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

[ilikegunspdx]

@Vollom's post about Rocky Patel (that sun grown one is on my list to try) got me thinking I haven't had a RP decade in a long time so I had one today. Great cigar. Rich, earthy, spicy, medium full transitioning to medium in 2nd half. Pepper at first but then tapering off. I have had some variation in taste with these occasionally but this one has a lot of black cherry, spice flavors, and deep earth. Very strong rich aroma which I love. This one has a firmer pack than some of the ones I had in the past (fwiw).

As always with this one a wonky burn (shown in pic, I was too lazy to touch it up ha ha) and a fast burner but honestly I don't care cuz flavors are just what I like. Sometimes I have this one ranked at 9.4/10 for me and sometimes as low as 9.1. I would give this one today a 9.3/10. Fwiw my scale is >7 = well made cigar, pretty good to good to smoke for my preferences. >8 = I like a lot and wouldn't mind smoking every day. >9 is really rare for me but are my favorites and often I want to smoke to the very last cuz I don't want to put it down.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Received a xikar turrim lighter today (2nd one, first was DOA) so here is a mini review for those interested.

cons:
1) I believe long term reliability is suspect. 1st one was DOA and little glass reservoir cracked when I tried to fill it.
2) flame height adjustment is suspect - I don't trust it
3) cuz it's round it will roll off the table but will stand on flat bottom ok

pros:
1) very cool design, heavy in hand, simple to operate, easy to see colored fuel window
2) single jet. I'm putting it in pro rather than con cuz flame is big enough to get job done easily and uses less fuel than single or triple flame
3) size and shape. Fits in small cigar case which is the only reason I bought it (see pic of it next to Churchill size cigar for size reference). This reason alone was worth the risk for me. my plan for this is to have 2 cigars, one lighter, and the Swiss Army knife cutter all in one 3-cigar case. The question though is, "do I need to put matches in there also as a backup?" (ie im unsure of reliability at this early date)
4) cost: $22
5) stainless finish (this version, they come in different colors). If stainless gets scratches u can always re polish it to make it look like new again.

 

[CountryGent]

Picked up a couple sticks whilst in town for this lovely Sunday afternoon. And just got back from shooting this new cannon.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Picked up a couple sticks whilst in town for this lovely Sunday afternoon. And just got back from shooting this new cannon.

View attachment 859649

Holy moly that gun looks like it holds shells as big around as the cigars! What caliber is that?

 

[CountryGent]

Holy moly that gun looks like it holds shells as big around as the cigars! What caliber is that?

That one is in .30⧸30 WCF. Recoil was actually not bad; less than my Model 29 in .44 Magnum when running full house loads. Muzzle blast was, eh, interesting though.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

That one is in .30⧸30 WCF. Recoil was actually not bad; less than my Model 29 in .44 Magnum when running full house loads. Muzzle blast was, eh, interesting though.

Cool. I didn't know they even made such a gun.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Cuban bolivar for me today. This one has been in the humidor for over a year and is noticeably stronger than previous ones I've had from the same batch. So it looks like one year minimum in humidor for Cubans to me. I've always heard that Cubans need tons of humidor time due to economics of having to get them out the door quickly.

Not a bad cigar. typical Cuban musty flavor. Mild to medium. Smooth but with noticeable mouth presence. Kind of a paper and must taste. would probably give it a 7.5/10.

not a lot of white nodules on the ash like I saw with Cuban h upmann. Last third is becoming a bit harsh. Tongue bite is kind of annoying to me. Reminds me of the last Cuban Cohiba I had in that way, kind of hurts my throat.

 

[CountryGent]

Continuing pews and cigars silliness; a lil' Spanish Mauser with an Arturo Fuento. (The aforementioned is still with gunsmith, but should be fun on return.)

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Slumming it today with a puros indios while reading one of Col Cooper's books. Not a bad cigar simple earth flavor. Very inexpensive. I would give it a 7.1/10.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Punch gran puro Nicaragua for me today. If u love a really pungent and flavorful Nicaraguan cigar u will love this I think. It has a very unique aroma and flavor. Really really good. I would score it at 9.3/10 or so. Not that expensive either. Don't smoke indoors around poeple who don't like cigar smell though this baby has a really potent and wonderful aroma. Medium full body. Wonderful conn broadleaf maduro wrapper. Not super complex, but super good.
edit: just found a good review of this cigar and as usual I totally agree with John Pullo (the guy second from the right). I would skip to 5:00 mark on this video personally and Pullo review starts about 5:40ish mark). Interestingly they mention floral notes cuz before I lit it it reminded me of lilac. Maybe it's more complex than I think ha ha. I could buy into a lot of the things mentioned such as sweet, spice, floral, leather.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Partagas (non Cuban) legend for me today. Can't say much about it yet cuz I think it needs more humidor time. 1st one I smoked was after only a couple weeks humidor time and was totally lifeless. This one has 9 weeks in humidor and much better but feels like it's not ready yet. Still a bit lifeless but some of the deeper flavors and aroma are becoming stronger.

Only things I can say about it are medium body, chocolatey taste overall, nice broadleaf wrapper, nice aroma, smooth, somewhat lifeless. Everything else I just need to wait and try at 6 mo period. I would rank below most recent Partagas I've tried such as naturales, icon, cifientes, cifientes maduro, heritage, which doesn't make sense due to it using more expensive tobaccos and some pretty good reviews of it out there. I would give it a 8.2/10 at this point and first one I would give 6.7/10.

Another weird thing is cost. Reviews say $12-$15 each but I paid around $2.50. So all in all I would say grade is "incomplete" at this point. I tried a Partagas icon fairly early and it wasn't very good. Then tried same cigar after 5 months and it was excellent. I'll update in a few months to see what the deal is. I have the impression I'm getting taste and aroma largely from wrapper but cigar needs more humidor time to really get flavors out of the fillers but just guessing just based on feel of the cigar, the experience with "icon" one, and taste.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Cuban H Upmann for me today. Tight draw. Burn is good. Medium body. Typical Cuban slightly-sourish "must" taste. Lots of white nodules (manganese) in ash. About a year and a quarter in humidor I would guess. Not bad but to me only worth it if u are targeting that specific "must" taste. And even then not worth the cost imo. I have had cigars such as Kristoff which have a similar must taste but maybe 3-4x stronger plus several other flavors and Kristoff is a lot better cigar IMO. I would it give rhis h upmann an 8.3/10 which is high for me as far as Cubans go (probably tied with Cuban cohiba and Partagas serie d). lots of mouth presence kind of a white pepper in mouth.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Camacho sun grown fumas for me today. Very good full bodied Nicaraguan and very inexpensive. 60 ring size or so. The key to these (especially this big ring size, but probably any fumas) is to use a single V-cut. This helps prevent the mixed filler from getting in your mouth. Same tobaccos as the more expensive Camacho scorpion sun grown it just uses mixed filler. I would probably give it an 8.4/10 or so.

 

[chukar]

Montecristo White series.

Tasty smoke.

No pictures 'cause I'm flakkin' lazy....

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Partagas cifuentes maduro "y Coach Gun" ha ha for me today. Full bodied (a bit too full for the morning imo) heavy, meaty, strong, no harshness but saturated heavy meaty flavor and aroma. No ranking yet as just getting going but I'm sure I ranked it in earlier "reviews". Not sure what imparts the strong meaty flavor but wrapper is extra heavy almost like leather feel to it. So could be from that or wrapper plus binder, need to research it.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Cohiba connecticut for me today. Really nice flavorful Dominican/connecticut shade cigar. These have had a lot of humidor time (not in cellophane). Excellent construction and good draw bordering on a bit too easy. Oak, wlanut, grass, straw flavors. touch of honey maybe, definitely a metallic note in there also. The dominant flavor for me is a dry almond/marzipan, similar to rocky Patel vintage connecticut 1999, and a bit similar to Macanudo gold. Retro hale has some nice non-pepper spices to it. Really a bonus for a conn shade cigar and I appreciate it in this cigar for sure. A great relaxing mild to mild-medium cigar that is more interesting, complex, and flavorful than the standard connecticut shade fare. Some noticeable mouth presence which is often absent from conn shade cigars imo. Great almond-like aroma.

I like better than these conn shades (in no particular order): Macanudo: cafe, vintage 2006, icon (by a little bit); Davidoff-related: 3x3 tubo, the griffins; ghurka (any); 5 Vegas; RP velvet edition, and a bunch of others I can't remember name of; man o war virtue; Kristoff connecticut; of course a whole ton of off-brands like empress de Cuba etc etc that I don't care to remember.

I like about the same as most ashtons I've had (it's been many years though).

I like a little less than Rocky Patel vintage 1999 connecticut (9.1ish/10) -not the fumas/2nds, Macanudo gold label (9.3/10), classic h upmann (no longer made 9.3/10), montecristo platinum (9.1-9.2/10).

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Macanudo inspirado black for me today. For some reason this one is very sweet. On a scale of 1-10 for sweetness, where 10 = most sweetness u ever had in a cigar, this one is 10. Don't know why it is so sweet other than maybe it's due to being in humidor for a year or so. Or maybe it is due to the individual crop for the wrapper? It literally tastes like it was dipped in honey or something as far as sweetness. Same cigar I've smoked in the past was only mildly sweet.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Man o war ruination for me today. Well made full bodied Nicaraguan. Fairly spicy. This one is 54 ring torpedo shape. I like the 60 ring Gordo size also. Man o war is one brand where the fatter ones seem to be better than the thinner ones (especially regular man o war). Not a fan of virtue or damnation. Legion is just ok. Have a phalanx in humidor to try after a few months. Regular man o war is my favorite of these. All are reasonably priced with around $2.20ish being the cheapest sale price I've seen. Similar to a lot of the aj Hernandez cigars that r popular these days.

 

[chukar]

Going to put down a Hooten &Young with some Buffalo Trace as the Oregon sun sets....



Flackin Tuesday is my Monday....

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Punch gran puro for me today (not gran pure Nicaraguan). Not really my favorite flavor profile but if you like this kind of cigar I think u would like it a lot. Very dominant flavor of leather, minor spices,minor white pepper perhaps, and cinnamon. Kind of a dry grass taste also. A tad bit "chalky". If you want to find out what "leather" tastes like this is one to try. I would call it medium body. Well made and burn, draw, construction etc are all great. I would give it a 7.8/10 for me just due to personal preference for flavor profile. Benefits from extended humidor time as this one is more flavorful than ones I smoked earlier.