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Another amazing Monte 2

Box of MDO 4 from 2015

Yesterday's fare 2011 BCG - Smooth and tasty

C&C time. Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

Been on a kick of these lately. One more in box from Sep18 to go. I may skip my 19s and head right to one of my boxes of 20s. Really curious to check them out.

From one of the infamous quality control boxes 🤣

I believe this a Le Hoyo des Dieux. Not sure of its vintage. It measures 41rg x 6" in it's current state. Tastes well aged.

R and J wide Churchill

Another day of basketball yesterday and another great cigar. A 2016 Hoyo DC I picked up as a single. My first. Another really great cigar start to finish. A solid two hour smoke. Glad I have a 2020 box now in the aging Coolidor that I might peek at next year. this Cuban cigar thing is a deep hole.

Cazadores Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BFF

Belated St Patrick’s celebration today. This was my first Connie A, and it was a real treat. It had a powerful graham cracker sweetness that was incredibly enjoyable for the first two thirds.

One of my favorite short cigars. Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

My QC was good... My first. From the xmas sampler. Pretty dang tasty.

Monte 2 PTR DIC 16

Don Jose is pleased with my yard work. And approves of the Cuban coffee too. Happy Sunday everyone. 😀

Sunny Sig 2 afternoon.

Cuaba Distinguidos - LGR MAR 18 A gift from a friend. Lovely smoke.

Trinidad Esmeralda courtesy of @jsummers157!

I’ve gone through 4 cigar today and every one has been a disaster. Had to toss each of them in the 1/3. I havnt had a day like this in awhile...just part of the deal smoking Cubans I guess! This especiales 2 really tried to be a cocoa, wood and vanilla bomb...but alas was plagued with knots and tunneled through my best counter efforts.

PSDP .. good smoke now but will age well!

OK, don't laugh. a) I only got hooked on Cuban cigars when the pandemic began and b) I rode 80 miles on my bike-I am a cyclist-and when I opened my Igloodor to find a quick easy stick as the sun was setting on a cold-ish Central Ohio day this is what I found. I am new here but know that these are not considered fine on this Board. In my State (pun) this hit the spot with some Japanese whisky. So I had a really good ash going and then it started to go out. Rather than pull out my nice, new SD Dupont royal blue fade lighter I made the rookie mistake of blowing on the cigar to get it going and off went my 2 inch ash. OK, maybe it was an inch and half.

I met a guy called Rob.

Genetics I guess - I was born in Spain and grew up in the 50's and 60's with the "Cafe, Copa y Puro" ritual tradition, my granddad smoked, my father smoked, my uncle smoked and I smoked my first cigar at age 14... 'nuff said 🙂

Montecristo No.3 Very tasty as usual. This one was rolled a bit tight unfortunately and my modus tool didn't help so it wasn't a plug. Started getting much better smoke production after only a 1/4 inch or so, so wasn't a big deal ultimately. Great burn,draw and construction though Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Stars of the week needs more time pretty good one dimensional but good

With a few short interruptions for some other favorites this weeks exercise ended up being a tour of my 46 RG sticks: Mag46, Epi1; siglo IV and now the JL1. Before you ask my favorite let me say this is my favorite size cigar apparently next to the PC. These cigars are like my kids. Each exceptional in their own ways that I love faithfully. Each has their differences but each shines in their particular skills. I can’t quite articulate why I reach for one cigar over the other other than some innate itch that the cigar will scratch. This 2017 JL1 oddly started w a bit of a bite that faded very quickly into the lush JL flavors. Thick smoke w this cigar. A great diet lunch of nicotine. Right after I lit this I took delivery of a stunning box of Hoyo DC. You know this stick was good as I opted to continue to smoke it rather than try a Hoyo DC ROTT. They are Oct 20, so I won’t revisit that box for quite some time. Enjoying the JL1 before going back to work perhaps with a basketball game showing on my iPad after 3. Lots to do today. Lots of firsts yesterday. First day of NCAA tournament. First Sir Winston. And a big thank you to @Chibearsvfor the trade so I could try these sticks. He is a true gentleman and BOTL. THANKS Smoked w one of my buddies as we wait for the first tip today. Cigars were beautiful. Light sheen. A firm draw just the way I really like it. April 19 box. Flavors on cold draw was a touch fruit. Sweet tea a bit of bay leaf on the light. Holding these sticks one can feel that they are rolled particularly well. Buddy I am smoking one with has notes a variety of sweeter flavors. Even a touch of cherry a la RyJ. Surprisingly light although mid way on the first third I am feeling the nicotine. Ah some lightly toasted bread. Very smooth delightful cigar. My buddy’s comment was that he almost forgot how great the cigar was as he was continually drawing on it barely taking a break by habit. He was just immersed in the flavors. As the first third end lots of caramel is showing up. It’s windy outside but burn was uneven. Second third has lots of dark chocolate. Flavors were great and consistent for the remainder of the stick Hate to say it, but you can add me to the long list of those looking for a box. today is a Hoyo DC. GREAT weekend.

Today's enjoyments: A young Media Luna UEB SEP 19 I was surprised how good it was, didn't expect that. Gran Robusto REG DIC 17 This is the 4th or 5th out of two different boxes that I’ve smoked and only one was nice. This one starts out crappy as well. multiple tunnels appeared rather fast. Flavour wise it sucks as well. Normally one get's a dud or two in a 10 count box but it looks like it's the other way around with these 🤣. I don’t know to which factory the REG code belongs but my guess is that it’s a provincial factory as I don’t have many cigars with that code. Just saw that I have a Soberanos box with that code as well so the PL and that one will not stay in my stash. Ditched it. To be fair, I’ve had a Hermitage with that code last year and it was pretty good. I needed something good after the PL fiasco and dug out a '12 Siglo V. It's rather heavy for a Dalias and has a slightly tight draw but produces a nice amount of smoke. I like cigars that have a draw like this one. And I just lit up a BBF PMS ABR 15. This box has been very good to me and I will try not to smoke too many of these in the future to let them reach a little over a decade so that they'll fall into the category that I call aged (10+ years).

Some lovely Esplendidos removed from their C/P for resting with others of their kind, and a lovely SLB of Siglo III.

Laughed in the face of the cursed BRE NOV 18 Connie 1's. Another long ash cigar perfectly timed for this week's comp. A darker, slick Rosado wrapper with no blemishes. Razor sharp burn line, perfect draw, and of course a tight ash with pics to prove it. Not much to say about evolution. The tastes I generally just intensified as it burned along. At least one constant while my airtight brackets went to hell in a handbasket over the 90+/- minute smoke. Out of the gate a below medium, woody, nutty, uncharacteristic sweetness. Almost sugary. The middle reminded me more of a good HDM E2 without the creaminess rather than an HU. Not much complexity or richness. More of a pleasant cedar, nutty sweetness. No edges whatsoever. Smoove, with a "v." Into the final lap, just a bit more strength and uncanny sweetness. Was careful not to knock the ash. But not that careful. It was that rolled perfectly and the ash proved it. My heart goes out to all the suckas that got screwed by this box code. Mine have all been well above average. Bullet dodged. Can't say the ash makes that much difference to the smoking experience other than speeding up the burn in my experience. Since I don't like fussing with the ash, I won't bother maintaining it -- outside of trying for a comp win. A-

Coronas Gigantes from @NicPac. I'm just getting into the second third and this is really starting to shine. Thanks, brother! Also, can't wait to see your badass cab from @BTWheezy once it's finished. Really looking good so far!

I was gettin bored with some NC's in a way that I was trying alot of variety and buying a box here and there. Locally they were expensive so I went to buying online and retailers were always wanting a subscription and bombed me with email, mail and phone call solicitations (Thompson Cigar) later Cigars International and several other places. With all these varieties I noticed they seemed to want to link or suggest themselves, their ideas or heritage in some way to Cuba and/or cuban tobacco. After searching for retailers and learning about the high rate of imitations and scammers I held off. All the boards were basically don't talk about fight club, (No talk about Cubans). After awhile trying to discover where to find Cubans and finally just posted about it and got flogged on a NC forum for daring to ask about lefit retailer info. An FOH memeber reached out to me and introduced me to FOH where I contacted Rob and ordered 3 of the same samplers from him. I instantly fell in love with the Partagas D4, San Cristobal Fuerza, HDM Epi 2, and the RYJ Wide Churchill as at they time they were fabulous young smokes. The rest is pretty much history.

Much like you I was not blown away at first, I was an avid padron and opus smoker. The occasional Davidoff millennium or Don Carlos here and there, mostly Padron though. I’m now positive that most if not all of those CCs I had in my naive years were of course fakes. My first legitimate was from an LCDH in Windsor Canada where the prices are just short of first born child. It was eye opening, a simple MonteCristo #2 that I waited a couple months to smoke on a golf course on trip I had upcoming. That twang, that indescribable twang, I knew right then everything before had been garbage. Next round of golf, an HDM DC....and holy moly, than a Lusitania, whhhhhaaaaaat? One after another I was blown away with the flavor, the depth, the class difference. It was like comparing Japanese A5 to Choice meat, a Mercedeses to a Chevy, Chateau Latour to a bottle of Yellow Tail. It was luxury class quality to standard good quality. Every time I would go back to NC from CC, it was always brutal at the start, there’s a harshness, a papery, peppery, harshness to NCs (not like mongrel). Eventually I would adjust and then be happy with my NCs again. But no premium NC could come close in class to the CCs. The hole in my heart grew larger and larger, my longing grew more melodramatic, and my satisfaction, my thirst could no longer be quenched. Thus, I began my search, my chase. The journey with no end and no ETA.

Latest additions to the collection: 2 boxes of SCdlH La Punta's (RAT MAY-20) and still filling holes in the PLPC collection (LGR MAR-19). All of these look very good. Away for a short nap for the La Punta's (can't wait) and a long 5 to 6 year nap for the PLPC's.

C&C time.. RYJ Churchill (2017) - 24:24 Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

For me, it was the first time I smoked a premium cigar. I used to be a cigarette smoker in college and would, every now and again, have a domestic cigar at certain occasions. The Netherlands has many manufacturers that produce what’s known as the Dutch dry cigar. They’re almost always machine made shortfillers, very high quality for a machine made, but they never really did it for me. Cubans of course have always been legal over here, but I never really paid any attention to them for some reason (probably price). Then one night, about 15yrs ago, a friend handed me a Monte 4. I thought, another cigar, sure. Then we sat down, lit up and something just clicked. This was something very different from what I’d previously considered a cigar. Since that night, I’ve smoked many different premium cigars. There are lots of NC’s I enjoy, but the true love is for CCs and especially Montecristo.

Daytime lineup. I was lucky enough to get a few boxes of these lately. One had a chipped foot so I thought it only right to smoke it immediately. Can’t wait for them to get a few years on them.

Monte 4 2008 Monte 3

As I began fading out NC purchases over the past year this is one cigar I continued to purchase. I could generally find them on sale and they always provided a consistent smoke. First third begins with earth chocolate and smooth cream. Into the second third and we have earth chocolate and smooth cream. Final third and we have earth chocolate and smooth cream. Sorry for the repletion but that is exactly what this cigar was. I am not saying this is a bad thing. On the contrary you know exactly what you are getting with this cigar and it delivers. If you are sitting there contemplating it you will become bored fast. But if you want a cigar to puff on the beach or around a fire with friends this is a nice companion. Burn and construction is perfect. Its a one trick pony but one of the best one trick ponys. 88 pts.

Montecristo #4 Perfect draw at cold. First third: beautiful chocolate, cocoa, cream and light cedar flavors, this is going to be a good one. Got the ash to an inch and a half before it giving me a Cuban hug falling on my lap. Delicious, flavors picked up a bit in strength, solid medium body. Second third: next ash holding up very well, the longest I’ve ever had for a Monte #4. Tasting and smoking great. Few minor touch ups needed to keep things even as it is a bit windy by the beach. Final third: luckily I saw the ash slightly detach and wobble at around 2 inches so was able to properly ash it as one Cuban hug was enough for me. Nubbed this bad boy, best out of the box so far. 94/100

I wouldn't say I've fallen in love with them (I probably own 60/40 NC but in the past couple years purchased 90/10 CC) but the first one that struck me was a Siglo II which was AMAZING. I picked it up flying through Dubai. Since, I've smoked about 15 more and they've been anywhere from OK to not good. The inconsistency from Cubans is ironically what keeps me coming back. If I know I want a relaxing, reliable experience, I'll grab an NC because it will be just as good as the previous ones I've had. If I want to play cigar roulette and see if I'll have a phenomenal cigar or one poorly rolled and not old enough to be pleasant yet, I'll go with a CC. But that unpredictability can be fun.

In the early 90s. fishing off Cape Hatteras with a friend, he pulled out a Partagas. Cuban. Dark, oily, fairly small. Cello wrapped. Probably machine made. Was the most intense and flavorful cigar I had ever smoked. From there I became a confirmed cigar smoker. Searching for that through drug store to top end domestics (available in the US) until the late 90's. Finally I found a group of folks that shared some sources. Stags, Gerard, some Spanish sites one could order from online. So now able to source the ISOMs as we called them back in the day I was hooked.

Didn’t have too much time today to enjoy a more complex cigar while my daughters were out enjoying the sunshine and picking up a few groceries. This offering from AJF was easy to access; in a tupperdor, so I didn’t have to go playing Tetris to dig something out of my various coolers. Purchased in early 2016, this was a pleasant enough smoke; delivering a woody (cedar) creaminess with a little spice and subtle leather. No real transitions to speak of, but the construction was spot-on. There is something very satisfying about smoking a cigar that requires no work. Although it’s ultimately all about the flavours being delivered, a cigar that requires no touch ups and maintains a solid ash - that falls off in nicely formed chunks - can make the overall experience just a little more enjoyable.

PLMC (25 - LGR OCT 19), MCPE (10 - EOL MAR 20), Trinidad Reyes (12 - BSM SEP 20). Building my collection.

Last couple SLR Churchill, this one was surprisingly floral and sweet . Punch 898 If they are all this fine, then I will be looking for more of them in 24:24.

Went to Cuba after a decade of wanting to go, then went again and...

I had only been smoking premium NCs for a couple years before my first CC. A Punch Churchill in 1996. What a difference! I immediately understood. They are two completely separate products. Especially in those days, the disparity was enormous. After that day I was 99.9% CCs.

Partagás Shorts ALO Mar 2016 The Partagas Shorts is a highly popular minuto amongst Cigar Enthusiasts but for some reason I've never taken to them like some other smaller Habanos cigars, such as the San Cristobal de La Habana El Principe or Rafael Gonzalez Perlas, for example. In late-2016/early-2017 I went through a three year-old 25 count of Partagas Shorts in just under six months. Since then I've had two gifted to me, the last around two years ago. It's funny how trends change over time, isn't it? Once again, I'd like to thank @Luca for gifting me this cigar. It had some Partagas sourdough and leather coming together but I found the paprika spice quite overwhelming at times, especially in the back half. I laboured with the cigar as long as I could. After 50 to 55 minutes I ashed it. Still, I was grateful to have smoked this today. You see, I've smoked enough Shorts to know that today's variety was but an anomaly. Sure, I may not reach for another for awhile, but I won't say no to sampling one either as Partagas Shorts are quite reliable, both in construction and flavour delivery.