Archive for June, 2009

Esteban Carreras 10 Anos (Natural)

Friday, June 19th, 2009

This week I stopped by The Stogie Review to join Walt in reviewing the Esteban Carreras 10 Anos. If you haven’t been to The Stogie Review, you need to leave this place and see how a cigar review site is done.

Fine Dining in White Plains

Thursday, June 18th, 2009
For those of you in the New York area, you probably never thought you'd see the phrase fine dining and White Plains in the same headline. For years, the small business satellite center about 25 miles north of New York had been just that: a business and retail center without much going for it in the way of great restaurants.

First Impression – 601 “Red Label”

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

The title says it all. I’ve never had this cigar before this review was written. I generally like to smoke at least two cigars before doing a review. If I simply don’t have that 2nd or 3rd cigar, I try to make a note in the review. As always, I rummaged through the small humidor and dug this out. After asking around, it turns out my pal Matt gave this to me awhile ago. You remember him, we did this review awhile back. I’m pairing up with water and a touch of Glenfiddich 18 year scotch. The scotch really helps cleanse the palate. Since this is a first impression review, I’ll need all the help I can get. On to the review…

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano Natural

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Size: Robusto 5 x 50

Price: Around $7.00

1 601 RedLabel

Pre-smoke & Construction:

The smooth, tan wrapper looked nice and refined. There were no noticeable soft spots in the cigar either. I could only detect a woody smell when sniffing the wrapper. I got a combination of wood and pepper when sniffing the foot. The pre-light draw was free, and had notes of hay and grass. The burn only required a few touch up’s, and the ash was flaky, only lasting about a half of an inch.

Flavor:

Smooth peppery notes kicked off the first third. Next up was cedar, a decent amount of it. Cocoa and earthy flavors kicked in as I progressed through this third. Simple, full bodied, and good.

2 601 RedLabel

The second third started off with a reduction in pepper. Earthy flavors increased slightly at times, as did the mocha. As I reached the end of the 2nd third, the pepper transformed into a sweet somewhat spicy flavor.

3 601 RedLabel

The last third went well in to the full bodied spectrum. Mocha and woody flavors were in the front of the flavor profile. A sweet smoothness combined with earthiness to fill up the remaining space. The smoke became thick and coated the mouth. Very full bodied and creamy.

4 601 RedLabel

Conclusion:

Now a bad full bodied cigar! This isn’t a WOW cigar by any means, but it definitely was not bad at all. Considering this was the first time I’ve tried the 601 Red label, it went well and I will try this again.

Fish Stories

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009
Four thirty a.m. on a Saturday, and I was awake. Well, sort of awake. I took a quick shower, got dressed, and headed out for coffee and bagels. I was heading out on the water with a group of friends, and we were going after stripers, which apparently don't sleep, not even on weekends.

Alec Bradley SCR

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

The Alec Bradley Cigar Company was nice enough to give Ed and I a sneak peek at their latest cigar, the SCR, or Select Cabinet Reserve. This review is featured at our other home, The Stogie Review, as well as St. Pete Pipe and Cigars. Make sure you pay them a visit! In the mean time, see what Ed and I thought of the SCR.

Sorry about the audio hum in the first section. Sounds like we had a small ground loop going for a little while, or I had the microphones too hot. Luckily it wasnt too bad.

Half Moon Nights

Monday, June 15th, 2009
Out here on the East Coast, we are living through a mini-Monsoon season—rain, rain, rain, all the time. Unfortunately, the unusual period of rainforest-like precipitation coincided this past weekend with my club's annual member-guest tournament, known as the Half Moon Invitational, a two day tournament with about 100 people playing five nine-hole matches divided up into a dozen flights or so created by the total combined handicaps of the two players.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Somewhere Else

Monday, June 15th, 2009

animalhouse6“Woman… can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.”
-    Flounder, Animal House

In the late 1990’s, author John Gray wrote a mega best selling hit entitled: Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. The idea was that if the opposites sexes began to treat one another like we were from different planets, we would co-exist quite nicely here on this earthly plain. Gray claims that us men fail in our relationships because we attempt to fix a woman’s problems with our off the cuff, unemotional suggestions. He says that women don’t want answers – they want empathy - they want us to show that we understand how they feel and that we are there for them. Well, I think the author is the one who is from another galaxy because I have NO f@#king idea how a woman feels and I will NEVER understand then for as long as I live.

You guys know that I work from home and I don’t have the need to dress up or look presentable for anyone during the course of the day. For the longest time my wife would complain when she got home from her job that I looked like a slob and why can’t I look nice for her when she comes home. Last week we go to Kohl’s department store and she picks out a bunch of really nice shirts for me for the summer. So Friday I have a nice crisp golf shirt on, new jeans and shoes. The wife comes home, walks past my office, looks at me and snarls, “Why are you wearing your new stuff? You’re going to get food on them and turn them into crap within a week!”

For months she bitched that I dressed like a street urchin, and now I look nice and she bitched that I’m going to ruin my new clothes. All a man can do is throw his arms into the air and let out a hearty, “WTF?!”

Now my wife is ALWAYS telling me I’m fat, I look like a slob, and every other thing she can possibly kill me over. She basically acts more like my mother than my spouse. I never say anything bad to her because then I’m even more of a P.O.S. than usual. But this past weekend I threw out a zinger that I knew would wreak havoc. We were in the mall and I was waiting in the food court (yes, getting fatter by the minute on gyros, pizza, and Taco Hell) when she finally showed up with a sundress for our son’s 8th grade graduation. She asked if I liked the black one she picked out, or should she look at a lighter color. Well, the set up was there and I lobbed the girl an ugly-ass, off-speed curveball…

“I’d go for the black because it will cover that gut of yours a lot better.”

Yeah, that’s right Cotty, you horse’s ass, I REALLY DID say that. Holy Jezuz H. Christmas, I thought the gal was going to melt into an emotional puddle of goo right there in front of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels.

“I’m fat? I look fat? I really look that bad?” she whimpered like a bruised lil’ school girl.

“I’m just kidding honey,” I assured her. “I just thought it was a funny thing to say.”

Now, my wife is attractive and in good shape. She exercises and works hard to stay fit. She’s not fat at all, but I knew the pain that my off-hand remark would inflict, and after all the verbal beatings I have taken for SO LONG, it was time to have a little harmless fun. Well, harmless to me.

We walk no more than two minutes, and as we pass those annoying bastards in the T-Mobile booth, the wife turns to me and says, “You know, I think I look pretty good for my age.” I replied, “Of course you do.”

As we approached the knock-off designer sunglasses kiosk a minute later, she says, “You’ know, I’m not a kid anymore.” I said, “I know that.” She then says, “I can’t help it if I have a little more than I used to.” I replied, “I know you can’t.”

When we get inside the car, there is dead silence as she just stares aimlessly like her favorite kitten was devoured by a pit bull. I look at her, grab her wrist and say in a loud voice, “YOU’RE NOT FAT FOR CRISSAKES!”

“You think I’m fat and ugly.”

“No, I think you’re an oversensitive woman who breaks my balls for sport, but I make one stupid comment and you turn into a gelatinous blob of puke.” Good Lord. “Get a grip, woman, I was only kidding and you deserve a good shot once in a while”

“Tonight I start my diet. I’m also going to walk and extra mile each day. Do you think I should do crunches?”

6a00d83451cfe069e200e55206982b8833-800wiIt was an amazing little exchange that lasted well into the next day. She even told my daughter that I said she was a fat whale and needed to lose a lot of weight. I’m not one for pushing a person’s buttons, but this was downright bizarre. And the funny thing is, she wasn’t mad at me for the remark - she was saddened by it. Suddenly I felt so powerful, kind of like that wizard behind the curtain. And as much as my wife bats my skull in on a regular basis, I felt bad… well, maybe not all that bad.

Have a great week, my peeps. Btw, right now I’m wearing a cigar t-shirt that the Mrs. hates and my most blessed and holiest of boxer shorts. But don’t worry I’ll change into something nice and get yelled at a little later on.

Damed if ya do, and damned if ya don’t.

Tommy Z.
JR Cigars Blog With the Zman.

Perdomo 10th Anniversary Criollo

Monday, June 15th, 2009

First things first… Some companies think you and I are too stupid to notice if they increase their prices just as SCHIP takes effect. Not much we can do really… To add insult to injury, many cigar shops are tacking on yet more cost. They can just blame SCHIP and hope their customers won’t notice.

On to Perdomo… They are eating the SCHIP tax on over 70 percent of their portfolio. Some of their cigars will actually see a price REDUCTION. Nick Perdomo has the right idea. He knows his customers put him on the map, and he is going to help us out. You greedy bastards can learn something from this company.

Anyhow, I am pairing this cigar up with water, and a few sips of Glenfiddich 18 year scotch. My rant is over, lets get to the review!

 

Wrapper: Cuban seed Criollo

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Cuban seed Nicaraguan

Size: Figurado 4.7 x 56

Price: Around $6.00

4Perdomo 10th Anniversary Criollo

Pre-smoke & Construction:

The wrapper looked oily and smooth, with minimal veins. Sniffing the wrapper and foot revealed a woody smell mixed with natural tobacco. When I squeezed the length of the cigar, I found out this thing was packed rock solid. I clipped and took a pre-light draw. It was pretty tight. I managed to loosen it up with careful grooming and a poker. The pre-light draw had a sweet, earthy, woody taste to it.

 

Flavor:

Right out of the gate, the first third greeted me with a nice flavor profile. Unique earthy notes stood out. They melded with an interesting flavor that was woody. What kind of wood I do not know.  As the first third came to a close, a pleasant sweet taste came about. It was almost caramel. Very nice…

1Perdomo 10th Anniversary Criollo

The second third kept that smooth, woody flavor. Those unique earthy tones started to become more traditional, which I don’t consider a bad thing. That sweet flavor I described as caramel started to become mocha, but not entirely.

2Perdomo 10th Anniversary Criollo

As I hit the last third, I encountered some bitterness. It wasn’t strong and went away quickly. The mocha flavors changed into an unidentifiable sweetness that was very nice. The flavor profile really seemed to simplify itself, but was very nice.

3Perdomo 10th Anniversary Criollo

Conclusion:

As you probably noticed, I forgot to take a picture for the first third. I guess I just got tied up in enjoying this cigar. This was a very good medium to full bodied smoke. There isn’t much I can say except I enjoyed it a lot. I’d recommend you try it for sure.

Cigars at 330 Miles Per Hour

Friday, June 12th, 2009
I recently had a smoke with Tony Schumacher, a six-time champion drag racer. Tony, known as "The Sarge" for his Army sponsorship and military haircut, specializes in going very, very fast in a top fuel dragster. Fast as in 337.58 miles per hour.

Nub Maduro Review & A Rant

Friday, June 12th, 2009

NubLive I’m a fan of the Nub line for sure, so Matt and I were looking forward to meeting Sam Leccia, the creator of Nub cigars. No fault to Sam, unfortunately the Nub Live event on June 6th was a wash and insulting. It was held at a tobacco warehouse in Tampa.

It turns out, you had to buy a minimum of one box. No singles, no 5 packs. Oh, and it was cash only. What is this, the 60’s? Add to that a very uninviting environment. I have “Not felt” a cigar event as much as this one. I’m not buying a box of a cigar I’ve never had.

Despite Sam being a nice guy and offering us a free cigar, we decided after 15 minutes to go down the street and purchase a few Nub Maduros at a place that didn’t require a minimum of $107.00 in cash. Although Sam was positive and nice, the negative incompetent people around him spoke volumes over his easy going personality. This reminds me of an experience another cigar reviewer had. Read about it here. I believe Sam’s vision of what Nub Live is about is sometimes being ruined by incompetent bookers and venue staff.

 

Now that the rant is off of my chest, I sat down with a glass of water, a fresh palate, and smoked another Nub Maduro for this review. Let’s see how it turned out.

 

4Nub MaduroWrapper: Brazilian Maduro

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Size: 60 x 4

Price: $6.00

Pre-smoke and construction:

The Nubs in general have good construction. This one was no different. The dark wrapper had small veins and had the smell of hay or grass. The foot had a similar smell with an added sweetness. When squeezing the cigar, a few soft spots were found, but nothing alarming or unusual. The pre-light draw was free and had an earthy taste.

I did no burn corrections, and only ashed once. As with all Nubs, construction was top notch.

 

 

Flavor:

The first third opened up with a simple earthy flavor. A slight peppery spice was detected when passing through the sinus. Although simple, it was easy and wasn’t bad.

1NubMaduro

The second third showed a decrease in earthy flavors. There were short bursts of a dry mocha. Sort of like the chocolate powder you put in milk. A slight peppery taste remained in the background. An ashy flavor crept into the mix, and wasn’t a pleasant taste.

2NubMaduro

The last third didn’t go to well. I still got bursts of dry mocha, which was enjoyable. Unfortunately, ashy flavors overtook it most of the time. The smoke began to irritate my mouth and back of the throat.

3NubMaduro

Conclusion:

I know what some of you are saying… “Tom is just mad about the Nub event and is slamming the cigar.” On the contrary, I have no ill feelings towards Sam or Nub in general. Re-read the rant. My beef is only with the venue staff and whoever books the Nub Live events. I’ll smoke a Nub Habano or Connecticut any day. They are good consistent smokes. There is another Nub event later this year in Tampa, and I’ll be sure to check it out since it will be at a reputable cigar shop.

The Nub Maduro fell into the medium body range. I guess it just wasn’t what I expected from a maduro cigar. It seemed one dimensional and I am not a fan of ashy tasting cigars. I have a feeling a little age may have done this cigar some good. Unfortunately, the Nub Maduro’s that I smoked didn’t offer an enjoyable experience. If I run across them again, I may try another. If it turns out any better, I will be sure to update the review.

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