Cairo

The small Bolis are the strongest CCs out there imho. When RASS are on they come close--somewhat different profile but worth a try--and a robusto size. You might want to try the RASCCs first to see if you like them--petite coronas--one of my favs.

The studios/networks are notorious for stealing ideas and not paying for them. One of their very nasty tricks is to "have a lunch" with a creative person who discusses their concept. The studio indicates they are not interested--and then a couple of years later those ideas (in great detail) are included in a future production.

This clown sells his "advice" for $400 a year--peddles it in TV advertisements. It seems like half the stories on "American Greed" (show which features scams and ponzi schemes) have clips of Cramer endorsing the scammer. This would be hilarious if so many folks were not taken in by it.

Fair point--but when you get a great Monte that has excellent coffee/chocolate flavor then you want more--and all too often are disappointed. I am not that concerned about what anyone says about the smokes--I want great Montes and wish I had more of them.

He has also given his name to a lot of dog rockets--and damaged his reputation doing so.

Spend your money of Anejos instead (imho). The Opus X are very strong, almost overpowering, even with years of age on them.

Is there any other product on the planet that rates its own day like that? There is not even a "No Poison Day".

That is my take. This vendor is gambling with their reputation--if they don't negotiate a settlement with a non-disclosure agreement that would be a major blunder. That said--it is entirely possible/likely the vendor (and their source) may be victims as well. This was a great video--a lot of lessons here.

I bought a bunch of these when they first came out--so far the couple I tried are not ready for prime time--even though some reviewers have had good luck with them. I think they will be amazing a few years down the road--but for now I have plenty of favorites that are smoking beautifully so I can be patient. That said--you should try one and see what you think--worst case it will give you a benchmark to compare to in later years.

Meetings always work well when there is a major power differential between those running the meeting and those attending it--at least according to those running the meeting. 😀

Great post. "Luxury" NCs (other than Padron and Fuente) usually go on deep discounts after a few years sitting on the shelves. I have bought dozens of different ones on deep discounts in the past couple of decades. CLE makes a solid product, but my guess is their high cost brand would be hard to distinguish from their regular offerings in a blind taste test. I will wait for them to show up at my usual NC deep discount online retailers--no rush to find out if I am correct or not.

A few years ago I worked in a mid-rise building in a small US city (Hartford, CT). We had those blue recycling bins everywhere in the office. One day one of my co-workers was overcome with curiosity and decided to stay late and see what actually happened to those blue bins. They "spied" on the after hours janitorial staff and watched them mix all the blue bin contents into the huge regular garbage bins in the loading dock area. Obviously this is just an anecdote for one building fwiw.

I know that NCs are supposed to be ready to smoke when they hit the market but there are a few exceptions. Brickhouse is one of those--totally unsmokeable without a year or two of rest. I have no clue why that is--but that has been my experience.

I have a 2012 50-cab of these--still have a few left in the cab--they aged beautifully.

RASS and RAS--alternate between them. My 2018 and 2019 boxes took a while to get there but now they are at their peak. Fortunately I am well stocked on both.