A Xikar Executive Lighter and A Little of This and a Little of That

When we left off on Sunday, I had a cold coming on, and it came on in full force that day, but the worst of it passed quickly.  I still didn’t really feel like smoking too many cigars, so I’m left with not a lot to talk about today.  So I figured it would be a good enough time to showcase a piece of equipment I’ve been using lately, a red Xikar Executive lighter.

I won this lighter at an event at the Wooden Indian a few months ago and have used it pretty regularly with generally good results.  The single jet flame is more than adequate to light and touch up a cigar, it has plenty of horsepower and even works OK in a light breeze.  It seems to run through fuel pretty quickly, but many jet flame lighters do, but I find myself filling this one more than other lighters.  I’m going to guess that this is an old model, it looks like the Executive II has replaced it and has a fuel window, which is a welcome improvement.  Another little thing I’ve noticed is that it’s finish is already starting to chip, and I’ve been VERY careful with this lighter.  I make sure to put it in it’s own pocket in my pants, and don’t throw it in the drawer with other things.  It’s still gotten a couple chips, but the important thing is that it works well to light a cigar. If I have occasion to need a fancy lighter, I’ll just pull out the gold Dupont….I can’t even finish the sentence…I don’t have a gold Dupont lighter….wouldn’t know what to do with one if I did!  I bet they don’t do any better job of lighting a cigar.  As an aside, a few years back I was in Vegas and stopped into the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop of Pawn Stars fame, and they had a Punch Dupont lighter.  It had a $3000 price tag on it, but they would have let me have it for $2500.  For that kind of money it better have MY name on it!  Anyway, I like the Xikar lighter, it’s been reliable and easier to put in my pocket than my other favorite lighter (see my post about that lighter).  This review was not solicited by Xikar, I won this as an event attendee, I bought some cigars and got a raffle ticket!

Speaking of Punch, head on over to http://www.punchcigars.com/tailgating/ and sign up to win a cool six-pack of Punch cigars. They are giving one away every day until December 28, 2012.  I saw these at the IPCPR show and it is a really neat presentation. It comes with an assortment of Punch cigars, a cutter and a bottle opener.  It’s a very cool piece, go try to win one or pick one up if you see it in your local shop!

On a sad note, we lost one of our feline family members last night.  Frank was a good companion for the last 16 years and was never too far from my lap whether I was on the porch enjoying a cigar, or on the couch watching TV.  He even made a few cameo appearances in my CAO Last Stick Standing video.  He was pretty straight laced, when the other cats were rolling around in the catnip, he would have nothing to do with it.  But he did seem to like sitting on my lap while I smoked.  He had a good, long life and we will miss him.

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

CigarCraig