What's your latest NC purchase?

[ElLoboLoco]

7 hours ago, JDoughty said:

I just did a quick search and it seems to be out of stock everywhere. Small Batch has the Apprentice but not the Ambassador.  This said, a cigar would have to be absolutely world class to go head to head with the BR 109 #1. Immensely generous, creamy smoke volume to the point that the mouthfeel is almost juicy, huge complexity of flavor, elegant structure. This is the kind of cigar that I would expect to pay a very high premium price to smoke, the experience is truly on par with the greatest Davidoffs and Padrons that I've paid too much for. It's going to be pretty hard to beat IMO. I've been rummaging the top shelves of my local well stocked shops for $50-$60+ sticks in those marcas to smoke in an attempt to give my BR 1 boxes time to rest and age a bit. While they're undeniably good, perfect construction, elegant flavor structures, enjoyable smokes, the BR 1 is a better smoking experience with greater flavor complexity and evolution for 1/3 the price. 

Edit: Aha, found it! LA Aficionados Cigar Collective has the Ambassador. 

JD, that’s a huge statement right there. Huge!

[JDoughty]

Just now, ElLoboLoco said:

JD, that’s a huge statement right there. Huge!

I stand by it. While I am a casual cigar dabbler at best, not any kind of expert, I've been privileged enough to taste some truly amazing examples of the craft over several decades. My palate is serviceable enough to have qualified as a sensory judge for world competition tastings in other arenas. The BR #1 holds its own in terms of flavor evolution, elegant balance and structure, mouthfeel and texture of the smoke and evolution over the length of smoke against any cigar I have tasted, including the old Cuban Davidoffs and Dunhills. I have a rich sensory memory of a few historical cigars that would equal or better it, and every one of them is unobtainable today. I don't think any of the modern Davidoffs are better, though I do think there are some similarities in the elegance and balance of their flavor structure. It's not so much that the flavors themselves are similar, just the delicacy and elegance of how they present in the smoke. Some well aged modern Cubans could definitely go head to head. I haven't been this impressed by any cigar in a very long time though. 

[ElLoboLoco]

23 minutes ago, JDoughty said:

I stand by it. While I am a casual cigar dabbler at best, not any kind of expert, I've been privileged enough to taste some truly amazing examples of the craft over several decades. My palate is serviceable enough to have qualified as a sensory judge for world competition tastings in other arenas. The BR #1 holds its own in terms of flavor evolution, elegant balance and structure, mouthfeel and texture of the smoke and evolution over the length of smoke against any cigar I have tasted, including the old Cuban Davidoffs and Dunhills. I have a rich sensory memory of a few historical cigars that would equal or better it, and every one of them is unobtainable today. I don't think any of the modern Davidoffs are better, though I do think there are some similarities in the elegance and balance of their flavor structure. It's not so much that the flavors themselves are similar, just the delicacy and elegance of how they present in the smoke. Some well aged modern Cubans could definitely go head to head. I haven't been this impressed by any cigar in a very long time though. 

Do you think the BR have enough legs for longer term aging? They are more subtle leaningand I worry about them becoming too subtle in 3+ years.

where you at on this?

[El Presidente]

1 minute ago, ElLoboLoco said:

Do you think the BR have enough legs for longer term aging? They are more subtle leaningand I worry about them becoming too subtle in 3+ years.

where you at on this?

We are 3 years into our original batches. 

So far, the Petit 109 and 109 have aged superbly. The Petit 109 the real surprise of the two. 

[ElLoboLoco]

It’s so interesting to see how similarish Honduran tobacco is in some ways to Cuban tobacco.
They seem to have the same ability to hold up over time it sounds like. 

 

[ElLoboLoco]

I am also hearing, buy a cabinet. 🤣😂

My wife would send Rob a nasty pm.

[JDoughty]

5 minutes ago, ElLoboLoco said:

Do you think the BR have enough legs for longer term aging? They are more subtle leaningand I worry about them becoming too subtle in 3+ years.

where you at on this?

The real expert on them has weighed in and knows better than me for sure! This said, I definitely think the #1 has long legs. I am guessing that some of the delightful fresh stone fruit and in your face buttery pastry notes may subside, but a cigar with that much creaminess and delicate balance of flavor structure won't generally lose those things even if the intensity lightens. Older cigars can streamline down in flavor and become elegantly whispering ghosts of past power. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't know how long that might take for this cigar. @El Presidente will know much better than me.

I don't quite understand the petit 109 yet. I intend to rest mine some more and keep giving them chances because of how amazing the 109 is. 

[ElLoboLoco]

Thanks for your thoughts. 👍🏼

[JDoughty]

56 minutes ago, ElLoboLoco said:

I am also hearing, buy a cabinet. 🤣😂

My wife would send Rob a nasty pm.

That sounds like excellent advice to me. The cabinet purchase I mean, not the nasty pm. 🙃

[ElLoboLoco]

I am sitting about a box of each, I have a hard getting to them because the Trinity Robustos have crack in them. 🤣

[Hoosh]

My experience with the No.1 was less amazing than what’s being discussed. It wasn’t “bad” by any stretch (is having to use my PerfecDraw because of its horrible draw “bad,” or just reminiscent of the Cuban cigars it’s trying to emulate?), but I wasn’t immediately hitting the repurchase button again either. I’m open to what the rest have to offer, but I’m not as hyped as I was at first. 
I will add that out of the package, I’ve not smelled as good a cigar.

[JDoughty]

3 minutes ago, Hoosh said:

My experience with the No.1 was less amazing than what’s being discussed. It wasn’t “bad” by any stretch (is having to use my PerfecDraw because of its horrible draw “bad,” or just reminiscent of the Cuban cigars it’s trying to emulate?), but I wasn’t immediately hitting the repurchase button again either. I’m open to what the rest have to offer, but I’m not as hyped as I was at first. 
I will add that out of the package, I’ve not smelled as good a cigar.

The first one I smoked was really that incredible. Another I tried was cracked through and unsmokable due to damage in transit, alas. I tried Ciglue but the damage went too deep despite not initially looking that bad. This purchase was promptly replaced when I showed the damage even though it wasn't their fault. Another was, I am guessing, just not quite rested enough since it was good but not transcendentally good like that first one. I am trying to be patient with the boxes I ordered and rest them under perfect conditions so that I have a hope of duplicating that first magnificent experience. They do not smell quite ready to smoke yet, not like that first one, and there is a lot of aroma variance between the fresh boxes. I trust that time will tell on these.