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C&C time. Managed to get this in before the rain came thankfully. Especiales from 14

Haven’t posted in a while. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Trying something new. 2019 Trinidad Esmerelda tonight. Excited to smoke this, seeing how popular this has become. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

First one in a while. Wrapper much darker than the box I picked up in Havana on release.

A fantastic Dip#2 with leather and cream all the way. Morning C&C MC#5. Compliments to our gracious host. I was short on these so I chose the easy path and went ROTT. I don't know if the picture captures the sheen on this wrapper. What a smoke.

RyJ Wide Churchill and sparkling water this evening.

Connie 1 BRE MAR19 unfortunately very poor quality box, sometimes Upmann factory disappoints

LUB 13 Double Edmundos...

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C&C time. RYJ Wide Churchill (2017) from our gracious host. Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

Fresh from FOH! Thank you my friends!!!

P Short at one of my favorite smoking spots

Got these of 24:24 a bit ago! Let them nap for a while and try them, dont have a choice anyway the air here in WA is pre-smoked! lol.

Romeo y Julieta Churchills GOM Ago 2018 I have been 'waxing lyrical', so-to-speak, about this cigar for a few years now due to their consistency in construction and flavour delivery across a number of box codes. I guess the hallmark of a 'hot' cigar is when it's not at its usual best it's still pretty good. Such was the case with this GOS Ago 2018 Romeo y Julieta Churchill cigar today. The construction was excellent. Ash-length, burn and ash rings were all impeccable. The flavour was a little heavier on the cocoa side of things which made the cigar seem not as balanced as many other RyJ Churchills I've enjoyed this year. Mind you, I still got cherry fruit and sweet turkish delight flavours to complement the cocoa. If I reach for another RyJ Churchill from this box and it ends up like this one I honestly wouldn't be disappointed, nor would I have any hesitation in reaching for another one soon.

Hoyo PR.

Nice mail call today from our host. Check out the close up on those RASCC! Greasy maduro wrappers! Also my first ever box of Romeo’s. An overwhelming aroma of cherries and chocolate pouring out of the box. Pretty amazing how distinct the smell is. Thanks FOH team!

Hot cakes ?

San Cristóbal de la Habana El Príncipe TOS Jun 2016 I had a short window to complete some work this week while the early Spring afternoon's sun was out so what better a cigar for the occasion than the San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe? And a TOS Jun 2016 specimen! This El Principe had a very mild cocoa and coffee core flavour to it but where it shone was in its molasses sweetness and quality soft pancake texture. There was no spice or strong tobacco flavours to this at all, it was just pure refinement at its best. Easily a 90 to 95 point cigar, I'm elated to know that I still have half a box left. I can't wait until I have my next one!

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Nudie N1 to start with a 2018 Petit Churchill to finish

One of Hamlet’s custom shaggy footed robusto extras from back when he was still rolling Cuban leaves. From 2011/12. Was lucky enough to grab a few of these off of the legendary BOTL @maverickdrinker about eight years ago. One left now. Draw is perfect. Construction is perfect. Just classy Cuban tobacco. More on the medium side. No nicotine kick despite the size. Flavors of leather, earth, cream and just a pinch of Christmas spice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Punch ManTua Edición Regional Italia ASR MAY 19 So I've had these a while and just hadn't gotten round to sampling them like some of you others have. The Laguito no.2 is my favourite format hands down, there's class and sophistication to this vitola, coupled with the blending here is providing a fantastic smoke tonight, so much flavour! Definitely some oomph to the blend (to my palate) and should age well. These days I ignore most other reviews preferring to make an unbiased judgement based upon my own storage preference then smoking experience - from what I've seen in with the majority here, excellent cigar [emoji108][emoji108][emoji106] Damn the Italians do it right consistently, not just the regional editions cigars but I'm also giving a nod to Neopolitan and Florentine suit styles which is another long time interest of mine. Massive shout to our BOTL@mbflash80 who was willing to share with me again [emoji120][emoji120][emoji1666][emoji1666] Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Just arrived home from a three week vacation; golfing and seeing the grandchildren. Nice packages waiting for me when I returned. Amazing smell and wrappers on the Dip's and PLPC's. The singles - Dip, RASS, Nudie & Parti Presidentes is the prize pack from the Boli Review Weekend. Obviously, have had a Dip (now 3 FoH boxes in the Humi) but I have not tasted the other three - great choices! Thanks FoH team - @MoeFOH & @El Presidente - you "guys" are the best!

Nice for a drive!!

BRC and a coffee.

PLPC TOS FEB 17 BBF OPG NOV 14

Sancho Panza corona Gigante 1999

London is just baking hot this week. I read in the sun for a while this afternoon, with an RyJ Churchill ESL MAY 18 for company. Somewhat overfilled and tight, this was on the much spicier and fuller bodied end of RyJ (rather than the red fruit end). Having to suck on it seemed to make it rather hot, despite the slow draw. Flavoursome, punchy, but not the sweet refinement that I’m really looking for in this stick.

Enjoyable pairing of Opus X Double Robusto and Springbank 10....

This is my first time shopping with FOH and grabbed a clearance RyJ EX. NO.4 from 24:24. My phone number was filled in wrong so the box stayed in the customs and post office for respectively extra 15 days. Today I finally retrieved the parcel and thought I'd try if there's any luck for smoking them young and fresh. Box code is ABO JUL 19, not a typical "good box code" in my memory. Opening up the lid, I was stunned by the neat looking of layer of Cuban chocolates. I don't have previous experience of FOH's grading system but this image to me, in my cigar shopping experience from all over the world, is definitely "HQ", at least. It's not oily and appears to be a little bit dry feeling, but the wrapper is smooth and consistent. Nice box pressed shape btw. I do like it anyway. Too eager to try out, so I forgot to sniff on them and now don't know how to describe the aroma. Cut up and lit up. Draw is on the tight side, but I prefer some resistance indeed. No spice or harshness right off the bat. Woody and floral flavors came in directly. English isn't my mother tongue so describing flavor profiles is a difficult exam for me. In short, flavors are classic RyJ profiles and transit all the way through as fruity and chocolatary taste showing up in the second half. What surprised me most is the burn. With no rest time, with no aging, it burns perfectly. I nubbed it without a single touch up. This vitola, flavor and burn reminds me a lot of Arturo Fuente Rosado series. (Sorry, because I smoke more NC than CC, that's how I express my impression.) Overall a very pleasant try, especially in such unfavorable conditions. I'd give it a 90+ rating, not crazy high but good enough for a regular production. I may not let them age too long before burning down the entire box. Thanks to @El Presidente and @WarriorPrincess !

From our gracious hosts

HdM du Prince TOR JUN 16 Dug this out of the darkest recesses as I haven't had one for a while... Still very good [emoji106] Sent from Cosmos Redshift 7

C&C time. VR Unicos (2018) - 24:24 Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

2 from 24:24 and two from elsewhere. BCJ, El Principe and 2x Super Partagas.

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Punch Super Robusto ER Asia Pacifico EMA DIC 07Still strong after so many years.

Diplomaticos No. 2 LGR AGO 19 1/3: lights up with some toasted nuts, leather, latte sweetness and floral notes. Wrapper has a nice silky feel and sheen. Draw is perfect and smoke production is excellent. A faint hint of pepper gives the slightest bite on the palate. The leather note reminds me of a fantastic HDM DC I had last week. A great start. 2/3: There may be a hint of cocoa here but nothing like a Montecristo would hit you. Leather and earthiness dominate into this third with sweet cream on the smoke. The spice remains constant as some wood integrates nicely at the half pole. Definitely a medium + now 3/3: The strength build here finishing at medium- full. The leather, cream, latte and spice were dominating with floral notes coming in and out. I really enjoyed the flavor profile and overall a 93+ for me. Another Great young smoke from a clearance 6er. These quarter box offerings have really landed some quality sticks in the humidor. Hat ? tip El Prez.

Big mail day. 4 from FOH 24:24 and one other for a total of 5 boxes. SOP JUN 20 CCE. ASR OCT 19 shorts. LTO ENE 20 Rio Seco. GOB ABR 20 Regios. ABO SEP 19 Punch DC.

2006 EL No 3 . Unbelievable

Fantastic Lusi and a better day fishing

This is the code of a famous Cuban underground factory. It is so large in terms of the number of employees that in every gateway you can meet a Cubans whose relatives (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, etc.) work there.

Had a great week off and weekend. Back to the grind tomorrow. Finished the weekend with some Courvoisier XO and a LBT MAY 12 Siglo VI. Fantastic!

08 Espy 19 Sig 4

Glenfarclas 12 and Coronas Especiales. Two sippers. Perfect burn, all honey, hay, and a bit of cream. Glad I have more of these laying down.

Por Larrañaga Encantos 2010 - Edición Regional Asia Pacifico (circa 2010) According to Cuban Cigar Website, the Por Larranaga Encantos was released in 2010 exclusively for the Asia Pacific region with a standard B style band and an Exclusivo Asia Pacifico second band. They were packaged in varnished numbered 8-9-8 boxes of 25 cigars, of which 4,000 were produced. They were the second Asia Pacific Por Larranaga release after the 2007 PL Robustos. The PL Encantos is a dalias vitola with a 43 ring gauge x 170 mm (or 6¾ inches) length. The only two remaining dalias in regular production are the Cohiba Siglo V and the Partagas 8-9-8. These remain reputable cigars, as is the vitola itself. Along the way we've seen the Bolivar Inmensas, La Gloria Cubana Medaille d'Or No.2, Partagas de Partagas No.1 and Seleccion Privada No.1 and Ramon Allones 8-9-8 discontinued (and much missed) in the last twenty years. Apart from the Montecristo D 2005 Limited Edition, this vitola has also had special releases with the Ramon Allones 8-9-8 German Regional Edition in 2014 and the Punch 8-9-8 Asia Pacific Regional Edition in 2018. The Por Larranaga Encantos, much like the 2006 German Regional Edition Por Larranaga Lonsdale, was muted and closed in its flavours for some time after its release. If you were to do a dedicated search on our forum on this cigar you'd find that it wasn't until some time between 2012 and 2014 that the Encantos started to open up in terms of that softer, aged caramel note that Por Larranaga is renowned for. Recent reviews on our forum, however, have been almost universally effervescent and united in praise in remarking what a quality cigar this has become, especially in the last two years. So how did I find it? I'm going to come out and simply admit that I too was 'singing from the same song sheet', to borrow a well-known idiom, after smoking this today. It exuded a quality refinement all the way through, with its core wood, baking spice, honey and caramel/butter toffee velvety texture. About the only (very minor) criticism I could offer would be that in the last third the cigar picked up in its woody intensity; otherwise, it was absolutely superb. If you have this cigar in your humidor then you'd know just how well this is smoking now. It's the type of cigar that you wish you had ten more boxes of. I'd like to thank @baragh for gifting me this PL Encantos to smoke and enjoy!

MAS JUN 08 Lusitanias. I bought 2 x 10's boxes from our host a decade ago/HQ and wrote "Age" on the orange sticker, put the box in ziplock and buried it at the bottom of one of my cooleridors. I debated putting the box on auction with Bond Robert's when that got going to bag at least $30 something a stick. Work has been slow with the outbreak. But, when I opened the ziplock and smelled the lovely, creamy Cuban tabacco with barnyard still present, opening the box to perfectly constructed and very oily double coronas, I could only keep them for myself. I could not afford the current asking prices to replace a box of decade + aged cigars in this size for certain. The same happened with an intact box of BHK 54'S, BTO AUG 12 that was sleeping nearby the Lusi's. The first cigar I took out of the BHK's was difficult to do, especially with what I could have earned from selling them. With all the difficulties recently with Covid 19, seeing a friend that was younger than me pass away from complications from Covid, and opened my mind up to, "life is short, enjoy what you can". I turned 54 in July, "I'm gonna start burning through my stash" as I wish to do. I'm a cigar smoker, and collect really to age at times, then enjoy what I have patiently waited for". I am not into this hobby to make money... Btw, I paid around $300 for the BHK's and $115 for the box of HQ Lusi's, if I remember correctly. Those days seem long gone forever at the current asking prices, that are getting more and more rediculous by the week. I'm not sure who is paying the 35% to 75% increases in some cases. I hear the Asian market has grown significantly, but know the increases are not only from Habanos price increases alone. Sorry for this rambling on, just my thoughts on enjoying life while I can and what the hell happened with the price increases. Now, back to this smoke. I am very glad I did not sell them. Beautiful construction, appearance, aroma at cold and burning, taste and complexity. There is still decent strength here. This is in my top 3 cigars, I smoked this year. 95 +. ? It's a Partagas kind of day. 2009 898...

It’s gotten chilly at night here. First night I’ve pulled out the whisky and paired it with a ‘19 D4. What a combination. The Toki highlights the D4’s slightly sweet paprika type spice and light pepper. Awesome. Haven’t had a CC all week, enjoying NCs that required little to no dry boxing. With some patience, waiting for this D4 has paid off. I’m looking forward to more CCs again with scotch or whisky as it gets even cooler.

Esplendidos 19" for the win. It turned a corner in the last 6 months smoking great!