|
Kenning posted:Welcome to the thread! It looks like you've got a lot of Southern Draw in there. What are they like? I was looking at some the other day because they seem to release a lot of coronas (which I love), but I don't remember anyone posting about them. You know what I lied in that last post. We tried the 300 manos habano that was in that sampler and it was awesome. Nice and spicy reminiscent of the 601 red. Edit: Mail just landed. Don't even have room to put these away at the moment, but first world problems, right? AJ Last Call Maduro Chiquitos, Flor De Las Antillas Belicosos, and Umbagog Corona Gordas. Very excited to try the Last Call and the Umbagog.  I also may have gotten a little excited and cracked into the Last Call Chiquitos. 3.5" of pure broadleaf goodness. Surprisingly great construction, flavor falls in between a Charter Oak Maduro and a La Aurora Sapphire. Excellent little morning smoke. Got drat near an hour out of this lil guy. Must purchase for fans of smaller smokes.  Gramps fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Feb 10, 2021 |
#
?
Feb 10, 2021 16:17
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 21:03 |
|
|
I smoked a Crowned Heads Mil Dias and it made me think very much of the El Centurion (not the H-2K-CT). Lot of cereal grain flavors with subtle sweetness.
|
|
#
?
Feb 11, 2021 16:42
|
|
|
Stop me if you're sick of my posts, but holy poo poo you guys. This cigar is a RIDE. Southern Draw Rose of Sharon. Nexein and I headed into my crappy mechanical room smoking dungeon and lit up almost an hour ago. We're barely halfway. Every puff in the first third was different and the flavors would fade into each other before you could fully place it. Starts spicy and creamy with a hint of woodiness, turns nutty and sweet with some baking spice and a light fruitiness. Flavors stabilize a bit into a light sweetness like honey nut cheerios in almond milk with a couple freeze dried strawberries in there. What the gently caress? Pairs almost too perfectly with the Suntory Toki we're drinking. Edit: flavors stayed pretty much the same through the end, but they were drat nice so I don't mind. Took 2 hours and 20 minutes to finish in the Toro size. Buy these. [  ]
Gramps fucked around with this message at 03:01 on Feb 12, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 01:32
|
|
|
Yo that sounds loving great, and it's on CA so it's definitely on the list now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 03:07
|
|
|
Kenning posted:Yo that sounds loving great, and it's on CA so it's definitely on the list now. I'm gonna need some time to process it, but it might be the best cigar I ever smoked. For sure the best lighter colored cigar. Definitely the only one that relentlessly grabbed my attention and made me excited to see just what was going to surprise me in the next puff. We smoked them very slowly with mostly small puffs, and that really seemed to help bring out the more delicate, sweeter flavors. The pepper and spice was intense at light up, then slowly throughout the cigar evolved with every puff. Nexein and I both struggled to pinpoint notes early on because it was so complex and changed so fast. I will say the whisky we were drinking happened to be an absolute slam dunk of a pairing, so I guess my enthusiastic recommendation will come with an asterisk until I blast a few more with coffee/water/pellegrino which is what I usually pair sticks with. Either way though these things punch WAY above their weight. The only other stick I've had with a remotely similar flavor profile is OpusX, and this was a lot better. I think Opus are fantastic (just too expensive) so that's saying something. Gramps fucked around with this message at 05:05 on Feb 12, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 05:02
|
|
|
Ooh running on the list! Yay for thread activity. Somehow a digital trade show has been running me ragged and I'm not even running anything! Kinda limiting the fun on smokes. Y'all doing anything fun for Valentine's/Fat Tuesday? My local shop runs an amazing event, but I have to bow out for the digital one. Fun money went to replacing my keyboard 🙃
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 05:14
|
|
|
That Rose was absolutely a trip; initially we were laughing about how Phil Kohn gave it an actual 100 rating on the lancero, but if we had some better conditions and construction was a little bit better, it certainly could've been up there. I don't think we actually stopped talking about different flavors for like, 90 minutes of it? When that strawberry note came through I actually thought I was fooling myself somehow. Overall, yeah big recc, buy a bottle of that Suntory too, it owns. I think we're getting another several inches of snow on Valentine's day on top of the foot and a half or so we got lately, so some romantic shoveling is in my future, I guess.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 05:37
|
|
|
Gramps posted:I'm gonna need some time to process it, but it might be the best cigar I ever smoked. For sure the best lighter colored cigar. Definitely the only one that relentlessly grabbed my attention and made me excited to see just what was going to surprise me in the next puff. We smoked them very slowly with mostly small puffs, and that really seemed to help bring out the more delicate, sweeter flavors. The pepper and spice was intense at light up, then slowly throughout the cigar evolved with every puff. Nexein and I both struggled to pinpoint notes early on because it was so complex and changed so fast. I will say the whisky we were drinking happened to be an absolute slam dunk of a pairing, so I guess my enthusiastic recommendation will come with an asterisk until I blast a few more with coffee/water/pellegrino which is what I usually pair sticks with. Either way though these things punch WAY above their weight. The only other stick I've had with a remotely similar flavor profile is OpusX, and this was a lot better. I think Opus are fantastic (just too expensive) so that's saying something. Nexein posted:That Rose was absolutely a trip; initially we were laughing about how Phil Kohn gave it an actual 100 rating on the lancero, but if we had some better conditions and construction was a little bit better, it certainly could've been up there. I don't think we actually stopped talking about different flavors for like, 90 minutes of it? When that strawberry note came through I actually thought I was fooling myself somehow. Overall, yeah big recc, buy a bottle of that Suntory too, it owns. Holy poo poo this is a hard sell. Might have to push up my timeline for getting these, especially the lancero. Goddamn, why does anyone smoke anything other than lanceros. NewFatMike posted:Ooh running on the list! Yay for thread activity. Somehow a digital trade show has been running me ragged and I'm not even running anything! Kinda limiting the fun on smokes. Current plans are to just laze around the house all day. Prolly make a nice big lazy breakfast. My girlfriend will occasionally join me for a smoke, and she enjoys the Perdomo Champagne puritos, so I might be able to entice her to sit outside with a second cup of coffee after breakfast. If I can pull it off, I'll probably smoke my last La Aurora Preferidos Sapphire corona. I'm very excited for next week, cause my CA order consolidates on Tuesday and my round of gimmick auctions will ship. Can't wait to post about it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 09:25
|
|
|
Kenning posted:Current plans are to just laze around the house all day. Prolly make a nice big lazy breakfast. My girlfriend will occasionally join me for a smoke, and she enjoys the Perdomo Champagne puritos, so I might be able to entice her to sit outside with a second cup of coffee after breakfast. If I can pull it off, I'll probably smoke my last La Aurora Preferidos Sapphire corona. Broadleaf cigars are the best, and La Aurora sapphire is up there with the best of the best, especially for the money. Watch cigarpage like a hawk because I got 20 robustos for 69 bucks several months ago. Skip the perfectos. They're great but not worth the extra money over the robusto.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 14:52
|
|
|
Hell yeah fellow La Aurora Preferidos fan! I didn't know they came up on cigar page for that little, CA has been around $80-90 mark for coronas.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 15:55
|
|
|
NewFatMike posted:Hell yeah fellow La Aurora Preferidos fan! I didn't know they came up on cigar page for that little, CA has been around $80-90 mark for coronas.   CigarPage Overruns are absolutely the poo poo as well, especially the Nicaraguan Maduro. They've been my go-to cheapie since the first brick I bought. Visually almost indistinguishable from the aging room quattro nicaragua, and very similar flavor profile. Their "Toasty Jones" maduro torpedos are awesome too. They all could use a little age but they're unreal for 2bux Edit for the real reason I came in here to post: Nexein and I are almost certainly starting a cigar blog since that space is currently dominated by a bunch of boomers. What kind of things would you guys like to see? I know if I do video reviews they'll be WAY shorter than most of the ones out there now, and I will definitely be posting about killer deals I find. What else? Gramps fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Feb 12, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 16:24
|
|
|
Less flowery language. The cigar review industry is rife with straight up fart huffers and it’s really off putting.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 16:38
|
|
|
It would be great to get a review with two different opinions on the same cigar. And maybe a profile of what the reviewers generally like. I watch exactly one YouTube cigar channel and it keeps things short, with ratings like "would keep in humidor" all the way down to "would not smoke if given".
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 16:55
|
|
|
Smoked an HDM Epicure Especial, it is not my flavor profile I don't think though I have no idea on the age. It was primarily earth, then about halfway through got some leather and a bit of spice which was a nice update but still wasn't my cup of tea, the last third was a bit better but still not my favorite. I had high hopes because I love the HDM Petit Robusto but so it goes. I smoked a HUP Half Corona which was pretty dope (can't remember if I posted this one). Great morning cigar, cream and sweetness, I didn't pick it out when I was smoking it but when I read it a review it said honey and I'd have to agree. This morning I smoked an Ezra Zion Spiked Eggnog which was pretty tasty. Have you guys ever tried any of the EZ stuff? I got a few of them in a trade and this first one was pretty good. Their marketing materials are ridiculous and they seem to be a bit pricey but it was an enjoyable smoke.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 17:35
|
|
|
Ophidian posted:Less flowery language. I tend to agree. I like halfwheel but Charlie gets WAY out there sometimes. Gimme flavor notes and a good idea of what's going on, maybe some jokes if you got em. I definitely think short and sweet should be more of the standard. Not everyone wants to spend 10 minutes reading a cigar review. ritorix posted:It would be great to get a review with two different opinions on the same cigar. And maybe a profile of what the reviewers generally like. I watch exactly one YouTube cigar channel and it keeps things short, with ratings like "would keep in humidor" all the way down to "would not smoke if given". This is kinda the plan. Not sure if I want to use a full on CA style scoring system or just more of a "this rules" or "this sucks" type thing. Lyon posted:This morning I smoked an Ezra Zion Spiked Eggnog which was pretty tasty. Have you guys ever tried any of the EZ stuff? I got a few of them in a trade and this first one was pretty good. Their marketing materials are ridiculous and they seem to be a bit pricey but it was an enjoyable smoke. Nexein bought a 5 pack of Knife Fight last summer and they were pretty drat good as I recall.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 18:04
|
|
|
Gramps posted:
I'll be happy to do some guest contributions where I can if you'll take free articles  I'm really psyched about y'all doing this. I hate that a lot of cigars are only reviewed by Kohnhed and he's uhh lovely.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 19:14
|
|
|
NewFatMike posted:I'll be happy to do some guest contributions where I can if you'll take free articles gently caress yeah man other contributors is definitely in the cards. You guys will be the first to know once we're live. I just want more people to find out what they've been missing more than anything. I smoked cigs for way too much of my life, but had I discovered premium cigars sooner I never would have touched the accursed things.
|
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 20:27
|
|
|
I'm definitely pretty blunt when it comes to tasting notes unless it's such a good smoke that I end up waxing poetic; I like the *idea* of notes connecting to memories in my head but if I taste a char I'm not gonna say "it's grilled cheese" because that's what it connects to for me. Thinking about braving the cold for one of these Antillas belicoso that just came in and haven't actually touched one of our humidors yet. I am fully accepting the possible consequences and disregarding them  E: It's actually a sin how well this is going for literally coming out of the mail, from it's box, into my drybox and now being smoked in a 15 degree shed with a blast furnace running next to me. This is a lesson on how I will never be punished for my hubris. Nexein fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Feb 13, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 12, 2021 23:01
|
|
|
Nexein posted:E: It's actually a sin how well this is going for literally coming out of the mail, from it's box, into my drybox and now being smoked in a 15 degree shed with a blast furnace running next to me. This is a lesson on how I will never be punished for my hubris. Mine loving slayed too. CigarPage comin through clutch once again. 113 bucks for a box of 20 belicosos does not suck.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2021 01:27
|
|
|
Woo another patented Gramps double post   Caldwell Long Live the King. Scored a 20 ct sampler off of Cigarbid for an absurd price (74 bux on freefall I think). The Midnight Express and this one are my favorites of the bunch but they're all excellent. Phenomenal construction, interesting and somewhat unique flavor profiles, and if you pay what I did there aren't many better deals on cigars this good. Speaking of deals-here are a couple I've found that I've bought and will rebuy in the future. These are all free fall deals on cigarbid so I'll list the price you should expect to see it reset at. Have your trigger finger ready. I usually search for "sampler" or "collection" to see what's currently available. They sell these exact same samplers on CI but you'll get em up to 50+ percent less on freefall if you're patient. 601 sampler- 58 bucks or so for 20. Loved all 5 cigars in the sampler but the 601 blue is magical. Oliva Master blends 3 sampler- around 60 bucks for 4 vitolas, 20 sticks. I think between Nexein and myself we bought 4 of these last year. Phenomenal sticks that sell for WAY more than this anywhere else. I'm quite partial to the figurado. Top flight sampler (these change a bit) -around $60 for 20. Includes 4 each of the CAO Flathead, La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor, San Cristobal Quintessence, Rocky Patel 1990, and Cohiba red dot if I recall correctly. These all rule. Nuberlode sampler (30 cigars for around 99bux!)- includes 5 each of Nub CT, Maduro, Double Maduro, Habano, 560 habano, Cameroon, and Cain F. The nub Dub is one of my all time favorites but these all loving rule. PYF smokin deals fellas Gramps fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Feb 13, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2021 17:43
|
|
|
How's the quality of the cigars from CB been? I had a few orders with them that were super dry and lost quite a few cigars to cracking, which sort of soured me on them for a bit, especially since Cigar Auctioneer seemed to be delivering higher quality stuff. I might need to get back on CB though, because the deals there were pretty great.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2021 23:01
|
|
|
Kenning posted:How's the quality of the cigars from CB been? I had a few orders with them that were super dry and lost quite a few cigars to cracking, which sort of soured me on them for a bit, especially since Cigar Auctioneer seemed to be delivering higher quality stuff. I might need to get back on CB though, because the deals there were pretty great. I've really had no issues to speak of. Their packaging leaves a bit to be desired (not enough padding, no Bovedas) but they're in PA and I'm in CT so a couple days really isn't enough time for the sticks to get hosed up. We smoked most everything straight out of the mail too. The only thing I got from them that clearly needed more rest were some Ramon Bueso the Project. One of them was perfect and really really great, but the rest had that astringent quality that screams "put me back in the humi for a few months". I will say they did gently caress up one of Nexein's orders and their customer service never got back to him, so they're on their last chance with me. If you are a fan of General Cigar Co's offerings (Cohiba, Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch, La Gloria Cubana, Partagas, CAO and Macanudo) then CigarBid is the place to shop because General Cigar owns them. I use CigarPage a lot more these days, but what you can get on a given day is a lot less predictable. Cigar Page definitely has better deals on more desirable, higher quality stuff. Speaking of, they have an email list sale going on for half off the AJ Fernandez Bellas Artes stuff (one of my favorites) and a bunch of other stuff like Diesel and Last Call. I've liked pretty much everything AJ branded, and quite frankly most everything that uses his factories. https://www.cigarpage.com/aj-saturday-tenski-fest.html Gramps fucked around with this message at 00:04 on Feb 14, 2021 |
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2021 23:55
|
|
|
Man I can’t catch a break for a cigar. Freezing rain and my patio is covered in a sheet of ice right now.
|
|
#
?
Feb 13, 2021 23:59
|
|
|
Bummer about the weather. I hope you can get out there! Anyone have any ideas on good natural bulk pipe tobacco flavors? Scottish Mixture is great, but it's squarely between my two tinned favorites (Three Nuns for spice and Presbyterian for smooth). Any recs like either of those?
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 00:07
|
|
|
I cleared a path to my table and chair so I’m going to make this happen. It should taper off a lot by the time I can go out (9pm).
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 00:19
|
|
|
NewFatMike posted:Anyone have any ideas on good natural bulk pipe tobacco flavors? Scottish Mixture is great, but it's squarely between my two tinned favorites (Three Nuns for spice and Presbyterian for smooth). Any recs like either of those? *crashes through skylight* Great googly-moogly, did someone say BULK PIPE TOBACCO?!? https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipe-tobacco/mac-baren/Virginia-No.-1/product_id/10780/bulk/ https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipe-tobacco/stokkebye/PS201-Black-Cavendish/product_id/46795/bulk/ https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipe-tobacco/cornell-diehl/Bright-Virginia-Ribbon/product_id/114409/bulk/ https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipe-tobacco/lane/HS-3/product_id/134354/bulk/ https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipe-tobacco/cornell-diehl/Red-Virginia-Cavendish/product_id/79415/bulk/ https://www.smokingpipes.com/pipe-tobacco/cornell-diehl/Super-Balkan/product_id/134975/bulk/
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 05:11
|
|
|
 Trying to expand the collection a bit! This is great. Placed an order earlier with some English blends, hopefully they'll hit the spot. These are all getting sampled on the next one though, thanks! Picking up the Shadow Kings in the next day or two, so I'll be having some thoughts about those in a few weeks. Not into the branding, but I'm so into this thread.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 05:49
|
|
|
I braved the cold and smoked a R&J short Churchill. It was very pleasant excluding the cold.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 06:00
|
|
|
Ophidian posted:I braved the cold and smoked a R&J short Churchill. It was very pleasant excluding the cold. I think I have a few of those somewhere but if I remember the box date was still pretty recent so they are sitting. I think I smoked one right off the truck and it was still pretty good so hopefully a little more age will benefit them. My patio heater has been great for the winter but man I can't wait for a month from now when we start getting random sixty degree days. Spring in the north east is one of the best feelings in the world and I imagine it will only be improved with a cigar(s). I smoked the Highclere Castle Victorian (Ecuadorian Habano, I forget if I posted about this) and now the Edwardian (Connecticut). Both were okay, neither of them really jumped out as anything excellent. So far the only thing I've really enjoyed from Foundation are the two Tabernacles. They are pretty tasty and would make good "I don't want to think about it" or "second cigar of the night" smokes. I'm about to go smoke a Tatuaje Nuevitas that I randomly bought at my B&M I think or maybe the EPC Pledge.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 20:12
|
|
|
Well Hello there.. Finally found this thread and happy to contribute to fellow tobacco aficionados.....been smoking cigars for a while and on this fine Sunday I am smoking a Montecristo Dante 2016 LE. Great smoke with a mild taste of cedar and leather. While I am only in the first third, this is so far amazing. Recently ordered some to replenish stash as this past summer was detrimental with a beetle eruption in my humidor. They say if you have not had a beetle attack, you are just not a cigar person.....gently caress them....lost too much.....oh well. Will post more in the coming days with pictures of the latest haul. Cheers!
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 21:25
|
|
|
Ophidian posted:I braved the cold and smoked a R&J short Churchill. It was very pleasant excluding the cold. Loves me some R&J, great smokes with really good flavor....
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 21:29
|
|
|
zuffenphile posted:Well Hello there.. Oh man I know your pain. I managed to get an infestation from some Drew Estate smokes. Solidarity!
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 22:34
|
|
|
Beetles terrify me. I wouldn’t care if they got my early CigarBid and Famous Smoke purchases but man I’d be mad if they were in my Cuban Tupperware boxes.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 22:44
|
|
|
As a matter of course I like to freeze my Cubans a day or three before putting them in the humidor juuuuuust in case because they don't have cellophane. Which is, IMO, a good thing.
|
|
#
?
Feb 14, 2021 23:22
|
|
|
The trick to not getting beetles is smoking every single cigar you buy as soon as they get in your grubby little hands. Got a Caldwell Midnight Express on my mind for later, first one I smoked was like a mocha in the first half and then a cinnamon bomb in the latter half so I'm hoping to pick up some different notes this time!
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 00:25
|
|
|
I have 10 of those sistema boxes so that ship sailed a long time ago.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 00:39
|
|
|
Lyon posted:I have 10 of those sistema boxes so that ship sailed a long time ago. Holy poo poo dude. I have a big one and a little one and I thought I had a lot of cigars. drat.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 01:02
|
|
|
I’ve had one cigar that hatched a beetle back when I had a very small humidor. Lost 2 cigars. Hatched out of a Rocket Patel Vintage 1992, have never bought another one. Haven’t had any issues in my Cuban stockpile, but I also keep temps low enough to mitigate that issue.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 01:07
|
|
|
I'm very grateful to not have had any beetles. I haven't taken an inventory of my humidor recently, but it's probably got around 80-100 sticks in there, and I'm getting at least 30 more this week. Welcome to the thread new folks! Now that we've got a few more people in here we really have to get a box pass going this spring.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 02:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 21:03 |
|
|
Gramps posted:Holy poo poo dude. I have a big one and a little one and I thought I had a lot of cigars. drat. I have an issue with collecting things. I did a similar thing with craft beer prior to this. I can never buy just one of something especially if it can be aged and revisited later. I’ve probably still got 200 bottles of beer in my basement most of which will never get drank. I’ve probably bought one box of Cubans per month though which definitely adds to it. Some were for splits but some I just kept. It’s gonna be wild though when I have the ten year aged Oliva, Perdomo, and Rocky Patel party.
|
|
#
?
Feb 15, 2021 02:27
|
|