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Siglo V & Rare Pink Signature. Today was a good day Have a great weekend all 🥂

Nice two-cigar afternoon at my local lounge. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HUM 50 ABR ‘22 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

2014 Sir Winnie. It will be my buddy's first time with Winston.

Perdomo 10th Champagne

Recents.. Hoyo Petit Corona ‘18 and Trini Senadores. To be honest the latter did not meet expectations - good enough but I must say I was hoping for more 🤨

C&C time. Vigia (2016) from our gracious host.

2 sticks today. A short story in the morning and N3 in the afternoon.

Many thanks to our host 🥂

Siglo 3 was a dream LGC Glorias first time to try it and it was good but not worth the price tbh. Got another single let’s see how that goes

2017 Coro

Smoking a cigar that makes me relax after returning from a business trip

Punch la Isla bought the box 3 years ago smoked two and wasn’t impressed but now it’s great

El Viejo Continente Classic Maximun.

GRM FEB 2022

Some singles from the cigar bar

You can’t tell, but this is me holding an Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s Series Short Story and Work of Art.

RASS UBL May 23

Nice Nic this.

2020 Galanes from our host

APU Jul 2015 Trinidad Coloniales, courtesy of our host...

As @MoeFOH alluded to, my BFYBRW isn't a Cuban. Going purely on price point, enjoyment, and length of smoke this weekend. 😶‍🌫️ Disclaimer- I'm not a reviewer at all! lol This is my first attempt. I don't have the defined palette yet to describe my tastes, but I do recognize the differences in tastes and aroma between various cigar types. I don't like bold and bitter... I prefer a more natural sweetness and richness that is mostly found in Cubans. Nonetheless, I still smoke way more NC due to the price point. I'm slowly building up my Cuban collection with the assistance of FOH! I digress..... on to the review! My first ever Alec Bradley was a Prensado, chosen at random off a cigar menu while at a nice cocktail lounge. Ended up absolutely loving it. Wonderfully creamy and rich smoke. Later, I read about the AB Black Market and decided to also give it a try. Bought a fiver of these online for $20, making each stick only $4. Not bad for the 2022 CI #6 of the year. 🏆 Cost: $4 Total smoke time: 2 hours Price per hour: $2 Today's temps reached 52F in the Midwest, so I decided to finally do a gutter cleanout and trim a few low-hanging branches. Needed a long lasting cheap smoke for my work. Alec Bradley Black Market Churchill for the win! IMHO, the band is pretty bland, cheap, and unappealing. Not nearly as ornate as the Prensado. Let's take off this huge paper band and see how she tastes. Removing the huge band left a smaller ring band with just the maker and blend. Went with a V-cut as I tend to do on larger sticks. Cold draw is very barnyard, musky, hay. No sweetness at all. Time to head outside and light it up. First stop- the front yard. Lots of leaves and sticks in the gutters, and tons of low hanging branches blocking the sidewalk and porch entrance. Made my way around the brush and finally lit it up. The sunshine is beautiful. Sunshine and a nice stick are even better. The first third smoked very slowly, as I tended to the ladder, constantly moving it around as my son climbed up and down. (It's even a better bargain when your son helps you with your yard work!) The burn was pretty uneven and jagged... very warped... but I blame that on my lack of attention to the cigar as I walked around and manhandled it. Slightly windy outside. Made it around to the back of the house while on the first third. The foot was looking pretty shaggy and jagged by the time I made it around, but it required absolutely no touch-ups at all. It evened out on its own, as I rotated and tried to let it works its own magic. Lots of medium to full bodied flavor. Very rich and smoky. Tons of leather and nutty notes. Not a lot of spice at all to start. Pretty earthy and herby to begin with. Second third begins to get a little more spicy and peppery, but not tons. It's hit or miss with each puff. It's beginning to get a little sweeter, and I can feel the nic begin to start kicking in. It's getting chilly in the backyard so I move my chair from the shade to the sunshine. It's not until the sunshine hits the wrapper that I notice how beautiful it is. It's a dark colorado maduro color. It's much more colorful than it looked inside and in the shade. Has a nice red tint to it. The wrapper has a nice grit to it, a bit sandy in texture. I'm getting close to the second band as I finish off the second third, and don't notice as it begins to char. Time to remove it. The final third is delicious. Same result as the first time smoking the Black Market. It became much more sweet, rich, savory and addictive. Not sure if it's the nicotine or what, but it's like you don't want to put it down. Each puff give off a pure tobacco richness that I crave. Time to enjoy the final third and bask in the sunshine. It's burned for well over 1h 30m now, so I need to enjoy the last 30m. By this time, the wife is checking on my whereabouts and the kids are waiting on a promised trip to Orange Leaf for a cup of froyo. I don't nub it, but wish I could have. I have to stop here: Overall I give this a 9/10 for taste, length of burn, satisfaction from the smoke, and addictiveness. The uneven burn would get an 8/10 but I blame it on myself, so I bump that up to a 9/10 as well. Give one a try! I know there are AB lovers and haters out there.......... but for $4 you can't go wrong with this guy. -ctsigler317

January 2008 Siglo IV. Great on a nice fall day.

C&C time. VI (2018) from our gracious host.

Fonseca Cosacos to start the weekend 😄

New to me. 2018 Canada Regional Edicion - Diplomaticos Norteno (UEB OCT 18) partial box.

It isn't. Ray @PigFish is right (of course ). The underlying physics / thermodynamics is universally applicable to all hygroscopic matter. It’s of utmost economic significance, tobacco just being one among a vast range of materials. Look up e.g. here for an easy reading / understanding: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equilibrium_moisture_content Equilibrium moisture content of wood versus humidity and temperature, according to the Hailwood-Horrobin equation.

Sunday morning walk and breakfast

Nudie PC Also had a N1 rosado. From 2020 earlier today. Aging nicely !! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

El Principe

Today was a good day! Punch Punch!!!!!! (to the tune of One Punch man 😂) and JO sig vi.

Some good stuff arrived this week. Some large format for the good times and some nice cafe smokes for the everyday. All from our gracious host. Double Eddys EPO MAR 23 VR Unicos EPO JUN 23 HdM Palmas Extra OEG JUN 23 RGPE SUL MAY 23

Right off the truck. Box of RASS (PGM JUN 23) and a 10 count cabinet of HdM Le Hoyo Rio Seco (RSG MAR 23)

"Ignorance is Bliss!"- Anonymous

Mate, I post here to help people, not to be the smartest guy in the room. I likely have 50K pages of archived reading and if you think that I am going through it again to prove it to you or anyone, then you misunderstand the meaning of goodwill. As stated, I don't really give a shit about anyone believing me! My value is for my personal consumption and comes via the hundreds, if not thousands of personal correspondence I have received by actually, not theoretically, helping people store cigars. This one came in my PM this am... and brought me to post on this thread. Dear Piggy, first of all I want to thank you for such a great scientific explanation behind the optimum cigar environment, in relation to their rH and temperature. As a new people in cigar world, you have helped a lot.... My friend THAT is why I post this stuff. Real people getting real benefits from my knowledge. I am not in it for the debate win, I am in it for the service to this community as I have done for near 20 years now. Now about this mate. You quote some authoritative scientific proof showing the opposite, that I am wrong! Happy researching!!! -LOL I was @summoned to this thread for good reason. It is because I have proven to many that I know what I am talking about. That said, the floor is yours. Cheers! -Ray

Harumph harumph. Lately I have been contemplating the differences in how I enjoy CCs compared to NCs. I have many more boxes and partial boxes of CC's compared to proportionately more singles and 2-3 of-a-kind of NCs. I feel smoking through cigars from the same box adds an additional dimension to the smoking experience. It is more grounded and connected by the nature of their box yearness, single same factory of origin, and there spatial (and perhaps happenchance) relation to each cigar making up its other box brothers and box sisters. It's like a tribe of cannibals savoring each generation of a shipwrecked society in an orderly fashion that develops with each course/generation of human flesh that is eaten....rather than just noshing haphazardly on sporadic selections from amongst a crossunificated non-generational uncategorized smattering of non-sequitor vending options in the Cannibal University dining hall. Oh, the humanity. The process of smoking through a box rather than singles provides a more comprehensive perspective.?.? I also worry that I've dog-cussed a few NC's undeservedly because I just smoked 1 or 2 random cigars from different boxes from different stores in different years..... and maybe duds were the order of the day because God just hates me, and not because the cigars sucked. Do you find your experience with NCs to be similar? Is this your ENTIRE NC experience being documented and we are reading the very origin and early development stories of you NC life? Officially yours in loquacious correspondence - Misster Missivee

Would it be more accurate to say warm air can hold more water but cold air and warm air could also have the same moisture content? You'd still need to actively add the moisture to the warm air for absorption.

Full respect for Rob and his sources, but I'm reserving my judgement until I see it in market (consistently). I've been told enough stuff by insiders over the years that turned out to be inaccurate to know that when it comes to HSA internal decisions nobody really knows anything, no matter how much they are in a position to. Cohiba bands are one thing. Maybe they are switching printers (I know they have been experimenting with alternative printing companies for years), and the new one can't do the UV or it's cheaper not to do the UV or whatever. Maybe they are bringing it in house and they can't source the UV ink. The fakers have fully cracked the UV so it's not really serving a purpose as a security feature. Given that the bands come in all different sizes and would be in stock at many different factories, it makes sense that we are seeing the absence of the UV being a bit sporadic for the market. If it really has been removed, it will probably be a year before it is totally gone. But the seals? Have yet to hear of anybody getting a legit seal without the UV. I have AGO 23 boxes that still have it. The seals are all applied at a single facility, so if they were removed they would be removed consistently. They have zero incentive to prevent fakes, however, they should have an incentive to prevent legit cigars being questioned as fakes. You know you're going to get some customer shining a UV light around the walk in and saying "this is fake" and the clerk having to mumble something about "no no they removed it in May but only from some boxes." If they really wanted to remove the UV, it should have been accompanied by a visible redesign so retailers can say "these are the new bands. They don't have UV." I guess technically HSA doesn't have any incentive there either, as it's only going to be a headache for retailers, but you'd think some of that pain would trickle back to HSA eventually. Even for the retailers it doesn't matter for the bottom line as everything will sell eventually, but seems like it's causing an unnecessary hassle. Will be easy for BHK - has never been any UV on those.

Without having anything scientific to back this up... I would associate the tunneling to the wrapper being hydroscopic and just needs aging to fix it.

Bang for your Buck - Review Weekend Prize: 6-Pack MOFOH Spada Gorda!! Sounds like a porno weekend at George Costanza's place... but, no, simply the cigar that's hands down delivering the best value per dollar spent for you... what's your pick... & give us a detailed review as to why... These days, it will most likely not be Cuban... but you never know. NOTE: Draw now done TUESDAY morning (Bris time) - hint: get your reviews in early - the more engagement on your post, the more chances in the draw. Follow these guidelines to submit your entry: 1. Start a new topic in the Waterhole 2. Pick any cigar that fits the bill and do a detailed review with pics. Score the cigar in your own way. 3. Title your review in this format (so we can track entries): E.g. "Montecristo No.2 ABC MAR 21 (BFYBRW)"* 4. If you don't have the box code, give us the year and/or as much info as you can. (3 reviews max per member) Done!! Have fun with it and have a great weekend!! *BFYBRW = Bang for your Buck Review Weekend

Back when I was starting to get back into cigars, I think I managed to snag a RP sampler pack with this included. Since then, I've re-bought these over and over again as I think they're great! Super flavorful and super cheap - just reordered 7 5-packs off a cigar bidding site for $2.30 each. Even after shipping and taxes, they are still less than $3 per cigar! Because of that this is the cigar I share with others and smoke when I just want a good solid reliable cigar. Not too sure when this cigar is from but the last time I ordered this was 4/27/2023 so I probably got it early May 2023? 1 - It opens with a nice aged/musty leather note. Transitions into a strong cedar flavor with notes of coffee and nuts. Little punchy on the retro which fades as they age longer. Towards the end of the first third, flavor is a deep black coffee with a good quality coffee sweetness. 2 - More coffee intertwined with a sweet tobacco. Occasional nuts and leather notes but black coffee is the main flavor in this third. 3 - Still more coffee but the aged/musty leather reemerges in the last third. Some youthful bitterness as I get closer to the nub. I've had some of these aged for a few years and the youthfulness does go away and the cigar gets a lot smoother! I just need to stop smoking them so I can actually get some age on them haha Overall - 6/10 a good cigar. If you take price into account, this is an awesome cigar! I think these retail at $10ish per cigar and I think it smokes at that cost. But because they're easily found for less than $3, this is probably my top bang for your buck cigar! With age these do mellow out and I've had some 8/10s from these cigars!

I doubt the tunneling is strictly due to RH. Changing RH does not effect so quickly like changing the temps on a oven.

P2

JL1 GRB JAN 23

This is the best cigar for me this year 2007 JL gorgeous . Even though it is in a robusto format. Robusto a great much prefer another inch or so.