My mother-in-law passed away last week, so in deference to the family, I concentrated on doing my best to be a comfort and a help to my wife and her family. Cigars took a back seat to common sense and courtesy, so I don’t have a lot to report on this time. She lived a long and active life, but the last year was hard, with a diagnosis of mesothelioma and a stroke. When I smoked cigarettes she would bum one off me once a year, probably did that for almost 20 years. It was just one of those funny little things…never could get her to switch to a cigar, although she used to say that she once used cigars to break her cigarette habit, since she hated cigars!
I did manage to take a cigar for a walk Sunday morning, and I chose a Romeo y Julieta Habana Reserve that I bought last year when they had an offer for a sampler for something like $8 delivered. I like these cigars, but they sometimes aren’t the fist cigar I gravitate to if I’m cigar shopping. I opted for this cigar since I figured it was one of the better selections I had on hand for an early in the day smoke. It was quite a nice, mild and flavorful cigar that fit the bill nicely. It was a robusto that measured 5” x 54. If I were buying a RyJ, and it wasn’t one from an island we aren’t supposed to buy cigars from, I’d choose this line again.
Just a quick note about cigar smokers doing nice things for the community, a store local to me, although I don’t visit there nearly enough for whatever reason, recently held a golf outing and sent me the following in an e-mail:
Golf Outing Raises $13,240 for Fox Chase Cancer Center
G&G Cigar Company‘s 2nd Annual Golf Outing raised $13,240 for Fox Chase Cancer center for funding cancer research. The event was held at Downingtown Country Club. This check brings G&G’s total donations to over $43,000 to various charities.
We’d like to thank all of you for your support of this important event.
G&G Cigar Company Thanks you for your business.
I think it’s pretty cool when folks who are looked down upon by the more prudish in society do something nice, and it deserves recognition.
Last night I lit up a Hoyo de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros that I received at the IPCPR show last July when General Cigar announced the release. It should come as no surprise that the predominant flavor of the cigar is wood. Sweet wood. Lots of wood. Obviously (or not) this was to be expected given the cedar sleeve and the special “Immersion” process in which they age the cigars in cedar. Don’t misunderstand, I really enjoyed the cigar, it was very enjoyable and different from what I usually select. I’ve always enjoyed the Hoyo de Monterrey line and most of it’s extensions, and this one is pleasantly different.
Tonight I grabbed one of General Cigars new El Credito El Perrito War of Flavors, a cheroot-like cigar that’s made without a mold. These are rustic little cigars that was created by two supervisors in the El Credito factory in the DR. There’s lots of information out there on these, so I won’t regurgitate it here. It was a good cigar for a mile walk. It wasn’t particularly elegant, but it had a good flavor that will benefit from some age. If these are priced right they will be a nice shorter smoke, although it burned roughly the same amount of time as a robusto for me. Don’t wear a good shirt either as the ash was prone to dropping without notice! Thanks to General Cigars for providing me with samples to smoke!
That’s it for now, hopefully this weekend being Memorial Day weekend will give me an opportunity to have a couple cigars.
Until the next time,
CigarCraig
Watch for a new discount code from StogieBoys.com coming soon.
Sorry to hear of the loss in your family…
I remember that RyJ deal because I bought a sampler for myself. It was adertised on a mid-day talk show. It was a four-pack sampler and I only smoked one of them, as I brought them to a Halloween party and gave the other three away. I can’t honestly recall if I liked it or not, but I may give them another try if I can find a good price for them.
My sincere condolences to your family on the passing away of your mother-in-law. I lost my mother to a stroke at about the same time, and having a cigar helped to both take my mind off it for a while, as well as reflect.
I have had the same experience as you with the El Perrito regarding the smoke time (took me 50-60 minutes to the nub) and unpredictable ashes, and some aging would probably help with the rather rough start. The $2.50 MSRP would be a nice thing, but where I got the couple that I smoked, they were a buck more, and I think that’s a little too high. I do love it when a manufacturer bucks the 60 ring gauge trend, though.