It was a good thing I finished my Sunday post on Saturday and scheduled it for Sunday morning, because Hurricane Irene brushed past us and knocked our power out for about 40 hours or so. We were luckier than some, of course, we only lost a couple quarts of ice cream and had a little water in the basement. No damage and just a minor inconvenience. We take out electricity for granted, don’t we. I’m glad we have gas hot water and stove, and a French press. I did manage to smoke a few cigars so far this week:
Cain Maduro 660 – Picked this up a few weeks ago at Top Shelf Cigars in Skippack, PA for just under $5 on closeout. I should have left this rest for a while longer, but it called to me…you know how it is…I’d been hearing hurriCAIN all weekend, been without electricity for 20 hours and needed some POWER. My past experience with the Cain line has been that I love the flavor, but they tend to knock be on my ass with the strength. I like a strong cigar as much as the next guy, but I smoke to relax, not to feel queezy and want to barf. In my mind, these feelings detract from the experience. This one was good, it could have had a better draw, odd for a 60 ring cigar, but it was pretty hefty in the hand. I have one left that I’ll try to ignore for a while, plus a couple of habano torps.
Bolivar Royal Corona – Last year on my birthday I decided to try selecting a cigar with a ring gauge to match my age, I turned 47, so a Havana Churchill was in order. I couldn’t find a 48 ring cigar in my humidors, was out of anything in the Hermosa vitola, so I abandoned that tradition and went with a Bolivar Royal Corona. I selected this because I love Bolivars and wanted to smoke something special on my 48th birthday. It was not a bad choice, I loved it, it had a few years of age on it and burned nicely. It had that typical Havana twang to it that I love from time to time. With the over-all quality of Nicaraguan/Honduran/Dominican cigars being so high recently, the Havana cigar remains distinctive, maybe not “better” but different. Bolivars have a flavor that hits me just right, and this one was a very nice way to celebrate another journey around the sun.
San Lotano Oval – This one was a sample from the IPCPR show, although I just received another pair of them from Clay Roberts of AJ Fernandez. I think I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve smoked from AJ Fernandez, the Emilio AF1 and 2, and the Diesel Unholy Cocktail, although this is a small sampling of the many cigars this gentleman has had a hand in making. The first thing you notice about this aptly named cigar is the shape, take a guess… OK, I’ll tell you, it’s oval. I love the shape, it has a very natural mouth feel, and is still round, yet doesn’t roll off the table. Very creative presentation. I liked the cigar, I consider it medium, with a very nice, savory and satisfying flavor. This is another cigar I smoked well below the band. Here’s a video I shot at the show with AJ talking about the Oval line:
That’s about all I have for now. I think I’ll have a contest starting Sunday, so check back then.
Until the next time,
CigarCraig
Great blog Craig! I’ve been wanting to try the San Latano, now I’m going to pick one up today!
I agree with you – we rely to easily and perhaps too heavily on electricity. As I told my son, our entire American culture and way of life is 2-weeks-without-electricity away from total chaos.
I haven’t tried any of the three cigars above, but of them the Oval sounds the most interesting! I love new ideas!