ChanceSchmerr

Yes indeed. Once the movers arrive with our stuff next week to our new house in Bristol, UK, we shall be fully European (Brexit be damned! )

Apologies, just seeing this now - in the middle of some work up in Scotland on a *very* big naval ship this week. If allowed, I could jump in for a robusto comparison with a D4 next month, as I have many of those, unfortunately I'm empty on both RyJ Churchills and HdM Epis. Let me know!

It has stood the test of time - one of my oldest friends (Graham) there on the left, "enjoying" his Canadian-made "Tuero" cigar, professing through the night that size didn't matter when it came to cigars. He refused my gentle suggestion that mine had the superior taste as well...LOL

Ah nuts - I'd have loved to join, but just moved back to the UK from Canada this month, so I guess I don't qualify from Canada anymore LOL That and my Mag 46 box is in transit across - who knows if I'll even have it on hand by 31 Aug! Looking forward to watching this!

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/it-opened-in-1892-its-closing-in-october-future-uncertain-for-old-morris-11026995 To be honest, this tobacconist has really fallen in the last 10-15 years. It was where I bought my first ever Cuban cigar (a Sancho Panza Sanchos) back in 2007, and at the time it was reasonably well-managed, with a decently stocked Humidor carrying a solid selection across the Habanos lineup of the date. By the mid 2010s, it had been gutted to only carry the basics of HSA (Cohiba/Monte/RyJ etc), and the storage monitoring had cratered - mold and excess moisture was abundant. I couldn't bring myself to buy any cigars from them as a result - as much as I loved the store and its history, they just didn't seem to care anymore about their own cigars. That said, I continued to visit now and again, you never forget your first after all! Later in the 2010s, their staff became noticeably pushier with the sale tactics, not listening to anything the customer said, and instead putting on the hard sell towards the priciest of their cigars. I stopped visiting it entirely - last time I was in the store was earlier this year, just to see if it had changed at all....and it hadn't. So in some ways, I'm not surprised at all that it is winding down the business - it truly wasn't managed as a tobacconist for many years, but rather as a generic "men's gifts" store. At the same time - its demise does bring on a wave of sadness. That onyx lighter, ever burning for customers to light their cigars (even though provincial regulations had prohibited it from being used as such for many years)...shall burn no more. I'll always have that first Sanchos back in 2007. That memory will live on forever. Farewell Old Morris. You deserved better.

Very cool trip! Wife and I visited Coastal Croatia, Split, Dubrovnik and Montenegro over several days in Summer 2015. I mirror the comments about Hvar, Split and Dubrovnik above. You can't NOT do Dubrovnik, but it is super touristy. Split and the whole Diocletian Palace is getting there too. My recommendation would be to check out the Bay of Kotor in nearby Montenegro. Phenomenal scenery in a drive all along the bay (ringed with mountains), and Kotor itself is a lovely town to visit. Then, you either climb up the mountainside at Kotor to overlook the Aegean, or go in the tunnel across to the other side and hit the beaches.

Damn - I wish they had opened 20 years ago when I was in Military College in Kingston! I sure could have a used a few cigars in that final year LOL!

I said return for both...but only given the circumstances. It's not based on the price (yeah it's higher than it was in the past, but nothing ever goes down in price), but because there is an expectation that you're in the Divan for an experience, and an overly tight/overly loose cigar makes for a miserable experience that I don't want, and that the business likely doesn't want me to have either. That said, any such situation to me, requires grace and tact when explaining it to the staff. if you're going to ask for a replacement for an unsatisfactory cigar - you better be damn gentlemanly and respectful in doing so! Lastly - On reflection, I don't think I'd probably say anything about the loose cigar, just slowly slowly smoke it and only stop if it really didn't care for the flavours I did get. Side note - I'm happy for assistance in selecting cigars in a lounge, but I'll never EVER accept a lounge attendant lighting my cigar again. Not after visiting a very well-regarded lounge in London a couple years back, selecting a quite rare cigar I've always wanted to try, and then watching as the attendant took his torch and proceeded to carbonize the living f*ck out of the first inch and a half of the foot. Ruined the whole first third of the cigar. Never again.

Finally, I'll get the RE I've always wanted (Long Skinny in my favorite marca, SLR). Too bad I'll never find it in a Portuguese B&M.

Diplomaticos Bushidos. For some reason, none since have even come close to the one you gave me in London, @El Presidente. That one was a 99-point cigar. None since have been better than low 90s, at best.

Me as well. The guy's silence on....everything!...happening in his native land is a damning indictment. I've always been a Mark Messier guy, through and through. It's even why I've been a NY Rangers fan for over 30 years, despite being a proud and unapologetic Canadian. More to the point - Mark's in the same category as Wayne - Canadian player who then went south to make his fortune. The differences are: 1. Mark actually won a ring in the US (1994 forever!) 2. Mark actually went to his Order of Canada ceremony to receive the honor 3. Mark pays equal respect to his Oilers career and his NY Rangers career, and takes care not to alienate either side. 4. Mark doesn't make his politics known, as far as I've heard and seen. Anyway - I'd love to see Mark Messier profiled in CA. I doubt it'll happen though.

Welp! Long ago, in my nearly-forgotten younger days, as a math-minded Baseball fan, I enjoyed whatifsports.com's Simleagues Baseball. Think of it as Fantasy Baseball - except using historical player seasons from 1885-present. You could make your dream team and play them in a league against those of others, and there was a live play widget that let you play your season's games live against your opponent (instead of the website's algorithm simulating your team's games). The Live play was what really got me hooked. I enjoyed the play and banter. It was a lot of fun. I was in a few leagues, won several championships in my progressive leagues. Good Times. Now the handle - For each of your Simleague teams, whatifsports would computer generate a short roster of "rookie" players for you to use, if a member(s) of your regular lineup got tired and needed to rest up. The rookie players had stats based on historical inexperienced players, but the computer would come up with randomized player names for them. They were never meant to be starters, but like all rookies - some were great, some were lousy. Luck of draw. The computer generated names were pretty random-sounding ballplayer names. Nick Snider. William Nardi. Rick Sabo. Glenn Woods. etc. etc. etc. BUT ONE YEAR. I got a catcher with the best damn random name ever. Chance Schmerr. What kind of ridiculous shyte name is that?!??! The name would have been good enough to go on - but the dude raked too! Best hitting rookie I'd seen in a long time. I was sold. And it's been my alter-ego ever since.

Thanks for these tips, Ute - perhaps saves me the trouble of going from store to store in Germany to find these in March/April...

SLR is still my favorite marca. I've a work trip to NL in March (and again in April). Hopefully I can find a box of these over the border in Dusseldorf at that time... Price seems pretty fair for this day and age. Highway robbery if this was 10 years ago LOL