Diner en Blanc Philly, a Fratello Bianco II and a White Chapel Cigar

Thursday evening was the Philadelphia Dîner en Blanc, a large picnic at a location that’s kept secret until the last minute. Everyone wears white, brings tables and chairs and food and it’s all (normally) orchestrated and timed and is a big party for several thousand people. This was my third time going to this event, and, naturally, I select white themed cigars for the occasion. I was lazy this time around, although I had some great suggestions and ideas, I didn’t get a chance to travel to the shops I wanted to find the selections, so I defaulted to some old stand bys. It’s being well documented in the Dîner en Blanc community that this year’s event was less of a success than in the past. it was held at Philadelphia’s Boathouse Row, and the logistics of getting 6000 people into a long, thin area wasn’t well thought through. Our group was among the last to arrive at the event after waiting in the meeting area for over two hours (which was closest to the site), setting up and eating our dinner two hours after the event started, and an hour or so before the rain started. A thunderstorm rolled in and cut the event short. It was also impossible to get transportation back to our parking afterwards the way they had the roads blocked off. So it was less fun than years past, and probably a third of the attendees have a good reason to feel cheated out of a good time. On the plus side, I was able to freely wander the event smoking a Fratello Bianco II toro (with a pocket full of Macanudo Inspirado Whites. As always, the Fratello Bianco was outstanding. Of course, the Fratello Bianco has a San Andrès wrapper, Dominican binder and and Nicaraguan and Peruvian fillers and is made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory. Considering the event, I was able to walk around without getting a sideways glance. Of course, there wasn’t a lot of opportunities to take pictures. I had a better picture but I looked grumpy in it, you may have seen it on Facebook and Instagram. At least in this one I’m smiling. I did my best to enjoy the time I was there and maintain an “it is what it is” attitude. I don’t get many chances to wear my white Guayabera! OF course, my wife looked awesome!

Before we left I smoked an old White Chapel Robusto from a company called Censored Genius based around Allentown, PA. They used to be called Evil Genius, but had a few trademark disputes, so they finally just changed the name to Censored Genius. I just searched for their website and it looks like the domain expired last month, so maybe they aren’t even in business anymore. This cigar was made at La Aurora in the DR, and despite having a white band, is a powerhouse of a cigar. Looking back at some old notes it appears to have a Dominican Habano wrapper and is heavy on ligero in the fillers, with one of them being Pennsylvania ligero. This had ben in my humidor for nearing 5 years, and it was still pretty powerful, with a strong pepper component. If you come across these, and I doubt you will, consider snagging some.