A 1502 Ruby Cigar, a MUWAT and a Merlion Sea Lion

Cold and snow, but fortunately not any where near the snow that was predicted or our neighbors to the north got! I can’t complain too much about this winter so far.  It’s only really dissuaded me from taking my evening cigar and Macha walks a couple times, and the enclosed porch has been fairly comfortable.  If we can get through the next six weeks or so without too much bad weather I’ll be happy. I still look forward to basking in the warm sunshine with a cigar! On Sunday evening I came across a 1502 Ruby robusto and immediately wanted to smoke it.  I actually passed on watching the NHL All Star Game, who puts the game on at 5 PM? That didn’t fit my schedule! Judging by the score it wasn’t a good game for the goalies, so I don’t feel like I missed much.  I did enjoy the heck out of the Ruby.  I love the box press and the semi-closed foot on the line, and this was a stellar smoke. Medium bodied and rich in flavor.  It’s very hard for me not to smoke these when I run across them in the humidor. They are really very good cigars.

Monday I took a night off, just wasn’t feeling it, so Tuesday I grabbed a  MUWAT Night Crawler. This cigar was given to me by Dave Lafferty of Drew Estate at an event several months ago, and I put it in the bedroom humidor and kinda forgot about it.  I definately favor the smaller sizes in the MUWAT line, I’ve enjoyed the 60 ring sizes, but they lack the punch I look for. This 4½”x 50 cigar had the punch.  You could tell it had a San Andrés wrapper, and it delivered big in the flavor department. This may now be my favorite size, second to the Digital Son 6 and the Baitfish. It was still smooth and rich and chocolaty, and had a perfect burn one expects from Drew Estate cigars.  Are these still made at the Joya de Nicaragua factory? Not sure, but it doesn’t matter as either factory makes great smoking cigars on a consistent basis. I’d smoke this again in a heartbeat.

I finally placed an order for a cabinet humidor so I can get out of the coolers which have been my mass storage solution for the last 15 years or so.  Of course, it’s back ordered, which is my fault for not placing my order back in December, but stuff like moving and the holidays happen. So far, my experience ordering from 1st Class Cigar Humidors has been positive, look forward to play by play in March when it arrives. I’m so looking forward to not having to rummage through the coolers and playing humidor Tetris trying to fit in new arrivals, and my wife looks forward to something more aesthetically pleasing than blue plastic.  My plan for now will be to use my Cigar Oasis in conjunction with the dozen traditional humidification units and see how it goes from there. I look forward to the adventure.  1st Class Cigar Humidors has been an advertiser here for a few years, and this is an item purchased by me. I shopped around and decided on this unit.

Tonight I went with a Merlion Sea Lion from La Sirena Cigars.  This is a cool shaped cigar which is a lot of fun to smoke. It’s a 5½” x 47 perfecto of sorts, with a shaggy tail sticking out of the foot, making lighting quite easy. These are made at the La Aurora factory in the Domincan Republic, there were only 500 boxes of ten made, and one in each box has a San Andrés wrapper, and the remaining nine have the same Ecuador Corojo wrapper as the rest of the line.  In an odd twist, I still have not smoked the maduro, and I’d generally smoke that one first.  In this case, I’m quite sure I’ll never see another maduro, and I’m afraid I’ll love it. I’ll get to it when the time is right. Tonight the time was right for the Sea Lion and a great tasting smoke it was. Very smooth and creamy, and the shape concentrates the flavor more on the palate than the parejos in this line, I think, and it’s just a damned tasty smoke. As I said, it’s a fun shape, and a great size.  I don’t think I mention often that my favorite size might be the classic Corona Gorda, 5 5/8″ x 46, and this comes very close, but the shape causes changes in the flavor as the fattest part is near the beginning and as the diameter of the cigar narrows, the flavors intensify. It’s practically a cigarillo by the time it’s finished.  Try one if you see one on your tobacconsits shelf.

Quick little terminology refresher, since I was mentioned on last weeks Cigar Authority radio show (thanks Mr. J, if you don’t listen, you should, it’s a hoot!) as Dave Garofalo was confusing the term “vitola” with “parejo” once again.  I had pointed out to him some time ago that “vitola” is a generic term for the basic size of a cigar, robusto, torpedo, Churchill, perfecto are all vitolas. The Cubans have a list known as Vitolas de Galera, which give very strict definitions of what each shape must be. Where a Robusto can be just about anything from a 4½” x 50 to a 5½” x 54 or just about anything in between, in Cuba it’s ONLY 4 ⁷/_{8″ x} 50, a 5″ x 48 is a Hermosos No. 4, and so forth. “New World” cigars take liberties with the vitola names, so in our usage it’s a generic term for the size.  Vitolas are then broken down into two classes, Parejos, or straight sided cigars, or Figurados or shaped cigars such as the torpedo, diadimas, perfecto, etc.  Really a mater of semantics, but something that should be known when jerks like me through the fancy schmancy terms around all willy nilly.

That’s it for now, until the next  time,

CigarCraig