Taking a walk in Glen Allen and smoking this

quote:

Originally posted by Jaywendland1981:
Nate, your package is in the mail 2-day priority shipping. Sorry it took so long to mail it to you.

I Appreciate it brother. We'll have to compare notes on the Roma.. I'm looking forward to smoking them greatly since I've never had one.

Smoked another CLE. Boy is it a great smoke! It was mid afternoon, and I was struck by what a great morning cup o joe smoke it would be..

I would let them rest in a high humidity environment. As we mentioned earlier its been really hot here recently and the heat doesnt treat our smokes well.

quote:

Originally posted by Jaywendland1981:
I would let them rest in a high humidity environment. As we mentioned earlier its been really hot here recently and the heat doesnt treat our smokes well.

Yeah, I always let my gars rest (unless I can't).. They're calling for a heat index of around 105 with an actual temp of around 95ish for the next bit.

I had a few boxes of goodness show up today. After 6 hours in the black mailbox, the sticks themselves were literally warm to the touch. Tucked the boxes away into a safe environment and will check on them in a few weeks.

Does this count!

This is one of my favorite Cubans.

Jay,

I've never had a cigar from "there" before... Is there anything I should do differently than I've done to the hundreds or thousands of cigars I've smoked already? Thank you very much for gifting me a cigar from a new country!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: goatboyz,

Humidor until its nice and moist, Then I dry box them a couple days before I smoke, some of them tend to have a tight draw, the dry boxing seems to help with that alot.

All this talk of CLE's being smoked and I'm out of them, so...

I pulled out one of these. Camacho SLR maduro, an "old school" CLE.

quote:

Originally posted by petr:
All this talk of CLE's being smoked and I'm out of them, so...

I pulled out one of these. Camacho SLR maduro, an "old school" CLE.

Thats a dang good smoke right there!

All these beach cigars... Where are all the mountain people at?



Okay... These next two pictures were more difficult to take than it was to smoke. Almost. Little windy. Great idea, poor execution.

The Camacho was like a chocolate bar when I first lit it then pepper made its entrance. It was a great cigar!

Those are some great pictures. How was the Media Noche?

I'm sitting down after a long 8 hour mandatory overtime work day. Hot and miserable are the two p.c. terms I can use to describe today. I lit up a Diesel Whicked to relax a bit.

Thought this was a pretty interesting article on the future of premium cigars.

IS THERE ANY WAY THIS BUBBLE DOESN’T BURST?

Some valid points, but some guessing too. No one truly knows what the FDA shenanigans will do to the future of cigars. As of now, there are many cigars on the market to choose from and many different retailers as well. The big stores, CI to name one, rotate stock constantly. They always have a sale going on and have a clearance section as well. The mom and pop shops are where you find the older cigars and frankly, they can't afford to discount the cigars like the big guys can.

Cigar manufacturers need to add product to "keep up with the Jones'" Over the past few years, cigars have gotten stronger, or fuller bodied. Camacho is one that sticks out in my mind. When Eiroa was in charge, his sticks were not that strong. With Davidoff taking over and revamping the line, they are fuller bodied. Not necessarily good sticks but smack you in the face stronger. The "old timers" in the business, Ashton, Fuente, really have not changed their line up much over the years. They produce quality medium bodied smokes that have stood up over time, but pale in the new crop of Viaje, La Flor Dominicana, CAO, Man O War that are much stronger.
I'm not saying that full bodied smokes are the best, but that seems to be the current trend in releases other than the limited edition sticks that cover the full range of body.

Then there are the different vitola cigars that change the flavor profiles in the same lineup. We have all had the same stick in the different vitola with one or two being our favorite. The CAO Flathead being a great example of this. The smaller sizes are best for me, Sparkplug, Camshaft and Carb being my favorites over the Big Block. They are the same tobacco but different proportions in each of the vitola. One you get more of the wrapper than the filler and binder and vice versa with the gordo sizes.

THEN...to top it off, everyone's palette is different. What I like, you may hate. The manufacturers need to have multiple cigars to appease everyone. While some great sticks are out there, some are junk as well and most are mediocre to say the least. This is mainly how I distinguish if a cigar is priced right. How many $20 cigars are truly worth the money spent? How many $10, $5 cigars are worth it? I know I have had some duds $15 and above and had some great ones as well. For the most part, my sweet spot is in the $5- $15 range which are a lot of cigars on the market. Most of the new releases are going with the trend and rising prices. Not all are worth it to me.

In summary, this business is constantly changing and manufacturers need to be constantly changing their blends. It sucks for the ones that are perfect and get dropped due to a new line that sucks.

quote:

Originally posted by petr:


Those are some great pictures. How was the Media Noche

It was one of the better sticks I have had. It was really to windy to be smoking on a chair lift. I was able to keep it hidden in a little duffle style bag and out of the wind between puffs, and it managed to have a completely even burn.

I will be seeking out more of these.

I may have found every cigar lovers dream...... A good cheap smoke. The Joya del Jefe corona sells for about a dollar a stick and is actually a decent smoke ....when you don't want to burn an A.Fuente 858. I just bought a box of 50 Joyas for $49 plus shipping!

Perdomo has some cheapy maduros that I really like. Great smoke when I'm doing work or not sure I have time to smoke the whole thing.

Illusione 88 Maduro and a Speyside Double Oak Balvinie 17. Good match

Much lighter than expected. Mostly get an oak flavor, but it's subtle. Very clean and even burn. I've had a few Gurkhas that absolutely disappointed with a bad uneven burn. This one is very good.