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

[CountryGent]

How about a big flare gun and a little Romeo?



"Smoke on the water ..." Oh, oops.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Continuing along the lines of Joe13's very helpful reviews of accessories above, here are a couple I can comment on if anyone is interested FYI. These are initial reviews not long term.

lighter with very strong double flame. Pros and cons: # 1 thing with this lighter is the feel. It's dense and heavy, not plasticky. Feels like quality, feels good in the hand. Side press to get flame. Low price. Looks expensive. Flame is very strong and can get very big similar to photo (adjustable on bottom). Top flip cover feels solid with solid click, not flappy or flimsy like my old torch lighter.


Shiny black finish so if carrying in pocket it should be in some little bag or something to prevent scratches. It looks like it would scratch very easily. I ended up putting it, cutter, and "roach clip" in a little hard drive thin leatherette case so they r all together and scratch-protected (I don't carry in my pocket).

$20 hygrometer. Basic, small, works well. I tested with salt test and it read 74 when 75 would be perfect reading, which is good enough for me. It is adjustable which many are not. Price seems high but I've had so many poor analog and digital ones in the past it probably is worth it. I have 2 digital Oregon scientific home weather clock/stations and one is 15 percentage points low and the other is 12 low, so even digital ones can give false readings.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

How about a big flare gun and a little Romeo?

View attachment 648643

"Smoke on the water ..." Oh, oops.

Wow that lighter might singe ur eyebrows!

 

[shibbershabber]

Gurkha Rouge Tyrant

Hard to keep going at first... Little sloppy on the foot but flavor was alright.

Not bad. Probably not on my reorder list though

 

[Joe13]

Mantello Catador Triple Jet Flame

This triple flame has been my go to for about 5 months.

Metal exterior, no idea about the internal components.

Rides around in my EDC bag and has been in my pocket with keys and still looks as new.

Not a huge punch guy but have used it once or twice in a bind and it works fine.

Works every time. Flames create a decent single point for touch ups and will light the biggest cigars I have with no issue.



Only cons are no fuel window so when it runs out it just up and stops working. Also it is good for about 5-7 cigars depending on number of touch ups.

For a sub $15 lighter it's been great.

 

[edslhead]

Mantello Catador Triple Jet Flame

This triple flame has been my go to for about 5 months.

Metal exterior, no idea about the internal components.

Rides around in my EDC bag and has been in my pocket with keys and still looks as new.

Not a huge punch guy but have used it once or twice in a bind and it works fine.

Works every time. Flames create a decent single point for touch ups and will light the biggest cigars I have with no issue.



Only cons are no fuel window so when it runs out it just up and stops working. Also it is good for about 5-7 cigars depending on number of touch ups.

For a sub $15 lighter it's been great.

View attachment 648702

Sharpen up a 45 case and you'll have a decent punch cutter.

 

[CountryGent]

Question for the fellow cigar aficionados among us: do Cubans live up to the hype? (I refuse to buy them because the Communist regime is still in power. I despise Bolshevism in general and what it did to Cuba in particular. But I will celebrate the end of tyranny there by lighting one up and maybe even visiting the island. Until then, just curious.)

 

[edslhead]

I cant tell a Cuban from any other country. Its more a good cigar is a good cigar.

 

[Joe13]

If you believe the YouTube folks, all of the best family's took their seeds and fled to the DR, Nicaragua and Honduras and have been supplying the lions share of cigars to the world ever since.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Tried a ghurka viper today. Bought cuz it was cheap. Harsh, no flavor, no aroma. Box pressed square shap, too firm like a very cheap cigar. I smoked it for a few minutes and then threw it away. I would give it a score of 1 out if 10. These would be ok for a cigarette chain smoker type person. Can't find any pros to say about it. For almost the same $ if u are careful and use coupon and sales u can get some of the best cigars for not much more $.

 

[Joe13]

Tried a ghurka viper today. Bought cuz it was cheap. Harsh, no flavor, no aroma. Box pressed square shap, too firm like a very cheap cigar. I smoked it for a few minutes and then threw it away. I would give it a score of 1 out if 10. These would be ok for a cigarette chain smoker type person. Can't find any pros to say about it. For almost the same $ if u are careful and use coupon and sales u can get some of the best cigars for not much more $.
View attachment 649218

It's pretty disappointing to get something from a supposedly high end brand and having to chuck it.

I really like a lot of Gurkhas but I've had more then a couple that seem like they were rolled by novices, while others of the same type are fine.

I expect to get a few lemons bargain shopping but when I get 5 good ones and 2-3 are not up to par it's hard to want to buy more.

 

[Joe13]

Wife bought me a Xikar HP3 even though she's not 100% thrilled with my cigar routine.

Haven't had a ton of time to play with it but so far I can say I'm not disappointed.

Thing is beefy firing my hand perfectly with no slop and fit/finish is great.

The triple inline jets with the outside jets angled in is pretty awesome.

Probably my last lighter as long as my smoking area is the back porch so no need for one of the big table lighters.

 

[Joe13]

Before (6 snap on tubs):


After (400 count Newair):



The top shelves aren't as useful as the drawers since 1. It doesn't hold some of my taller boxes or even a few bundles I have and 2. Most of my stuff are singles.

I have things in ziplocks right now so they don't spill out when I pull the shelf out but I'm going to be buying some cedar trays that will make it possible to spread them out and get rid of the ziplocks.

Still keeping my desktop humidor to hold 30-40 daily sticks so I'm not in and out of the big one every day.

Still have 1.5 tubs full since the ziplocks aren't the best use of space but I'm hoping the trays will resolve that issue (and I'll have to removed the cigars from the factory boxes).

A work in progress.


*Oh, I didn't get the newer model because it's in my bedroom which never gets that cold but sometimes in the summer it will get up into a the high 70's before we kick the AC on - plus it was half the price.

**The unit is holding at 71%rh - the pic at 81 was just after I added humidification from leaving the door open the whole time I was loading it up with cigars.

 

[Joe13]

Got another gear review...

Govee Bluetooth Hygrometer / Thermometer.

I was looking for a good way to keep an accurate track on the humidor and saw some suggestions for some digital calibratable meters so I looked at the Bovida butler Bluetooth device and saw the grovee for less money with tighter tolerances on the temp and RH as well as lots of positive reviews.

Watched a few reviews on the YouTube and was pretty much sold.

Thing arrived today and I am very pleased with it. For $20 it seems like a no brainer to me for the quality. That and I would rather check an app to get a years worth of data then use a flashlight every time I want to double check temp and RH is where I want it in my humidors.

It will even push notifications when it is out of the tolerances you set for it if you so choose - not something I'll use because I just don't use notifications in general but nice to know it's an option.

No digital readout on the thing so it will supposedly only need a battery once a year or so and the thing is very small at about 1.5" square and .5" deep.

I'll most likely buy another 2 Down the road- 1 for my desktop humidor and another for the temp controlled unit so I can have one at the top and one at the bottom of it

Only need one app to control as many as you want to add to that's a bonus to me as well.

 

[Joe13]

Some good reference videos:

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Smoked my second one of these today and these are really growing on me. Medium body, medium subtle but complex flavor, smooth, creamy, lots of aroma. Kind of one of those that starts out very mild and seems to keep getting stronger and bolder as you go. Has that kind of distinctive macanudo aroma.

If u like mild cigars but want a bit stronger, these u will like I think. If u like spicy very bold these won't be as appealing as they are more medium bodied. More like a relaxing-mellow-medium-but-complex-very smooth whiskey vs a strong in ur face whiskey. Cigar.com and macanudo call it bold but I would say it is bold for macanudo but probably more medium to medium-full bodied compared to real strong cigars (IMO).

Info from cigar.com FYI:

DESCRIPTION

Profile
Shapes	Churchill, Gigante, Robusto, Toro

A Bold Departure
Macanudo is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Its blends are widely regarded among enthusiasts as being top tier in terms of flavor and quality. To mark 40 years of creating iconic cigars, Macanudo released the '90' rated 1968 blend, which is a slight departure from the mellow profile that Macanudo fans have come to know.
A full-bodied blend of dark Honduran San Agustín wrapper envelops Dominican and Nicaraguan fillers for bold, deep, and rich flavors of spice, leather, and cocoa. A truly intricate cigar that is sure to pleasantly surprise and satisfy the Macanudo faithful.

 

[Joe13]

I've got another 5 Vegas series A Gordo going this morning. Not my top of the line but a 4 out of 5 for me and a go to when I want a guaranteed nice cigar.

@ilikegunspdx the flavor and strength profile is very close to that Macanudo you just posted but you can pick these up for quite a bit less and they go on sale regularly. Mellow enough retro hale that it doesn't burn but plenty of flavor and in the medium/full strength range - but not a flavor bomb that will leave you buzzing.

I ordered another 2 sampler packs of varying size cuz they were only $2 each shipped.


Those HC Black's are also very tasty but I would say they are a step up in strength from the series A's.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I've got another 5 Vegas series A Gordo going this morning. Not my top of the line but a 4 out of 5 for me and a go to when I want a guaranteed nice cigar.

@ilikegunspdx the flavor and strength profile is very close to that Macanudo you just posted but you can pick these up for quite a bit less and they go on sale regularly. Mellow enough retro hale that it doesn't burn but plenty of flavor and in the medium/full strength range - but not a flavor bomb that will leave you buzzing.

I ordered another 2 sampler packs of varying size cuz they were only $2 each shipped.


Those HC Black's are also very tasty but I would say they are a step up in strength from the series A's.

View attachment 651268

$2 is an outstanding price. I will need to try those for sure. That's about what I paid for those ghurka viper cigars. Those viper ones I think may only be good for fire starters when camping. I got some really large ring size ghurka beauty cigars in a sampler and they look to be superb in feel and quality compared to those vipers which feel (and taste) like a mixture of cardboard and cigarette factory floor sweepings.

 

[MannyGlocks]

Life's too short for cheap cigars.

When I could smoke, I started out smoking el cheapos like Marsh Wheeling, Parodis, and other low cost smokes and thought yeah, these aren't bad...well, they were, once I discovered hand rolled, high quality binder, filler and wrapper tobacco...

Eventually, my everyday individaul cigars ranged in cost from $5.50 to $12.00 on up.

At that time I was chugging roughly 3 a day.

Not an inexpensive hobby, but what else is new...?

And yeah, I had all the various accessories from mega expensive Dunhill lighters to custom humidors, crazy costly this, that and the other...

I gave it all away after I had to quit.

I should avoid this thread as it makes me crazy for a great cigar...

 

[shibbershabber]

Tried a ghurka viper today. Bought cuz it was cheap. Harsh, no flavor, no aroma. Box pressed square shap, too firm like a very cheap cigar. I smoked it for a few minutes and then threw it away. I would give it a score of 1 out if 10. These would be ok for a cigarette chain smoker type person. Can't find any pros to say about it. For almost the same $ if u are careful and use coupon and sales u can get some of the best cigars for not much more $.
View attachment 649218

Gurkha seems to be on the low side of the high end brands.

Okay for an everyday smoke if you get a good price, but not for a special occasion or a nice Friday night smoke

I can get Rocky Patels for make $1 or two more and have rarely been disappointed with them. Even those I didnt care for the flavor were always well rolled and smoked nicely.