Wednesday evening I was , once again, in experimental mode…OK, that’s a lie.  The truth is that I have one coolerdor that has some small sampler boxes floating around in it and this particular one was down to two cigars, so I wanted to get things tidied up a little.  Regardless of the truth, I picked out this Villiger 1888 robusto from said dwindling sampler.  I recall enjoying the 1888 Fuerte quite a bit, so I was curious about  the regular 1888.  This was the robusto, and was a nice looking cigar with a milk chocolate colored wrapper.  I enjoyed it quite a bit, it was medium bodied, well made and consistent in flavor through the smoke. It wasn’t mind-blowing, but certainly a good cigar.  I would certainly smoke this cigar on a regular basis, but I never seem to see these in my local shops. Thanks to Anne at Villiger for sending me the samples and for providing a really nice gift in last December’s 12 Days giveaway!

Thursday I decided to dig into the new cigar from Smoke Inn‘s Microblend series, the Arturo Fuente Solaris.  This is a 6″ x 49 belicoso that Fuente had made 6 years ago in a small batch and found a home for it at Smoke Inn.  It’s unlike the other cigars in the microblend series in that they had no hand in the blending of it.  Still, having a super exclusive Fuente product is a big deal.  The sun grown wrapper is quite light on this cigar, and it’s very visually appealing. I’ll be the first to say that Fuente makes some great cigars, however I don’t often find myself smoking them.  I’ve smoked many over the years, and gravitated toward smaller sizes in the Hemingway and Don Carlos lines.  I expected to be wow’d by this cigar and I was impressed with it over-all. This is a cigar I wouldn’t have had the chance to try if it weren’t for the generosity of Smoke Inn.  Be sure to give them a visit when shopping online or in the South Florida area.

Friday was the end of a long week, and, more importantly, the beginning of a long weekend!  What better way to start it off than with a favorite, the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos Retro Especiale Cubano.  I brought this box back with me from the Dominican Republic and really enjoy them when I have time for a large cigar.  It’s 6½” x 58 and is a good, smooth hour and a half or so of relaxation.  As has been customary lately, I took my son’s new dog for a walk along with this cigar.  A mile long walk and I still had three quarters of the cigar to relax on the front porch with for a while.  I’ve had the pleasure of smoking a bunch of these since their release and am always delighted by the interesting flavors.  I love a lot of the La Gloria Cubana line, and this is among my favorites.

Saturday turned out to be an interesting day.  First, I received a call from my friend Greg saying he noticed a new cigar store in the area.  It turns out to be a new location for a shop that has been around a while. More on that in a bit. Several months ago my wife and I had been to a unique little vintage record store and noticed some cigar box art in one section of the store. I had done some housekeeping in the basement and had a dozen or so empty cigar boxes laying around, and my wife and I took them down to see if they wanted them. They were thrilled with the boxes and insisted upon trading them for a very rare record that the proprietor had found for my wife.  I love the artistry of cigar boxes, but we tend to take them for granted. It’s so cool when someone who has little interest in cigars is so appreciative of them.  On the way home we stopped at the cigar shop.  I have been to several locations of this local chain, and have only been impressed by one of them.  This shop has moved into a free standing, ex-convenience store which has had more businesses in it over the last 20-some years than I can remember.  I had a job interview in one of them 10 years ago.  They have a Montecristo lounge which looks nice, and a huge walk-in humidor that needs more stock, needs to have the split and broken cigars removed, and needs more price labels on the boxes.  I’m a self proclaimed cheap bastard, and price plays a part in my buying decisions, so I don’t like surprises at the register and won’t buy what isn’t priced.  I picked up a couple of the new Romeo by Romeo y Julieta just because I’ve been wanting to try them, but I can’t see visiting this shop often. It is located in  such a place that there are a couple friends I could meet up there for a smoke, and I really hope they make it, but they need to fix a few things.  I came home and smoked a San Lotano Oval Toro because I saw them there but I was scared off by the condition of some of the cigars around them.  The Oval is a fantastic smoke and couldn’t have been a better end to the day.  Deep, rich flavors and a perfect burn.  These are pricey, but delicious and I look forward to trying the maduro.  It’s a neat shape too.

That’s it for now.  More great cigars to smoke!  Since my son got his dog, I’ve been taking her on my evening walks with me.  I’m open to suggestions on “Dog Walker” cigars!  There will, no doubt, come a time when the weather is less than ideal for enjoying a fine cigar, so what does everyone keep on hand for those occasions?

Until the next time,

CigarCraig