We left off this week with a disappointing Maria Mancini, and pick up with a Romeo y Julietta Habana Reserve Torpedo which had a similar problem. While this was a nice cigar with an appealing flavor, it behaved like an over humidified cigar. This was puzzling to me in that other cigars are smoking well out of the same humidor. This leads me to believe that some tobacco prefers different humidity than others. Figuring this out is a crap shoot, and maintaining multiple humidors is a nuisance, so finding a happy medium is key. I smoke right out of my coolerdor, with the cigars stored in boxes, if not their original, then another box. Some of the singles boxes have been in there for years with cigars 
rotating through them, so new additions shouldn’t make any big swings. Point is, most cigars in the cooler are smoking nicely, so I’m not going to sweat a couple less than optimal cigars from time to time. The Romeo y Julietta was nice anyway, and the cigar had an interesting box press which I found endearing for some reason.
Thursday evening I went with a Partagas Limited Reserve No. II, which was a 5½” x 50 robusto. NICE cigar!! Really smooth and rich without being strong. Perfect burn, perfect draw (and from the same humidor as the last two!), what a delight. Now, I hadn’t done any research on this except having smoked a Limited Reserve years ago, so I expected it was a pricey cigar, which was another from the collection my buddy Jason sent a while back. I was pretty amazed to find out that these run around $17.50 by the box. Considering how much I enjoyed this cigar, I’m tempted to say it would be worth that price, but the cheap bastard in me, the one who thinks $17.50 is a little steep for a 5 pack, just couldn’t ever justify spending that kind of scratch on one cigar. I really enjoyed it though and thank Jason again for sharing a bunch of cigars that I wouldn’t otherwise have tried on my own. If you find yourself in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, look up Rock’s Smoke Shop and buy a bunch of cigars from Jason!
Saturday brought 100 degree temps to SE PA, so I waited until it cooled off to the 90s before popping outside with a Arturo Fuente Chateau Fuente. This particular cedar wrapped beauty was given to me by a non-smoking friend who had been given the cigar by a friend. It was claro almost to the point of candela, I actually had to dig around to try to see if Fuente ever made candela Chateaus. Their website is pretty cool looking, but woefully inadequate when it comes to technical data. A perfect cigar for a hot evening sitting on the deck reading a biography. Draw was great, burn wasn’t too bad and it was a flavorful medium bodied cigar. There are so many great cigars out there, but sometimes the classics hit the spot. I enjoyed this cigar, as well as the Partagas, accompanied by a nice cold bottle of Reed’s Extra Ginger Beer, a ginger ale on steroids that goes great with cigars.
Contest Time!
Once again it’s time to give some stuff away! Several years ago my daughter made this box for me for Christmas. As you may recall from the contest back in March, I save my bands. I used to have bags of them laying around before I got my big-ass vase to keep them in. Well, she got a hold of one of those bags and went to work, creating this great box, which I use to keep lighters, cutters and stuff like that in. Guess how many bands adorn this box to win a box of 5 Liga Privada no.9 cigars courtesy of Drew Estate. If someone guesses the exact number, I’ll include a D
rew Estate cap. So spread the word, leave your guess in the comments and good luck! Someone is going to get 5 amazing cigars for nothing more than taking a couple seconds to leave a comment! I’ll open the envelope and announce the winner next Sunday, August 1.
That’s it for now, until the next time,
CigarCraig
Hi Craig,
Another cool contest! The box looks amazing, by the way. My best guess is 225. I guess it’s best to leave the cats out of it.
Your daughter did a fantastic job Craig! I’ll say 187 bands, that is if she didn’t cover the bottom too.
Amazing prize and imaginative contest. My guess: 273.
Thanks.
Craig, that box looks fabulous! I am guessing 212 bands, but what I want to know is by what method did your creative daughter affix them to the box?
I’ll go with 257. Tell Aurora I say hello, and “nice job!”
My guess is 287. That’s a heck of a prize to win, Craig! Thanks for putting it up!
What a lucky Dad…The box looks amazing. I am guessing 165 bands
Nice! I’m guessing 160 bands. Thanks for the contest!
Thanks for the contest! My guess is 205 bands.
I’ll go with 187 craig.. Neat looking box..
Me too going for 187! Looks nice to me too 🙂
Fantastic Box!
I’m guessing 195 bands presuming the bottom is not covered.
You have raised quite a promising artist..
Hi everyone, thanks for the compliments on the box 🙂 It was a fun project.
Jim- I used a decoupage glue/sealer to affix the bands to it and brush on a protective coating.
If the bottom is covered also, I’ll go with a cigar a day for a year… 365
I’ll try 178
I’m thinking like patriotgeek, I’ll throw out a guess of 348 though.
Looks like 232 from here. But I’m pretty far away.
I’m going to say 176! Another great contest!
The box awesome. My best guess is 424.
I’m gonna go with 167.
After counting 6 times…..lolz.
Cool box. I say 169
175
I guess 220.
I’ll guess 181 bands are on that awesome box!
Woo hoo! NICE!
I am guessing that the artist went for economy, so… single layer and no bottom covering.
Also, my count seems fairly symetrical, so, on the off-chance that the artist is quite deliberate, I count on various surfaces (and guessing on the hidden sides):
24 lower front
24 lower back
18 lower right
18 lower left
12 upper right
12 upper left
64 on observable top
12 on hidden top (rear curvature)
1 extra
Total (guess) = 185
(Add 40 if the bottom is covered!)
My guess is 360 labels
I’ll take the over – my guess 2,674,598,253.
Hey Bro!
Count me in. Another great blog my friend. I hope all is well. 189 is my guess.