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Henry Clay War Hawk, a Gurkha Ghost, a Hamlet Liberation and a Cohiba Connecticut Cigar

I had a visit to Goose’s shop in Limerick this week as my wife had a meeting with Goose to work on a super secret project, so I picked up a few cigars while there, and smoke the new addition to the Henry Clay line, the War Hawk. I’ve been looking forward to trying this new addition to a line I’ve long been fond of, going back to the days when they were ugly things. I really like the Stalk Cut, despite the silliness of the name (all the Connecticut Broadleaf and Habano tobacco in stalk cut anyway, so it’s really no big deal), it’s a poor man’s Henry Clay Tattoo, which is a spectacular cigar. The cigar is beautiful, with an Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapper, Broadleaf binder and Honduran fillers, made at Altadis’ Flor de Copan factory in Honduras (which is for sale, by the way, a few billion and it could be yours). I really liked this cigar for what it was, as it bore no resemblance, in my opinion, to a Henry Clay that I could think of. It stood on it’s own as a really great tasting cigar with a nice nutty flavor with balanced nicely with the sweetness of the broadleaf binder and the earthiness of the Honduran fillers and was, overall, a really enjoyable medium bodied cigar!

 

A few months ago I was headed to the airport to pick up my son and stopped in Jacoub’s Cigars in Ridley Park, which is only about four miles from PHL.  I didn’t have time for a cigar, but I bought a few, and one of the ones that caught my eye was a short, fat Gurkha Ghost perfecto. This cigar was about 4″ x 60, I guess, I neither took the time to note the size or name of the cigar when I bought it, and the little bit of research I did when I decided to smoke it turned up no information. To be honest, I didn’t look that hard. People tend to crap all over the Gurkha brand, I know they have a bunch of bundle-esque stuff in the catalogue market and they hype a lot of stuff too much, but there are a bunch of cigars in their portfolio that are worthy of mention, and the Ghost, to me, at least, is one of them. I got a late start and was looking for a shorter smoke, and this short perfecto was about what I needed. It’s just about the same size and shape of a Flying Pig, with a Brazilian, Arapiraca Maduro wrapper, Criollo ’98 binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. It looks like they call this vitola the “Spook”, I just did a little more research. Anyway, it’s made in a major factory, Placencia or someone like that, and it burns well, has a great flavor and I was satisfied by the experience. Ghost, most of the Cellar Reserves and Seduction are all Gurkha cigars I enjoy.

 

While at Goose’s, Alex Kraft, the local Rocky Patel rep, happened to stop in with Dave Bullock, the VP of sales who was traveling with him. I had not met Dave before, and hadn’t seen Alex in some time, so it was nice to get aquatinted. Somehow or other a rather large Hamlet Liberation found its way into my pocket, Goose had something to do with it. This is a 6 ½ x 55 large toro with a tapered head and a shaggy foot. A very interesting looking cigar. I lit the unfinished foot and expected the flavor to change once it started burning the Habano wrapper, but, sadly, I never really noticed a difference. It was a good cigar, well behaved, and certainly good for about 2 hours of smoking time. there was never a real “wow” moment, but it was a solid, good tasting cigar. It has some spice and woody flavors and is and all-around good cigar. I enjoyed the size and shape of the cigar, the classic Cuban “109” style head is unique and interesting,

 

My last cigar to talk about today is the new Cohiba Connecticut. This cigar hit the shelves in March, and was a late addition to my sample humidor, but a welcomed one. I certainly don’t mind sampling new cigars, but I rarely (read: never) will splurge on a $20 cigar, and this starts at $19.99 for the Robusto, which is the vitola which was generously supplied to me by General Cigar Co. It’s 5½” x 50, which is a nice size, and has an Ecuador Connecticut wrapper which is grown by an independent grower in the Los Rios Province in Ecuador. It has Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican Piloto Cubana and Nicaraguan Jalapa in the filler blend, and,not unlike the classic Macanudo, it has a San Andrés binder. It got me thinking that I might have to revisit what I consider a miss in the Cohiba portfolio, the Blue, the OSA wrapped “budget” priced Cohiba, just to see if that’s gotten any better over time.  This Connecticut was a good Connecticut cigar. It was on the high side of mild, with good flavor, some sweet notes to balance the bitterness of the shade leaf, and an over-all nice smoke. I kind of forgot I was smoking a high-end, luxury cigar for a while there as the burn was a bit funky. At this level, I rather expect perfection in the burn and draw, and the burn was wavy and required some correction. I expect a certain aesthetic, that I certainly forgive in a lower priced cigar. I seem to remember having the same complaint with the much more expensive Septre. Obviously, this is targeting a certain niche market, and I may not fit into that niche, but it’s a good smoke, if you have a chance to smoke one, don’t be afraid of being disappointed!

 

OK, that’s enough for today, time to get moving.  Happy Memorial Day to everyone. I’ll be working tomorrow, although I was lucky enough to have a rare weekend off. Remember why we celebrate. Enjoy some good cigars while remembering those who gave their lives so that you can enjoy yours. Also remember those family members who lost loved ones, they sacrificed too. Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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Some San Andrés Wrapped Cigars from Rocky Patel and JRE

I experimented a little this week with posting some news as I received it (or as soon as I was able). I didn’t get any complaints, so I’ll keep doing it when I can. I realize other sites do this and it’s a little redundant. It looks like the traffic numbers were up a bit this week, so I guess it doesn’t hurt. Anyway,  I went on a bit of a San Andrés bender this week, with a sprinkling of PA broadleaf in there to change things up a little. I decided to try the Rocky Patel  RockyPatel_Vintage2006SanAndreas_RobustoVintage 2006 San Andreas that was a sample from the IPCPR show last year. I like that the robusto in this line is 5½” x 50 as opposed to the standard 5″ length. I’m not sure what took me so long to get to this one, it has a beautiful dark, oily wrapper, which is from the 2006 crop year.  The name of this cigar confuses me. It’s San Andreas, not San Andrés, the latter being the region in Mexico where the leaf is grown. I know it’s a common mistake, one I was guilty of myself early on, maybe there’s another reason it’s marketed this way that’s not obvious?  Anyway, this is made at Rocky’s Tabacalera Villa Cuba S.A. factory in Nicaragua, the first of the Vintage line manufactured there. I picked it up because the orange bands and the dark wrapper were close enough to the Flyers orange and black, and the Flyers were playing that night (and suffered a humiliating defeat).  I also had been neglecting it since last July, so it was time.  Good smoke, perfect construction, and a great experience. If you like the earthy espresso flavors of the San Andrés wrapper, you’ll like this one.

 

JRE_AladinoMaduro_ElaganteContinuing the San Andrés trend, I went with the Aladino Maduro Elegante from JRE Cigars.  I bought a couple each of these and the toros from 2 Guys just before becoming unemployed, at the time (and maybe still?) they were the only ones who had them. the Elegante is the most reasonably priced cigar in the range, oddly, and it’s a lancero.  Being a lancero, the flavor is different form the toro, and I don’t think it’s because the Lancero is round and the toro box pressed.  I thought it was a little “dirtier” tasting, if that makes sense. The extra heat sharpens the flavors of the already earthy Mexican wrapper. It’s a 7″ x 38 traditional lancero, and the San Andrés wrapper covers Honduran Corojo filler and binder. The profile is coffee heavy, which I like.  I still have a couple more Aladino Maduros in the humidor, it’ll be interesting to see how they are in a few months.

 

As long as I was smoking San Andrés wrapped cigars, I had to smoke an Undercrown Maduro (I don’t remember these being called maduro until the Shade came out, they still were, obviously, but I thought they were just “Undercrown”). Always a good smoke, the Belicoso is basically the toro with a pointy head. I also had a couple of cigars from Southern Draw with PA Broadleaf wrappers, the Jacob’s Ladder and a Quick Draw, both incredible cigars. Speaking of Southern Draw, Robert Holt was on KMA Talk Radio yesterday, and I can’t wait to listen to the show. Also on the same show, CigarProp Kevin was on and I’m sure he mentioned the Kickstarter he just launched for a new item he’s making. In two days he’s halfway to his goal, and the product is a useful item for all of us. It’s a tool specifically to bleed your butane lighter.  Although some may argue, there’s always a little bit of non-butane that gets into your lighter when you fill it. Call it air, propellant, whatever, it gets into your lighter and degrades the performance over time. I’ve used a small Philips screwdriver over the years and always worried about damaging the fill valve doing it this way. This tool lets you safely bleed the lighter, just don’t do it near and open flame!  It can also empty a lighter if you need to fly with it or mail it, but the primary purpose is to let the air out so there’s more room for gas and your lighter work right for a long time! I’ve been bleeding (or purging) my lighters for years and have a drawer full of working lighters. I use Kevin’s Cigar Props daily, the quality is excellent.  Finally, I’m sad to see the unrest in Nicaragua this week. I’ve visited the country twice, and yearn to go back. Hopefully things return to the tranquil place I remember.

 

Anyway, that’s all I have for today, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

 

 

 

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A Couple of BSB No. 1 by Bernie Parent Cigars, an Aladino and a Vertias 3 Blend

It’s been a weird week.  Readers who follow me on Facebook will already know that I’m currently exploring new employment opportunities. It’s time to get away from what I’ve been doing for the last 20 years and find something I like doing (that pays the bills, no easy feat, I think!). I appreciate everyone’s support, and I don’t put this out there for a pity party, but one never knows what opportunity might arise from making my availability public. Hopefully allows me to provide more content here for the time being. The casual observer will notice no change in my daily routine. Which brings me to Wednesday’s cigar. Since the Flyers were opening their Stanley Cup playoff series with the Penguins (I hate those guys), I decided an appropriate cigar was in order. As I had already had a very bad day, I thought a pick-me-up would be the broadleaf wrapped BSB No.1 40th Anniversary BSB_ConnSmytheBernie Parent by Rocky Patel Conn Smythe (mental note, I should review one of this series for a future Prime Living article as the name alone will account for much of the 300 word limit!).  This cigar came from a special box released in 2015, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Bernie Parent winning the Stanley Cup, The Vezina Trophy (best goaltender) and the Conn Smythe Trophy (league MVP) two years in a row, something that has yet to be repeated. The box contains four cigars each of the three blends and an autographed puck. I bought a box at full price when they were released in 2015, which Bernie autographed and is still intact, and caught a deal on another box later that I’ve smoked/shared. The Conn Smythe has a Broadleaf wrapper and is a delicious toro, perhaps my favorite in the series, loads of dark chocolate and espresso. The cigar was just about the only bright spot of the day as the Flyers suffered a humiliating loss.

 

TJRE_AladinoMaduro_Torohursday I got some yard work done, laid some groundwork for some income replacement, and took a walk with a JRE Aladino Maduro in a box pressed toro size. I recently heard the guys on The Cigar Authority rave about this, so I ordered a couple each of the toro and lancero.  I generally let cigars rest, but I knew these were only in transit for a couple of days and the weather has been moderate so I felt confident firing one up. The Toro is a 6″ x 50 with a nice box press, and has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper and Honduran Corojo binder with Honduran fillers.  I’ve been distracted lately, but this was a tasty smoke, and I look forward to smoking more of them, especially the lancero. It was medium bodied, burned great, and nice flavors of cocoa and wood. This is from the Eiroa family, Justo and Julio specifically, and the Aladino line is an homage to the Corojo blends of days past. Personally, I think I enjoy the JRE cigars more than Christian Eiroa’s CLE line, although I haven’t sampled all of both companies offerings, this opinion is based on limited samplings. I have purchased every Eiroa cigar I’ve ever smoked, save for one CLE sample from their first trade show. Christian is one of those old usenet guys I’ve known for 20 years too.

 

BSB_VezinaFriday was a chance for the Flyers to redeem themselves, and they did with an exciting 5-2 win, which included at least one Academy Award worthy embellishment, proving my opinion that Penguins don’t fly, they dive.  I decided to try the BSB approach again (for those not in the know, BSB is an acronym for Broad Street Bullies, the Flyer’s nickname in the ’70s) and No. 1 is Bernie Parent‘s retired number. Interesting factoid: Bernie retired due to an eye injury, which led to massive improvements to today’s goalie masks. Anyway, I went with the Vezina, which is a Habano wrapped toro. Both the Vezina  and the Conn Smythe are presented in a round format, while the Lord Stanley is box pressed. Maybe I’ll smoke a Lord Stanley today for game 3.  Anyway, I think the Vezina was a tasty cigar too, although in a different way than the Conn Smythe. I think it’s more on the savory end of the spectrum, with more earth and wood notes. If you can find these stashed away anywhere I recommend trying them, especially if you are a hockey fan.  I can’t say that I think they are a good value at the original price of around $13 each, but at half that they are great.

 

Veritas_3Blends_ToroFinally, yesterday I rummaged through the humidor with what’s left of last year’s IPCPR samples, and came out of it with a Veritas 3 Blends, which is a barber pole wrapped cigar with Sun-Grown Ecuadorian Habano, Habano Maduro and Connecticut wrappers, San Andrés binder and fillers from Jalapa, Ometepe, Condega & Esteli Nicaragua. you’d think this cigar would have a lot going on given that blend of eight tobaccos. Maybe it had too much going on for my pedestrian palate to appreciate? I found it had a drying effect on my palate, and, as with many cigars wrapped in this style, it’s didn’t burn well. It sure was a pretty cigar, and it wasn’t offensive or really bad in any way, just not my cuppa tea, unfortunately.  I like all cigars, there’s some I love, and I almost always smoke a cigar to the (sometimes) bitter end, and I did with this one too, although the crooked burn made me leave more behind than usual.  Earlier in the week I had a Cornelius and Anthony Señor Esugars and a Nica Rustica, two “comfort food” cigars of mine, and all the other cigars I smoked during the week were pretty darned good, with this one being the least yummy of the bunch to me.

 

That’s all for now, I’m going to go out and make some money now, and fire up a cigar for the Flyers game later.  Until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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AJ-Booth-Caldwell, Hamlet and Todos Las Dias Cigars

AJF-Booth-Caldwell_ToroI smoked three cigars from the IPCPR show this week so far, and I’m not entirely sure any of them are on tobacconist’s shelves yet. I started with one of the cigars Matt Booth had at the show. Let me express my disappointment that the video I did with Matt had no audio, and what fun is that?  Not that Matt might or might not have visual aids, but his booth was a collection of arcade games and nothing else, and interviews with Mr. Booth are always informative and hilarious. Sad that the audio wasn’t there, I wish I had known.  Anyway, one of the cigars he had at the show was a collaborative effort with AJ Fernandez, Matt and Robert Caldwell, which was supposed to be called “Truth”, but a late trademark issue got in the way, and the samples he was handing out had the simple band pictured. I’m just going to call it ABC in the interest of brevity. So this is a nice box pressed 6″ x 52 toro and is a Nicaraguan puro, with a dark maduro wrapper. Upon lighting the cigar I quickly realized that if I Booth Swagwere to blend a cigar, it  would taste very much like this one. Regular readers will know that I love a cigar with loads of rich cocoa and coffee with a bit of spice. This one had some strength also, which was a perfect complement to the flavors. I loved it, I can’t wait to see what this evolves into. It’s a shame they had to abandon the name and packaging, but Matt is a creative guy, he’ll come up with something fantastic, like this cigar was.

 

Hamlet_25thYearLast night I tried the Hamlet 25th Year robusto from Rocky Patel. I liked the 5½” x 50 robusto, the slightly longer length appeals to me. This is totally different from the Tabaqueros that Hamlet produced a year or so ago for Rocky Patel, that cigar was Hamlet’s first foray into blending a cigar that wasn’t all Cuban tobacco, for those who don’t know, Hamlet Paredes was an ambassador for Habanos S.A. and traveled the world ding rolling events. I guess it’s accurate to say he defected from Cuba and found a home working with Rocky Patel. I loved the Tabaquero, and this new offering is very different, but very tasty. It has an Ecuador Habano wrapper, Pennsylvania Broadleaf binder and fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua. I thought it was, dare I say, Cubanesque in that it was on the milder side, but had a lot of good flavors, some vanilla creaminess, light fruit and chocolate. This is yet another cigar I look forward to trying again.

 

TodosLasDias_RobustoTonight I got an unexpected phone call from (I’m going to name drop here), Jose Blanco, who was in the  general area, but I wasn’t able to met up with him. In our conversation about cigars from the IPCPR show he mentioned Todos las Dias from Dunbarton Tobacco and Trust and how he thought it was the best cigar Steve Saka had made so far. I’ve had a single robusto from the show that Steve gave me as he was testing the internal humidity (see the video here), and I assumed it was from the “passed” pile. I figured tonight was the night to smoke it, it had been in my humidor since the show in July, the same humidor all the IPCPR samples were in and have been smoking well. The Todos las Dias is Saka’s first Nicaraguan Puro, with a Sun Grown wrapper and fillers from Jalapa and Esteli, rolled at the Joya de Nicaragua factory. I noted a couple ironies. First, the Dunbarton website lacks detailed information on this cigar, the Sobremesa and Mi Querida are detailed quite nicely, with only a passing mention of this and his other lines. This is very un-Saka. The second and more important irony was that this cigar smoked like it was over-moist. The humidor this has been in is at 68%, and I saw first had that the internal humidity of the cigar when it came into my possession was under 12%. Steve wasn’t handing out cigars that weren’t going to smoke perfectly. My only thought is that the heavy tobaccos in this cigar sucked up the ambient humidity when I took it out. It had rained here and was very humid outside. Flavor-wise, I see where this is a great cigar when it burns like it should, and as son as I see some in the wild I’ll grab some and try them under the right conditions. I’m particularly interested in trying the Double Wide Belicoso, which appears to use the same molds as Joya de Nicaraguas Gran Consul (I have some Rosalones in the same size too). Flavor was full, lush and yummy. I have to defer to Jose on this one for now, a Sobremesa El Americano I smoked Sunday was perfect.

 

That’s all for now, until the next time,

 

CigarCraig

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A Montecristo Pilotico and a Gurkha Cellar Reserve Cigar

Yesterday was April 1, and I was tempted to post an April Fools post announcing that I was changing focus to vapes, but I wasn’t committed to the plan enough to register vanderslicevapes.com and put the web pages together. Maybe next year…wait, I’ve given it away, haven’t I?  It would have been a lot of work and I didn’t have it in me yesterday and the idea didn’t come to me until yesterday. I did see some funny ones yesterday, though. Mark Weisenberger (I hope I spelled that right), the new VP of Marketing at Rocky Patel, and former Northeast sales manager, put out a press release about Rocky adopting Hamlet Peredes which was pretty funny. Of course, Fred Rewey of Nomad Cigars is a comedian, he announced his Nomad soap on a rope, is he planning on going to prison soon? Over on Halfwheel.com, Brooks continued his April Fools tradition of seriously reviewing absurd cigars, this time the 20″ x 80 La Aurora La Stravaganza. I think he’s still waiting for the smoke to travel the 20″ from foot to head! Happy April Fools! I failed to do any pranking at all yesterday.

 

Didn’t do a lot of smoking this week, instead I went to a Flyers game Thursday, in which they beat the Islanders mostly just in the first period, scoring 5 goals with two players recording Gordy Howe Hat Tricks! I had said there was no reason for me to go to the games any more since they closed the cigar bar and made the whole building smoke free, but we got tickets real cheap and hadn’t been to a game for a while. I loved it when they had the cigar bar there, it was preferable to go after the game and have a cigar while everyone else sat in their cars in the parking lot waiting to get out. Bernie Parent was always there to having a cigar, I wonder where he goes to smoke after the games now? So I took Thursday off, Friday it rained like hell and I decided not to go to a Romeo y Julieta launch event and camped out on the porch with a Montecristo Pepe Mendez Pilotico Toro. This was a re-do for me, Last September I wrote this:

Montecristo_PiloticoPepeMendez_toroAnother IPCPR sample was a new one from Montecristo, the Montecristo Pilotico Pepe Mendez in the Toro size. This toro is a 6¼” x 52, and has an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper, Dominican binder, and both Nicaraguan and Dominican Pilotico fillers. The Pilotico varietal is an old seed that Pepe Mendez brought from Cuba in the ’60s and revitalized in the Cibao Valley in the DR. There was some of  this tobacco in the Montecristo 80th anniversary cigar that was out last year. It was hard to find anything bad to say about this cigar, it burned right, it had nice flavors along the leathery lines, with a hint of sweetness. It’s one of those cigars that is, no doubt, a very good cigar, but not in line with my preferred flavors. There are a few Montecristos I really like, most on the mild end of the spectrum. The box is cool with an old-timey suitcase motif, paying homage to Pepe Mendez’ travels in the 60s to find the right area to plant his prized seeds.

The one thing that changed this time was that I found that I enjoyed the leathery flavors more than I did previously. Perhaps some humidor time helped, or, just as likely, I ate something different this time that effected my perceptions. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed the flavor of this cigar and will smoke it again without hesitation.

 

Yesterday I was rummaging through the humidor looking for something to smoke and I came across the tray with the Gurkha cigars. I seem to have amassed a load of cigars, not bragging or complaining, but it sometimes makes it hard to make a selection, especially when I want to smoke something and talk about it here without smoking the same rotation all the time and getting boring (which is what the FDA wants, by the way, so head to CigarRights.org and use their forms to write to your elected representatives). So I grabbed the Gurkha Cellar Reserve Platinum in their Hedonism size. Gurkha also threw out an April Fools funny yesterday:

 

GURKHA UNVIELS THE ROYAL COURTESAN

The $1,000,000 Cigar Is The Most Expensive Cigar Ever

 

Fort Lauderdale, FL – Gurkha Cigars has created the world’s most expensive cigar ever!  The handcrafted stogie retails for a cool $1,000,000 and is delivered to customers’ door by a messenger who will only handle the cigars with white (kit) gloves.  The cigar is infused with Remy Martin’s Black Pearl Louis XIII, which retails for $165,000 per bottle.

Created using Luxion Technology (luxion.com)

The cigars are rolled by a select group of hand rollers who are blindfolded throughout the process to allow their senses to guide their movements naturally and minimize distraction during this artistic process.  The cigar is made with filler from ancient lands in the Himalayas with tobacco that has been watered exclusively with Fiji water.  The wrapper is gold leaf and the band is encrusted with diamonds totaling five carats.

Created using Luxion Technology (luxion.com)

“The Gurkha clientele is use to only the best and Gurkha continuously produces only the best,” said Kaizad Hansotia, CEO of Gurkha Cigars.   “This cigar is only for those who want the most exclusive, most luxurious and most ostentatious experience a cigar can offer.”

Gurkha Cigars are known throughout the world for their premium and luxurious cigars, so it’s no surprise that they are the most sought-after cigars around the globe. Gurkha produces 12 million cigars per year that are sold in more than 70 countries worldwide. And while Gurkha is known for its exclusivity, it has an impressive array of 105 brands of flawlessly handcrafted, premium cigars created in a variety of strengths, tasting profiles, and price-points. No matter what your taste, there’s a Gurkha cigar that’s perfect for your palate. For additional information visit www.gurkhacigars.com.

 

 

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It’s a little unfortunate that it didn’t occur to me until after I read it that it was an April Fool, I mean, a one million dollar cigar from Gurkha doesn’t seem that implausible at this point, right? Anyway, back to the Cellar Reserve Platinum. I like the Hedonism size (I kind of identify with the name too), it’s a fat, pigtailed perfecto along the lines of the Feral Flying Pig from Drew Estate’s Serie Unico line, 6″ x 58. It’s got an Ecuador wrapper and Nicaraguan fillers and just a pretty straight-forward leathery/nutty profile to my palate. It was good, burned right and whatever factory makes these does a good job.  There are several cigars in the Cellar Reserve line that I like, and, for all the criticism Gurkha gets, I think their brick and mortar lines are pretty darned good.  (note: looking back it appears that I smoked this and wrote about it back in September of 2015, fortunately, I liked it then too! I smoke too many different cigars and can no longer remember them all!)

OK, both cigars were re-dos….sorry about that! I’ll work on smoking some more interesting cigars this week! That’s all I have for today, until the next time,

CigarCraig

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