Rhinoww

No basement really.

Thanks Dad. And I say this after I have taken my son to the last FIVE Star Wars Celebration conventions around the country over the last ten or so years.

Nice. Love the old school.

Can’t we just buy these cigars as seconds? Value clearly diminished and flippers can’t buy them. Buy ya know some of us only buy to smoke and if the cigars smoke well, well they smoke well. Even better for damaged box pricing. Let me know if PCC would like an offer on that master case instead of getting the return - or will these just get sold as singles?

Funny. I was in Cleveland on business several years ago w a guy from Boston. Red Sox were in town. He begged to go to the game instead of dinner. Promised me he would buy the best seats available. we went to the box office. Guy says he wants two of best seats available. Woman says $80 total. He flips on her about wanting good seats. Her “sir, these are four rows behind the catcher”. Baseball in the right place can be a value

There is a documentary, Laurel Canyon, that touches on the making of this album as well as others from a very specific neighborhood- a canyon road really - on the cost near LA. A worthwhile flick if you like music of that vintage and realize that many of the artists of that time lived in normal houses near each other, hung out, and did odd things like having truckloads of sand brought into the living room where their piano was located to get a beach vibe.

Hot dog! Thanks FOH. It’s been a while since I wrote a review. It was fun to smoke the Upmann no 2and fun to write the review. It’s always a pleasure to be part of this community though. Best part was as of the delivery of my punch punch this week from our host I no longer had any CC in transit. A first in nearly three years, but no more.

Glad you had a good time. We are heading down in late august. Going to a jumbo shrimp game and preseason football. Hope it’s not too hot

It’s always funny how memory and reality differ. I thought I had three 10’ers left and a few singles. Took a look at my master spreadsheet- I had forgotten about some Tubos and a box of 25 (last years cigar of the year). Plenty to weather the storm but still in the list as a target. They seem to like a few years on them at a minimum. edit to point out that I was looking at my P2 totals. Unfortunately only 15 or so upmann no 2 remain - and was not fast enough on the recent 24:24. Only cigars - but good ones 😂

Nice review. Appreciate the photos and more importantly the nod to Habana MIke. He left quite a legacy.

Your review did inspire me to try one that had been sitting for a while. A nice stick.

Washed and waxed (well whatever the polymer is these days) three cars of the fleet. All in desperate need of a good cleaning. Two with some kind of black growth on the roof. Now all are clean and shiny. My reward an Upmann no 2, a modelo negra and a seat before I jump in the pool. Stick is from our host. A 2019 purchase of PSP/HQ that I split with a buddy so no code. Purchased in oct 2019 I think. Draw was very open. Like an nc. First third has nuts cream espresso/black licorice. Lots going on from the start. I have been thinking about those “target of opportunity” sticks for the next year. It may only be 6-12 boxes until the dust settles but I would like to buy at least enough to replace half of what I smoke. List will need to be curated and I will need to find some discipline 😂 So far this stick is worthy. The aftertaste is where this stick excels. Second third pivots into chocolate land on an aggressive draw. Odd. Not a Monte. I swear. More metered draws pull cream. A touch of leather in the aftertaste is emerging but hiding a bit. The cream journey continues through the final third. A great respite after some physical work. Likely on the list. Only 30 or so left on premises.

I’m not so sure end of July will be the end of the transition. Lots of guys like me sitting on the sidelines for now. How long I or anyone else stays on the sidelines and smokes our respective stash and at what point we need to restock compared to when supplies normalize- who knows.

Current tolerance to give stuff away remains high. Talk to me in a year. If it is truly cigarmageddon then I’ll have to reconsider

Liked them enough at the time to buy four boxes. Still like them. Not in a love period right now. Perhaps the cost per stick, perhaps taste/seasonality who knows. I dip back every few months. It’s summer and very nice out so I’m plowing into the bigger forbidden Vitolas right now.

With regard to grey market sellers, they have always seemed to hold some stock back. Even the one that I was aware of that periodically shared its stock list had things that would roll off after a two years or so. They still had the stock, just not for sale right now. Seems it is a bit of the industry practice. Now how much is left is a different issue, pandemic changed that practice for some I’m sure, but my guess is that at the current prices a lot of falls are smoking their stash so demand is light. How long these prices can hold is anyones guess. My sense is that Cohiba and Trin will have sales. The rest w a 20 odd percent increase won’t have much of a discount. But that’s my guess. I’ll wait and see. In the meantime kudos to FOH for keeping a supply coming for those here who need to resupply.

It’s like a high class striptease w the tissue paper still in place. How will we ever know if each stick is worth the price of admission.

The two I have had were nice but not drop dead chase the dragon experiences. Three left, for almost two years, and I likely won’t have more unless handed one. For me, the stick is just not as compelling a proposition as others. Now add in the price differential and dare I say I may be tapping out on Trin. Every man’s CC journey is different and mine did not include Fundi, even under the old prices. It won’t for sure under the new pricing.

@Chas.Alpha thanks for the tip on total wine. Was unaware there was one near the beaches.

This. my only concern would be if the cigars are exposed to a lot of heat without some moisture in there. I might even go w a 69 boveda and dry them out back to 65 or so when you get there. It is summer. The other question I would have is if you will be subject to Canadian Govt inspection. There could be a tax issue there if you are not careful.

No pics as I was cleaning my pool but just about done w a mag 46. Tip o the hat again to @rcarlson for making me go deep in these two years ago. It’s a gift that keeps on giving. Thanks to my prime steak brother.

Anytime. I’m gonna put down some money your trip will be more of a vacation than my visits, although we are going down in august for beach time.

Between Jax Beach and Ponte vedra is a decent liquor store Broudy’s Liquors 353 Marsh Landing Pkwy, Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250 they had a pretty wide collection of bourbon when I was visiting Family last March. Picked up a bottle of Peerless bourbon on sale for $75. Seemed to have a fair amount of good options of other liquors as well. I can’t speak to the Irish whiskey but you can call. There is also an ABC further down the road in a mall opposite the Marriott at TPC sawgrass. Both have customers who will buy good stuff so they stock it. Maybe 10-15 min down AIA to Broudy’s liquor. Another 5-10 to tpc. we walked past a cigar B&M in Jax beach by the beach, but didn’t go in. I brought my own CC. There were three guys in front smoking in some big leather chairs. Its a nice area to visit. Have a blast.

I’m at 66th. It’s time to make my move I think.

I had a very similar experience with this cigar at a tasting last year. I wonder if the intro pepper blast will settle in a year. Hmmm, depending on price I might give a try and let ‘em rest.