It’s the eve of Thanksgiving, and leading up to the holiday I smoked some tasty cigars! I know, what makes this week any different, you ask? It’s one of the many things I have to be thankful for. In addition to having a nice home and a wonderful family, we have some great cigars to smoke! Things could be a lot worse, and they are for a lot of people. Anyway, I smoked a few cigars this week, so here’s a little recap:
I started off the week, or ended the weekend, with a really nice Cain F 550. This is a beautiful 5¾ x 50 cigar with loads of flavor and strength. I have enjoyed the Cain line since it’s launch, generally prefer them with some age. This one I believe came from the IPCPR show, so it didn’t have too much age, but enough to round out the rough edges. The tubed lancero in this line is awesome, and this cross between a robusto and a toro was just as tasty. Smoke one after a nice steak dinner, you won’t be disappointed! I’ve got Cains scattered around the humidors and I’m thankful that I do!
Monday evening I just knew I had to try the ORTSAC 1962 Habano. I received a pair of these along with the ORTSAC 1962 San Andreas that I raved about in a previous post. This was a different, but outstanding cigar. It was well rounded and smoked very well. If you’re keeping score, I didn’t really much care for the regular ORTSAC 1962, but the San Andreas and Habano have made me a believer. Since I’m a fan of the Tortuga line from Victor Vitale’s stable, I’m quickly becoming a fan of this gentleman’s blends. One can’t be expected to like everything, but the last several blends have been winners for me. Victor is a heck of a nice guy too, and I’m looking forward to meeting up with him for a smoke in the not too distant future.
Tuesday I selected a Reinado Grand Empire Reserve for my evening smoke. I was given this robusto by brand owner Antonio Lam at the IPCPR show last August. I spoke with Antonio for minute at the show, you can watch the video below. This is a lovely Nicaraguan cigar that burned perfectly and provided me with in excess of an hour of smokey enjoyment. It was savory with a little sweetness that made my palate happy. I’ll hunt down a few of these to keep in the humidor as it was a really nice smoke.
To celebrate the end of a short work week, and the beginning of a four day weekend, I cracked open my “special” humidor. This humidor was a gift to me for my tenth wedding anniversary. My wife had a furniture maker friend make it, so it’s truly one of a kind. It’s been the home to the small selection of Havanas as well as some higher end cigars. It’s been about ten months since I really smoked anything from this humidor, I pulled a couple of Romeo y Julieta Coronitas en Cedros from it to celebrate my youngest son’s 18th birthday. Anyway, it’s my obligation to test a cigar from there periodically to make sure they are in good shape so I selected an Fuente Fuente Opus X Super Belicoso that must have spent the last decade or so resting in there. I can’t remember the last time I smoked an Opus X, it could have been in 2000. I initially thought the unlit wrapper smelled like cocoa beans, but my wife smelled cedar and I have to go along with her on that. I guess the conditions in that humidor are acceptable, because the cigar burned great and was loaded with classic cedary flavors. It was a great smoke, I wish I could remember where it came from. It had a $13.49 price sticker on the amber cello, and I haven’t priced these recently so I don’t know what that means! I think there are a couple more Opus X cigars floating around in there, I suppose I’ll have to smoke another one of these days!
That’s it for now, enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday if you are in the US. If you are in the rest of the world, have a great weekend!
Until the next time,
CigarCraig
I’d like to see what you’ve got stored away in that ‘special’ humidor of yours. 10 years of aging on that Opus X? Wow! I have a couple of those aging myself, but they’ve only been resting for just over two years. Don’t know that I want to wait much longer to smoke one.
I may take a couple pics of the contents one of theses days. There are a few cigars that Sam Leccia wrapped that are interesting as well as a Cuban Romeo y Julieta Celestiales Fino from 1977 ( I’ve smoked one from the 80s and it was just ok). I kinda feel like a braggart doing “humidor tours”, not that I have that much to brag about! Happy Thanksgiving, my friend!
Any news about Sam Leccia getting back into business? That’s pretty cool that you have cigars rolled by him personally.
Wishing all a happy thanksgiving. No better way to celebrate this great American holiday than by firing up a Cuban.