The Cigar Thread. Smoke em' if you got em'.

[Joe13]

Gear review:
I know I've complimented the Xikar Verano flat flame lighter a few times but it has become my daily go to lighter for quite awhile now.

Fits in the little coin pocket in my jeans perfectly, toasts, touches up cigars really well without scorching.

Plus I got the silver finish and it makes a really handy 'mirror' when lighting so I get a perfect light every time.

It's gone up in price a bit (I think mine was $49-59 last Christmas) but I'd say it is worth the investment even at $77.

Been using it for 10+ months now and I really don't use my other lighters unless it runs dry.

I can usually get thru a week (7-17) cigars before needing to refill it despite its smaller butane revisor. I always purge it before filling and it's not had one hiccup.

Plus surprisingly it is super wind resistant vs my Xikar H3 inline 3 flame lighter which I would have though would be more wind resistant with its greater fire power but it's just the opposite.

It's a 5 star for me at least.

 

[Joe13]

Gear review:

Colibri V-Cutter.

Also been using it since last Christmas and I love it. Makes cutting a no brained and I've rarely if ever had an issue with the cap on any cigar. I use it on pretty much every cigar I smoke (minus torpedo/figurato's shapes - but if you flat cut one you can v-cut it afterwards which makes fir a nice smoke)

Ive had to tighten the small screws at the top once late summer but other then that it has had no issues whatsoever.

My Xikar Xi1 cutter rarely gets used for anything other then cutting a lit cigar before It's done to save for later or the time when I want to cut one in half knowing I won't have the time for a whole cigar.

Great cutter and I highly recommend it.

And pretty reasonable at $39 (mines the carbon fiber but I don't see one on Amazon currently).

 

[Vollom]

I would skip the Davidoff personally based on all I've heard of it including some on this thread on page one I think it was. I've only had the 3x3 tubos and the griffins and neither one was anything more than average flavor-wise. I have heard good things about "the late hour" one though. Construction-wise and consistency-wise they are stellar and that's what I was referring to. Instead of the $20 Davidoff, for $3-$4.50 u can get a Kristoff which I have never found anything better personally (connecticut and Gc are two I don't like as much though, ligero and many others are amazing). Complexity, construction, quality control/attention to detail is in a different league imo.

I will look out for deals on the Kristoffs thanks! I like the pigtails. They may have had a price increase at least on the vendors I check seem to be around $8. There is a 5 pack promo going now however that looks pretty good for the criollo and Maduro robustos if you buy 4 or more.

 

[Vollom]

Gear review:

Colibri V-Cutter.

Also been using it since last Christmas and I love it. Makes cutting a no brained and I've rarely if ever had an issue with the cap on any cigar. I use it on pretty much every cigar I smoke (minus torpedo/figurato's shapes - but if you flat cut one you can v-cut it afterwards which makes fir a nice smoke)

Ive had to tighten the small screws at the top once late summer but other then that it has had no issues whatsoever.

My Xikar Xi1 cutter rarely gets used for anything other then cutting a lit cigar before It's done to save for later or the time when I want to cut one in half knowing I won't have the time for a whole cigar.

Great cutter and I highly recommend it.

And pretty reasonable at $39 (mines the carbon fiber but I don't see one on Amazon currently).View attachment 773317

I have one of these also and agree it is a solid well made piece of kit. I am more used to a straight cutter so I find myself alternating- using the v especially for the larger cigars.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Macanudo icon for me today. Very smooth and fits right between cafe (ultra mild, low flavor), and gold label (mild transitioning to medium, stronger more almond-like flavors). Taste is a lot like a cafe but about 3x or more flavor. Good for when u are in the mood for a flavorful mild Dominican. Doesn't reach medium body until final third.

Lacks complexity compared to connecticut shade cigars that incorporate Brazilian, Honduran, or Nicaraguan in the fillers such as montechristo platinum, Cohiba connecticut, mac inspirado white, and others but flavor and aroma hits the spot for me.

As far as similar conn. shade macanudos, I like it much better than vintage 2006 and cafe but a bit less than gold label. Best conn. shade I've had was Kristoff shade grown which I gave a 9.5/10.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I will look out for deals on the Kristoffs thanks! I like the pigtails. They may have had a price increase at least on the vendors I check seem to be around $8. There is a 5 pack promo going now however that looks pretty good for the criollo and Maduro robustos if you buy 4 or more.

My suggestion for Kristoff is try to find the 8 pack sampler for $38-$45 on sale. That way you have small quantity of each for reasonable price. Then u can browse for good sale on the ones u like (typically $3-$4.50 best sale price). I think "Britannia" has been replaced by shade grown in the 8 pack sampler.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Tried a Kristoff ligero maduro today. Overall I would describe as very rich, creamy, deep must flavor dominates, sweet, strong, med-full to full, very strong deep must and aged tobacco aroma. I hate to but I can't give less than 9.6-9.7/10 for my preferences.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

FYI A couple people mentioned factory smokes and I noticed field supplies has a sale on them today. Just FYI, I have never tried them and I don't know if that's a good price or not. Just passing along the info in case anyone is interested. Shipping free over $25 unless they changed policy.

Cigar deals: Boutique brand 3-buck-chuck extreme value bonanza!

Oh yes. It's that day again. The day to shove the old snout in the feeding trough and feast! These brands are strong, these blends are delicious and sale prices

www.fieldsupply.com

 

[Vollom]

I've just ordered a bunch of cao stocking up before the tax increase, but thanks for the site it looks like they have pretty good prices- and Kristoff are on sale around $5. I need to try some of the budget stick. Do you have any you recommend?

 

[Vollom]

Rolled some with new Pennsylvania Oscuro wrapper and Indonesian Buseki wrapper/binder I had never tried before. Left is Indo center is Ecuadorian shade I did a couple weeks back and right is the Penn Oscuro.

 

[Joe13]

Been mostly smoking at work lately, various stuff but grabbed this Obsidian Gordo for lunch today.

Good strong smoke without a lot of spice and it puts out copious amounts of smoke even at rest. Very oily and construction is excellent.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Cigar implosion! Took this one out of humidor today. About 3 weeks after receiving it and it looked normal when placed into humidor.

A fluke imo cuz all the man o wars I've had I have not had any trouble with. I bought as a single. The unlit aroma of this cigar is intoxicatingly good but I'm trying to see what it might taste like if I got an unexploded-one and no real luck so far as it's pretty unsmokable. Binder is split open on both sides and thin wrapper is shredded.
burnt off a lot of wrapper and looks like poor choice of binder leaf is the issue? These r supposed to be the ones aj Fernandez smokes personally. To that I say, "Pig's As*!"
Edit: Cut off below band now and I'll see what 1" of intact cigar tastes like.

 

[Joe13]

Where did you get that single from? All the man o wars I've had have been Solomon shaped and excellent.

CI has Brickhouse Fumas on sale this week. I'm going to pick up a couple bundles of the Maduro's since the ones I've got in the last are very good. Trying to find a daily deal with free shipping but I'll order them either way by Friday if I can't find one I like.

$1.75 a cigar ain't too bad for daily's.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Where did you get that single from? All the man o wars I've had have been Solomon shaped and excellent.

CI has Brickhouse Fumas on sale this week. I'm going to pick up a couple bundles of the Maduro's since the ones I've got in the last are very good. Trying to find a daily deal with free shipping but I'll order them either way by Friday if I can't find one I like.

$1.75 a cigar ain't too bad for daily's.

Cigarbid. I don't think it's a storage issue though I think manufacture issue looking at the POS binder. I think cigarbid is the same company as cigar international (and probably 1-3 more companies possibly) but I have never bothered to check just assumed based on offerings such as "cI knockoffs" or whatever they are called that cigarbid sells.

Cigarbid does have slow shipping though. I think an almost bulletproof rule of thumb for storage after receiving would be "1 week for every day of shipping" with them and probably most of the big mail order places. Neptune is an exception and possibly holts. Faster shipping, much greater care in packaging including boveda packs with singles. But u pay more of course so it's a trade off. Rule of thumb does not apply to Cubans Imo. They have a huge additional home storage requirement independent of retailer (speaking only of legit retailers).

as far as this cigar, Wonderful unlit aroma from wrapper. Probably the harshest cigar I've ever smoked (tried to smoke) though. Maybe an employee in the factory didn't get the raise he/she expected or maybe drank himself into oblivion the night before cuz this particular cigar is dogsh*t.

Agree with man o war overall quality. I have smoked toro/robusto, petite corona, Gordo, torpedo, double corona shapes and never had any issues. One of the best values in a cigar out there imo. Love regular man o war and ruination. Would be interesting to learn if this one "authentico?", can't remember name- comes from same factory as the others or not.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Macanudo cafe prince Phillip for me today (7.5 x49). I've noticed that for many of the mild Dominicans length can make a difference in flavors over the course of the whole cigar. I guess build up of oils etc over time.

Had a Camacho scorpion connecticut fumas which must be about 7" long The other day and I noticed it with that one too. Longer length = more flavor as u get to the 3rd third. On cafe, still mild flavors and smooth throughout (including last third) but picks up more depth and flavor the longer it is it seems. Just an observation. I'll see if same holds for Davidoff 3x3 tubo Churchill which is prob the only other long Dominican I have in the humidor.

 

[Joe13]

Yea length and gauge change the flavors for me. Some Robusto sized stuff I really like doesn't always transfer to a 6x60 sized cigar etc.

Still cutting a lot of toros and Churchill's in half to fit the time I have to smoke and have noticed little change in some and others never develop those more complex flavors.

Keep in mind the ones I'm cutting in half aren't higher end cigars so they aren't extremely complex to begin with so take it for what it's worth to you...

 

[NeSeR13]

Montecristo White Series Churchill after the range this afternoon.

 

[Joe13]

Ordered another 12 cigar sampler of the Man O'Wars (4x - original, legend and ruination 'all Solomon shaped') on sale with free shipping and 10% off) so I grabbed one of the ruination from my last sampler some time ago to go sit in the truck and catch up on some paperwork this morning.

Really like these but with perfectos I can't for the life of me get it to burn right off the light, I almost always have to give it one touch up after 1/2" or so. They burn great after that though.

These might be 4 months old in my humidor and are one of my top ten favorite cigars.

 

[Vollom]

Got some CAO Flatheads to see what the fuss was about. These are smooth and tasty. Very nice aroma and good smoke- you feel like you are smoking a real cigar. As with all CAO I have had so far construction is very good. Draw is slightly on the the stiff side and these are box pressed which is a bit different. At least they don't roll away from you on the table- or dash board as the case may be..

 

[Joe13]

I've grown to like a lot of box pressed stuff...

I've eyeballed those flatheads but don't generally spend as much as they go for even on sale - maybe I'll treat myself next time I see them.