What cigar (or pipe) did you smoke today?

[SteveAS]

fftopic:
Off the top of my head, I believe that Party Corona is discontinued, and with 8 years of age, I'm not surprised it was very good.

Right you are, sir. This one was from a cabinet (of 50 cigars); I believe the cabinet version was discontinued in 2002, while the dress box version was made as recently as 2006. To my palate, which admittedly generally favors younger cigars, the 2006s are even better than the 2002s.

Even more fftopic:
For those not in the know, Roldolfo Taboada was a torcedor in the La Corona cigar factory in Cuba. He was elevated to the highest level, "Master Torcedor" at age 30 with fifteen years of rolling cigars under his belt, a title which is typically only bestowed upon torcedors with 25 years of experience or more. He currently works on a bit of a free-lance basis, from what I understand. Travelling to La Casa Del Habano (LCDH) locations for rolling events. He rolls cigars at these events which the shop owers sell. I've never gotten a very clear answer to where the tobacco comes from for these rolling expositions, so while not trying to take anything away from the Masters' art, any cigar is only as good as its' components and how smoker is able to experience those components.

You are right again, and thanks for elaborating on my admittedly opaque post. I don't think anyone outside Cuba really know where the travelling master rollers get their tobacco when they roll at LCDHs outside Cuba. When they're rolling inside Cuba, most of them get their tobacco from the same place as the production cigars at the factories where they roll. The master rollers' cigars are usually thought to be better than the regular production cigars because the master rollers are also skilled blenders and they might be able to select the best tobacco coming into the factory.

The particular Toboada cigar I smoked this past weekend was obtained by "a friend" who visited Toboada at the (old) La Corona factory in Havana in April 2004. Compared to the cigars I've smoked, which were sold by, say, the LCDH in Tijuana and sold as Toboada-rolled cigars, these are unquestionably better.

 

[rmrdaddy]

Wonderful Steve, thank you for that additional information. I have a few of his goods stashed away, methinks smoking one soon is a great idea. I also think I should plan a "hot" date with a La China custom rolled pyramid in the near future as well.
It's great to have "friends", no?

Long ashes!

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

On Saturday, I smoked a Kristoff Corojo Churchill. Tasted fine, not too heavy, not really strong, but it burned VERY unevenly. I had the cigar for about a week, but it was still moist. The coal at the end of the cigar on one side was 2 inches away from the coal on the other side.

I assume that the cigar was badly wrapped. Can anything I did cause it to burn that unevenly?

Thanks

 

[St.Ignatz]

CM Colorado Robusto

 

[Slim Portly]

Don Pepin Garcia Blue Label torpedo. Another winner.

 

[rkwilker]

Gurka warlord

 

[rmrdaddy]

Hi

On Saturday, I smoked a Kristoff Corojo Churchill. Tasted fine, not too heavy, not really strong, but it burned VERY unevenly. I had the cigar for about a week, but it was still moist. The coal at the end of the cigar on one side was 2 inches away from the coal on the other side.

I assume that the cigar was badly wrapped. Can anything I did cause it to burn that unevenly?

Thanks

Mike,
I don't see Kristoff offering a corojo wrapper, they offer Criollo, Maduro, Ligero, Maduro Ligero, and Sumatra. The way a cigar burns depends on a ton of variables, wrapper type, RH of the area in which you are smoking, RH of the storage facility where it was sold, RH of your storage facility, being just a few.
If your B&M stores cigars too wet, you may want to dry box one next time before you smoke it.

Long Ashes!

 

[1961MJS]

Hi

Since I burnt the cigar up, all I had was a memory of what it looked like and a wrapper with Kristoff on it. Kristoff Corojo Churchill may be wrong in several places.

While trying to find out which one I had, I made the decision to smoke one of each of the cigars labeled as a Churchill in our nearby shop.

Later

 

[RedPop4]

I don't have an idea what last night's offering was, as it's a blind review for Cigar Weekly. But I'll try to remember to come back and tell you all what it was. It's been ages since I've read and posted here. Hope the old hands remember me and are doing well.

 

[jamespowers]

I don't have an idea what last night's offering was, as it's a blind review for Cigar Weekly. But I'll try to remember to come back and tell you all what it was. It's been ages since I've read and posted here. Hope the old hands remember me and are doing well.

I think a few of us just might remember you.
Sounds like an interesting cigar tasting. Do remember to come back and give us a review.

 

[BobC]

Diesel tonight.

 

[RedPop4]

I think a few of us just might remember you.
Sounds like an interesting cigar tasting. Do remember to come back and give us a review.

Hi James, how are you? Sorry I've been away, no real reason, I'd venture, but it is what it is. Things OK?

This thing had a lovely, smooth light wrapper leaf and triple cap. It had a woody aroma still in the cellophane. It lit beautifully, and burned that way, as well. It was straight and true down it's entire length and girth, despite a slight breeze and the New Orleans humidity. It was a big cigar, too, six inches by at least 55 ring, if not bigger. The ash was solid, this thing was very well made.

It had a medium flavor, but lots of strength, as well, when the ash fell, there was that ligero leaf poking out of the center of the cigar. Of course, I'm interested to know what it is, too.

 

[jamespowers]

Hi James, how are you? Sorry I've been away, no real reason, I'd venture, but it is what it is. Things OK?

This thing had a lovely, smooth light wrapper leaf and triple cap. It had a woody aroma still in the cellophane. It lit beautifully, and burned that way, as well. It was straight and true down it's entire length and girth, despite a slight breeze and the New Orleans humidity. It was a big cigar, too, six inches by at least 55 ring, if not bigger. The ash was solid, this thing was very well made.

It had a medium flavor, but lots of strength, as well, when the ash fell, there was that ligero leaf poking out of the center of the cigar. Of course, I'm interested to know what it is, too.

Ligero poking out the bottom? Triple cap? Works for me.
Everything is 5 x 5 here. The humidor is full but I still save room for the unxpected or the expected that I want to get extra of.

 

[rkwilker]

La Flor Dominica double ligero.

 

[Rock31]

La Gloria Cubana the one hidden in the back

I am a new cigar smoker, any recommendations you can make?

So far I have had the above, Punch Uppercut and an Ashton.

 

[Kid Mac]

Scottish Woods in a Barling meerschaum.

Mac

 

[SteveAS]

Por Larranaga Petit Corona. Satisfyingly strong, but not (yet?) as flavorful as I'd hoped.

 

[jamespowers]

Por Larranaga Petit Corona. Satisfyingly strong, but not (yet?) as flavorful as I'd hoped.

Was that the Cuban Grade?

 

[Slim Portly]

CAO #7 Escaparate corona gorda (6.25 x 50). Absolutely tremendous cigar. Mild but complex, very smooth and cool. The #7 was a prototype blend that eventually became the CAO Vision, and as it was not released as a full production run, the particulars of the blend were never published (to my knowledge). Fortunately my tobacconist has a large stash of them, and I will be picking up a few more for the humidor.

Tomorrow is payday, and sometimes I splurge a little the night before. The cigar was a gift, but I picked up a bottle of Kahlúa Especial on the way home to go with it. I also had some nibbles to accompany: Marcona almonds from Spain, and Valrhona Noir Amer chocolate (71% cacao, deliciously bitter). Come to think of it, the almonds and chocolate were gifts as well. What did I do to deserve all of this?

 

[rkwilker]

Sancho Panza double maduro