Around The World In 80 Cigars - The Podcast

Today's guest is a wonderfully wise and humble resident of Los Angeles County who joins us after breakfast as the temperature creeps upwards. Don Sutcliffe is the man behind The Exceptional Whisky, an outstanding series of Scotches personally blended to his taste. Don loves a smoke, a chat and a great meal, his wife Gayle has starred for years as a nurse in the long-running ER TV series – and he's wonderful company. He chats to Nick about Highland Dancing, far-flung places in Scotland, starting a new spirits business, choice of barrel-aging, corn whiskies, blends and single malts, favorite smokes and much, much more. Happy Friday, folks!

This week's guest is an octogenarian whose biography reads like a Boy's Own swashbuckling tale of derring do. Not content with learning to fly with the RAF after WWII, Robert Pooley launched an aviation company after being demobbed from the military and having built that into a world-renowned flying empire, embarked on the little matter of making swords. Of course, there were a few little adventures in-between - like rebuilding a Scottish castle, stone by stone - but that's all water under the bridge. With Nick listening agog, the indomitable Mr Pooley explains his wit and wisdom and why he still loves what he does every single day. Happy Friday folks!

Joining Nick for a delicious Cuaba Distinguidos, this week's guest is Ajay Patel of the luxurious new No.6 Cavendish Square and La Casa del Habano in Teddington. Over a long conversation, they discuss escaping Idi Amin in Uganda, early morning paper rounds, cigar beginnings, 30 years of marriage, chatting onstage with Fidel Castro, building a cigar lounge and a whole lot more. Happy Friday, folks!

Unlucky for some - not for lovers of the good things in life, Pod 13 features a Scotsman who’s spent a lifetime in the chilly, cold, mould-tinged warehouses of that country’s greatest distilleries. In a fascinating in-depth chat with Nick Hammond, Richard ‘The Nose’ Patterson tells of earliest memories of his father’s instructions on nosing and tasting the water of life; the beginnings of a famous nickname; insuring one’s nose for three million quid; whisky showmanship; the poignancy of opening and tasting a whisky that had lain for 100 year’s under Shackleton’s polar hut; an obsession with exact historical dates; a love of cigars; lining up a triumvirate visit to Havana; and a final, favourite, desert island distillery. Happy Friday, folks!

A legendary father and son duo in this week’s pod, as Nick reaches out to the Dominican Republic. Henke Kelner helped transform Davidoff cigars back in the early 1990s and since then has launched hit upon hit upon the cigar-loving market. His son, Klaas, has moved into the family trade of tobacco growing. Together on a Saturday afternoon in their tropical garden in Santiago, they chat to Nick about weather, cigar science, awful blends, daily exercise regimes – and eating snails among much, much more. Happy Friday folks!

This week's pod guest is part of one of the world's great tobacco dynasties - the mighty Plasencia family of Nicaragua. Nestor Jr joins Nick for a chat about all things cigar; about when they went for a horse ride around his plantation; about little red worms; about setting your bed on fire; about early mornings and smiling faces; about Honduras, and Cuba and Nicaragua; about organic cigars; about agronomy, tobacco monocultures, social responsibility and a spot of meditation. Happy Friday, folks!

This week’s guest is one for the foodies amongst you. A man of a thousand lives, each of them lived at 100mph, Jay Emery is the founder and force behind Bushman Ovens, makers of the finest woodfired ovens available in the UK. On this week’s pod, he joins Nick Hammond to talk about his adolescence in apartheid South Africa, joining the country’s military as a teenager, learning to ski, becoming a magician, building his first oven and evolving into the man that made outdoor cooking cool. An amazing life story follows with many a laugh along the way, so join the friends and dream of your ultimate outdoor kitchen. Happy Friday!

You won't want to miss this one. The legend that is Patrick Mavros joins Nick Hammond for this pod from his property in Harare, for an extraordinary insight into the life of this modern-day Indiana Jones. He talks falconry, giant snakes, man-eating crocs, reminisces on childhood in the bush, great cigars he's smoked, lunch with Bruce Springsteen, imitates hippos and generally ethralls with his sheer exuberance for life. A chance to gain an insight into this truly remarkable character. Happy Friday, folks!

This week's guest, Rob Fox, joins host and author Nick Hammond to discuss one of the world's greatest luxury institutions - the legendary JJ Fox of St James's Street. The pair shirk no responsibilities, tackling Sir Winston Churchill inventories, Oscar Wilde's unpaid bills, hotel rooftop tears, an extraordinarily serendipitous tasting of a 1950s cigar in an Italian restaurant in Havana and much, much more. Pull up a chair, light up a smoke, grab a drink - and welcome the fantastic Mr Fox. Happy Friday!

You won't need to hear this week's guest for very long before you guess where she's from. Magali de la Cruz has been Laurence Davis' right hand at Sautter for years. She talks to Nick Hammond from her lockdown apartment in London and discusses growing up in Cuba, working the tobacco fields, coming to England, learning the ropes and much, much more. Pin back your ears for a true legend of cigar retail dispensing her wisdom. And finally, a bonus at the end of the pod; the sounds of steamy Havana as you join Nick for a stroll through a residential neighborhood of that grand old city. Happy Friday!