On a recent visit to Miami, actually, my first visit where I wasn’t pausing through to go on a cruise, I reconnected with my old friend and epicurean sensei Al “Papi Grande” Govan. If you know Papi Grande, you know that his palate is highly sensitive and exquisite. I personally believe that if a raindrop fell on his tongue, Papi can tell you the note and nose of every hemisphere that the raindrop drifted through. I may have said this about him in a previous post, so I apologize for the repetition but he’s that good. So when he recommended his favorite cigar haunt, Aromas of Havana, I was all in.
The unique thing about Aromas of Havana is that there is not a humidor room. The lounge IS the humidor. The cigars are shelved on each side of the wall. Because of Miami’s weather, the owners decided to use the natural humidity to preserve the cigars. Also walls of cigars in a cigar lounge is a pretty ingenious way to decorate, you’re killing two birds. The feel of Aromas of Havana, is laid back and easy, even though it has seen its share of high profile clients. But a cigar and the right atmosphere always removes the class and status lines and such a place is Aromas of Havanas. Luis Machuca, owner, and overall really cool guy(and not bad on the eyes ladies!) is from the Dominican Republic, by way of Bronx, NY. He learned the love of cigars from watching his grandmother roll cigars(who runs the world?).
The night that my girls and I visited, there was a private birthday party in the back, a DJ in the middle, men huddled in swivel leather chairs watching the playoffs and outside on the patio, we sat and talked and laughed with Papi Grande and Luis. Making new friends and reminiscing with the old. Good times and a permanent stop on my future trips to Miami.
