This week's article: Everyone thinks that love is what happens when your knees go weak, your palms sweat, your stomach turns and you begin to stammer. People say that there is "chemistry" between two people when sparks fly between them. But these things are not what love is all about. Sure they contribute to the warm, comfortable feeling that exists between you and your partner, but they are not what love is all about. So, what is love?...

Reconstructing and reconfiguring a space, in the Bank of America building, that, previously housed two (2) failed restaurants, Riley McDermott's ensconced itself in an elegant, contemporary setting for their superb steak and seafood restaurant ... with an exquisite Raw Bar as the centerpiece as you enter the premises. While at the bar, directly in front of you when you stand at reception, the low lighting is reminiscent of South Beach.

Congratulations to Nick Perdomo, CEO of Tabacalera Perdomo, on his election as a Councilman in his home town of Miami Lakes, FL (article). The town can look forward to the application of a true entrepreneur's POV in solving the town's problems, and a successful businessman's solutions being proposed.

Councilman ... Mayor ... State Senator ... hmmmmm ... who knows what the future holds. But, in the meantime, here's hoping Nick keeps turning out cigars like his Lot 23, Habano, and the new Patriarch.

There are an awful lot of new cigars I've smoked that have not gained much recognition, vis-à-vis being on shelves at the neighborhood tobacconist. Some of them have garnered good ratings and are, indeed, worth smoking. My constant suggestion when it comes to new or little known cigars is: Try them. You never know what you'll discover.

I'm thinking, off the top of my head, about smokes such as ...

El Titan de Bronze (www.eltitandebronze.com), a cigar made in Little Havana, on famed Calle Ocho. The company has been in business for many years, producing cigars that

Finally, the cigar manufacturers have acted in response to the draconian laws, onerous taxes and other impositions confronting them and, of course, cigar lovers all over the nation.

The Premium Cigar industry, was poked in the eye last spring by the effort to fund an odious expansion of SCHIPS (State Children’s Health Insurance Plan(s) with a ludicrous increase in Federal Taxes on cigars

Within days, meetings of manufacturers and retailers were organized. Marvin Samel of Drew Estate, Christian Eiroa of Camacho and Nick Perdomo of Tabacalera Perdomo organized a meeting at Nick’s office. Abe Dabanah, a tobacconist and owner of three Smoke Inns in Palm Beach county Florida, held a meeting of retailers at his store in West Palm Beach, FL. I attended both those meetings.

The result was ...