A Pool Cigar, Chateau Real, Hammer & Sickle and another Hoyo de Monterrey Contest Winner!

Sunday I spent a few hours lounging in the pool with my wife, enjoying a couple of frosty IBC root beers and a Maria Mancini Robusto Larga. After working until 3am and getting a few hours sleep, hanging out in the warm pool was very relaxing. I encountered an interesting phenomenon with the cigar though. In my sleep deprived state, I absent-mindedly dropped my travel humidor in my cooler bag along with my supply of frosty root beers. By the time I lit up a cigar it was pretty cold. I noticed that the cigar, of which I’ve smoked hundreds of over the years and almost never had a problem with, didn’t draw as well as I would have liked until about half way through the smoke. Is it possible that the sudden temperature change effected the relative humidity that quickly? I suppose that the lower temperature would allow the leaves to hold more moisture and give me that over humidified, “steamy” tight draw. I’ll have to do some reading on RH and see if that even makes sense, but I know that temperature determines whether a water molecule is in a gas or liquid state, and at lower temperatures it’s more likely to be in a liquid state. Would this have a profound effect on our beloved roll of leaves in a hour or two’s time? It turned out to be a very enjoyable smoke, once it got going, but just about any cigar would have been good under those circumstances.

Monday I took a nice little walk with an old friend, the Chateau Real Gran Cru Perfecto Maduro. I absolutely love these cigars. I purchased a box nearly two years ago and have been smoking them very sparingly, as the maduro seems to be discontinued. It’s a real shame too, because I adore the Mexican maduro wrapper on these, I think it makes the cigar. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the mild and creamy Ecuador Connecticut wrapped version, but the maduro hits the spot for me. I have a handful of these left, as well as nearly half a box of the Small Club in maduro and will be sad when they are gone. I’ll have to find another favorite, I suppose! With so many great cigars sporting that San Andreas maduro wrapper lately, it shouldn’t be hard, but it’s a shame to see a favorite go away.

Tuesday I decided to re-visit the Hammer and Sickle Robusto that I was given last year at the trade show. My dear old friend Mike Perry was working the booth for Eric Hanson and Victor Vitale last year and made sure I got a couple of these to try. Sadly, I hear he won’t make it to the show this year due to recovering from some health issues. I met Mike at a herf in Vegas in 1999, he’s a tremendous guy, and I look forward to seeing him again soon. Anyway, I believe these are made by Hendrik Kelner, and the quality really shows. I love a cigar that burns with a flat coal, all of the tobaccos burning at exactly the same rate. It’s a thing of beauty. It’s a nice smoke, I’d smoke it again for sure, and if you ever come across a box of these you’ll know it, it’s probably the only cigar to come in a crystal box! Always an interesting presentation from The Cigar Agency! I look forward to seeing Victor again at the show, his Tortuga 1950 Maduro is amazingly good!

Contest

So it’s time to select another winner! I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t yet shipped out Allen’s cigars, I was waiting for some boxes that I received Monday. I’ll get it shipped out tomorrow I promise!  I’ve closed the comments and consulted once again with Random.org‘s random number generator and came up with the number 8, which corresponds to JScott. Congrats!  Please send me your address so I can ship your pair of three-packs of Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros cigars, even though I probably have it around here someplace!

Don’t forget to enter the Box-a-Day contest at HoydeMonterreycigar.com, and keep an eye here on Sunday for another Reposado en Cedros six-pack contest!.

That’s it for today, until Sunday,

CigarCraig