Smoking on the Red

03-28-09, Shara and I have been waiting for this night all year. Last night was Smoking on the Red, a cigar event. It was fantastic. There was a great crowd despite some bad weather in the area. There were about seven manufacturers there handing out samples. There was a man there hand rolling cigars associated with Torano. Shara was really facinated with him rollong the cigars. I bought two extra Toranos to get one of the hand rolled cigars.

I purchased a ticket for myself and Shara, so I ended up with double the samples. You presented a coupon to each manufacturer and they let you select one or two samples. Toward the end of the show some of the vendors got a little liberal with their samples and gave out a few more. I also came away with a Gurkha hat and a Torano ash tray. The goody bag they handed out at the door was a coozy stuffed with matches, a lighter, cutters, Henry Clay mints, and a few other goodies.

There were a lot of nice sticks there. That evening I smoked a Torano Exodus 1959 and a Cusano Habano LXI. Troy, a friend of Kerry's smoked a Tabak Especial Dulce. We all tried it and really liked it. We decided to do a box split. Shara rounded everything up for us and we bought it. The box contained 24 sticks, so we each got eight.

Friends and cigars. You just can not beat that. Patrick in the top picture and then me and Kerry. Do you think we had fun? Oh yeah. As we were leaving, another friend, Twan, gave me a very special cigar. I will have to save it for a special time. Shara and I already can not wait until next year. She had as much if not more fun than the rest of us. When she bought the box for us she got a free Drew Estates hat. It looks like a hat Castro wears.

CAO America

3-20-09, CAO America Bottle Rockets. I got three of these free with a CAO America sampler I purchased. These are some beautiful sticks, barber pole wrapper, beautiful bands, you just don't feel like you could go wrong with them. WRONG! I don't think I have ever been so disappointed. The prelight draw was hard. I thought maybe it was due to the length. These are 7x50. I lit it and it stayed hard to draw. A few inches into it I noticed an area that started to swell and crack. I took my cutter and cut it just above the area. The spot was about an inch in length.

As you can see below, it was charred into the stick. There was even some charring above where I had cut. I relit the stick and the draw continued to be hard and the flavor was not all that good. I finally gave up on this and put it down. I have two more left and I don't know when I will give them another try. I will let them sit in the humidor for a few months. Maybe I will give them another shot aroung the 4th of July. They are a patriotic looking stick.

This goes to show you that looks can be deceiving.

The Champion

03-04-09, It is a beautiful day. There is a good wind blowing and 73 degrees. The peach, pear, and plum trees are blooming. Birds are singing and I am listening to Styx. Best of all I received a shipment of Punch Champion cigars today. These small perfectos are my favorite cigar for the price. I have not had any for quite some time. The vendor where I usually buy them has been backordered for about six months. I found a five pack on cigarbid.com and won them for $15.00. Excellent price being that the last time I bought one at a retail store it was $5.85. I have a box of 25 on the way from Cigars International.

These are a natural tobacco. One of the only naturals I really like and buy. The size is 4.5X60. They always have a very nice draw and burn. They are mild to medium. They have a smooth wood/leather spicy taste with a hint of chocolate from time to time. The smoke is thick and white. The aroma is very pleasing. My wife can tell if I am smoking one of these just by the smell. I am going to finish this smoke on this beautiful day.

Warmed Up Today

01-31-09, It warmed up enough today to get out in the yard and do some work. We had a high of about 68. I took advantage of the weather and enjoyed a cigar. I fired up a La Diva.

I used to pay $10.00 to $15.00 each for these. They were aged in cognac barrels and sealed in glass tubes. The distributing company that once sold this brand went out of business. They are now sold by TNT Cigars and cost around $5.00 each. Anyway, it had a wonderful sweet smell before lighting. The wrapper was creamy and rough. No large veins, it just was not smooth. Upon lighting the taste was as sweet as the smell. It was mellow with a touch of the cognac and cream. It produced a lot of thick white smoke. The draw was just right. It was consistent throughout the smoke. The burn was not even, but there was nothing wrong it. It lasted forever. I need to see if they make it in a shorter version.

Too Cold to Smoke

01-30-09, It has been pretty cold this month here in Louisiana and I find it hard to get out in the cold these days. I actually love the cold weather, but this has been a different year. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice with a high of around 64, so I will get out in the yard. I will pick out a good stick to enjoy while I ride around on the lawn tractor rounding up leaves. I have a La Diva, a cognac cured cigar about a 6.5x50 that I got from TNT Cigars. These are very tasty and mild. The last one I smoked lasted a good 50 minutes. I can't wait.

First Cigar of 2009

01-01-2009, My first cigar of the year was an Arturo Fuente Hemingway Signature Maduro. I had it in my humidor for almost 10 months. It was a very beautiful wrapper; dark, oily, and flawless. It lit very easily and produced a very tasty smoke. The smoke was plentiful and white. It did not burn very even, but it was a good smoke, easy draw, and I decided not to mess with the burn, no touch-up. It had a medium to full flavor. There were hints of leather and wood. It was a cool smoke up to the end. I took it to the end as far as I could. I enjoyed every minute this fine stick provided. It was a very good way to start the new year off.