Weekend Cigar Blogging

Well, the stash II arrived. Actually, it's from two seperate orders. The first was a sampler from Thompson. It contained:

CAO Italia Robusto
CAO Gold Maduro Torpedo
Ghurka Vulcan Churchill
Ghurka Masterblender Churchill
Perdomo Habano Corojo Robusto
Black Pearl Corona Gorda (?)
Cohiba Lonsdale (?)
Alec Bradley Retreat Churchill
Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Churchill
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Toro

I'm not 100% sure on all the sizes, me being a rookie and all.

The second order was from the Famous Smoke Shop. It was five Conuco Maduro robustos.

I'm letting them hang out in the humidor for a while, as I've heard FSS smokes come on the dry side.

So, here's the CAO Italia. It's a bit strong for my taste, and I'm getting pepper on the back of the throat about 1/3 of the way in. Just because I can, I opened a Liefmans Goudenband Flemish Brown Ale to accompany it. Yeah, I know I'll be gouty this weekend, but I have to get rid of that fridge full of beer somehow.

The sour notes of the beer offsets the cigar nicely. This one's going down to the finish.

A couple of quick notes on the previous stash - a couple Rocky Patel offerings.

The Sun Grown is a nicotine bomb. I literally caught a buzz off of it. The 1992 was good, but I really liked the 1990 better.

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Two Things Close to my Heart

Just so you know, I wrote tomorrows Cigar Blogging before watching this:

Beer and Cigars

Although they had interesting pairings, I would have liked a bit more diversity in their beer selections. Three of the four were hop-heavy beers. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it would have been nice to see a Russian Imperial Stout or Barleywine there as well. Maybe some Belgian offerings. Like a Liefmans Goudenband or something....

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Weekend Cigar Blogging

Passed a milestone and learned a lesson this week -

Milestone? I got my first plugged cigar. A plugged cigar is one that, for whatever reason, won't draw properly. This one happened to be a CAO MX2, recommended to me by Sailorcurt. I'd pull and pull, get a decent puff, then it would all but go out. Bummer.

Lesson? Keep you receipt when you buy cigars. Most local shops will reimburse you for a plugged cigar, but not without the receipt. Bummer.

What else was in the mix this week?

CAO CX2 - Not my type. This I would call a "peppery" cigar. Lots of folks like it, but I guess it's an acquired taste. It also had some problems staying lit about halfway through, but it passed.

Alcazar #4 - These are more affordable smokes, a maduro for two bucks. It was OK, a good smoker, but unremarkable. I guess I'd buy them if I had a big time cigar habit, but one a day would be max for me. Once I settle, it'll probably be less than that. Quality over quantity, ya know.

Right now I'm having a Gurkha Ancient Warrior. The draw is excellent, taste is good. Doesn't knock my socks off like the Patel 1990 did, but I wouldn't turn one down.

Something else I'm thinking - I'm thinking the Churchill style might be more to my liking. More time for the cigar to develop. The shorter ones just seem to get going when it's time to let them go out.

I have two Rocky Patels from the original stash left, the Sungrown and the Vintage 1992. I'm saving the 1992. The Sungrown will go later this weekend.

There's another batch on the way, also from Thompson cigar. Let's call it the stash II. A whole new set, let's see what happens. Hey, a hundred bucks worth of cigars for $29.95, and, with my $20 gift card, I got the whole thing, with shipping, for $14.90. I can live with that.

Reports, of course, will follow.

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The Journey of Cigar Discovery Continues

So, in my quest to find the perfect cigar, I've taken a few more steps. One thing I did was go here and do a quick read-up on cigars. Cigar 101, if you will. There's a lot of terminology I was unfamiliar with, and this helps a lot.

After finding out I like maduros, I elected to take advice and get this humidor starter set. This package had everything I needed to get up and running, but I really wanted it just for the lighter.

After priming my humidor per Ravenwood's instructions, I filled it with the stash and then decided which to smoke next. To keep this post relatively short, I'll just give a thumbnail on the ones I didn't care much for, and that would be the Edge Corojo and the Cameroon. Didn't' care for the Edge at all, the Cameroon I would smoke if offered to me, but it didn't excite me very much.

The one I did like? It was another maduro (duh), the Vintage 1990. This one initially shocked me, as starting out, it wasn't very flavorful. Once I got into it, it developed into a really nice smoke. Really nice. The second half of it was like drinking a nice Russian Imperial Stout. Real thick 'n chewy.

Which brings me to why I'm doing this. I love beer. I'm not talking Bud Light (although I drink that, too), I'm talking brews by Stone, AleSmith, Avery, etc. Good stuff with lots of character.

I can't drink it any more, the demon gout jumps my ass every time. Every. Single. Time. So, I've decided to channel my interests elsewhere. Besides, it's new, has lotsa cool toys, and a lexicon similar to, but not exactly like, the craft beer scene. I think I'll like it here.

Now, on to my last two in the stash, the Sun Grown and the Vintage 1992, then, who knows? Maybe another sampler (CAO and Ghurka look interesting), or maybe I'll just fill up the humidor with maduros and Connecticuts.

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Cigar Blogging

No, this probably won't be a regular feature on the blog, at least not after I settle on a favorite style, but I have to say - so far, smoking a decent cigar is a Good Thing.

I tried the first of my stash yesterday. That one was called a "Connecticut", which had the lightest wrapper. I fired it up on the way to the Tea Party, and I have to say I enjoyed it. It was smooth, not hot, and didn't give me that weird feeling in the back of my throat like my uncle's Roi-Tans did.

So now, I'm going in the complete opposite direction, and trying the "Maduro". It's short, and the darkest of the lot. There's a long dark one too, but I figure if I didn't like it, it wouldn't take me long to finish it. =)

The smell of this one, before lighting, reminds me of chewing tobacco. Not that sissy loose leaf shit, I'm talking plug tobacco, like Black Maria or something. It's a good smell.

The taste is surprisingly mellow, and I can see why cigar smokers also fancy Scotch. They would go together well.

At any rate, looks like I'll be buying a real humidor soon.

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Cigars!

I gots 'em.

Now to make my makeshift humidor* and pop 'em in!

* Makeshift humidor:

Put a wet paper towel in a small ziploc. Place that ziploc with but a bit open into a larger ziploc and put your cigars in there. They will keep for a few weeks.

(Courtesy of the Uncmeister). Continue Reading