Would you like a Cigar?

[mdwest]

Davidoff Nicaragua Robusto to escort me on an afternoon walk today...

 

[Mort Hill]

Back at it again Brent with the My Father Le Bijou. Damn, that box not gonna last long if this keeps going.

 

[Brent in Az]

Back at it again Brent with the My Father Le Bijou. Damn, that box not gonna last long if this keeps going.

They are delicious.!

 

[Brent in Az]

Davidoff Nicaragua Robusto to escort me on an afternoon walk today...

Davidoff, is the Dom Perignon of the Cigar world.

 

[wesheltonj]

The Holy Grail!

Some would say the Holy Grail is a Cuban made Romeo y Julieta Churchill. At least Winston and JFK did.

 

[Royal27]

Some would say the Holy Grail is a Cuban made Romeo y Julieta Churchill. At least Winston and JFK did.

I think Cubans are just special because we can't get them easily in the States. Don't get me wrong, there are some really good ones, but there are some not so good as well.

With all of the boutique cigars that are available now though, there are an incredible amount of outstanding non-Cuban options.

Oh and I'm smoking a Alec Bradley Black Market Esteli as I type this. It's one of my "every day" smokes.

 

[postoak]

I think there is a quality-control problem with Cubans. Too many of them I've had were defective -- they wouldn't draw properly.

 

[DillonG]

I think there is a quality-control problem with Cubans. Too many of them I've had were defective -- they wouldn't draw properly.

Had a Siglo with my dad a few months back and had that problem.

 

[Brent in Az]

It has been said that the,soil, and growing conditions, in Cuba, is what produces the best Cigar tobacco? Cuban seed is used to grow tobacco in other countries, but it is not the same.
After the Cuban embargo of the 1960's, some of the Cuban cigar makers left the country to start over in Central America.

 

[rnovi]

The same could well be said of wine. It's all about the terrior.

I don't smoke them as much as I used to. I've been trying to get in shape and lose weight and as much as I love them, they don't do me favors on that front.

 

[Brent in Az]

Anybody ever order from Cigars International?
I just signed up for a catalog, and the email list.

 

[Mort Hill]

Yep. Occasionally look through their catalog. Hit or miss but they do have some pretty good tasting cigars. Let me see if I can find what I ordered.

 

[Royal27]

Here is another great cigar. I usually like a full bodied cigar, but this Southern Draw is quite good .

 

[Brent in Az]

I saw some good reviews on the Rose of Sharon. He named it after his wife. Southern Draws Jacobs ladder is said to be a good smoke as well.

 

[mdwest]

Anybody ever order from Cigars International?
I just signed up for a catalog, and the email list.

Yep. CI typically has good deals and they have good customer service.

If you’re careful you can get some incredible deals on their auction site www.cigarbid.com

Just be careful.. it’s easy to get caught up in a bid war and pay the same thing or more than you would have if you just went to the Cigars International site and paid their retail price...

 

[Royal27]

I saw some good reviews on the Rose of Sharon. He named it after his wife. Southern Draws Jacobs ladder is said to be a good smoke as well.

Agree on both .

JL is a great medium bodied Maduro and is in my humidor as well . ROS is a nice Connecticut, my favorite Connecticutt right now.

The longer both sit the better they are!

If you're a cigar smoker and don't have a humidor spend a few bucks and get one. Cigars are so often not humified properly from a store, usually over humified. My rule of thumb is to not smoke a cigar until I've had it at least a month, and six months is even better. It's amazing how different the same cigar can be.

 

[Brent in Az]

I picked up a few new flavors, in addition to my normal favorites.

La Palina Black Label - Recommended ny mdwest.

Tatuaje - A boutique cigar made at the Don Pepin Garcia factory.

Perdomo lot 23

San Cristobal - Quintessence

Roma Craft - Aquitaine

My local shop only had 2 of the La Palinas. They don't normally carry them, but he had a box full of misc singles, in which there were 2 nicely aged Black Labels.

Unfortunately, they don't carry the Southern draw brand. I will have to order some in the future.

 

[Brent in Az]

To cap off the work week, I just polished off the Tatuaje, and a couple cold ones.
The Tatuaje line, is a collaboration between Brian Johnson, and the folks at Don Pepin Garcia. It is a good medium body cigar, with a zesty spice that is not over the top. Kind of a flavor note that reminds me of the My Father La Opulencia. A bit of red silk maybe?
I'm a fan of Don Pepin Garcia. The "Blue" cigar, is Cuban-esque.. Garcia & Garcia, which are the sons of Don Pepin, make the "My Father" brand of Cigars. I always pick up a couple of those, including my favorite Le Bijou 1922.

 

[Brent in Az]

Yep. Occasionally look through their catalog. Hit or miss but they do have some pretty good tasting cigars. Let me see if I can find what I ordered.

I was curious about the customer service, and quality of the shipped cigars. JR cigars, always seems to be out of stock on the various samplers that I am interested in. Cigars International has good samplers in stock, at very good prices.

 

[hgr2]

Ah yes, Cigars.(Forgive my rant) Been a huge fan of handmade cigars since the mid 90s. Have tried many of the new in vogue cigars over the years and some were pretty nice, some were just hype. I find myself back to the old standards, Fuente, Excalibur, Padron, Ashton. A couple new-er favorites are the EP Carrillo and Illusion.


As for Cuban cigars, I’m sure Cuba was and is capable of producing really good Cigars but, just in my personal experience and opinion, over several years is that 90% of the ones I have purchased, not to mention thousands of dollars spent, from certified Casa De Habano shops, Duty Free and some independent shops in countries from the Middle East, South America, Canada and Germany, they are the most predictably disappointing cigars I have ever had. With that said I have had and do have a few boxes that are pretty damn good and had a few that were Outstanding but it’s the exception not the rule. I find myself giving them away to people as a novelty. The rest of the cigar producing world has past Cuba by at a high rate of speed. I would love to try the Cuban cigars they rate so high in these fancy magazines, I bet they have a different source than most of us have. I’m currently in Saudi, I brought my old stand-by’s with me this trip and have not been disappointed so far. BTW, been a JRs customer for 20+ years, good folks.