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PLPC (TOS February 16):

HUHC last nigh.

Great cool night for a second one......San Cristobal La Principe

Beauty PSP box of RyJ Churchills from our host. and these, some bodyguards from a great BOTL Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I always wanted a Redline BMX (I got a Kuwahara)

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The past few smokes during the past few days. Trini Reyes-BMP ABR 16-really nice. Starting to really love these. My kind of Birthday cake and candle. Lusi from 2011 Better pic of the fence than the cigar. I think I had already had a few beers by then. An Alex Corona for the drive home today.

First time tasting blueberry pie in a cigar. Pretty surprised by this smoke really. Very young and the wrappers were pretty pale (as advertised on 24:24) without much aroma. I figured I'd let them acclimate a bit and give it a shot for smoke now stock. Nice fruity sweetness and excellent construction. Not much depth of flavor but a very pleasant light to med bodied smoke. AMO May 17 Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Quite enjoyable!

Just arrived from our host... Aroma is out of this world!

A nice MC #2 after a long day.....a little bit of a light draw, but sooooo good!

Yum. Love the Sir Winston cedar smell.

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Picked up my latest KL Wines orders... Not pictured two bottles of rum. "Stolen Overproof" and "Dr. Bird Moscatel Finish"

Cohiba Maduro Secretos PSP from 24:24 ....first Cohibas I have bought in awhile...very nice.....and that smell

Just got in last night with tons of pics from Havana..... unfortunately, I am afraid the storm here has fried my desktop. i will do my best using my phone and hope it gives me same quality as my desktop. it was a BLAST , Enjoy ?????

Superb Punch Royal Selection #12 (SUL December 05):

After sampling a couple farmies from my B&M 2 weeks ago, I hit it yesterday and picked up a couple 5rs. I'm freezing them as a precaution. The samples were good - all long-leaf filler. You can't tell, but the wrappers are darker than they appear.

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Tatuaje cojonu 2003 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Compliments of Mr "O".

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I bought an assortment of 11 random sticks. Mostly the popular go to sticks people recommend frequently. Tried a RASS last night, can't wait for my 2424 psp box to arrive! This morning it's my first HdM epi 2. Another show stopper! Hopefully the rest of these sticks are as good as the first few. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

RG Perla - didn't realise I had it with me, nice little surprise for lunchtime at work. Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

Breathing Swedish morning air for the first time in over a year. Had to celebrate it with breathing something else. 2002 RA Belvederes. Despite the photo, the burn was great throughout and tasted so darn good throughout. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

These look nice. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I arrived on Saturday around noon and went directly to Hotel Nacional. Upon check in I went to the far side of the lobby and purchased the last remaining marble ashtrays they had for sale. I asked if they had any more or if they would be getting some soon. I was told that the marble is in short supply and/or the demand is so high that there would not be any of the large ones for quite a while. After checking in to my room, I went down to the Casa del Habano in Hotel Nacional. The supply was very good and the lady behind the counter told me it had improved over the last few months. She told me there had been less tourists in lately and that they were able to keep their inventory better stocked. The two employees on this day were very helpful and would go in to the humidor and bring out anything that I pointed to and asked for. I don't know if I got better service or not because I was making such a large purchase. The most exciting thing I saw was the emergence of the Cohiba Medio Siglo line. It appears that there has been a strong emphasis on ramping up production on these cigars and they look and smell amazing. I was happy to pick up a beautiful cherry wood humidor limited edition 13/20 new in a box from the storage closet. Throughout the trip it always seemed like there was more premium items than met the eye but depending on the employee you may not have access to the "good stuff." I left Hotel Nacional and picked up some cases of mojito glasses at the Havana Club museum, and then our driver who had tons of local knowledge helped us track down Humidores Havana, owned by Jose Ernesto Aguilera. He is the expert craftsman of the very expensive humidors that are auctioned off during the Festival Habano held every February. Meeting him and seeing some of his famous humidors was by far the highlight of the trip. The shop was very hard to find and the address listed gets you close but not exactly there. Once inside his team met with me, including Jose Ernesto himself, and showed me all of the humidors in his showroom. I picked out three of the humidors that I thought were unique and interesting and Ernesto even threw in a signed travel case and some custom rolled cigars. He really loves his craft and was eager to talk with me and answer any questions I had. I left his shop in the late evening and headed to Hotel Melia Cohiba to visit the Casa del Habano before returning to my room for the night. I found the humidor there to well stocked with many regular production cigars, found a few boxes of Casa del habanos exclusives and a few esplendidos. All in all it was a good stop and I was able to find enough cigars there to obtain a factura, something that I wanted to make a priority due to some of the threads I read about Cuban customs agents. Day 2: I started the morning out by walking about 0.5 mile to Hotel Havana Libre. This was probably the best stocked Casa del Habano during my time in Cuba. It was here that I found Behike 52 and Behike 54, not complete boxes however. I bought the remaining 8 Behike 52 cigars and begged for the box/case but was adamantly told "No." I also was able to acquire cabinets of Upmann Sir Winston and Hoyo Double Coronas here. The store has all lines of 2016 edition limitadas (incomplete boxes), almost the entire Cohiba line, full 25 cigar cabinets of montecristo #2 cigars, and Behike 56 full box reserved for another client. The staff was somewhat helpful and somewhat combative all at the same time. Either way I made a large purchase of difficult to find cigars and got out. My driver drove me to Club Habana, Hotel Palco, and Avenida 5th and 16th to find out they were all closed this Sunday. I don't know if this is a usual thing or if things were different due to Havana Carnival going on this weekend. My last stop was at Hotel Conde Villanueva. I really just went to check it out hoping I may find something really rare. I was starting to run out of cash around this point if you can imagine that. I was very upset at myself because this store was stuffed with boxes of Cohiba Pyramides extra and even had full boxes or Esplendidos and Coronas Especiales. I had to make a decision to pass on these expensive items and returned to my room to pack all of my spoils. After a few hours of moving things around and finally finding the right arrangement to make all of this fit, I've found time to write this narrative and I'm off to smoke and drink until my flight leaves tomorrow. I managed to snap a lot of pictures here in my room while packing and hope this sheds some light for those who enjoy this as much as I do. I went big with all the uncertainty surrounding Cuba and I hope it stays open for years to come, but at least I have myself a nice stash of cuban cigars and accessories if it doesn't.

I offered a cigar (one of El Pres') to a fellow I met in my club here in San Francisco, and he eyeballed it and exclaimed, "Hey! A real one!" with some excitement; which caused me to inquire what he did for a living. He explained that he was part of an advisory project for the U.S. Customs Service designed to determine how many of the "Cuban" cigars they confiscated were real. He said that they'd determined about 80% of seized "Cubans" shipped into the U.S. were fakes. Seemed like a legit guy to me.

I've been daydreaming of these since I saw them weeks ago on a 24:24. They're my first Trinidad's and I think I picked a dandy. From our host... These are lovely dark wrappers. Tempted to fire one up tonight. Happy smoking!

2003 Des Dieux from a 50 cab that I am super lucky to have.

Diamond crown from a cigar rights of America pack 2012 Buttery and toasty

Everyone wanted a nice skateboard too. I loved my Rob Roskopp. I brought it back from Santa Cruise to Vancouver before skateboarding took off.

I must admit, after decades of studying political economy and political philosophy I have never seen the term "capitalist dictatorship" accepted in the academic sphere. The actual definition as far as I can tell of "capitalist dictatorship" is essentially a fascist dictatorship, and one must place fascism in the ambit of capitalism, which it certainly is not. Fascism is socialism, totally and completely. Fascism and communism are simply different methods of implementing socialism. There is effectively no difference between state dictation of nominally private means of production (fascism) and outright state ownership of the means of production (communism). Lest one forget, "Nazi" stood for Nationalsozialismus, or National Socialism. That assumes the ruling classes were directly victimizing the poor. Marx's entire premise was based on the incorrect labor theory of value, and he also conflated mercantilism with capitalism. The closest thing to Marx's vision ever attempted was probably the Bolshevik revolution of 1917 which was probably the most immediately lethal of all implementations of socialism. I guess 30-70 million deaths is a significant improvement? I don't think the average Chinese person is complaining about the lack of equality as they are no longer starving to death in the countryside. The socialists would have us equal in slavery rather than unequal in freedom.

C & C Time. Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

Oh I remember when every kid (me included) wanted a "Rambo"-knife.

Couple of duty free grabs

An absolute cracker box of Monte#3's. Simply brilliant. Off to bed they go. Omega Big Blue reference number 176.004 for those that enjoy vintage watches.

This week was full of deliveries. I was out of town helping my parents remodel their house, so my wife received, opened, and placed all of this into the humidor. A blessing and a curse, my cigars are safe but she feels I have plenty and should not buy any more until these are gone! Uh oh Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Thoroughly enjoying an after-dinner R&J Mille Fleurs on a pleasant Tuesday evening.

^^ Similarly, DE MUWAT bait fish:

Early 70s Frye Ring Boot.

Had to get in one of my favorites, an OR Connie A. This cab is really wonderful and I've been lucky to have Zero duds in it. They've been so lovely with their rich, super flavorful smoke. They are full of subtle and delicate flavors that always leave me satisfied. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

Hey hey hey. I don't pay half price thank you very much. It's a community hall. They practically paid us to use it. Cooked most of the food in our garage in the morning. My cousin and I getting ready. The hall A few of the best mates anyone could ask for. A shame I couldn't join the fellas outside for a smoke. All in all a quick ceremony, bit of grub, and send everyone on their way. The glitches. My brother was the MC. And opened by saying his wife's name instead of mine [emoji23] and then just after the ceremony finished, the fire alarm went off and everyone had to be evacuated for safe measure. The fire brigade came and everything. [emoji23] Anyway. Reema and I have both quit our jobs. We're travelling around the world for the next five months. And depending on how broke we are when we get back to Aus next year, we'll see what to do after that Thanks for all the well wishes folks Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Regalias de Londres Boooring

Celebrating my last, first day of school today. This is my last semester in what seems like a decade long road towards my degree. Immediately after purchasing these a few weeks ago, I had that buyers remorse feeling inside. After lighting up the second one from the box, I realize they were worth every penny!! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Great Romeo Wide Churchill from April '14.