BadBadMan

I need this to go along with my bison shoe horn

I hope I have one of those replicator contraptions a la Star Trek so I can make a dry aged steak, some 70’s Ardbeg, and and maybe a Dunhill Cabinetta while I rest my weary bones .

Aramis Havana has been one of my favorites for years. I wouldn’t call it a cigar fragrance though. It’s more like a fresh green earthy smell mixed with bay rum and smoke. It’s a massive, unabashedly old school, wonderful fragrance that always puts me in good mood.

I’d be curious to know exactly how they got these numbers as well. As many of us have experienced, in most areas many of these bottles are either not available, sell out instantly, or they remain on shelves only if the retailer sells them at the inflated secondary prices. I would imagine these prices reflect what you can actually ‘find’ the bottle at with regularity. For example, here in Los Angeles, I can purchase Weller Antique at normal retail price only when I’m diligent and lucky, but it’s always available at a nearby shop for about $100.

Ive been fortune enough to amass a few bottles of these (Elijah barrel, Stagg jr, older WT rare breed bottlings) from rare encounters when I’ve found them for standard pricing, but I’m no high roller so I can’t keep up with the madness anymore. Lately though I’ve been buying as much old Armagnac as I can get my hands on and most of my bourbons have been collecting dust. Sure, it’s not the same, but it has enough complexity and richness to remind me of the older bourbon I used to be able to buy. I’ll always keep a bottle of WT 101 and a single barrel around though because they always make me smile.

Orange juice makes sense in a weird way. In Cuba citrus cocktails rule, albeit mostly made with lime. I’ll happily drink a well made Daiquiri with a cigar on a warm evening. I’m curious to try some orange juice cocktails now, maybe a Blood & Sand or a Tequila Sunrise to see how they stack up. I recently read a great great article about the history of the Canchánchara cocktail if anyone’s interested. I’ll be trying out this recipe over the weekend, but I’m guessing my Oaxacan Aguardiente will be too funky for pairing. https://punchdrink.com/articles/original-cuban-cocktail-canchanchara-recipe/

The best gear investment I’ve made in a long time is a good insulated pad with a high R-value. A good nights rest is key for good times. Upgraded tent stakes are worth the cash too if you gotta deal with wind because, again, a tent ripping and moving around will make sure you get zero sleep. I think my worst tent placement debacle was when a colony or ants decided to relocate over my tent while I camping along a river. I woke up in the middle of the night and the light was shining through my blue rain fly with thousands of tiny ant silhouettes all around me and I leaped off the ground thinking I either fell in the river or was abducted by little green men while I was asleep.

Great list! Beefeater, Terroir, and Plymouth are all staples in my home bar. I gotta track down a bottle of that Mahon now, it sounds wonderful. I’m surprised not to see Junipero make the cut, but I guess it’s not as exciting as it once was. I’d add Jack Rabbit to the list because of its use of rose and sage. It’s delicious in a martini or neat.

I smoked a Partagas Serie E No. 2 that came from the 2018 Christmas Sampler to celebrate my 35th birthday. It was one of the best cigars I have had to date! The ‘spiced cream’ description from Rob was spot on. What a luxurious smoke! Now to track down a good box of these...

Throw a BBQ in the mix and you have the holy fire trinity ?

I’m not even in the realm of seriousness as your mate (I wish I had the time and patience to be), and I leave the roasting up to the professionals, but I certainly can echo his opinion on light roast coffee. A few years ago I got somewhat serious in my morning coffee routine by weighing my coffee and water in grams for each pot, investigated in a proper burr grinder and brewing gear, and joined a mail order coffee club that delivers beans just days after they’ve been roasted. What I learned is that when you roast beans longer you’re actually cooking off the more volatile flavors that make that particular coffee unique. It’s similar to smoking a cigar too fast, you lose the nuance that you’re after. It took me awhile to adjust my pallet having learned this because I sort of had to unlearn what I thought coffee should taste like. The dark roast flavor is actually favored by mass roasters because, at times, it can be a tool to mask inferior quality beans and to make a more homogeneous product.

I began my collection about a year and half ago so I’m in the same boat. So far from the 15+ boxes I’ve been sampling from my best have been: Partagas Shorts Partagas Lusitanias PLMC Epi #2 I also recommend keeping an eye on 24:24 for boxes with age. Some great Bolis with a few years have been coming up lately.

VIP room? I’m not sure what that entails, but if I could combine my haircut and lapdance routines it’d be a major boom to my schedule. It might also give a new meaning to “barber pole”.

Short time lurker / first time poster ... Would love to join in on the good times! Count me in. @BuzzArd I’m up for riding shotgun if you lower your normalcy standards ?