surprisingandpleasingresults. (Thebest
matchwastheCarrobiolowithaTimeless
Nicaraguan546.)
Herklots ishardlytheonlyfaceforNat
Sherman.Felitti, formerlywithRothmann’s
Steakhouse, isaconstantand livelypres-
enceat thestoreandoutsideevents; the
familymembersareaccessible (andyes,
evenMichele lightsupacigarnowand
again).Herklots isonly themostvisible,
dressed to thenineswithcustomItalian
tailoringandshoes: “Nosocks, tiealways
on.A loose tieandopencollar iscom-
pletelyunacceptable. Ifyou’redressed,
youstaydressed.”
Twonights later, tieon,Herklots isat
MickeyBlake’scigarstore inSouthington,
Connecticut, leadingacomponenttast-
ing: tryingthreedierentcigarfillersby
themselves,andthenthefinishedproduct,
aNatSherman1930SelectionRothschild.
This leadstothecomicsightof50grown
menanda fewwomenmomentarilypung
onthreesticksatatime:geekingoutat its
finest, inaworldnotunliketheonethe
18-year-oldHerklotshadreluctantly, luck-
ilyentered.
Weare, inshort,geekingout, says
Herklots. “This isprobablyoneof the last
thingsyouwanttodoatacigardinner:
spendanhourtalkingaboutthecigarsand
the food.Whatyouwanttotalkabout is
baseball,orashowyou justsaw.Butevery-
onehasa levelofconnoisseurshipthese
days; it’s funtoexplore, toseethewayeach
of theseexperiences, complete inthem-
selves, cancreateanewexperience.And
it’snotacompetition.There isnowinner.
Thecigardoesn’thavetobethestar.”
Cognac isabitofadiva,Herklotssug-
gests,preferringdigestifstohigh-octane
brownspirits.Stronghasprovided forthat
withtwoAmaros,andwecloseoutthe
nightbytorchingthefirstblendHerklots
designed forSherman,aTimeless8x38
SuperLancero,acigarso long itcouldpoke
youreyeout.
ThenexteveningattheTownhouse, I
layoutthreebeers forHerklotsandex-
plaintheircharacteristics—aSchönramer
Pils fromGermany, a lightly funkytable
beer fromStillwaterArtisanalAlesand
amammothsmokedItalianbarleywine
fromBirradelCarrobiolo.Hepullsout
three likelycigars.Alongwithhisright-
handmanatSherman,PatFelitti,we
goat itagain, geekingoutwithsimilar
SMOKE ’EM
IFYOU’VE
GOT ’EM
Asked for his topfiveplaces to smoke cigars in
NewYorkCity, Michael Herklots named six, and
unsurprisingly, he saved the top two spots for
Nat Sherman:
1
I
NatSherman
Townhouse
12E.42ndSt.
Customers andmem-
bers spendhours in the
shopbyday, chatting
and smoking.
2
I
The rooftopofThe
Knickerbocker
6TimesSquare
Not quiteopenat
press time, thenew
Nat Sherman cigar
loungeat the topof the
refurbishedhotel will
a ordgreat views of
Times Square.
3&4
I
TheCarnegieClub
156W. 56thSt.
ClubMacanudo
26E. 63rdSt
.
“There are actually a
lot of great spots to
smoke cigars inNew
York,”Herklots says,
“but these are twoof
thebest, bothpublic
andboth spectacular.”
5
I
Thestreetsof
NewYork
“There’s something
aboutwalking the
streets ofNewYork
witha cigar… . [It’s a]
personalmoment in
themiddleof thebusi-
est city in theworld.”
6
I
PaleyPark
3E. 53rdSt.
Cigar smoking isbanned
inall parksandbeaches,
except for theprivately
ownedPaleyPark, cre-
atedbyWilliamS. Paley,
founderofCBS. Paley’s
father, Sam, once
ownedacigar company
calledLaPalina, and
Sam’sgrandson,William
C. Paley, has resurrected
the line.—
T
.
B
.
THOMASBEDELL
hascontributed to
VirtuosoLife
,
Lexus
Magazine
and
Travel&LeisureGolf
, amongotherpublica-
tions.He iscurrently the traveleditorat
TroonGolf&Travel
.
INNERSANCTUM:
The first floor of
theNat Sherman
Townhouse
WINTER
AA.COM CELEBRATEDLIVING
