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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/04/2023 in all areas
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18 points
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Headed to the CA big smoke tonight. Going to start the evening with a PSD4 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk16 points
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This image was taken of myself, my daughter and my wife getting ready for the 2:45 pm session of Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' at our local cinema last weekend. In Australia, intermissions at cinemas were phased out in the late 70s/early 80s. As a kid, I remember them. At 3 hours and 26 minutes, this is the type of film you should bring the 'movie break' back for! All in all, it was a really well-made film, that's for sure! We also caught up with my sister-in-law (i.e. my wife's sister) for lunch that weekend. (My wife and I aren't pictured) Yesterday, my son graduated. Of course, it was a lovely day spent with my wife and his wonderful girlfriend. I don't know what the significance of the bear is in these photos. Perhaps like the Spider-Pig character in the Simpsons Movie, the bear just helped push things along on the day, perhaps?15 points
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The start was pretty light, dusty and some touches of mineral, light cedar and hay. Mineral I seem to find on quite a lot of aged cigars. The 2nd half was where it came to life. Cream and coffee kicked in and citrus notes lilted in and out. Dark mocha as it continued into the final 3rd and the cream became more sweetened. I took it right down to the nub to make the most of it as the final 3rd was where the money was.6 points
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Punch punch, the grandma in a red Mercedes with mint gum is a dead give away5 points
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Indeed, it is not easy getting old I have had both my parents in hospital over the past month and it has necessitated me being away from work and the forum for large slabs of a time. Mum is 85 and Dad 90. Both were in remarkably good health until late September and then a fall here and a medical test there …….game on. I am blessed having two brothers and their wives who all pitched in. Mum arrived home from hospital two weeks ago and dad came home yesterday. Both are in good spirits but my brothers and I know the past month has been a reminder that things are about to change. The formulae isn’t hard. Loving kindness, patience, spend time, don’t leave anything good…..unsaid. We hope to get many more good years out of them. If you have parents (or grandparents) still alive, reach out to them this weekend Apologies if I have missed your email or PM over the past couple of weeks. It has been “hands on” but I should be back up to speed by mid next week.5 points
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Recently I have been smoking some Trinidad and the brand just keeps on impressing me…. Esmeralda, Media Luna, Topes and I literally shed a drop of tear tonight when I tried Reyes. It is best of the best for my taste, zero relights on the whole stick, all recent 2023 productions. I have multiple boxes of the aforementioned Trinidads on the way for long term aging because I just love the brand. I also have two boxes of 10’ Siglo VI still sealed, resting on my humidor, and a 25’ box of CoRo also resting on my humidor. Just an hour ago one of my go-to dealers offered a 25’ box of El Laguito CoRo for about US$500 more than what I paid for my non El Laguito CoRo. FOMO caught up on me and now I am considering it even before I ever tasted a CoRo ever…Is it worth it?? I have read many times people claiming Trinidad is better than CoRo and I can get almost any Trinidad way cheaper than El Laguito CoRo, but I fear I will regret it if I miss this opportunity to own the infamous El Laguito CoRo. Please help me to make a decision… the dealer will only hold it over the weekend for me and I don’t want to try my existing CoRo because it only been resting for 3 weeks… Pictures for reference of what I already collected so far… Thanks 🙏 PS: ignore the high RH reading, keeping everything @62-644 points
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I left my full time job almost 3 years ago to look after my father who is 85 and has dementia and anxiety. Wanted to keep him out of an old folks home during the COVID crisis. I receive a carers payment which is one of the benefits of living in Australia, even though the cost of living is high. I'm lucky in that my sisters live close by and give me a break now and then and handle the finances while I do the day to day. It can get very demanding because you love the person, so it's important to get all the help you need and take breaks. My sisters were very good at making sure he got all the government assistance. Cleaner, daily nurse visit for meds and check blood sugar levels, gardener. At one point we had a person to shower him but with the shortage of carers the timing of the visits was not consistent so we got rid of that and also a carer to take him for walks so as we could save money on things like respite, adult diapers and a carer on occasion during the weekend for a day so I can go out. We also got a watch that alerts the home base if he has a fall and also is a GPS locator in case he takes off for a walk and forgets where he is - which he has done before. I keep the door locked so he can't bolt and try not to watch anything on TV that might confuse him. Hence, no news or movies. Mostly on the sports channel. I now have the confidence that I can leave him for an hour or two to shop and go to the gym etc. We also found money in the budget to get frozen meals delivered each week for dinner. Food is very important for the elderly so we found a very good supplier that offer a host of traditional dinners that are soft enough but very good quality. I found all he wanted to eat was chicken snitzel and chips but now he has roast lamb, beef, chicken and turkey and meatloaf plus rissoles and corned beef - all with vegies. I supplement these with a soup to start which he loves. And lunch he'll only eat my famous ham, cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches with tomato chutney and Best Foods mayo. He gets very agitated from 4pm to 8pm. They call it sundowner syndrome. It's the time they usually came home from work and that triggers something. Just something to look out for as your folks get older. All the best with it all @El Presidente Hopefully your folks still have their wits about them and if you need anything clarified don't hesitate to message. Cheers.4 points
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I should start out by saying I didn’t actually steal this from my Grandma. Nor was my Grandma even a cigar smoker. But more about that later.. Vitola: Coronas Gordas Age: early 2021 Started out by using a punch cut, which I am a fan of with smaller (<46) RG vitolas. Proved to not the best choice as it was an already tight draw to begin with, so I gave ‘er a whack with a straight cut. Better. Cold draw: Honestly not getting much. Slight hay/earth flavor, but like the cigar version of La Croix. First third: Man it’s a slow build. Light Medium to start. Main notes of floral. Creamy peanut butter undertones, some toastiness. Floral picks up and turns sweeter moving into the second third. Second third: Moving into solid medium now. Floral notes switched to leather. And when I say switched, I mean like a light switch. No transition. And this is where grandma comes in. The flavor reminds me of how her early 90s Mercedes smelt inside. Rich, supple leather. And it’s taking me back to very fond memories of driving around with her, top down, sun shining, and chewing double mint gum. Awesome. Final third: Now the floral and leather are dancing playfully back and forth. And mixing well. It’s a banger. Creamy nut butter come back as an undertone, but is mostly over powered by the floral or leather. Nubbed it. Closing: The sudden transitions between thirds was wild. But in a good way. And the marrying of the main notes in the final third was sublime. I can’t remember the last time I had a cigar make me nostalgic like this, but this one did. I loved it. 10/10 would recommend if you had a grandma with an early 90s red Mercedes who chewed double mint gum. Score: 923 points
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Disappointed is an understatement, if this forum allows profanity I would shoot so many profanities that will make Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels seems like a child friendly movie. I did my Saturday morning ritual by firstly waking up at 6:00 AM, looked at my room hygrometer and things were perfect at 22C/55% RH, warmed up my La Marzocco Linea Mini, whipped up a strong latte and opened my 6ft tall electric humidor. I was expecting a lot as I took a more careful approach on doing everything, made sure I made a perfect coffee and poured on a double walled cup to accompany me during the expected hour plus long journey. I made a hole with my Davidoff Duocut with the bigger blade, smelled everything thoroughly and all was heavenly, until I noticed a crack on the foot, thought nothing of it and did an instant repair with Perfect Repair glue. Hope skyrocketed again just to crash terribly when I took a cold draw. All hopes and expectations crashed in an instant, while flavor and aroma has given me a lot of hope, draw was tight!!! I thought to myself to just push through and lit it up anyway and as expected only a whiff of smoke came out of my mouth and nostrils. I had to whip out my perfect draw tool and as expected only marginal improvement were realized. Yes, flavor and aroma was definitely there but not as pronounced or easy to identify as all of the Trinidad I have ever tasted, smoking experience was definitely very, very underwhelming…perhaps I expected too much, but I never felt this disappointed by any Partagas or Trinidad. I don’t think it was too much of me to expect a lot given the price of Cohiba. I only had to relight once indicating there is nothing wrong with the humidity of the cigar. I just wasted my precious cool and quiet morning, now everybody has woken up and the quiet is gone, whipped up another latte for my beautiful wife with my broken Zen which produced a watery latte. She still complimented it though. God, I love her. Decision has been made. I’ll pass on the EL CoRo, in fact, I will pass on the brand altogether. Granted, I have only tried three Cohibas in my very young cigar experience but nothing from Cohiba ever impressed me. I will not bat an eye or give any more thought when offered Cohiba in the foreseeable future, even let’s say if the draw was better I will still find the CoRo underwhelming when compared to Esmeralda. I will just keep what Cohibas I already have far behind the humidor to revisit I don’t know when and in the meantime give the whole marque a big red flag pass. The disappointment this morning is just a bit much too bear or repeat. Life is just too precious to waste an hour on a bad cigar.3 points
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If you love Trinidad, a blend that manages to provide both class, but also heft and weight of body. I fear you may find what the best Cohiba has to offer slightly underwhelming. That's just a guess. Ultimately I find Cohiba "over finessed" and a bit of a show pony. If I were you, I would keep those boxes you have, smoke a few high end Cohiba singles (Behikes etc.) and then back engineer your decision. i.e. If you are not impressed, simply move those boxes on for resale, or if they float your boat then simply dig in.3 points
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Bolívar Tubos No.1 ULA Jun 2015 If you aren't aware, the Bolivar Tubos No.1 was a medium-full Corona cigar discontinued in 2017. It was one of the last Coronas, a 42 ring gauge, 142 mm (or 5⅝ inches) in length cigar that was packaged in aluminum tubes in larger-than-average 25-count dress boxes. You may be struggling to account for the Coronas that we do have left in regular production to this day. There are indeed only three; the Montecristo No.3, the Quai d'Orsay Coronas Claro and the Romeo y Julieta Cedros De Luxe No.2. After having this box in storage for approximately five years, I've now gone through three-fifths of the box. In general, my other Bolivar Tubos No.1s smoked were mainly all chewy, soft caramel-marshmallow with some Bolivar Earth and leather and a touch of spiciness on the edges. One thing every cigar from this box has had has been plenty of smoke per puff! I had two superlative examples of Bolivar Tubos No.1 in a row about five-and-a-half months ago. They were perhaps my best examples of Bolivar cigars I have ever smoked, and I say that without exaggeration! There was a topic on our forum, posted around that time, querying when was the last time members smoked two 95-point cigars in a row, as I had done with those last two Bolivar Tubos No.1s. The link is below if you'd like to peruse it... https://www.fohcigars.com/forum/topic/155610-when-is-the-last-time-you-had-back-to-back-95-point-cigars/#comment-1195048 Once again, this Bolivar Tubos No.1 began like all the others, being soft and chewy on the palate, full of sweet caramel and floral notes with hints of underlying mushroom.This continued into the middle third whereby the strength picked up. Those standard-fare Bolivar flavours of bitter chocolate, leather, Earth and spice joined in on the mix. Whereas my previous two Bolivar Tubos No.1s had more caramel sweetness and floral notes throughout their blends, this Boli Tubo No.1 had more Earth, mushroom and forest floor 'funk' in its blend from the halfway point on. If you smoke Bolivar cigars regularly (or even perhaps on a semi-regular basis) I'm confident you'll know what I mean by this colloquially-named 'funk'. For me, according to my tastes, this suggests that there's still plenty of developmental life in this box of cigars yet. This Bolivar Tubos No.1 might not have been a 95-point cigar, but I'd still easily rate it a 92 to 93 point cigar. Perhaps if it had more caramel sweetness and mushroom undertone throughout I might have rated it higher. As it was, I didn't mind too much. After all, how often does one smoke a 95-point cigar?3 points
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Cohiba Pirámides Extra (circa 2012) The Cohiba Piramides Extra was introduced as an addition to the Linea Clasica group of cigars (i.e. Lanceros, Esplendidos, Robustos, Coronas Especiales, Panatelas and Exquisitos) within the Cohiba marca in 2012. It was noted for its dimensions being a little larger than the standard piramide cigar such as the Montecristo No.2, which is 52 ring gauge by 156 mm (or 6.15 inches) in length. The Cohiba Piramides Extra is 54 ring gauge (1/32 on a inch larger) and 160 mm in length (4 mm or 1/6 of an inch longer). These larger dimensions I believe define why it was labelled as "extra", but I'd argue that the price point in comparison to other Habanos cigars would similarly justify why it's named "extra", especially in regards to price increases since its inception. The other thing that the Cohiba Piramides Extra is noted for is its hologrammatic band which it was released with. In mid-2014, the other Cohiba vitolas began to follow suit. I most recently smoked a Cohiba Piramides Extra to celebrate the release of El Habano Moderno with its author, Alexander Groom in mid-2023. Nowadays, listings on the Bond Roberts auction site of a CPE, consumerate to this one in age, sell for around $US190 or about $AU280 a stick. Therefore, if the CPE was an uncommonly smoked cigar when it was first released, I'd say the greater majority of our members these days only smoke this cigar 'on occasion'. On average, I would smoke one or two Cohiba Piramides Extras a year, on average. I would like to thank @Trevor2118 for making this second CPE possible for me to smoke in 2023. This Cohiba Piramides Extra today was different to my last one smoked because it was more full-flavoured. I guess that the two CPEs do not share a box code, so this is to be expected. It contained notes of mocha coffee in its first third, with vegetal notes of grass and wood combined with a buttery texture in the middle third and finally finishing with some Earthiness in the final third. I got similar flavours in my last CPE smoked a few months ago, but in different allocations throughout the cigar. For me, the lack of a creamy texture at the beginning of this CPE suggests that it has not reached the next stage of its long-term development. In general though, when you want a bold cigar over two hours or more in the Cohiba line, then I'd recommend this cigar for you as they tend to be full-flavoured, even after five years down or so. Otherwise, if you'd prefer classic grass/hay and honey notes in a softer and milder expression, stick with aged Linea 1492 series cigars from this marca.3 points
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Trinidad Esmeralda GEM Nov 2019 The Trinidad Esmeralda is a Dinoras size with a 53 ring gauge x 145mm (or 5¾ inches) length. Initially I thought that the name 'Esmeralda', meaning Emerald in Spanish, was a gemstone reference, but the origin of the name has been included in the internal advisory note which comes with the box. To quote directly, "The charming name of Esmeralda is a reference to one of the famous streets of Trinidad city." I've written previously that the Esmeralda is one of those cigars that doesn't need any further accolades to assuage one of its virtues, in my opinion. It's simply a quality cigar that, for me, delivers satisfaction time-and-time again. The Esmeralda exemplifies the best qualities of the Trinidad marca because it is so true (to it). It's like the Cohiba Siglo VI of the Trinidad range. I've now gone through just over half this 12-count box smoked (and with one gifted). Each one I've had has been similarly exquisite in their quality of construction and more importantly, balance of flavours. It's been nine months since I've last had one, in fact, and this Trinidad Esmeralda did not disappoint any less either in how flavoursome it was. This Esmeralda did not have construction as on-point as my last one from the box. The ash was touch flaky in parts and it didn't burn evenly, at times. Flavours, however, were as every bit as good as I remember them to be. These were a basic combination of coffee, oak wood, butter and salt with perhaps a touch of Earthiness in the back half. With a little more downtime on this box I found the strength is now well and truly medium-mild, which I find quite agreeable, according to my taste. I nubbed the cigar to my fingers after 105 minutes of smoking pleasure. Even though I've had more ideal examples of Trinidad Esmeraldas in the past, this specimen still felt like something akin to a gastronomical indulgence, if I could use that analogy. To best summarise these 50th Anniversary Trinidad releases in terms of blend when in their youth, think of them as refined medium-strength cigars (the Media Luna being the strongest of the three, ahead of the Topes and Esmeralda) with a premium brand onus on delivering rich flavour (typically a combination of coffee, wood, dough or cake, spice, earthiness, nuts and butter). They are the type of cigars that you would finish a night with. As this Trinidad Esmeralda box has just hit the four-year mark, I'm finding them getting even better in how approachable they are to smoke, in my view.3 points
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Trinidad Media Luna BSM Nov 2019 The Trinidad Media Luna is a unique Marinas size with a 50 ring gauge x 115mm (or 4½ inch) length. "Media Luna" is the name of the Hostel with an important architectonic value located in the street of the same name in the city of Trinidad, Cuba. I had five or six Trinidad Media Lunas from this box code in the second half of 2020, one in August 2021 and one in October 2022. I have not re-visited them since. A number of these were outstanding 90 to 95 point cigars so I was happy to try another today to see how they were coming along. Like my last Trinidad Media Luna smoked almost twelve months ago, this started off with some cookie dough/cake and coffee core flavours which soon settled into a coffee, wood, leather, Earth and salt savoury core in the middle and stayed that way until the end. Again, from beginning to end there was an notable buttery texture to this cigar which was rich on the palate and this has been a consistent feature of all the Trinidad Media Lunas I've smoked from this box. In terms of strength, as this box nears four years of age, its quite evident that the cigar has mellowed a little in its 'bite' and is now entering its 'settling' or 'melding' period of development. Even though I believe that this 50th anniversary regular production petit robusto is a quality addition to the Trinidad marca, I now lament its premium price-point. It means that I will now smoke them less often from hereon in to preserve my stock. At least they continue to 'shine' and improve as they age.3 points
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Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No.2 UTL Jul 2019 This was my ninth Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No.2 from a 5x3 cardboard pack I acquired in late 2020. This means that I've gone through three-fifths its contents in a little under three years. I smoked the first four HdM Epi 2s within six months but the fifth was smoked twelve months later. The sixth one was smoked three months after the fifth one. The seventh one was smoked two months later and the eighth one six months after that. This ninth one was smoked five months after I smoked the last one. After smoking now through sixty percent the content of this cardboard pack, I'm confident that the question of aging in cardboard packaging will be but a moot point as seven of the nine cigars thus far smoked have been great to excellent, and the other two were serviceably fine. Like my last HdM Epi 2, the draw here was fine. The flavours were as idealistic as per comparison to the best of the HdM Epi 2s I've smoked thus far. It started off with a light milk cocoa, cedar, malt, cream and some delicious vanilla sweetness until the halfway point, where it then began to build up in wood and spice flavours from thereon in. Still, it was simply marvellous. All my HdM Epi 2s from this box code have been light in strength. The fifth one had quite a lot of flavour to it and the smoke per puff was quite voluminous. It took me an unbelievable two hours to smoke. By contrast, the next two HdM Epi 2s took me a more standard 70 minutes to smoke. This one took 80 minutes. It's interesting how one can get such a variance in smoking time from the same vitola! I have one stick of a BUP Mar 2018 Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No.2 left in my humidor. These have never reached the heights of the cigars I've smoked from this UTL Jul 2019 box. No one needs to tell you what the difference is between a superlative HdM Epi 2 and an ordinary one either. The difference is quite self-evident!3 points
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Sig I from 2018, pairing nicely with some yaucaono coffee Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk3 points
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A few of us in London yesterday at different PL47 launch events. Very good out the box, smooth, no hint of ammonia for its age.Started off light and reached medium for the most part.Several of the same opinion of the ramp up in strength towards the last third. UAR DIC 22 was the box code at the Bulgari @ha_banos @RichUK @GavLew79 Most of us were done by 8.30pm on the PL. Always time for another-from the singles drawer. I had no clue about this one so had to search what it was! Nice suprise - Bolívar Emperador Edición Regional Rusia from 2011, smoked wonderfully and true to the marca, still alot of strength Anyone for port? [emoji28] Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk3 points
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Love the old Michelin Man. the Michelin character was created by the French cartoonist Marius Rossillon (known as O'Galop; 1867-1946).2 points
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I have a somewhat different perspective. The answer for me is “I have no idea.” I’ve had quite a few younger coro over the years. But, in my experience, COHIBAS NEED 5 years to do their thing! If you’re planning on having it before 5 years, just skip it. If you feel like waiting, then maybe. But at that point you’ll be thanking/bemoaning my 5 year old advice.2 points
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Change “best for” for “most widely know as good for” and I would be able to agree with. Denominaciones de origen is both a protectionist measure, for example you can buy Mexican “Manchego” in America which is kind of impossible because Manchego means from Castilla La Mancha in Spain, as well as Marketing power law type benefit for products originating in a region that get to global acclaim which does not always mean “best for” but many times does and everyone benefits. if you ever go to Northern Spain let me know and ill gift you a box of Tomates de Somio, a community in Gijón, Asturias and we will sit down and have some tomato sauce made there while we puff a nice one and my long comment will exemplify my point. I’m sure there are other many regions and product examples, but my home tomatoes (a declining craft unfortunately) , and completely subjective opinion here, are absolutely beautiful and delicious for them tasting to home made sauce to cook bonito in it among many other things, but also because its variety is old (specifically called Tomate Antiguo de Somio) and a direct descendant of the first Tomatoes that Hernan Cortes brought back after finding the new world. ☺️2 points
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Cigar price over here is similar to Hong Kong and China, bloody expensive. Normal 25’ CoRo is around 1.4-1.5K, 12’ Esmeralda is around 700-800, of course I smoke them, only when I am completely relaxed and into it though, considering how expensive these are here. I have decided to open my regular CoRo today and judge it for myself.2 points
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Quay d’Orsay No.50 RBS May ‘23 Courtesy of our host Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro2 points