Several of the readers and commentors here on the Zman’s JR Bloggy are members of an online cigar forum known as Herfers Paradise. It’s an eclectic group of gents whose personalities truly span the universe. There are educators, businessmen, blue collar, white collar, and men of the clergy. They range from quite brilliant, to one toy short of a Happy Meal, and everything in between. The forum is an odd collection of misfits of whom I am a proud member of four years – with 12,594 posts, I am truly one of the top “You need to get a life” candidates.
![AmericanBritishFlags[2]-1](http://www.jrcigarblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/AmericanBritishFlags2-1.jpg "AmericanBritishFlags[2]-1")
Every so often, members of this fine, prestigious group of cigar hounds meet up to herf in various locations across our fine country. This past Saturday, a handful of fire-breathing lunatics met up at JR Cigars, in Whipanny, New Jersey to enjoy some fine food, drinks, cigars, and scintillating conversation. I think it’s always great to finally put a face to the person you’ve been cyber-yakking with for the past four years and you find out either how different a person is than his online persona, or how much more wacked out he really is.
It all started with the forum’s resident Brit, Brian, aka Bulldog, who flew across the pond to hook up with his patriotic, U.S. buddies. I volunteered to pick up Brian up at his hotel in Morristown, NJ. When I pulled up to the entrance, I said hello out the window to him as he started blabbering something brutally incoherent in a British accent that was as thick as the head on a freshly poured Guiness. I looked at him and said, “I have no idea what the f@#k you just said, but get just the hell in my car, and let’s boogie!” I wasn’t sure if they ‘boogied’ in merry old England, but he laughed (although I was serious) as we shook hands and headed towards JR.
As we entered the mecca of cigardom, we hooked up with longtime group members, Larrynj and Gman Mike, who brought enough cigars to last through several milleniums. Larry was handing out cigars like he just delivered a baby, and Mike’s bomb-proof Herfador had just enough smokes to last him in case he got lost for the next three years. So we swapped goodies, lit up, ordered food, bought bottles of port, and consumed mass quantities over laughter and old war stories.
One incredibly fun part of the day was when I pulled out an outrageously expensive, well-aged puro and said to the boys that whoever could guess my middle name would get the handrolled prize. Well, for a good twenty minutes the boys blurted out every single goddamned name humanly imaginable – except for mine. But the side splitter of the day was Brian as continued to yell out about 200 names – everyone one of them more insanely, over-the-top British than the next! “Nigel, Reginald, Brisbane, Heath, Buckingham, King George, John-Thomas, etc.” We were laughing our cojones off as I kept telling him to guess a common American name! So he continued… “Alastair, Edmund, Ashcroft, Baldrick, Beaumont, Byford!” He was dead serious as we were all howling hysterically.
But the day would not be complete without the appearance of the JR Blog’s very own clown-commentor, the one and only Garfiend. The ‘Fiend” has been breaking my stones at Herfer’s Paradise and here on the Blog for what seems like an eternity, and it was finally a pleasure to see that he truly is more hideous than I could have ever imagined. Actually, the Fiend is a great guy, funny as hell – smells a bit like an old tuna can – but a true pleasure to herf with, as were all the brothers who showed up for this gathering of aged tobacco and testosterone.
Six hours blew by like it was a matter of minutes as I enjoyed the company of my cyber-pals even more than I even thought I would. We smoked, and talked, and laughed – having a terrific bonding session, all without solving the gas crisis or any of the major diseases. No matter where any of us reside from on God’s green Earth, the love of premium handrolled happy sticks is what brings us together and truly makes us all Brothers of the Leaf!
Take Care til next week,
Tommy Z . JR Cigars Blog With the Zman
Here are a couple of the delicious smokes we purchased and consumed for this most herfus occasion…
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| Handmade HON |
| Wrapper: ECSU/CTBL Binder: CT Filler: HON/NIC |
| Full Bodied |
Originally created at the Villazon Factory by the legendary Estelo Padron, the Bolivar Cofradia is a bold, robust smoke with heavy flavors of earth and spice. This is a rich blend of the finest hearty tobaccos in the world today, and proves to be his strongest blend to date. This full bodied cigar is intoxicating with its decadent flavors, heady aroma, and intense finish. Packed in heavy Spanish cedar cabinets, it is a cigar crafted for the most experienced of connoisseurs.
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| Handmade HON |
| Wrapper: ECSU/CTBL Binder: HON Filler: HON |
| Medium-Full Bodied |
El Rey del Mundo is a classic Cuban brand featuring a symphony of delectable Honduran flavors, impeccable construction, perfect burn and draw, and an enchantingly complex blend of the finest tobaccos. They are available in both Ecuador Sumatra EMS and dark Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrappers. These are arguably one of the finest cigars made in the world today – bar none. An absolute “must try” cigar for all!
