After an exhausting holiday season, the best gift anyone could get me right now is Sleep! So much so that when I was invited to see the 10:20 showing of No Country for Old Men -- the latest thriller from the Coen Brothers -- I quickly realized I would need to take a nap to stay up till midnight on a Friday night. So I am embracing -- nay celebrating -- my old manhood with three of my favorite things:

I'm smoking a relatively new cigar that is a collaboration between Davidoff's master blender Hendrik Kellnerm and DomRey Cigars: the Cuvee. Only 17,000 Cuvee cigars are made each year in a single size, and each one is hand-numbered (I'm smoking #07635 for those keeping score). The first shape produced is a 7" x 40 ring gauge Lancero featuring an Ecuadorian-grown wrapper with binder & filler from Honduras, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. The cigar has a phenomenal draw, and it's got a smooth, creamy flavor to it. I usually prefer something with a little more "kick", but this will be a nice way to wind down the day. 

To drink? A bourbon I've never seen before from a company called Vintage Bourbon Company. A couple of Google searches yields very little information about the company, and it appears as though it's easier to buy their 17 y/o, 21 y/o, and 23 y/o bourbons in England than in the U.S. Having never tried the brand before, I opted for the 21 y/o at about $50/bottle, and it certainly goes down easy. According to the back of the bottle, only a few precious bottles are available from each barrel, which might be true given how hard it is to find another bottle to buy online (the 17 y/o seems somewhat easier to acquire).  

And on TV? The McLaughlin Group's 2007 Year-End Awards. The McLaughlin Group has to be the best political show on TV. The level of discourse is so far above what passes for debate on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and certainly talk radio. More importantly, the discussion is civil, and no one dare "spin" as John  McLaughlin will call anyone to the carpet. I have been an avid viewer of the show for over 15 years now, but it is only after seeing cable news programs deteriorate to the point that I cannot watch them anymore that my appreciation for what The McLaughlin Group does week in and week out has grown to the point where I feel like sharing it. The Group took the week before Christmas off (ruining my Christmas in the process), but they were back today for their annual Year-End awards with the men in tuxedos and women in cocktail dresses. Pure class.

No Country for Old Men? I must be living in a parallel universe!