The Week’s Cigars: 601, Camacho, La Aurora – Sunday October 10, 2010

Autumn is my least favorite time of the year. The days get shorter and there just seem to be fewer opportunities to enjoy a nice cigar. Undeterred, however, I did manage to get a few interesting cigars in this week, as well as a cigar store visit.

I started out smoking a 601 Habano Robusto, which I had gotten a couple weeks back when I met Eddie Ortega at Old Havana Cigars in West Chester, PA. I had previously smoked and enjoyed some 601 cigars a few years ago that I had received as samples at the IPCPR show. I had really enjoyed the samples, which I believe were green and maybe red banded varieties. This one was a fine cigar, it had a nice taste, it burned very well and all in all was nice. It didn’t “wow” me like the previous samples, which was a disappointment, but despite my expectations, was still a very nice cigar. I think, when given the option, I’d probably opt for the Murcialago over the 601.

Friday evening was a nice, warm evening, so I selected the last Camacho Corojo Monarca from my humidor. I have had this one for years and had passed it by more than once. I love these cigars and smoking the last one was a little sad to me, but I finally said the heck with it and fired it up. It was a disappointment. It really didn’t burn very well, although the draw was fine. It was very bitter tasting to me, not as rich as I think this cigar should be. I figured it would lose a little of it’s punch over several years storage, but I didn’t think it would actually turn bad. I’ve smoked many of these in the past and always enjoyed them, I guess I’ll have to pick up a few more and give them another shot. I’ve enjoyed Camacho cigars since I first reviewed a Monarca in 1996, which I liked better than a Montecristo #2 in a blind review. I still have a few Candela Monarcas that always make me smile.

Saturday October 9 was the anniversary of John Lennon’s birth, he would have been 70. As a Beatles fan, and the husband of the public relations person for several Beatles related artists, we decided to make a trip up to New York City where one of her clients was having a gallery show and demonstrating her craft. We got there plenty early and walked over to De La Concha on 6th for a cigar. I have been itching to smoke the La Aurora 107 corona and I haven’t been able to find them around home. They had them, and I was pleased to find that they were priced at $7.77, which I thought was OK considering NY taxes. Most of the cigars there were over $10, which offends my sensibilities being from Pennsylvania where there are no oppressive cigar taxes. Despite the sudden onset of a head cold, the La Aurora 107 corona was a really nice cigar. I look forward to ditching this cold so I can properly enjoy the one I brought home. Burn and flavor were terrific. I’m guessing that if i can find these in PA, or most places that aren’t New York, it’s probably a very reasonable cigar, maybe in the $4.00 range. From De La Concha we headed to the Gallery at 25 Central Park West. There was good foot traffic as there had been a viewing of the movie “LENNONYC” a few blocks further down Central Park. Shannon is “the Worlds Greatest Beatles Artist”, and has a huge collection of Beatles related art. She capped the evening off by painting her vision of what
John Lennon would have looked like today. It was incredible to watch the image take shape. I stepped out for a bit at one point and encountered a very nice old guy taking a Davidoff 3000 for a walk. He was in his 70s, lived in the building the gallery was in, and enjoyed his cigar while walking the street as he had family visiting. It was nice see someone enjoying his cigar in NYC.

I couple posts ago I promised to select three people to send some Hamiltons House Selection Torpedos to, so I once again consulted Random.org and selected the following people:Joel Solomon, Joel Scott and Keith911, please e-mail me their addresses so I can mail you each a cigar. Congrats to the winners!