TobaccoRoad

To say that I am stunned to be on the leaderboard is an understatement... I was not hopeful of being anywhere in the top half of the scores.

That it is my big hearted brother. The two missing Esmerelda's are resting comfortably in my humidor.

The price increases definitely are changing my buying habits. Bought some flavored cigars for my wife and added in some regular NC's for my stash. Went back and bought some more yesterday. First NC's I've bought in a couple years. I have somewhat of a budget. Not a hard cap on cigar spending but have to keep my expenditures in a reasonable range. I will always "park my coin" as El Prez likes to say, on good value. If it's NC's or CC's. I'm going to smoke the best I can afford everyday.

"...with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark — that place where the wave finally broke, and rolled back.” Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Cool deal - looking forward to them. I'm an Upmann fan but agree on the HC. Not my favorite vitola. I'm more of a fan of the smaller RGs in the shorter smokes.

I've got a box of those resting for this coming winter smoking season. Looking forward to trying them.

No change at all for me. I've got one Cohiba in my humidor from a trade and there it will stay for now. They were already too expensive for me to justify purchasing, now it's even further beyond consideration. I'll smoke the one I've got sometime and enjoy it for a one-off.

I pulled out a San Cristobal de la Habana El Principe this morning intending to review it for the Most Valuable Vitola contest but half-way through decided against it. Instead I let my mind wander in the midst of that mildly euphoric state of relaxation only obtained through the inhalation of nicotine. It was a beautiful spring morning here in the Southern US. 72 degrees, a light breeze blowing, sun light filtering through the Willow Oak trees. I was watching the Eastern Blue birds fight over the prime nesting spot hollowed in the side of an old fence post that has been home to generations of blue birds in my yard. The robins digging worms to take back to their chicks. The squirrels hopping around trying to remember just where they buried those pecans last fall. Laughed at a Mockingbird who scolded me every time I got near her nest in an Azalea bush. Enjoyed the intoxicating citrus and jasmine aroma of our Mock Orange bush in full bloom. I was experiencing all of these miracles of life and existence too intensely to find the concentration to review a cigar. There have been many long threads concerning the future of Cuban cigars and our ability to continue to obtain them. Who knows what the future brings? Right now I am just going to focus on being grateful for the ones that I do have. I intend to enjoy every single one I smoke and enjoy every single day to the fullest. Nicotine is a wonderful drug...

At the end of the day, if I can afford it. I will continue to smoke habanos. If I cannot then I will smoke NC's. I'm envious of the members here who've been doing this long enough or had the resources to stock up for a long dry spell. I started purchasing CC's about 2 1/2 years ago with a monthly budget that I've stuck to (well mostly). I'm pretty much a daily smoker and at current consumption I've got about 2 1/2 years worth of stock. With recent pricing increases I'm already anticipating adding in some quality NC weekday smokes and stretching my habanos stock by making them weekend or special occasion smokes. IMO- The only way this new pricing policy works is if they get a handle on QC. A luxury brand cannot be established with occasionally plugged, inconsistently rolled, flavor/wrapper varies from box to box cigars.

Spent the last hour watching Norman Gunston interviews. I had never heard of him before. Some classic comedy there.

I see the BOTL acronym used a lot. It's warm and fuzzy to think that everyone on this forum is honorable, upright and participating in this hobby with purely altruistic motives. It's also extremely naive. In any community, especially anonymous online forums, there lurks the best and the worst of human nature. There are some fine people here at FOH. I've been lucky enough to trade with a few. I'm sure there are less upright and reputable folks here too. I haven't had the misfortune to trade or transact any business with them. If I do in the future then the old adage applies: Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Move on with lesson learned.

There is a small family restaurant in Denton N.C. call "The Classic". It's all you can eat home cooking comfort food. Every time I visit I eat enough pulled pork and fried side meat to keep my arteries clogged for months. So freaking good.

It depends on the cigars and your preferences. The bad news is there is no easy answer to your questions. The good news is that there are no wrong answers. The best news is that you will learn from your experiences. I'm a couple of years into this hobby and enjoying the ride.

I have heard that it is pretty much the same dish. Livermush is just a more descriptive name. I have to admit that scrapple sounds much more appetizing.

I purchased some Tapados and Mananitas a couple of years back. The construction was good -pretty consistent. The flavor profile was very woody and bland, it did not remind me of any other habano. It didn't seem to be the type of cigar that would benefit from age. Not a bad smoke by any means, just not my cup of tea. Honestly if it was between these two Vegueros and similarly priced non-cuban smokes it would be a coin flip type of decision for me.