RichG

I was here for a conference for the first time in a few years this past January. There’s a smoke friendly casino (Blu I believe) and the TS Steakhouse on the upper floor of the hotel has a cigar lounge as well. I never made it to the lounge however, since you can smoke in the casino. I had a nice dinner at the steakhouse, but if I’m being honest there was a handful of martinis and some bourbon involved so I can’t 100% attest fully to the quality 😁. The Lodge at Turning Stone is connected to the hotel proper and the casino, but is slightly removed by a brief walk. It is all suites, and has its own pool/spa and a nice piano bar. I would recommend The Lodge for spacious rooms and nice, peaceful atmosphere, at a reasonable cost.

Received mine in NY yesterday. Kudos, absolutely beautiful. I got a real kick out of of the sealed stickers on the Collectors edition, wasn’t expecting that!

Wow, that article is spectacularly poor. Have to admit, when I read the description “drivel” and saw it was about Jordan, I presumed the link would take me to Cigar Aficionado magazine.

@El Presidente will these nudies ship to US customers via Miami like the previous release? Just smoked a Carlotta Maduro this afternoon while tinkering around with my boat and some Havana Club. They are smoking fantastic right now, excited to see how the new blends stack up.

Definitely agree on Blue Heaven. Awesome spot, my favorite restaurant in Key West as well. I’m heading here in March and plan to check this place out as well, as I’ve never been. https://rodriguezcigarskeywest.com

From FoH…these “clearance” BBF are looking lovely.

I was going to just answer D4 for all categories, but upon further consideration: Intro - RyJ No 2 (haven’t given any out yet, but recently bought a box for this purpose) Daily - Partagas Short or Nudie N3 Colorado Rosado Impress Your Guest - For someone not accustomed to Habanos I would go D4, for the initiated maybe a Prieto farm roll for something more off the beaten path. Friday Night - Monte 2 or Media Luna Special Occassion - Party 898, any Cohiba Sig V or up, or La Trova.

Confirmed touchdown NY today.

Not in the office currently, but I got a message from the receptionist that there’s a box marked FOH waiting for me. Touchdown NY.

Nice surprise waiting for me today upon return home from work, from the NCRW premium sampler prize! I have never had anything from Linea 1935, I look forward to putting the torch to these in a few months come fall in NY. Thanks @El Presidente and FoH team! Much appreciated!

That’s actually just plume on that tongue.

I only knew of Nino through his posts on this forum, and only had the pleasure of one brief message exchange with him via PM. In December of 2021, I believe in the CC latest acquisition thread, Nino and I posted dalias from HLPs farm that were identical. Having read many insightful posts from him on the forum, I messaged him with a brief inquiry about these farm rolled cigars. I just looked back to this exchange, and it strikes me how energetically and gracefully he gave of his knowledge and insight in our brief discussion, including videos of him and his friends in Cuba. The information he gave in these brief messages was not only useful to me personally, but educated me on how it is proper to bring medicine and supplies to Cuba when going there for these purposes. His absence has been noticeable, and his posts on the forum forum have been missed. My deepest condolences to his friends and family.

I went Lancero and Churchill, but a Dalia would sure be nice as well.

I almost missed this post...haven't been focused much on cigars lately...busy assembling the worlds greatest thimble collection.

Man these summer weekends are exhausting but priceless. This morning I got my daughter out for a ride, taking a breather now for a N3 Rosado. Next up bring the kids to the woods/butterfly farm. Tonight drive to a brewery in a seaside town to watch a friends band play. Tomorrow probably raft up with some friends and hopefully find time for a great smoke.

Congrats @Ford2112!

Never ever direct your significant other to buy you Habanos as a gift…there will at this juncture be too much price transparency in the relationship!

Some lovely June acquisitions. All from FoH excepting RGPC which I see are trickling back into the market. …and these just appeared at my door from FoH. Lovely start to the long weekend.

Perhaps Habanos ran out of authentic seals and bought these on Alibaba.com.

I just smoked one from my RAT Nov 20 box. These were not packaged with proper care (not Rob - elsewhere) which was exhibited by some cracked feet. This one happened to have a small puncture in the head, and when I punch cut it, it created more splitting and portions of the cap and head separated. Not an ideal start. It started off oaky and peppery on the retro. Definite notes of caramel sweetness through the first third along with wood and dark coffee. For sure some youthful boisterousness coming through on this one. The sweetness died down, as well as the peppery retro, in the second third and creaminess and body picked up, continuing with dark woody coffee notes. Some sweetness picked back up in the final third, and then the flavors died off a bit. The condition of the head and cap definitely were a distraction, but this was a pleasant smoke I would be glad to have on any occasion (exploding head aside). I think I will put this box back to bed and try one from my RAT Sep 21 box next to see how it stacks up. 9/10 (ignoring damage)

The centering I could agree with. The main diagonal bar has a round element meant to be directly above the top of its upper limit. From what I can tell this round piece and the flourishes to the left and right of it are completely out of alignment with the balance of the seal. See below for intended symmetry (from CCW). Edit - I may be confusing static elements of the seal with the black light portion.

Main hologram is asymmetrical and off centered.

What about the 9999999999 on the balance of the numbers.

Print lines visible in the serial number and fake warranty seal number on bottom right of second photo jumped out at first glance.

Absinthe! That explains why he appears to have possibly lit the filters on his rocket booster cigarettes?!