A little twist on our Week in Smoke series…For Your Consideration is a collection of items (cigars, food, wine, books, quotes, etc) that I’ve been enjoying and naturally, you should consider enjoying yourself. Don’t expect this to be to be some in depth exploration into pairings. This is supposed to be fun. So, sit back, relax, take a few deep breaths and enjoy.

Illusione Fume D’Amour (Lagunas) – I’m late to the game, I know. Does it get much better than this? Its not of firecracker of a cigar. Its all the nuances that make the Fume D’Amour great! It can easily be overpowered by your beverage choice or if you are too caught up doing something else. This is one of those “stop and smell the roses” type of cigars. It is best enjoyed when you have nothing else to do but to give it your full undivided attention. Lots of killer woody notes and a creamy/toasty finish. Goes great with this week’s wine of choice…scroll down.

Champagne Mango – It’s mango season (is that grammatically correct?)! Did you know there are over 100 different types of mangoes? Unless you live in Hawaii or Florida, you are like me and only have five real choices. Visit your local chain grocery store? You probably just have one green (Ketit Mangoes) variety. Venture into an Asian grocery store and you will have Ataulfo aka Champagne/Manila/Honey mangoes which (via Mexico), in my opinion, are the best. My wife has a knack for telling me when they are perfectly ripe. Something to do with wrinkly skin and a little bit of juice oozing out. Great snack or addition to a green juice smoothie and the 3g (12% DV) of dietary fiber (all of us need more fiber) is a plus.

Rex Hill Pinot Noir (Oregon) – I’m still sticking with the wine and the stuff I’ve had from Oregon has really been blowing me away lately. This Rex Hill Pinot Noir, isn’t a every day wine for me but its a nice treat to have. Really nice fruit forward notes without being overly sweet. Smooth with almost zero bite (tannins?). Dangerously delicious! If you aren’t paying attention you end up drinking the whole bottle in one sitting by yourself…watch out because that first step after is a doozy.

Blue Sky – For the past year+ I’ve been meditating. I try to set aside at least 10 minutes every day. Of course there are days where the day gets away from me and I don’t meditate. I’m trying to balance it so that it is something I want to do every day and not feel like the gym; that its something I have to do. I use an app on my iPhone called Headspace (also available on Google Play and Amazon App Store). There is also a book and audiobook by Andy Puddicombe. The book mainly talks about his journey into meditation with the app focusing on how to meditate. Anyway, one thing about the book and app that struck me had to do with a blue sky. Basically, no matter how dark and stormy things are; there is always a blue sky to follow. Some storms are longer than others but there will eventually be a blue sky again. I have friends on Facebook (and maybe here who are reading this) who are going through tough times. Divorce, illness, job loss, etc, and I just want them to know, that there will be a blue sky.