Paladin de Saka, Old Cain and New Partagas Cigars

Yesterday my wife and I went to the 35th Annual “not just” Rock Expo in the nearby Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, which sound much better than it actually was.  It was basically a flea market of records, tapes and CDs, not that big a deal, but we did come across a few neat things. I managed a record store in the eighties, so I can’t start going through bins of records without compulsively alphabetizing and sorting by genre, so don’t look too hard at stuff like this anymore. My wife spied a CD though, and I dropped $2 on it because it looked good, and I can always listen to Cuban music, Hecho en Cuba 3. I haven’t give it a listen yet, I have to dust off the CD changer, and remember how to get music from the iMac onto my phone. Anyway, one never knows what one might find out and about.

Rewind to Thursday, when we finally got done with cooking, eating and delivering food, it was time for a cigar, and I decided on the Paladin de Saka that Steve had given me when we saw him in South Carolina. This is in the Sin Compromiso line, I suppose it would be the flagship of the line, as it’s aged a year longer than the rest. It’s also the largest of them all, measuring 7″ x 52. There’s one more difference in that there’s some Pennsylvania broadleaf added to the filler that gives it some additional oomph. I’m a big fan of the Sin Compromiso, except that they are so darned pricey. They are worth it though, and I don’t say that often, as Steve would agree. I love the sweetness of the cigar, and the espresso notes. This was a good two and a half hours of pleasure.  These are north of $29, so I’m not going to be smoking many of them, but Thanksgiving is a special day, so a special cigar is always in order, and I thank Steve for special cigars. He is welcome to share my Stillwell Star posts…do they have to be videos? 🙃

I was reorganizing a tray in the cabinet Friday and I came across a cigar in a ziplock that I had completely forgotten I had. It had a handwritten note in it that said “Cain FU IPCPR 2013”.  I remember this was after Sam Leccia’s “departure” from Oliva/Studio Tabac and they had this guy named Brian Scholle trained to travel around doing rolling demonstrations. I had met him a few times. He was making hi-octane Cain F’s he called Cain FU, I think we can figure out what that meant. It was a strong cigar then. So I figured after eight years in the humidor it might have lost some of its luster. I’ve smoked a number of Cain Fs over the years, many in the lancero vitola. I have some squirrelled away somewhere, perhaps I’ll find them one day.  Anyway, this cigar was a toro, and it had a pretty rustic look, but it burned surprisingly well. It was still pretty strong, a notch up from what I would expect from a Cain F. It was pretty good, considering it sat in a baggie for over eight years ignored. Of course, It’s not something anyone will ever have again, and I wonder what ever happened to that Brian dude? 

A week or so ago I posted the news about the Partagas Decadas 2021 that was coming out. Some samples arrived and couldn’t wait to smoke one. The Decadas have been treats for me for a long time. I’ve really liked the green banded ones going back many years. This one was intriguing because of the Brazilian Cameroon wrapper. First let’s work out the deal with the whole deal with the semantics surrounding wrapper. The foremost grower of Cameroon tobacco says there’s no such thing as Cameroon seed, but Sumatra seed grown in Cameroon. So it’s the soil and climate that make the tobacco Cameroon. Which begs the question: how can “Cameroon” tobacco be grown in other countries? I will say that this cigar,  I don’t care where the wrapper was grown, tastes far more “Cameroony” than a lot of Cameroon cigars I’ve smoked. It was loaded with the sweet, nutty flavor that the Decadas, and Partagas should taste like. I was completely enthralled with this cigar. Whatever the seed, wherever it’s grown, it tastes good, and was a lovely cigar. It’s even the right size!

This afternoon I’m going to Son’s Cigars to meet up with the gang from Stolen Throne Cigars who are doing an event there, I’d encourage anyone in the area to pop in.  I’m looking forward to finally meeting these guys as I’ve been enjoying the Stolen Throne cigars. I’m still looking for Secret Santa participants, we’re up to three, which is an awkward number, but I’d make it work if I had to!  The more the merrier!  That’s all for today, until the next time, 

CigarCraig