Bacchus

I hate to be a wet blanket, but my child bride and I cruised into Nassau in June of last year and I felt that Graycliffs was a must-see. I was pretty disappointed.

I don't know if business was just bad or it was the off-season or what, but the place was all but closed down. The restaurant was closed, there were hardly any people around -- it was just dead.

Our cabbie waited while I looked in on the torcedores - there were only a couple of them working - and went into the gift shop. Prices be d@mned, I felt I had to buy some Graycliffs at their place of birth just so I could say I had. I also bought some for a BOTL who had asked me to. This wasn't a good thing to do.

Once I was home again, I sent the sticks to the guy who asked for them - only to get a reply a while later with photos showing the beetle damage in one of the cigars I sent him. After apologizing profusely and offering to replace any damaged ones, I promptly froze the entire contents of my coolidor.

For me, it was a bad experience all around. Graycliffs have never been at the top of my favorites list and, now, I don't even consider buying them again. I'm not saying I'll never smoke one again but I sure won't go out of my way to get one.