by Giannis Valavanis

We enjoy the Hemingway Daiquiri together with the Don Alejandro of Vegas Robaina.

According to legend, famed author – and drinker – Ernest Hemingway would sip his Daiquiri at El Floridita in Havana after a grueling morning of writing or fishing. We enjoy it with another of Alejandro Robaina’s legendary cigars, the Don Alejandro.

• Prominentes was created by the best tobacco grower in the Cuchillas de Baracoa area in San Luis, in the Vuelta Abajo Valley.
• He was honored by Habanos as the only producer with his own cigar production label, the famous Vegas Robaina since 1997.
• It is an excellent Double Corona, tripa larga, from the best varieties of Don Alejandro’s tobacco, made in the H. Upmann factory.
• With a creamy coffee and mocha flavor, a strong salty tobacco taste and a body that stimulates all your senses. With a medium to strong intensity, woody notes and a harmonious burn, it clearly ranks among the top Prominentes along with Lusitanias and Punch.
• If we want to compare Habanos’ top Prominentes, with a perfect score of 10, Don Alejandro would get a resounding 9, with a 10 for Lusitanias, simply because of my preference for Partagas.

• The classic cocktail took 20 years to perfect.
• We put Havana Club Anejo 3 Anos and juice of our favorite fruit in a blender with ice and sugar on the rim of the glass.
• Hemingway decided to bring it up to snuff, creating his recipe for the Papa Doble, or Hemingway Daiquiri.
• He told Constante Ribalaigua, cantinero and owner of Floridita – with 130 years in business since 1817 – that he would prefer it with a double measure of Havana Club Anejo 3 Anos and no sugar.
• So Papa created his own cocktail and Constantine added Liquer Maraschino and grapefruit juice.