from Paso Robles
• 15.5% Syrah blend from Washington State
• 14.4% Syrah, Mourvèdre, Viognier blend from Western Cape, South Africa
• 14.7% Shiraz Reserve from Geographe, Western Australia

I first tasted the four wines in their straight undiluted form. All three reminded me why I usually avoid high alcohol wines. With each I was left with a burning sensation, and a finish cut short all too early. It was quite difficult to decipher the fruit aromas and flavors with all that alcohol volatility going on. My other comment on the undiluted wines was their high level of extraction. All four were slightly too thick in texture for my personal liking.

Next I tasted the diluted versions. Very interesting comparisons! Uniformly across all four wines, the high alcohol burn sensation on the nose completely dissipated. After about 5-10 minutes more clearly defined fruit aromas seemed to break through. Different levels of ripe jammy aromas — plums, black berries, red and black cherries — took over. So dilution definitely seems to enhance aroma in high alcohol wines. Interestingly with the South African wine, dilution also seemed to weaken the extremely pungent smokiness of the original wine.

On to the palate and flavors. As with the nose, the alcohol burn from mid palate to finish was gone. I tasted fruit flavors. However, I am not so sure I would categorically say they were enhanced. While certainly the individual flavors were more obvious and clearly defined I could also taste that the wine had been diluted. The wines all lacked a certain balance that can really only be achieved in the vineyard and through subsequent careful handling in the winery. On first taste all the wines were definitely fruitier, but this weakened and trailed off as the wine hit the back of my palate.”

Very curious indeed.  So next time you open up a bottle of wine, tried adding a splash of water to your glass.  You may be surprised at the result.  You can see the full NY Times article here and the thekitchn.com article here.

While there are sulfury compounds in whisky, according to Dr. Bill Lumsden (of Glenmorangie) the “only way there could be [sulfates] in whisky is if it’s wine or sherry barrels which have been treated with sulfur to sterilize them.”  Sulfates are not needed to sterilize whisky, as the 40+% alcohol takes care of that concern.  As such, if you get an allergic reaction to whisky, and think it is from sulfates, the only real possibility is that the whisky was fermented in wine or sherry casks which were cleaned or sterilized with sulfates.  If in doubt, stick to Glenmorangie, who source their barrels from non-sulfate sources.  Speaking of sources, this post inspired by WhiskyCast Episode 222.

Whisky Podcasts

WhiskyCast: Weekly podcast featuring the latest whisky news, interviews with industry insiders, and weekly tasting notes.  In our opinion, WhiskyCast is required weekly listening for the whisky enthusiast.

ScotchCast: An entertaining and highly informative monthly podcast, including coverage of much of the history behind the whiskies reviewed.  This podcast will make you laugh while teaching you a ton about whisky.

Old podcasts no longer maintained and updated:
Singlemalt.tv HD Whisky Podcast
Whyte and Mackay Whisky Podcast

Cigar Podcasts

Dogwatch Cigar Radio: Weekly podcasts running about 2 hours covering the latest in the cigar industry, as well as multiple cigar reviews each week.  In our opinion, Dogwatch is required weekly listening for the cigar enthusiast.

Nashville Cigar Club: Covering events around the Nashville area, including cigar and accessory reviews.  Shows run 1-2 hours, with updates sporadically (only every few months).

Tom’s Cigar Reviews (video): The videos from tomscigars.com, updated monthly to your computer.  Typically, these are Tom’s cigar reviews with Ed from St. Pete Cigar in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Stogie Fresh TV (video): Informational and instructional short (3-10 minute) cigar videos, often about tobacco growing and cigar construction.  Updated every couple weeks, and definitely worthwhile viewing for the cigar enthusiast who can’t get enough information about cigars.

Las VegASH TV (video): Weekly 7-10 minute videos featuring cigar reviews and interviews.

Old podcasts no longer maintained and updated:
Cigar Dave Broadcast
Cuban Cigar Podcast
The Cigar Journal Show
The Cigar Alliance
Fumee Cigar Podcast
Belicoso Brothers

Do you have a favorite podcast that we’ve missed?  We are always looking to expand our knowledge, so please post in the comments and we’ll be sure to add it in.