The Lounge

Next Thursday my friend, Flintstone t-bones, single barrel Jack and one very fine cigar, all in your honor.

 

This has got to be one of the coolest threads I've ever seen, can't believe it took me so long to stumble across it!

I discovered this past spring how much I truly enjoy a good cigar and have decided that as with most other things, anything worth doing is worth doing way too much. As a result, I now have three small 25-50 ct humidors, just the basic desktop style, but all packed full with a nice variety to chose from. Just keeping with the spirit of having more than enough to see me through an extended emergency or disaster situation, of course.

I see that this thread has been quiet for a while - you guys havn't quit smoking, have you?

 

Thanks for the welcome MM, I was starting to think I was late for the party - then about halfway through my Saturday morning breakfast cigar (Punch maduro, oh yeah!) I went inside for a cup of coffee and saw the email notice that this thread is still alive.

I was afforded the opportunity to enjoy a true Cuban on a trip to Mexico back in 2003, where not knowing what I was looking for, I picked up a Cuban Cohiba. I can still picture the knight from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade saying "you have chosen wisely"... But alas, I was not a cigar smoker at the time, I just wanted to smoke one as a matter of principle - and while I did thoroughly enjoy it, I can't really compare it to anything. One thing for sure, the Cohiba Red Dots available here in the states don't even come close.

I agree about the Cuban seeds. I'm sure they sell a lot of them by putting the word "Cuban" on the band, but in my experience they just seem a little "off" compared to most other premium or even "semi-premium" cigars from various other countries, many of which I've found can be bought online for significantly less than you can find them in the tobacco shops - I'm talking 1/3 to 1/2 the price, and I've yet to have a problem with inferior quality or dry cigars from the online retailers.

Reading back through the thread, it looks like you're a fan of full bodied cigars - I tend to like the stronger 'gars too, and I'm always looking for the next one that makes me go "wow, this is just awesome!" Outside of Cubans, any suggestions?

 

No worries, I often check in but find it difficult to respond - too many responsibilities and not enough time, such is life I suppose.

Rocky Patels are pretty good, havn't tried the Family Reserve yet. Had my first H. Upmann 1844 a few weeks ago, and my first La Gloria Cubana last weekend - both very nice I thought, and though I wouldn't call the Upmann full bodied, I think I'll have to start keeping a few on hand. I've been a fan of Punch as my go-to since I started smoking, Alec Bradley has earned a good amount of space in my humidors, and I've never met a Gurkha that I didn't like.

The most underrated cheapie I've found is the La Floridita - it's a Nicaraguan product, not on the same level as a lot of other Nicaraguans by any means, but they can be had for under $2 a pop online. Great for when you want something to smoke but can't just sit back and give a really good cigar the attention it deserves. The migraine-inducing band makes the whole thing look like a cheap roman candle, but don't let the price or looks discourage you - they're a good basic stogie with moderate strength and a lot of thick white smoke, good for those less-than-momentous occasions like mowing the lawn or raking leaves. Of course, beer makes them even better...

In the interest of smoking more and spending less, I've also had really good luck with premium brand 2nds. I've found Punch and RP 2nds so far, and IMO, the insignificant QC issues that keep them from getting their bands don't really detract from the overall quality.

 

Cool, I will check that out tonight - gotta run for now though, it's nice outside and I have to dig a trench and run wiring to a chicken coop. Shouldn't be as bad as when I planted apple trees, as the dirt is softer and I don't have to dig nearly as deep.

I will say before I sign out that I use several online retailers, but have found famous-smoke.com to be pretty good, as well as their sister site, cigarauctioneer.com. You can get a pretty sweet deal there a lot of times, and they offer $8 flat rate shipping - but if you use the auction site, make sure before you bid on anything, under "my account" click on "consolidation" and pick a day you want your order to ship. If you don't, their system will register each purchase individually and will attempt to ship items individually, charging $8 per shipment. You can call them to try to sort it out before your purchases actually ship, but it's a pain and there's no guarantee they'll catch every item. Yes, I had that problem the first time I bought from them, but they're a good company and made it up to me in the form of a gift certificate for the amount of unnecessary extra shipping charges I paid.

Gotta run, I'll check back in later.

 

So I took a look around TexCigars, and wow - talk about selection! The more I think about it, the more I think your top ten suggestion sounds like a great idea. Doesn't look to be currently available but I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for it, or at least looking back to some past CA top lists when picking out something new to try.
@ghrit , those are some great pics you posted earlier in this thread. You mentioned that curing sheds tend to burn every now and then - is there a reason for that, other than the simple fact that it's a lot of tobacco under one roof? Please tell me it's not from people smoking inside of them...

 

Just found this old thread and am hoping it stays alive. lots of good info for new smokes to try.

I am always happy with a fire by the river, a Rocky Patel Family Reserve, and a bottle of Maker's Mark

 

Thanks @ghrit , that puts my mid at ease - the mental picture of someone accidentally burning down one of those sheds full of sweet beautiful tobacco with their stogie was just painful to think about.

That's 2 recommendations for the RP Family Reserve now, so it looks like I'll have to try one. Last night's stogie of choice for me was a Gurkha Havana Legend - a good dark full-strength cigar, very smooth.

Never tried Maker's Mark, maybe I'll pick up a bottle this week. With winter approaching and temps dropping, cold beer doesn't go down nearly as smooth as it does over the summer.

 

Bump... I've had the opportunity to try several new cigars since my last post here, so I figure it's time for a review.

I celebrated Thanksgiving a little late this year, so I spent Thanksgiving day giving thanks for the fact that I was not obligated to do the holiday circuit that most of my friends have to do. Rather than celebrating with turkey, I decided to pay homage to the pilgrims and Indians of the first Thanksgiving. I did this through use of the 2 greatest commodities that each culture introduced to the other - alcohol and tobacco. Alcohol of the day was Jameson Irish Whiskey. It has a picture of a boat on the bottle, and that's what the pilgrims used to sail to America, so that's a good enough excuse for me. Tobacco of the day was the entire Cusano premium line, including the 18 years Connecticut and Maduro, the LXI Sun Grown, and the 59 Cameroon. Now, you're probably thinking "wow dude, congratulations on developing lung cancer in a single day" but it's not as bad as it should be. The Cusanos were decent smokes - the look, feel, and taste of a quality cigar is there, and for the most part they're well constructed - but they burn way too fast. A roughly 5.5" robusto should take what, about half an hour to burn? Not these guys - each one was gone in what seemed like about 15 minutes. They weren't dry, they were just lightly rolled - the draw was easier than breathing through a snorkel. The fact that each one I tried was like that, tells me that I didn't just get unlucky with 1 or 2 sticks. If you like a ridiculously easy draw, try the Cusanos. Otherwise, you probably won't end up rushing out to buy a box of them.

I had been meaning to try the RP Family Reserve, as I've seen 2 recommendations for it here, but have been unable to find it thus far. However, I also saw a couple suggestions for the CAO Brazilia, and had a chance to pick up a CAO sampler pack that contained the Brazilia among others. The Brazilia is good, and if you like strong cigars, I recommend the Italia. It's not a dark cigar like the Brazilia but it's just as sweet and a degree or 2 stronger.

Last review of the evening is the torpedo I smoked last night - the Gurkha Blue Steel. I tend to like Gurkhas, and I tend to like dark, full-bodied cigars, so I knew by looking at it that I'd probably really like it - but holy cow that was amazing! Ya know how sometimes you come across a cigar that just completely blows your mind? That's what the Blue Steel did for me. That cigar takes the whole "cool feel on the palate" experience to another level; the smoke is almost cold. The flavor, aroma, construction, draw, everything is there. I could go on and on about it, but I'll simply say instead that it is the only cigar I've ever smoked that was so good, it prompted me to write an ode to it. Yes, the beers probably had something to do with that, and no, I'm not going to torture anyone here with it.

Gotta run for now, I'll be back when I have more reviews. Next on the list is several flavors by Carlos Torano, should be fun!

 

At the Bar

Having already downed a few power drinks, she turns around,
faces him, looks him straight in the eye and says,

Listen here, good looking, I will screw anybody, anytime, anywhere, their place,
my place, in the car , front door, on the ground, standing up, sitting down,
naked or with clothes on . . . It doesn't matter to me, I just love it.


"His eyes now wide with interest, he responds,

No kidding . . .
I'm in Congress too. What state do you represent?

 

Bump time... did you know that today is National Smoke a Cigar Day? From a cigar forum:

Wednesday March 6th is National Smoke a Cigar Day, and Table 36 is a proud sponsor. In response to onerous taxation, the looming threat of over-regulation, and ever-increasing public demonization we are asking all brothers and sisters of the leaf to join in. It doesn't matter what stick you choose, just grab one (or two or three...) of your favorites and Light 'em up!

Novices, enthusiasts and aficionados WORLDwide have actually now laid claim to this day (so much so that next year it is being re-branded INTERnational.

So, be it on your back porch, in your local b&m, at the poker table, or in one of those increasingly rare drinking establishments that still allows you to indulge over a nice scotch or micro-brew, Light 'em Up for National Smoke a Cigar Day on March 6th!

This is an opportunity for us to to take a stand. Please join all of us on March 6th!!!

I really like the fact that this is about freedom, not just indulgence of our vices. (But hey, isn't it cool that it's a little of both?)

This thread hasn't seen much action the past few months, so I'll help kick it into gear with some cigar and drink observations, but before I do, I'll follow VisuTrac's lead in my next post...

 

I would have put this in the inferno, but it follows post 76 by @VisuTrac so well that I decided to post it here...

Lying in bed after a particularly wild episode together, the phone rang and she answered.

"Hello? Oh hey! Ok, ok, love you too, bye." and she hung up.
He asks "Was that your husband?"
"yeah"
"Guess I'd better get going then..."
"Don't worry about it, he's not coming home tonight."
"Really? What's he doing?"
"I don't know, but he said he's down at the bar, drinking beer and shooting pool with you!!!"

 

OK, back on topic of cigars and adult beverages - I promised a review of Carlos Torano, but before I begin I'd like to take a minute to discuss the developing sophistication of my palate.

It seems natural to me that when one develops an appreciation of cigars, that over time your tastes will change. That has indeed been the case for me, though in addition to experience, I'm going to count the changing weather as a significant factor. This past summer was HOT, and like a real genius, I spent a lot of time standing over my BBQ grill in 100 degree temps this summer. Now, the best way I've found to tolerate fire on a hot summer day is with cold beer, and lots of it - and in retrospect, it seems that large quantities of beer make a lot of things more tolerable - including cheap cigars. Remember those "roman candle" cigars I mentioned in an earlier post, that weren't particularly special but worked fine for a "yard 'gar"? Well, when it gets cold outside, I just don't enjoy cheap cigars - or cold beer - as much as I do in the summer. So, I've been smoking less these past months, but smoking better sticks when I do.

I've realized that the popular names like Cohiba, LGC, H. Upmann, Partagas (oh baby, Partagas...) - they got to be popular for a reason, and I've come to realize that I can usually count on one of these "big brands" to get the job done. (And although I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate RyJ like the others, it still deserves respect.)

I've also come to appreciate a lot of the newer names - Rocky Patel, for example, gets a lot of love in this thread, and rightfully so. The Royal Vintage, and Vintages 1990 and 92, are all worthy sticks. If you like RP, though, I gotta recommend Gurkha again. Though Rocky has a more consistent draw from one flavor to the next, Gurkha puts out some pretty good sticks that, to me anyway, have a lot in common with RP. Notable standouts include the Blue Steel, the Black Dragon, and the recently realeased Ghost.

CAO has seen some good recommendations on this thread too, and again, I have to agree. If you like CAO, and you like a dark full-bodied cigar, then I think you'll also like the Carlos Torano Exodus line. All Toranos I've tried were decent cigars, but the Exodus Gold, Silver, and 50 Years are some of their best - which is probably why CA gave them 92, 92, and 93 ratings, respectively. They all have a place in my humidor.

As far as buying online, I've abandoned previous online retailers in favor of cigar.com and cigarsinternational.com. Good prices, great selection, and quality of product have been bringing me back as a happy repeat customer.

Stay tuned for more Gurkha reviews, and a cigar-related project that belongs here on the monkey tree even more so than it does in a cigar-specific forum!