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It's Friday! Time for a Celebration...Fresh Hop IPA that is. Paired with a delicious 05 Bolivar PC...big thanks to my Brother Jason for the hook up on the smoke! Have a great weekend everyone! Cheers! Bill

Haven't post here in some time but was lucky enough to find a box I have always wanted 1 down only a thousand more boxes to go before I complete my want list Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

No brands are more reliable than others. Whats good one month can be crap the next. The best thing to do would be to read through robs comments and if you see for example of late RyJ showing a good improvement, take a stab at buying them blind. That is your only option. The real question is; Would you rather smoke a GOOD cigar, even though it's not the brand you want? Or Would you rather buy the brand you want and smoke a **** cigar? Me, i go into a cigar shop with no expectations of what i'm going to get. Go in, ask what's good, and go from there.

From our host, SCDLH La Punta. AME MAR 13.

Rules for buying Cuban cigars: Know and trust your vendor. Buyer beware, this is Cuba. You cannot insure a better cigar by paying more. You cannot insure a better cigar by buying a certain brand. You cannot insure you get a better cigar by adding bands to it. You cannot insure you get a better cigar by advice on the net. You cannot insure you get a better cigar by searching a box code. If you want to smoke the worlds best cigars, you take the risk. Risk can be reduced, the rules are different for everyone! ...and most importantly! No one can make rules for another smoker, take what is offered at your own risk! He/she likely knows less than you do!!! -LOL (maybe that is just a general internet rule!) -the Pig

Oily 2009 HUpmann #2 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There's no acceptable answer to these questions. As LordAnubis said: No brands are more reliable than others. Whats good one month can be crap the next.

never thought i'd find another box of the Grandes....lucky me! and could not resist getting the 898's since i already had the other 2 huge regional releases of 2014, bushidos and eslavos.

DAAAMN! Worth all the hype! Thanks Ryan! Cheers! Bill

Ingenios

Monte 1, not bad now I've fought through the knot in the middle

This defines my buying strategy. I had not though about it but I am buying 99% of my purchases through the 24x24 sales. I do find myself waiting for what I am looking for and eventually Rob puts them up. (Thanks, by the way!) Sometimes (hell, a lot of the time) I buy things that I was not looking for. I haven't been disappointed yet.

A good place to start would be Rob's Top 25 List. If you read through his comments, consistency plays a huge role in his rankings. He even mentions that it's a good guide for boxes to buy blind. So if you put a lot of stock in his opinions, as most of us here do, this is required reading.

From last week- had signs of youth when I first cracked the box but improved immensely over the last year.

Came across this thread and to me it really underscores the eternal tension you find in all kinds of interest forums -- "community" vs. "marketplace." The divergence is readily evident in the contrasting viewpoints in this thread. Those who come here (and cigar forums in general) as "marketplace" fully expect that everyone will be operating at arms-length and each in his own self-interest. They not only expect that, they encourage it, whether they feel it best suits their profit motives, sense of fair play, or otherwise. Those who come for "community" are in the forums for fellowship, and as such, naked self-interest is anathema to their experience. The "community" people wouldn't dream of charging (or "overcharging") their thirsty neighbor for a glass of water. The "marketplace" people cede ownership only on terms they feel advantageous and believe no one has the right to question their own sovereign motives. It's probably a dynamic that can never be resolved, and while some forums try to be one or the other, you can always see the other side trying to make inroads at any given time.

More dailys.

Oficos Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

From 24:24 a few weeks back. Beautiful dark wrappers on these Royal Coronas! The aroma? Incredible!

Mons Monster! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Punch Corona 98'

The United States may cease to exist as a country before the NFL. The way things here are going. IMO

Wife and child are still traveling so I can smoke whenever I want. Unfortunately a cold got in the way but still getting some nice sticks in the last few days... RyJ Hermosos #1 - still have legs RASS from a 2012 50 cab. Nice! RyJ Short Churchill from the German Jar release. Cherries! 2015 Fonseca #1 to test my palate. I passed. Good, honest tobacco - nothing more, nothing less. Moved on to the real winner: VR Aniversario RE Canada. Despite an exploding wrapper and the uncomfortable ring gauge a stellar stick. Very nutty. Edit: posted the wrong picture of the RyJ. Obviously, that was an Upmann.

I've long been a "budget smoker", but have since learnt my lesson the hard way after spending $$$ on deals just to be disappointed in the quality. I now make the vast majority of my purchases from our hosts. For me, it is less about "buying blind" than about trusting the vendor and their wholesale source. No offense to Rob, but I have (very rarely) received boxes from him that look decent but smoked terribly. There's nothing any tobacconist can do to eliminate this, no matter how established or professional. Some B&M establishments replace such boxes for regular customers, but at rob's prices, I doubt that is a sustainable proposition. Part and parcel of buying Cuban.

My Father Connecticut and some Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban last night. Much better than the first time I had it. And olll faithful and some cafe cubano on this glorious rainy day. Sent from AOL in 1999

Went and picked up a couple six packs of Hopslam today..hmmm Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have had a Boveda fail . . . but not in the way you guys are thinking, no, they've always held their rated humidity perfectly in my experience. What I did was accidentally crush one in between boxes in a big Tupperdore I had this particular Tupper packed within an inch of its life, so when one plump Boveda got accidentally left in the middle of a stack the lid didn't go on just right. Stupid me I just kinda nudged the lid a bit thinking, "Hmm, it's always go on before without forcing it . . ." Anyway, squish goes the Boveda and I didn't see it again until several weeks later. The whole contents got absorbed by a wood (10) box of Partagas P2's, soaking through the wood and into the bottom half of the cigars. I thought about pitching the whole lot, but then found out about the Boveda salts being all food grade and what not. So after careful de-humidification of the cigars (probably not needed as the salts they soaked up where at 65% right? ) I smoked one and it was fantastic! The rest of the box was equally good. Made me think about using Bovedas as a condiment for all my cigars!

Birthday smokes from yesterday

Edmundo with a murakami. Giving him a second try after mixed feelings reading 1Q84.

I think these are at the right age now.. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Chalk it up to a good day. Sipped a fair amount of the Lot B that he had open as well.

Thanks to Bartolomeo Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

I'm of the view that Cubans taste similar enough to each other that I would rather have a spot on box of Don Alejandro's than a below-PE level box of Punch DC's even though Punch is a favorite brand of mine. My biggest lesson in Cuban cigars was when I went on a Hoyo Epi 2 buying kick. Out of the 6 boxes , each one was different enough in appearance,taste, construction, quality that if there were nothing on the box or the cigars separating themselves from each other, you'd swear that each box was a different cigar entirely . In reality they are all completely different cigars but according to branding they are all the same cigar. I've learned to buy only cigars that Rob puts up on 24:24 and I've only been disappointed once out of maybe 30 boxes so far and that was the PL Picadores but then you see many more people say they're great than say they're bad. And this is coming from a guy who bought nothing but grey market Cubans at first. Then after getting tired of getting poor quality for the most part, switched to buying nothing but LCDH cigars and paying the enormous premium associated with them and in the end, not getting any better of quality than when I bought from grey market vendors. Now after switching to buying only from the 24:24 my hit rate has been much, much higher.

After lunch HdM Epi2.

The biggest help is when Rob actually has eyes on the box he's putting up for sale. No guessing then. His descriptions are reliable and you get what you pay for.

Robs descriptions can sell me on any one of his boxes on any 24:24 sale. That being said I do like to have back up plans, ie other sources. But I really only go to them to buy cheaper daily smokes, I think here the word is quaffer. There is nothing like having a personal relationship with your tobacconist. And being in my situation Rob is hands down the best there is.

Nice little D4

Mr. Fission home nuclear power plant with phased filtered particle beam cigar foot attachment. I live dangerously, I have removed the blast shield... but the liquid nitrogen gauntlets help a lot. -the Pig

Day 2, LOA OCT 14 Eddies

These arrived in record time... I need to stay away from 24:24 for a long while. RACF STA JUN 09

80% jet butane torch lighter 20% soft flame butane lighter More important than the tool though, I like to fully toast my cigars until they light...never taking a puff while the fire is on the cigar.

High hopes for these ERDM Petit Robustos

Getting warmed up for 2016

What a brilliant app it would be if all cigar box sizes, and tupperware, were cataloged; the app could tetris-map your stacking in an instant! As apps go it would be a relatively simple thing to write. Probably not enough market to justify it though. Still . . .

Huh, is it just me? Sorry, not intendig to be a party killer, but this is certainly one of the most "borderline" boxes of SW I have ever seen. The ARG 14 were usually very nice, but do I spot green, quite rough wrappers or is it just the picture?

QDO Panetela. No complaints! Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

06 PLP. One of the best from the box. Sent from AOL in 1999

Bull dust. And I actually don't mind Trump running for president.......

Bahahaha....the NFL is not going anywhere.