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Excellent Media Luna BSM ENE 20. Smoking sweet and refined, classic doughnut / shortcrust pastry aromas. Mid bodied, well behaved… a great advert for modern Trinidad.

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D4 SOU MAR21

JL2

El Principe - molasses, coffee, ginger…

2021 PSD4 from the Christmas Sampler. What a great smoke. The wrapper split a little but I fixed it right up with some cigar glue. Started off with some pepper and spice and settled down into cream,a bit of nuttiness on the retrohale,before it settled into creamy leather and spice. 91 for me as I think my RH was the cause of the wrapper issue. Will dry box next time I smoke one.

Monte 1 this morning with coffee. Works for me. 2018 PLPC Smooth, rich molasses sweetness, bit of bitter spice. I’ll give these another year.

Punch de Punch

Siglo VI La Trova

Des Dieux No.3 '20 Rio seco '14 Churchills @El Hoze

Partagas D5. Cracking little gem. Couldn't make up my mind so having a beer and wine at the same time. IPA and Aussie Shiraz Cab blend.

'15 Siglo III '11 Fundadores

Got a single from my LCDH, I do not remember the exact box code but it was from 2019 Spoiler alert! Cigar of the year 2022 for me so far. What an incredible stick Pre-light i notice the cigar seems light and the draw is too Loose for my liking, but it does not seem like it will be critical, just not a perfect match with my preferences. Upon lighting it is clear that it is a very exciting stick. The notes are very balanced and nothing really Sticks out, but it is a very luxiorious feeling. Like i imagine a reserva Monte 2 might taste like (not that i will ever know 😉 ) earthy and creamy with incredible mouthfeel and thick mouthcoating smoke. 10 minutes in, i get a lot of nuts. Peanuts, hazelnuts. Still very creamy and luxorious mouthfeel Halfway the notes develop into chocolate, coffee and cocoa territory. Without loosing any of the nuts or the cream. This is now a very enjoyable and multilayered stick which is just lovely. Despite the youth, there is no harshness or anything at all in this stick. Towards the very end maybe a touch of heat, but that could also be me puffing too much as i enjoyed it immensely. 95.5 points at this stage for me, and i think it could improve with age as well, but if i had a box i would be hard pressed to leave them be Btw: went great with Remy Martin XO Cognac

My first padron 1926…I like it !

07 Petit Coronas Del Punch

A birthday gift cigar I got last year. I do recall smoking one of these with the proper band on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Papo lancero while supervising child labor. Amazing so far, worth the coin imo. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

C&C time. Epi 2 (2018) from our gracious host. Sunday morning.. Vigia (2017) from our gracious host to start the day 🙂

I don’t know what happened to the NYC area. It used to be, if it snowed, you went to work in the snow. No big deal. But in the last decade or two, that changed. Now every time it snows a little, the news makes a huge deal out of it, people empty out the supermarkets, and the governor declares a state of emergency. So here I am, smoking an Esmeralda in the parking lot of the closed cigar lounge.

Montecristo Doble Edmundo.

Busy morning . Swims 🌴😎

2021 Coronas Major - Not a bad cigar. Youthfully harsh but definitely has the HU toast profile. I'll give these a longer rest. There's potential to smooth out here. Was hoping these would be as good as Noellas, Not yet, that's for sure. This weekend's lineup Started the day with Encantos. Earthy and sweet, fantastic cigar.

Monte 1 and La Fuerza arrival. Both look terrific!

Had to show my wife this. "See honey, I'm really not that bad."

Have no choice but all in during this cc famine

Xmas sampler Connie 2 on a cool Saturday afternoon in Honkers

La Punta and RyJ SC.

One cold afternoon of pheasant hunting… Sig II for ride home

Monte 2 for this crazy ballgame.

Have a nice afternoon with Partagas ... Today I am riding the Partagas wave ... Have a nice Sunday morning ...

Yes, opinions will definitely vary on this subject so a useful response requires a multi-tiered answer. So, here goes... Keep in mind that recent stock of post 2019/20 stock is smoking very well right now and doesn't necessarily require 'time down' to settle. Depending on your preference when it comes to this cigar you may want to smoke them now, or perhaps later. If you like them more cocoa-intensive, maybe if your sticks are dark-wrappered perhaps, then you may like to sample one sooner than later. If you like them more mellower, more 'creamy coffee' you may want to leave them to rest longer. Take note though, the flavour profile of this cigar varies and if it starts out 'cocoa-intensive' it may never get to that 'creamy-texture' you seek, and vice-versa of course! In summary, what you are best to do is smoke one now and find out if it's smoking to your liking now or perhaps find out if it's 'close-to-the-mark'. If not, the second one from the box should be sampled in 12 months potentially rather than say, 6 months, for example. The example El Pres cites is in context of the Montecristo marca as a whole. In general, excepting perhaps the Montecristo Especial and Especiales No.2, marcas that have a dominative 'chocolate-y' flavour profile do not tend to benefit from more time down, unlike other marcas with different flavour profiles such as Cohiba and H.Upmann, as an example.

Resupply time.

I had a box of PSP Monte no. 2 arrive right around the New Year. Tried to let it rest for 30 days but didn’t quite make it. I’m proud of myself for not smoking one right off the truck; that’s generally a battle for me, and one I tend to lose. I’m really excited to try these, both now and down the road after some time in the humidor. Interested to see how the wrapper affects the flavor. At any rate, I grabbed the one on the far left, which ended up with a slightly cracked foot on the journey to their new home. The wrapper has a nice, slightly oily sheen to it, and is a pretty milk-chocolate Colorado color. The smell from the foot is oaky and tangy, with a hint of barnyard. The cold draw is creamy and woody, milk coffee. When I light the cigar, the aroma is the first thing I notice. Along with wood, there is scalded milk; a really unique, interesting smell that quickly translates to flavor. The taste is tangy, oaky, and most of all warm milk with a bit of dark coffee in it. I like it. It’s pretty close to the taste of a café au lait at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, minus the chicory. The construction and burn are spot on. The second third sees a transition from milk with coffee to coffee with cream. A few notes of cocoa in there, and the oakiness continues on. The construction is still pretty great for a young cigar that just finished a long journey halfway around the world. That said, I notice it is burning pretty fast. I hit the halfway point at right around 30 minutes. Happily, the cigar slows down for the final third. I taste black coffee, some dark chocolate, a bit of barnyard, and a fair amount of spice. Maybe nutmeg, a bit of pepper, something tangy. Some of the flavors are muted and transitions are a bit muddled, but there’s a lot of building blocks for the cigar to work with. Im pretty excited to see where these end up! It’s definitely young, but I still really enjoyed this cigar. There’s a lot of promise of good things to come, too. The chocolate flavors are very light, but they should develop. That spicy mix at the end could become really interesting. And that milky coffee flavor at the beginning blew me away. It’s pretty much the opposite of how I prefer to drink my coffee, but I sure enjoyed it in a cigar! I’m expecting a really great smoke in a few years time. There’s a reason the Monte 2 is a classic. Total burning time: 1 hour 17 minutes Score: 91/100

Punch Coronations ENE 19 with my coffee. San Cristobal La Fuerza ENE 18 with the first game. Cuaba Distinguido NOV 20 with the second!

Latest acquisitions

easy to hate on him when he played in New England, but impossible not to like once he went to TB. Hockey = Gretzky Basketball = Jordan Football = Brady single names that shine brightest.

There is information in El Habano Moderno that I know you will certainly appreciate, it's a reference book for both the novice and the experienced enthusiast. As an example, I greatly appreciated the information I gleaned tonight from my Review Copy on the rare 1995 Partagás Salomones Espanola release. Trevor Leask and I both marveled at how well researched this book was, we were both delighted with the new things we learnt from reviewing it during its draft stage. So congratulations Alex on your success in getting funding support for your Kickstarter campaign. I can unequivocally say that El Habano Moderno is a reference work that one will come back to again and again. It's the type of book you'd be happy to own and/or happy to gift to a casual cigar smoker buddy.

A recent pick up from 24:24 of Siglo II & Media Luna

Don’t typically smoke much in the winter. Finally having some Sig 2s make it both realistic & damn well enjoyable.

First ever box of these for me. Looking forward to them but won’t touch prob for a year at least. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

H Upmann run GEM SEP 20 Connossieur No.1 cracked a new box and for me a new cigar. Enjoyed it but I’ll have to have a few more to form an opinion. BRE MAY 19 Connie A. Winner as usual. MAG 46 from a tube. Not my favorite HU.

Also had a Monte 5 yesterday lunchtime. 2014. Really nice, flavoursome, smooth, rich. Excellent.

Partagas Serie P No. 2 TUA Jun 21 Had to source a box after hearing how good they are recently.

The last Bolivar Royal Coronas ... Have a nice Friday night everyone .....

Thanksgiving thru Xmas haul. Should have done separate posts so I can get closer to obtaining the fly monkey icon but this will have to do.

Some arrivals this week.