No (Smoking) Jacket Required: Iggy's Cigar Thread

[IggytheBorg]

Smoked a 601 habano on the way into the ofice the other day. This is a Pepin Garcia blend, & given his penchant for very full blends, I had been back burnering this one for quite awhile. It was certainly very full bodied; the smoke felt thick and almost heavy. but the flavor was never overwhelming. It was mainly leather, with a solid core of good tobacco flavor, & a light dusting of sweetness on the finish that made it more interesting. One of the better Pepin blends I've tried, but not as good as the 5 Vegas Miami or the Serie JJ. If you like 'em full but not TOO full, this one answers the call.

[IggytheBorg]

With a long ride into court (And back home) yesterday, I brightened my commute w/ the following:

On the way in, a Bahia Blue. This was a good, solid cigar, but was by no means outstanding. It had a smooth core of medium bodied tobacco that had some nice toasty top notes. It had some light sweetness on th finish as well. Had this been a LITTLE bit stronger, it could have been outstanding. But they're priced right, and there's certainly nothing WRONG with them by any means. So if you lke medium bodied cigars, you could do lots worse.

On the way home, a Perdomo Tierra Del Sol natural wrapper. It was their version of a toro, which was 6.5" long. It burned really slowly, and actually outlasted my hour+ ride. The CI blurb promises strong notes of chocolate. I detected them only faintly; I wonder if the maduro version's are stronger? From what I know of Perdomo cigars, I'd bet they are. BUt the blurb also promised a nice charcoal note & an intriguin tanginess that "swathes the palate". This it had. It was most pleasant, and interesting. These aren't nuances one would normlly consider pleasant in a cigar, but it works, and well. Not a favorite, but I'll burn the rest of the 5 pack - perhaps with a friend to see what they think - with some measure of pleasure. ANd I'll certainly try the maduro version to see if they throw more chocolate into the mix, because I'm dying to know what that's like. These are also very cheap at CI.

[Abraham Smashington]

I always read these posts in the voice of "the most interesting man in the world".

[IggytheBorg]

Stay. . . Smoky. . . ? my friends. I. . . I guess. . . .

[IggytheBorg]

Some time ago, I smoked a Cain Daytona, & forgot to post the review. This is advertised as a lighter, more medium bodied Cain. It's still almost all ligero, but it is in fact medium bodied anyway. It had a tobacco core, with some leather elements present, and a cinnamon like sweetness; a little faintly at first, but intesnsifying as the smoke went on. This was another of Cigar Journal's Top 25, and in this case I can clearly see why. Possibly the best by this brand.

[IggytheBorg]

Smoked a Tatuaje VI the other day. This is a different blend than the Tatuaje Miami; I believe the VI is their flagship blend. Anyway, I didn't like the Miami much. Thought it was overwhelmingly redolent of wood and leather, with no pleasant notes to it at all. The VI started out kind of the same way, but toned down a bit. The leather was front & center, with some earthy notes at the core as well, but the wood/charcoal notes were pleasantly subdued & in the background. I believe faint notes of sweetness also danced around the periphery at times. Overall, a much more enjoyable smoke than the Miami. That having been said, still a little fuller than I generally go in for, & not likely to be purchased in the future.

[IggytheBorg]

I think I have gone on record in these (or maybe the DERP site's) pages about how much I like La Perla Habana products. I've liked every one I've ever tried. Some, like the morado and the black pearl, I've liked quite a lot. So when I saw the ads in the most recent editions of the CI catalog for the newes addition to their line, the Grand Pearl, I took notice. They're very attractively packaged, with individual smokes in gleaming white tubos, in turn placed into an ornate metal tin. But the flavor is where these cigrs really shine. Pleasant & mild to medium bodied & flavored, with noticeable but never cloying or overly heavy notes of vanilla topping off a toasty core. I don't know if they've supplanted the Morados as my favorite LPH blend. . . but they surely come close. A little expensive, even at CI, snag some on 'Bid if you can. I bought a 5 pack, & they didn't include the tubos. I was a little disappointed about that.

But only a little.

[IggytheBorg]

Smoked 1/2 a Bolivar robusto OTW into work yesterday morning. Very densely packed & heavy in the hand, it burned really, really slowly. These are reputed to be full bodied, & this specimen lived up to that hype. It never got overpowering, however, & had some nice notes of leather & hearty spice going on (although IMO it could have used more of the latter). THe draw was a bit tight until just before the 1/2 way point, so I didn't get to enjoy too much of it at its best, which loses it some points. This was not something I found interesting enough to buy again, but I didn't hate it as I feared I would. For that reason, it's been hangiing around from one of the CIgarfests for years. I can't even recall which one it came from, but I'd been avoiding it because I read about what powerhouses they reportedly are. Maybe it was the years of humi aging, but for whatever reason, it was better than I expected. Full bodied/flavored fans would certainly enjoy it, and it's a venerated, old school brand.

[IggytheBorg]

Also, bought the CIgarfest tickets this Saturday. They're stretching the event over 2 days, Fri April 26 & Sat April 27 this year. A ticket only admits you to 1 day, however. Saturday tickets sould out almost instantly, but I scored 4 for Friday. Potch got skunked, & Nick got 2 for Sat. SO it looks like me & Potch are going on Fri (Nick's taking his dad), & I got 2 other friends - who I'm hoping to convert to regulars - to take the spares off my hands. Gonna be a good goddam day, I think.

[IggytheBorg]

As I prepared for tomorrow's fun & games on trial this evening, I smoked a Graycliff 30th Anniversary Ltd Edition. Thank GOD for Cigarbid, making stuff like this affordable for the common man. This was an excellent smoke. Smooth is the overall inmpression, with medium bodied notes of nuts, leather & subdued sweet spices rounding it out. Another absolute luxury blend from those Bahamian geniuses at Graycliff

[IggytheBorg]

while I played catch up on my work that accumulated during my vacationm, I smoked a Rocky Patel The Edge Maduro. I quite kliked this. Strong, as are all Edge blends, it had the woodsy core of the corojo blend, w/ the tea notes strongly present as well. It had more sweetness going on, particularly thru the nose, and I detected berry notes as I puffed on it, probabkly from the wrapper itself & not from the smoke. Another winner from RP.

[IggytheBorg]

Last Friday was the annual CI Cigarfest. This was the 10th anniversary, and we were all wondering if it was gonna be extra special for that reason on the ride in. The answer: Yes. Yes it was. First off, the commemorative shoulder bag was bigger & nicer than any that came before it. Second, the humidor inside was probably a 50 capacity instead of the usual 20, and was filled w/ at least 30 cigars instead of the usual 20. At a glance I could tell there was a really, really good selection in there, too. When we got our coupon books, our delight increased, as they had 57 coupons redeemable for cigars (well, maybe 54, the other 3 being for related swag, like the poster, a humidifier envelope and an issue of Cigar Journal). That's about 20 more than usual. So we probably came home with like 80 cigars. The commemorative ashtray was very nice as well; ordinarily, they're ceramic & subject to chipping & breakage (especially if you tend to leave them out on your deck/patio, as my friends & I often do). This year's was made out of metal and is almost the size of a frisbee, with 5 or 6 notches to hold cigars. My one frined noted on the ride up he didn't have an ashtray. Well, now he has one with a lot of style, to say the least. More beer vendors than ever before, as well. And we followed the usual booze 1st, cigars later strategy to great effect. I can't even recall if I smoked 3 or 4 cigars that day. I do recall smoking a 5 Vegas original (a brand I've been meaning to revisit, since I smoked the one & only example I tried befoe I started writing reviews). Nice medium bodied/flavored cigar, with notes of black cherries evident occasionally on the finish. A justly beloved brand. I also smoked a Cult Fuerte on the ride home. BY then, it was at least the 3d cigar I smoked that day, and my tongue was beat to shit (sipping the root beer I bought to accompany it actually hurt my taste buds). But while this was full bodied & strong, as the name implies, it had a nice note of swetness evident throughout. I fear I won't do it justice because of the circumstances under which I smoked it, but if you like full bodied, it's worth a try. To say a good time was had by all is the grossest of understatements.

There will be many, many more reviews to follow, as the vast majority of the stuff we got was new. By the looks of them, they're gonna be great, too.

[IggytheBorg]

On a long ride into court one day this week, I tried the 1st new cigar from this year's haul. I selected a Diesel Hair of the Dog. The descriptions in the CI catalog promised this would be a very full bodied smoke that "doesn't care if you like it oe not." Kind of the Arrogant Bastard Ale of cigars, I guess. Sounded like a challenege to me, so I picked up that gauntlet.

And fucked it all up. I trimmed a wee bit too little off the end, but since I didn't bring the cutter in the car w/ me, I couldn't fix that mechanically. I thiught maybe chewing on the end would loosen it up (because the draw was impossible), & ended up biting a small hole in the wrapper. You ever try drinking thru a straw that had a hole in its side? And you can't coax any liquid up it because the air pressure can't build up any suction? It was like that. I didn't get a single good, flavorful draw off this smoke. I suppose an exceptionally tight roll may have helped ruin this, but I have to accept the lion's share of the blame. I may never have bought one of these on my own, but I kind of feel compelled to now, just to see what I missed.

[IggytheBorg]

Smoked a Gurkha Ghost, this year's Cigarfest Gurkha freebie, tonight. Not bad, but nowhere near as good as Gurkha at its best. Mainly a toasty, woodsy tobacco core, it had some hints of sweetness o the finish that made it more interesting. Adding to the mix in a most intriuing manner, the wrapper had a tangy flavor to it, but not thru the burn. It left a pleasant, piquant flavor on the lips from the oils in the wrapper itself. Don't think I'd go out & buy more of these.

[IggytheBorg]

As I write this I am smoking a Rocky Patel Edge Nicaragua. Really good smoke. It is a lot like the RP Edge corojo blend, in that it has the tea notes & a ;eathery backbone strongly evident. But it also has some notes of cream & a faint sweetness, particularly at the end of the middle 1/3, that the corojo lacke. As a trade off, it didn't have notes of berries or dried fruit. I still like the corojos better, but this was damned good.