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

[shibbershabber]

Got out of town for a bit. Had a hell of a time... Did some work, got a burly sunburn...

Finished off with a smoke on the river with an old favorite.

Drew Estate Nica Rustica

Im sore and in pain.... But worth every bit of it to get away

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Tried a Rocky patel black label today
Summ: score 8.1/10 nice deep musty aroma, musty earthy and aged tobacco flavors. A bit too full bodied and peppery for me but a nice cigar I enjoyed it. I like the flavors and aroma. Same score as macanudo inspirado red for me but different flavors. I would buy again if price was right to get those nice flavors and aroma.

- Bitterness: 5, 5, (10 = most bitter)
- Pepper: 5, 5, (10 = most pepper).
- Tongue bite/harshness: 3-4, 3-4, (10 = lots of tongue bite and/or harshness)
- Sour: 0, 0, (10 = most sour)
- Body: 7, 7, (10 = fullest body)
- Strength: 1, 1, (10 = highest nicotine)
- Flavor: 5, 7, musty aged tobacco deep earth and black pepper (10 = best quant. and qual.)
- Aroma: 7, 8, (10 = highest amount and best possible)
- Smoke: normal
- Firmness: firm
- Draw: Tight but not horrible
- Presence: 5, 5, (10 = most mouth presence, >5 becomes detrimental for me)
- Burn/construction: construction good. Nice cool burn. Pretty slow burning. Wonky burn requiring some touch ups (see pic)
- Price: $2.50 in a sampler

 

[Joe13]

I doubled up today partly due to time but also for fun. Both are in my daily stick rotation and something I tend to buy when I see them on sale.

Arganese Habano Robusto 3/5
&
HC Black Maduro Toro

So in doubling up I've found a few benefits:

Can get a little better nicotine hit in a shorter time then grabbing a Gordo or Churchill.

I can puff more often and not hotbox either cigar.

Mostly though the Habano brings out a lot of the sweeter coffee/coco flavors in the Maduro and the Maduro brings out the more potent leather earthy zingy flavors in the Habano.

Also keeps the flavors changing so it's almost like the first couple inches of the cigars the whole way thru.

I only do this with budget sticks ($1.50-$2) and never with better stuff where there is good transitions thru the whole cigar.

If you've never tried it I highly recommend giving it a shot someday when your in the mood - it can really help you distinguish flavors you might not have caught before.

***I have only done this with similar bodied cigars, I've never tried this with a mellow and strong cigar since I assume the stronger one will just overpower the mellow one.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I've been curious about the hc maduro. Bought some but they need humidor time until I try. Was impressed with the hc habano (I think it was) I tried but too full bodied for me. I want to try some other hc cigarsto see what the deal is with them. They r very reasonably priced imo.

 

[Joe13]

I've been curious about the hc maduro. Bought some but they need humidor time until I try. Was impressed with the hc habano (I think it was) I tried but too full bodied for me. I want to try some other hc cigarsto see what the deal is with them. They r very reasonably priced imo.

Ive never tried their higher end sticks and have just stuck with budget bundles since they seem to burn well and have good flavors.

Personally I have found Habano's to be more potent then the Maduro versions.

Maduro's seem to be the best in any given blend for me - strong enough to have a lot of flavor but seems to generally be less spicy and more of a sweeter finish.

 

[Joe13]

So, sort of a weird occurrence in the humidor.

With Bovida packs I'm every drawer and a few gel containers I was seeing my humidity get a little higher then I wanted it by 2-3% so I capped off the gel containers and just went with a large Bovida pack in the drawers.

Im not in and out if it much and it seals very well and didn't think much of it. It solved my over humidity issue.

Strange thing though. Before when the temps would get higher the humidity would bottom out (normal as warm air holds more water so less relative humidity) and as it cooled off the humidity would rise.

Now when the temp goes up so does the humidity and when the temp goes down so does the humidity which is the exact opposite of what I've been experiencing.

I think the Govee unit is calibrated a % or so off so my digital gauges show it lower but I just like to see the swing during the days.

Here is a pic of what it looked like over the last 24 hours:

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Joe13 piqued my curiosity about the hc maduro so tried one today.

Summ: score 7.8/10. Deep rich but somewhat bitter flavor at first. Would be ranked higher except for bitterness detracts for me
- Bitterness: 6, 5-6, (10 = most bitter)
- Pepper: 2, 2, (10 = most pepper).
- Tongue bite/harshness: 2-3, 3 (10 = lots of tongue bite and/or harshness)
- Sour: 2, 2, (10 = most sour)
- Body: 6-7, 7, (10 = fullest body)
- Strength: 1, 2, (10 = highest nicotine)
- Flavor: 3-4, 5, musty slightly sweet a little bitter a little chocolatey (10 = best quant. and qual.)
- Aroma: 5-6, 6-7, chocolatey musty (10 = highest amount & best possible)
- Smoke: normal
- Firmness: normal medium firm
- Draw: Very Good
- Presence: 2-3, 3, (10 = most mouth presence, >5 becomes detrimental for me)
- burn/construction: good burn but slightly fast burning, no touch ups or rel-lights, seems to be well made no issues

 

[ilikegunspdx]

So, sort of a weird occurrence in the humidor.

With Bovida packs I'm every drawer and a few gel containers I was seeing my humidity get a little higher then I wanted it by 2-3% so I capped off the gel containers and just went with a large Bovida pack in the drawers.

Im not in and out if it much and it seals very well and didn't think much of it. It solved my over humidity issue.

Strange thing though. Before when the temps would get higher the humidity would bottom out (normal as warm air holds more water so less relative humidity) and as it cooled off the humidity would rise.

Now when the temp goes up so does the humidity and when the temp goes down so does the humidity which is the exact opposite of what I've been experiencing.

I think the Govee unit is calibrated a % or so off so my digital gauges show it lower but I just like to see the swing during the days.

Here is a pic of what it looked like over the last 24 hours:

View attachment 681190

My 2 cents: >71% make a change, <65% make a change (I use 67% actually -personal preference). Anything else:

 

[Joe13]

Gurkha Chairman's Select

Compliments of @shibbershabber some time ago but Just now trying it as it is the only one I have.

So far I would say it's in the higher end of the Gurkha line. Nice flavors, excellent burn and ash. Pretty perfect draw and construction.

Very nice at the first third right now.

 

[Joe13]

Still trying new stuff first so I grabbed the one Gurkha Warpig on the shelf.

I wouldn't say it's the strongest cigar I've had but it's no medium on strength or body - pretty complex flavors though so it's been good to me in the first third.

Slight burn line issues but not horrible.

It's a nice cigar but I wouldn't buy a box when I can get as good or better for the same price or less. This one came in a sampler so it was probably $2-3.

 

[Joe13]

Last third it's burning better, ash is holding and not flaky.

ended up a 4/5 for me.

If it was like the last 3rd the whole time it might have hit the 5/5 list.

I like a lot of Gurkhas but often feel like I'm paying for the name and presentation (which I will admit has to be possibly the best I've seen). Quality control definitely seems to be an issue with some of their "cheaper" lines.

I am a sucker for some of the samples that are priced at $2 a stick and have some of their highest priced cigars in them though.


At this point I just want to get to the point where I only have stuff I love in my humidors and maybe just occasionally buy a sampler of stuff I've never tried to keep it fresh.


Speaking of samplers, I got the 3 Acid Kuba Kuba's today (I think it's one Habano, one Maduro and one Claro robusto so I'm excited to try a green cigar in a couple weeks).

 

[Joe13]

Grabbed a HC Black Maduro Toro

Just sitting out front in the car, the neighborhood is dead silent- absolutely peaceful.

Don't get me wrong, I love to sit on the back porch and enjoy the sun or rain, listen to the birds etc but there are also little kids nearby and I listen to music...

But late at night, no sounds at all except a distant car occasionally is very relaxing and cathartic.

 

[Joe13]

Anyone ever try the Reposado 96?

Especially the Maduro's ? Although any feed back would be great.

I love the Solomon shape and they sound tasty but have been on the fence as to shell out the $107 for a box of 30.

Could be a great 90-120 min go to or I could end up with 29 big cigars I don't care for....

Thanks for any opinions!!!

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Anyone ever try the Reposado 96?

Especially the Maduro's ? Although any feed back would be great.

I love the Solomon shape and they sound tasty but have been on the fence as to shell out the $107 for a box of 30.

Could be a great 90-120 min go to or I could end up with 29 big cigars I don't care for....

Thanks for any opinions!!!

View attachment 682147View attachment 682148

My 2 cents is that with anything new it's best to go for smallest quantity first. Also the figurado shape has inherent potential for problems so that would really make me want to go for small quantity (ie a single).

 

[Joe13]

My 2 cents is that with anything new it's best to go for smallest quantity first. Also the figurado shape has inherent potential for problems so that would really make me want to go for small quantity (ie a single).

10 pack for $40 is the best I can find.

I was under the impression that because of the complexity in rolling a shape like a figurato or perfecto that company's use their senior roller's to make them so they are generally superior and more expensive then toro shaped cigars.

I may have it wrong though.

The diesel Solomon's that I have smoked were one light wonders and had flawless burn lines and construction. Which is what drew me to those Reposado's.

 

[Joe13]

Macanudo Inspirado Black Lable

had try my last one, a 4.8x48, because the wife has been asking me what box I would want that I wouldn't buy myself.

I don't think this is the one though.

While it's very good it still only gets a 4/5 for me.

 

[Joe13]

Any recommendations for a good 'special occasion' box that is under the $200 price range (preferably less then $150) with a 20 count?

Maduro and full bodied and strength preferred

Thanks!

 

[Joe13]

Happy Easter yall

5 Vegas Series A Churchill this morning. Thought about something fancier but I wanted a guaranteed good smoke.


Wife set up 2 different cigar of the month clubs for me as a convid Easter gift even though we don't normally do gifts.

One supposedly comes the first 2 weeks of the month and the other the last 2 weeks of the month so that's cool - maybe better then a box.

I found 5 packs of Oliva V Maduro's for half the price of normal so I got 2 of those, a diesel Solomon sampler on sale and two more of the 3 different shade Acid Kuba Kuba samplers ordered last night.

So I need to get to smoking so I have room

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Tried a rocky Patel 15th anniversary today

summary: score 7.2/10 for my preference. Full body and higher strength lovers may really like this one but was too bitter for me and too strong. If u like stronger RPs this may be worth a try. Saw a 2013 review which said no strength but that wasn't my experience here in 2020 version of it. I'll try it again when more in the mood for this type of cigar and re-evaluate.
Bitter: 6-7. Body: 6-8. strength: 7-8 overall. Flavor: high flavor, deep musty earthy flavors but has bitterness which pretty well ruins it for me. Aroma: high aroma, deep aged tobacco musty aroma. Draw: just ok somewhat tight. Burn: went out twice in first half, canoeing also, long burning. Price around $3

 

[Lesliet]

I found 5 packs of Oliva V Maduro's for half the price of normal so I got 2 of those, a diesel Solomon sampler on sale and two more of the 3 different shade Acid Kuba Kuba samplers ordered last night.

I like those Diesel Solomons a lot. And the Kuba Kubas are a nice treat, once in a while. Breakfast today was a Media Noche Churchill on the way to the range.