Last week I received an e-mail from CigarBargains.com about a Combo Cigar Cutter/Knife w/ Belt/Money Clip. CigarBargains.com is a site run by CheapHumidors.com which allows one to negotiate with “Suzy” and work the price down. I thought it would be a neat experiment and always kinda wanted a knife like this, knowing full well it would be crap for properly cutting a cigar (more on that later). I buy stuff for a living, Buyer is actually my job title, so I know how this works. I start out looking at the shipping and deciding 
how much I’m willing to pay. In this case, the farther under $10 the better. Their starting offer for this item was $10.99, so my opening offer was $3. “Suzy” replied with “I might have peed myself a little at your offer of $3.50. You need to be closer to $9.68.”. This went on for a while, with various comments about needing a new purse, feeding the kids and such. When all was said and done, I ended up getting this for $9.05 delivered, which met my requirements. Shipping from Florida was reasonably quick as I received it on Thursday after completing the transaction last Friday. As anticipated, the knife does a reasonably good job of mangling a cigar, I had the strangest cut, but I have to admit it cut cleanly and I ended up having an excellent smoking experience. I think it would work better using the blade to make a V cut, or, and I haven’t tried this yet, putting the cigar in the hole, putting the blade up to the cigar with a little pressure, and rotating the cigar, then pealing off the cap. It was a worthwhile experiment, and there are some decent deals to be had with enough patience to follow through with the negotiating.
The cigar I cut with the new knife was a Flor de Gonzales 90 Miles Robusto, the last of a 5 pack I won well over 2 years ago. I’ve enjoyed smoking these cigars, the construction was flawless and the flavors agreeable. The poor cut, while offensive to my CDO (OCD in alphabetical order as it should be) addled brain, was not a factor and didn’t take away from the experience. It was a smooth, flavorful medium bodied smoke which I enjoyed to the fullest. The two years or so of age didn’t hurt this cigar either.
Friday evening calls for a little bit of a special cigar, so I selected a San Lotano Habano Lancero for my evening walk. I had picked this up at a San Lotano event at Olde World Tobacco in Lancaster, PA several months ago. This is a beautiful 7″ x 38 lancero, with a nice little pigtail cap. I went back to my regular cutter for this one, no reason to risk mangling this cigar. Burn was perfect. I love it when a cigar burns with a nice flat ember, not pointy, all the tobaccos burning at exactly the same rate. It’s a miracle that this can be accomplished and I always appreciate it it when I see it. AJ Fernandez makes some terrific cigars, this was no different. I love the lancero format.
Saturday morning I had the great pleasure of being the guest on Kiss My Ash Radio‘s Bloggers Corner segment. I was nervous as hell, and there were some things I planned on mentioning but missed. Fortunately, Abe had done a piece on pairing root beers with cigars, which I’ve been doing for years. I wanted to suggest Victory Brewery‘s root beer, as it is exceptional and made right here in my home town. I even had notes and in my nervousness I didn’t look at them! Oh well, I hope I didn’t make too much of a fool of myself, I appreciate being invited on the show. Saturday afternoon I stopped by JM Cigars in Exton, PA to say hello to Jon Lipson, the Alec Bradley rep, who was having an event there. I picked up a few American Classic Blends in Corona and Robusto and smoked a Corona while catching up with Jon and the folks at the shop. For an absolutely stunning day I was surprised at the traffic in the store. I guess I figure people have better things to do on a stunning Saturday, I know I did. I enjoyed the American Classic Corona very much and went home to change the oil in the scooter and mow the lawn.
To finish up the day I fired up a Partagas 1845 Gigante that I received in a sample pack from General Cigar. It’s a 6 x 60 that feels much bigger for some reason. I took my son’s dog for a nice walk and enjoyed the heck out of this cigar. So far I think I liked the Robusto better, but this monster was very good, burned well and lasted for quite a while. So far I’m impressed by this line, although I really can’t think of a Partagas cigar I really haven’t enjoyed, General Cigar Co. or otherwise. Dirty little secret: Havana Partagas Presidente is one of my all time favorite cigars. Give the Partagas 1845 a try, it’s a very tasty smoke.
I’m off today to Whippany, NJ to meet up with ACigarSmoker.com‘s Peter Glad at JR Cigars‘ store and lounge. It’s always fun going to the store there and having a nice lunch and cigars, and I’m looking forward to meeting Peter. Of course, stop on by if you’re in the area and say hello and join us for a smoke!
Until the next time,
CigarCraig
Interesting post today. Re: the knife, after you said V-cut, I was expecting you to say that you would slice it diagonally down one way then another to meet in a “V” – you seemed to be describing a butchered version of a “punch” cut.
Re: pairing root beers with cigars … I’ll have to think about that one. I tend to pair mine with beer (80%), a mixed drink like gin+vodka martinis (15%) or iced tea+lemonade (“Arnold Palmers”). I’ve occasionally had a cigar with a Coke, but usually only when either that’s all I had to drink available or if I expected an exceptionally strong cigar. I would think the root beer would be too sweet, but willing to give it a try.
Finally, I get to the Baltimore/DC area now and again – interested in a mini-herf? 🙂
I’ll try to remember to try the “V” cut on my next cigar and take a picture. Your description is acurate though. I haven’t drank in 20 years, so I try to find interesting non-alcoholic beverages to enjoy with my cigars. Root beer has always been a favorite. We need to meet up for a cigar one of these days for sure!
sounds like you had a nice and busy weekend, as did I my friend as did I. I still need to try these new Partagas.