Cigars and Porto

Cigars and port go together like ramalamalamalamalama-dingdong. Tonight's meeting of the IMD Cigar Society was a wonderful, relaxing experience with 15 or so current and former IMD students. I puffed on a Monte Cristo while catching up with classmates and meeting alumni. Although I broke my rule of never drinking vintage port younger than I am, it was the right call. The Ramos Pinto 1982 was delicious and full of fruit. The Taylor Fladgate 1985 was darker, richer, and had an incredibly long finish. To quote my friend Ron Moore, those blokes sure know how to make port!

By the end of the night I had melted into my chair and was ready to roll home--unfortunately "home" is up a steep hill, so rolling was hard. This kind of sublime evening was very welcome before what promises to be a very intense week.

Many thanks to Daniel, a German classmate, who helped me with my smoke ring technique. Who cares about accounting? If I make it out of this program with improved ping pong skills and the ability to blow Gandalf-like smoke rings, I'll call it a success--an expensive, hard-earned success.