It’s been an exciting week. Today I announce the winner of a 5 count box of Drew Estate Liga Privada No.9 cigars, and earlier this week I debuted the first in a series of celebrity interviews. Before I get on with the contest announcement, I managed to smoke a few cigars this week.
Wednesday I lit up a Padron Fumas, a gifted cigar that was procured in Little Havana in Miami. These are mixed filler cigars that are made especially for sale to the locals from the many cafeterias or coffee shops in the area. Judging by the deep amber of the cellophane, this example must have been the better part of a decade old. It was a terrific cigar. I’m not going to compare it to a Padron Anniversario, but it certainly compared favorably with the regular line. Perfect burn and draw. I remember a few years back they released these commercially, but the couple examples I had were terribly plugged.
Thursday I went for a CAO LX2 Rob. When these first hit the streets two years ago they were good and spicy and strong. They were too strong for my tastes, which is odd, because I’ve never been one to shy away from strong cigars. The recent trend toward the ligero heavy blends has been a little bit of a turn off for me. I like the flavor of cigars such as the Cain, and the LX2, but the nic-kick does me in. Time has mellowed this LX2, as I was able to enjoy it without feeling woozy afterward. These won’t enter my regular rotation, but it’s a nice cigar every now and then.
Friday I went with a new-to-me cigar that came from Jason of Rock’s Smoke Shop. This was a toro sized cigar at 6″ x 50, with a plain paper strip for a band which has Renaissance printed on it. A little research told me that this was from Rocky Patel and my suspicion is that this was a pre-release sample. It was a fantastic cigar. It was well made, rich flavors, copious amounts of thick smoke. A very nice cigar. I’ll have to try to find the production version and see how it compares. It was really a good cigar.
Winner Announcement!
Here’s what you’ve been waiting for, the winner of a box of 5 Drew Estate Liga Privada cigars. The rules were simple, guess the number of bands my daughter used to create this great box that she gave me for Christmas a few years ago and use to hold my cigar accessories. I was surprised to see that quite a few people tried to count the bands and make a judgment based on the photo. Most of the guesses were in the ballpark, but there was one clear winner. Take a look at the video to see the hermetically sealed envelope opened.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-aVtMYfxVY
There are 196 bands on the box. The winner, with a guess of 195, is PatriotGeek. Congrats Bill, Look for your prize in your mailbox this week. The music featured on today’s video is “Blaming It All On You” from Jim Babjak’s Buzzed Meg, Vol 1. Thank yous to Drew Estate for providing the prize, and Jim Babjak for being my first celebrity interviewee and providing the music.
Until the next time,
CigarCraig
