Your Last Cigar Purchase/smoked

SandPiper · Post by **SandPiper** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 12:41 pm

I picked up a few hard to come by cigars over the Christmas break. I had one, a Hemingway (Arturo Fuente line) Work of Art maduro last night. Outstanding (of course, I'm a Hemingway superfan; both writing and the cigar series)! I also got a few Ashton VSG's (Virgin Sun Grown), which I plan on sharing with friends this week. For the price, I expect great things from them as well...

dennisthemenace · Post by **dennisthemenace** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:56 pm

The Hemingway Short Story is my favorite small cigar.

Gregor · Post by **Gregor** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 7:47 am

SandPiper wrote:I picked up a few hard to come by cigars over the Christmas break. I had one, a Hemingway (Arturo Fuente line) Work of Art maduro last night. Outstanding (of course, I'm a Hemingway superfan; both writing and the cigar series)! I also got a few Ashton VSG's (Virgin Sun Grown), which I plan on sharing with friends this week. For the price, I expect great things from them as well...

Love the Hemingway stuff. Have the Work of Art Maduro to try. I had a VSG and it was good, but not for the price IMHO. Fuente makes lots that are as good at much better prices (Chateau Maduro).

dennisthemenace · Post by **dennisthemenace** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 6:11 am

Yesterday a friend gave me a Padron 1926 robusto. My but that's a good smoke!

SandPiper · Post by **SandPiper** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 12:17 pm

dennisthemenace wrote:Yesterday a friend gave me a Padron 1926 robusto. My but that's a good smoke!

Must be a good friend as well! I love the '26s; they are just a little hard to come by. Having a Cusano 18 maduro at the moment...very good, and an outstanding value (around here, anyway).

anixi · Post by **anixi** » Sun Jan 14, 2007 3:02 pm

Had a LGC Serie R the other day. It was milder than I thought it would be. It was a little spicy at the end, pretty tasty.

One thing that disturbed me was a bit of crud on the lighting end, it was gray and ugly so I cut it off. I hope I wasn't supposed to toss it!

lmk,

--Michael

adauria · Post by **adauria** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 2:51 pm

anixi wrote:One thing that disturbed me was a bit of crud on the lighting end, it was gray and ugly so I cut it off. I hope I wasn't supposed to toss it!

lmk,

--Michael

I'm pretty sure there's no crud that forms on cigars that can be harmful to you. It could have been some mold, which may not taste great and can ruin a humidor's worth of cigars, but isn't dangerous to consume that way.

Now if it didn't form on the cigar than it could be... well, whatever. Use your imagination (or, better yet, don't). I imagine some cyanide "crud" on a cigar wouldn't be too healthy. But, it seems you survived the experience and liked the cigar to boot, so I wouldn't sweat it.

I also like LGC cigars in general.

-Andrew

alchemyhunter · Post by **alchemyhunter** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:37 am

Just had two R&J #1 Tubos on saturday....one for me and one for my friend. Tasted good and smelled good. but wrapped way to tight. Barely could draw at all. I will never spend that much money on a cigar again. I thought Havanas were supposed to be top notch. Next time I will just stick with a good honduran or nicaraguan.

SandPiper · Post by **SandPiper** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:10 am

alchemyhunter wrote:I will never spend that much money on a cigar again. I thought Havanas were supposed to be top notch.

It can sometimes be hit or miss. I've had several habanos...the RyJs have been great. By the same token, I've had some Cohibas (not the dominican ones) that have been not-so-great. And, some "Los Statos de Luxe" that were absolute garbage. There are great cuban cigars, and trashy cuban cigars...just like any other country of origin. The label that I am most loyal to, and after hundreds of examples have never had a truly bad cigar, is a Dominican company - Arturo Fuente. I've pretty much covered their lines (even the Anejo...tasty), and like them all. They do produce some pricey cigars, but some that are not so. For the money, though, I wouldn't go for the Opus or Anejo. The Hemingway and Don Carlos lines are my favorite. They have the same filler and binder as the opus, but a different wrapper. And, they're considerably cheaper as well. I highly recommend both their Hemingway and Don Carlos lines, in pretty much any size/shape. I also like (lower on the pricing scale) that 8-5-8 maduros.

I guess what I'm saying is you can't just rely on price...I've paid a lot for trashy cigars, and gotten some good ones cheap (Cusanos were cheap until recently). The opposite is also true...I've paid a lot of money for cigars that I thought were outstanding, and still a good value.

adauria · Post by **adauria** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:37 am

I enjoy a good or great Habano from time to time. I can't spend that kind of money, though, except on the rare occassion I'm in a foreign country on vacation or business travel, etc.

I've heard quite a bit of grumbling about a steady decline in construction quality of Cuban cigars. Excessively tight draw is a very common complaint. It's a shame. Some of this can be blamed on excess demand and limited supply, some of it on that horrendous oppressive government. In any case, it's a real shame.

Hopefully the political scene will change there sooner rather than later. Hopefully we can get those cigars here in the US market. Why is that good, given that I think the increased demand for them will further hurt their quality? Because it will bring down the price (and possibly raise the quality) of good smokes from Nic, Hon, and DR. Sort of an opposite effect from the cigar boom of the mid-90's.

Still, a good Habano RyJ... spectacular!

-Andrew

alchemyhunter · Post by **alchemyhunter** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:43 am

It can sometimes be hit or miss. I've had several habanos...the RyJs have been great. By the same token, I've had some Cohibas (not the dominican ones) that have been not-so-great. And, some "Los Statos de Luxe" that were absolute garbage. There are great cuban cigars, and trashy cuban cigars...just like any other country of origin. The label that I am most loyal to, and after hundreds of examples have never had a truly bad cigar, is a Dominican company - Arturo Fuente. I've pretty much covered their lines (even the Anejo...tasty), and like them all. They do produce some pricey cigars, but some that are not so. For the money, though, I wouldn't go for the Opus or Anejo. The Hemingway and Don Carlos lines are my favorite. They have the same filler and binder as the opus, but a different wrapper. And, they're considerably cheaper as well. I highly recommend both their Hemingway and Don Carlos lines, in pretty much any size/shape. I also like (lower on the pricing scale) that 8-5-8 maduros.

I guess what I'm saying is you can't just rely on price...I've paid a lot for trashy cigars, and gotten some good ones cheap (Cusanos were cheap until recently). The opposite is also true...I've paid a lot of money for cigars that I thought were outstanding, and still a good value.

It is funny you say that...I have a box of cusano 18 robusto and a couple of their churchills in my humidor, and the other side has a couple of Hemingway short stories and an Opus X. My next purchase is most likely going to be some of those Punch Oscuros. Did you say that you like the 8-5-8 by Fuente?

dennisthemenace · Post by **dennisthemenace** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 6:15 am

A customer gave me a Padron 4000 maduro yesterday which I smoked after lunch. A nice standby cigar.

dennisthemenace · Post by **dennisthemenace** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:01 pm

Today at the shop I smoked a Gurkha perfecto. A wonderful old fashioned shape. I'd say a medium bodied cigar, nice flavor, well made.

StevoMcK · Post by **StevoMcK** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:14 pm

Punch Rare Corojo...very, very tasty. To date, I have not smoked a Punch I didn't like, but I stay almost exclusively with the darks.

dennisthemenace · Post by **dennisthemenace** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:23 pm

Ah, the Rare Corojos! My favorite of the Punch brand.

StevoMcK · Post by **StevoMcK** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:34 pm

Mine too, Dennis! I noticed anixi likes the La Gloria Series R. Great cigars, but I love the Series L (Maduro) which tastes a bit like the rare corojo.

StevoMcK · Post by **StevoMcK** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:36 pm

Mine too, Dennis! I noticed anixi likes the La Gloria Series R. Great cigars, but I love the Series L (Maduro) which tastes (to me) a bit like the rare corojo.

StevoMcK · Post by **StevoMcK** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:37 pm

lousy connection!!!

adauria · Post by **adauria** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:07 pm

dennisthemenace wrote:Today at the shop I smoked a Gurkha perfecto. A wonderful old fashioned shape...

Perfectos are fun, aren't they? They make me feel like I'm in an old cartoon or something.

-Andrew

dennisthemenace · Post by **dennisthemenace** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 8:31 pm

You're right Andrew, perfectos are fun!

Yesterday smoked a La Unica #400 natural. My favorite bundled cigar. Love those Connecticut wrappers!