As you read this I am recovering (I hope) from Open Heart Surgery. [I did write this before the procedure cuz either way I knew I wouldn’t be writing this week.] Yup, some bypasses and new valve were put in. My blockage is in the left main artery…aka The Widow Maker. It is the Left Anterior Descending artery, which is what killed NBC Newsman Tim Russert.

Genetics rule, Doctors don’t know

I am convinced this is genetics. Here’s why. I look an awful lot like my dad…same height build, etc. I truly am my father’s son. I even look a bit like my grandfather, though he was shorter. Both my grandfather and father died in 1963 from heart attacks. Therefore, I have always felt that I was destined to have the same heart problems as they did and constantly checked on it.

Everything had been looking good; oh the cholesterol was a bit high but nothing like my sister’s levels. Normal EKGs until this past November. During a routine physical the doctor looked at my EKG and said—you’ve had a heart attack. HUH? You’d better check with a cardiologist. We’ll refer you. The office they were referring me to said the earliest appointment was going to be Feb 5. Fortunately, my wife told them that was to long to wait and we wanted the next available appointment with anyone. I got in December 5^th. After spending 5 minutes with this guy and getting another EKG, he said he too thought I had a heart attack. They scheduled me for a Nuclear Stress Test and an Echo Cardiogram. First available time was January.

They didn’t seem to be in a rush, so neither was I and didn’t worry bout it. 3 weeks ago, I went in for the tests and when done, I was about to leave when another cardiologist said I HAD had a heart attack and they wanted to do a cardiac catheterization the following week. I was expecting a roto rooter and maybe a stent. When they went up my artery, nothing doing. Full on open heart was needed,

No Symptoms (apparently)

I was really lucky in that my echo showed abnormalities. The scary thing is I didn’t have any of the classic heart attack symptoms and did not know I had a heart attack. Neither did my father nor my grandfather. My grandfather never had any symptoms until the day he died. My father, we found out later, had two prior heart attacks that were diagnosed as indigestion and gall bladder and the third was only listed as a possible attack until he got to the hospital. (He had a final attack a couple of weeks later in the hospital.) These were all silent heart attacks.

The American Heart Association (good friend of smokers…not…and one of my favorites based right here in Dallas) lists hearty attack symptoms on their website. We know most of them:

Chest Discomfort, a squeezing or pressure in your chest

Pain or discomfort in the arms

Pain or discomfort in the jaw

Pain or discomfort in the back

Shortness of breath

Cold sweats

Nausea

Light-headedness

They have added one saying your stomach could hurt too…but the problem is many docs don’t catch it. Or they misdiagnose it. And American Heart does not emphasize it. They emphasize the crushing feeling on your chest, sharp jaw pain or pain going down especially your left arm.

What I had, for several years, was indigestion. After a meal, I could not work out for a couple of hours. I thought it was the old–wait an hour after eating before going into the ocean thing. It got to the point even just walking after a meal would trigger what I thought was GERD. Severe indigestion so I thought. I told two doctors about it but since my EKG was normal they thought it was GERD and that I should take antacids. Two weeks ago, I got a new primary care doc who is older than me and when I told him my symptoms he immediately said oh that is classic angina. Why didn’t I have him several years ago?

To give you an idea how prevalent this is, in talking with one friend, his cardiologist and gastroenterologist were arguing for months over HIS symptoms, which were the same as mine. His Echo Cardiogram and EKGs were normal. And just last week I found out about another friend’s husband who went through the exact same thing about 2 years ago.

You need to know this.

The indigestion is part of the silent heart attack. They should be telling people this and they really aren’t. If you find that after a meal some exertion causes indigestion and an antacid doesn’t cure it…it very well could be heart problems. (See after you eat blood goes to the stomach to help digestion…if your heart is not putting out enough blood the indigestion happens. At least that is a simple version my doc told me.) Get yourself checked. And keep checking.

The other thing I learned is that while echo cardiograms and Nuclear Stress tests are good…the doctors often don’t know squat until they do a cardiac catheterization and actually look inside your arteries.

My buddy Dru had gone through the tests and everything was fine. The cardiologist told him it couldn’t be his heart because his echo and nuclear stress tests were ok. When they finally did the cardiac catheterization last November they found out he needed 5 stents and had severe blockages. He, like me, was a sick puppy but his doctors didn’t know it.

My friend’s husband was younger and worked out but also had the indigestion. His echo and stress and EKGs were fine but when his doctors finally did the cardiac catheterization he too needed 5 stents (his problem, like mine, involved the Widow Maker which if it hits you have 5 minutes to get to a hospital or get emergency care).

So bottom line….if you have indigestion or stomach pain when mildly exerting yourself after a meal and antacids don’t help… Go to your doctor. You are your best advocate and if your body is telling you something is wrong believe it. If it continues on a regular basis, I do not care if your EKG, Nuclear Stress Test or Echo Cardiogram are normal….keep after your doctors. Get a coronary angiogram. You may be ok, but do you want to take that chance?

Wrapper: Habano Maduro

Binder: Nicaragua

Filler: Nicaragua

Size: Epicure 6 x 54

Price: $7.60

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The shiny wrapper had no visible flaws, and had some small veins. The smell of the wrapper was sweet and woody. The foot was woody with a slight pepper. The cigar was rock solidly packed, and felt harder towards the foot. The pre-light draw had some resistance, perhaps a little too tight for my liking, and had a dark sweet flavor.

The ash held for about 1.5 inches, and the burn required no corrections.

Flavor:

The first third started off with a simple coffee flavor. A woody and almost nutty component was noticed after the first inch. Passing smoke through the nose revealed a bit of pepper. At about 1.5 inches a nice maduro sweetness joined in. The smoke feel was very dry, causing me to drink a lot of water. Otherwise the dry feeling wasn’t

The second third stayed right in the medium bodied range. The main flavor was still coffee. Up next was a sweetness that was like dry cocoa. The pepper remained present but didn’t cause any burning or discomfort. In the background were earthy and woody notes. At the half way point, cocoa took it’s position as the dominant flavor. The dryness eased up a bit and I didn’t feel as parched as before. The draw also loosened up a little, making it more enjoyable to smoke.

The last third kept that dominant sweet cocoa flavor. The pepper calmed down but kept a little of it’s zing. Actually it was like cocoa and coffee mixed. The sweet spicy aftertaste drowned out the earthy and woody notes I picked up before. While simpler and more straightforward, I enjoyed this third the most.

Conclusion:

This was a good medium bodied cigar. It was a bit complex and simple at the same time. The flavors were pretty straight forward. I did enjoy the ones I smoked, despite that parched feeling and snug draw in the first third. There was no wow factor here, but I may try this one again from time to time. I think it’s worth trying for a simple and good smoke.

Super Bowl 46… Giants vs. Patriots…. A rematch of the 2008 game that saw the New York football team pull a stunning upset over the favored Brady Bunch. Now with all the non-stop hoopla going on for this year’s match up, I’ve been thinking that it’s kind of funny how when used in advertising, no one is allowed to say the heavily trademarked term: Super Bowl. You’ll see everyone and their cousin on TV, Radio, Newspaper, and the web, publicly referring to it as the BIG GAME. But I guess you have to admit that it truly is BIG – a game that has turned Super Bowl Sunday into the second largest food consumption gathering in the United States, surpassing Christmas and not far behind Thanksgiving.

I think we all eat just as much on Super Bowl Sunday as we do on Thanksgiving, but there’s no doubt that the football parties produce more acid reflux than several major holidays combined. In other words – we eat a massive amount of horrible fattening crap that tastes oh so good, but has one hell of an after burner affect. Antacid sales jump 20% the day after the game, but hey, we don’t really want to think about that when there’s wings, subs, pizza, chili, chips, dips, sodie pop and ice cold beer about to be consumed!

Wanna see some staggering food numbers predicted for the game? This’ll put a little gas in your rear tank…

• 1.2 billion Chicken Wings

• 50 million cases of beer, 325 million gallons (An increase in the sales of beer compared to the average daily total = $11.8 million)

• 15,000 Tons of Chips (lining up each and every chip would produce a trail of almost 293,000 miles – not quite 1.5 times the distance to the moon, or 6 feet per American)

• 8 million pounds of popcorn

• 12 million pounds of avacados (That’s enough to cover Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium end zone to end zone in more than 27.5 feet in avocados.)

• 2.5 million pounds of nuts

• $237.2 million spent on soft drinks at grocery stores during Super Bowl week

• 30% increase in sales of processed-cheese loaves during Super Bowl week

• 30% increase in sales of frozen shrimp

• Frozen Pizza is the top Super Bowl seller at grocery stores

• Fans at the game will eat 5,000 pounds of hotdogs. (If you laid those hotdogs end-to-end, they would stretch more than 5 miles.)

• Average number of attendees for a Super Bowl party: 17

• Average number of calories consumed during the Super Bowl: 1,200 calories per person

I don’t know about you guys, but I just popped a few Pepcid AC just reading that list!

While I don’t have any actual hard data, I have to believe that premium hand rolled cigars are smoked in record quantities each and every Super Bowl Sunday. While I always choose a pre-game cigar, one for halftime (I’m sure as hell not watching Madonna), and one for post game, with my favorite New York Giants playing, the post game smoke could either be celebratory or… well, I don’t want to think about that one. So for pre-game, we’ll go medium bodied, and I suggest a delicious old favorite, the Arturo Fuente Hemmingway. For halftime, a shorty is in order and the NUB Habano is the pick. And for post game, you want a full-bodied beast to cut through all the calories and spice, so I say go with a kick-ash Joya de Nicaragua Antano, a cigar that is not for the faint of heart, but perfect for celebrating a box-pool victory.

Okay, peeps… you want my prediction? No, you say? Well, too bad… you’re gettin’ it anyway…

NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS 34 . NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 20

Mr. Brady, say hello to my little friends, Pierre Paul, Osi & Tuck. Oh yeah, and don’t forget Mr. Manning, Nicks, & Cruz. Sorry my New England Brothers of the Leaf, we can be bestest buddies again… after the game.

That’s it for this week, my peeps, hope yours is equally as SUPER!

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

Jose Seijas and Javier Elmudesi

Seijas, 61, came to the factory in 1974, just 2 years after it opened, as an industrial engineer. His first job was in sorting and stripping of the leaves. Applying his engineering background he found ways to set standards to make the workers happier. The standards, he said, allowed for a fair amount of work, not too much and not too little and that saved a lot of problems and complaints.

Over the years, Jose moved up through the company to become a Vice President and General Manager of the factory. He helped launch the extremely successful Vega Fina in the Spanish market and last year, he launched the limited edition Jose Seijas Signature Vega Fina. Jose and his team also blended the Seijas Signature Collection.

Javier Elmudesi will take over La Romana as Factory Manager. Javier is no stranger to the operation having joined the company as an industrial engineer first through Revlon when Ron Perelman owned both Revlon and at that time Consolidated Cigar. Javier stayed with Revlon for 3-4 years before moving over to the cigar side. He has been with Tabacalera de Garcia for the past 15 years. He was Jose’s right hand man as plant manager and assistant General Manager.

Smokers worse than possible criminals

Dr. Michael Siegel (who for the record is against smoking) notes that for the Cleveland Clinic you can be a suspected white collar criminal and get a job, BUT if they suspect you are a smoker…no way.

Apparently, the Clinic hired Tom Thornton who left the Kansas Bioscience Authority under a cloud of a criminal investigation and in the early stages of a forensic audit of his agency. The state funded KBA invested taxpayer dollars in bioscience companies. Thornton was faulted in an audit for destroying documents, misusing public funds for personal expenses and creating an uncomfortable working environment by dating a woman he hired and later married. He even cited being a target of a criminal investigation when resigning last April (although professing his innocence.) He left to go to work for The Cleveland Clinic as General Manager of Strategic Alliances.

Here are the quotes from Siegel:

These are apparently the principles that the Cleveland Clinic stands for in its hiring policies. Under no circumstances will the Cleveland Clinic hire a smoker or a nicotine user because it sends a “bad example,” but hiring a suspected criminal is perfectly fine.

In reality, the Cleveland Clinic ban on hiring smokers only applies to “suspected smokers” because the Clinic cannot prove that these individuals actually smoke. They can only prove that they use nicotine, which could have been in the form of nicotine replacement therapy. They will not, however, take the person’s word for it.

In contrast, if you are a suspected criminal, the Cleveland Clinic will apparently take your word that you are not guilty. They do not require proof of your innocence.

Nice.

Again the numbers don’t add up

Over at Cigar Weekly they were talking about an article from MSNBC.

The article was designed to scare the crap out of you in that the headline says, “Many keep smoking after cancer diagnosis.” How sick is that. Well read into the article and you find that they are studying lung cancer and COLORECTAL patients. This was my first WTF. Colorectal? Were they smoking with their butt? Did someone NOT show them how to smoke? (Or as my wife says maybe they’ve had too much smoke blown up their ass.)

The second WTF moment came when they said 38 percent of the lung cancer and 15 percent of the colorectal cancer patients were smokers. Which of course means 62 and 85 percent respectively were NOT smokers.

But aside from that, then it gets weird:

According to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America, 60 percent of new lung cancer diagnoses happen to non-smokers, 15 percent of whom have never smoked a day in their life (the rest are former smokers who quit 10, 20 or even 30 years prior to diagnosis). The American Lung Association estimates that active smoking is responsible for close to 90 percent of lung cancer cases; radon causes 10 percent, and occupational exposures to carcinogens account for approximately 9 to 15 percent.

I guess the American Lung Association, or maybe the reporter cannot add. 90 percent plus 10 percent plus 9- 15 percent…115%????

Accuracy does not matter when you are trying to make a point I guess.

Look, these morons are trying to dictate our lives. Flooding Congress with calls and petitions CAN work. Look at what happened with SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). It has been delayed and Congress is rethinking a bad law. Even if you have done it once already, contact your Senator and Representative again. The Cigar Rights of America makes it easy. Please keep doing this to be certain the FDA does not ruin the cigar industry….because it will.

Wrapper: Nicaragua

Binder & Filler: Nicaragua

Size: 6 x 54

Price: $9.75

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The wrapper was rugged looking, yet velvety smooth. There were some good sized veins but no flaws to be seen. The smell of the wrapper was barnyard. The foot had more of a sweetness with a tingly spice. Overall the cigar was evenly packed, and was rock solid to the touch. The pre-light draw had some resistance, but not too much. The cold draw had a hearty sweetness woth a woody flavor.

The burn required several good sized corrections, and the ash held for around an inch.

Flavor:

The first third started off with cedar, but quickly ramped up. There was coffee, cedar, and a nice peppery zing, especially when passing smoke through the sinus. A sweet dark chocolate joined in after about 1 inch in. The aftertaste reflected the same flavors, and it lingered for awhile after exhaling. At this point no flavor really stood out over the other. It was just a nice combination.

The second third had the flavors I mentioned before… Coffee with a dark chocolaty note. I say this often, but it’s worth repeating. I don’t mean chocolate that you get in a regular Hershey’s bar or milk chocolate. I am referring to dark chocolate or cooking chocolate. Anyway… The peppery spice calmed down and lost some of it’s zing. Wispy notes of cedar were noticed from time to time. The smoke was crisp and dry, with a lingering aftertaste. The body increased slightly, but remained in the medium to upper medium range.

The last third kept pace with the second third. The flavors seemed fuller and sweetness stood out a little more than before. But basically it was the same flavors in varying strengths. Saying anything more would be repetitive. It was good.

Conclusion:

This was a good medium to full bodied cigar. The flavors were well blended and refined. My only complaints are with the burn and the price. One side of this cigar wanted to burn faster than the other. If left unattended I feared it would canoe. Despite my complaints, I have, and will revisit this cigar again. They all don’t burn badly, but they all taste good.

Wrapper: Brazil Mata Fina

Binder: Brazil Mata Norte

Filler: Brazil Mata Fina

Size: Robusto 5 x 52

Price: Around $6.50

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The wrapper was a little rugged looking, but not as much as I remember them to be years ago. There were no flaws that I could see. It had a hay-ish smell, and the foot smelled mildly earthy. The cigar was pretty well packed, with some minor hard and soft spots. The draw had some resistance, but fell within my tolerance. The pre-light flavor was mild and reminded me of hay.

During the first third, the burn was horrible. I had to do some major burn corrections because the filler was not burning as fast as the wrapper. Luckily the issue resolved itself after the first third. The ash held for around an inch.

Flavor:

The first third had a base flavor of wood. Behind it was an earthiness. When passing smoke through the sinus, there was no spice whatsoever. It was a mild smooth flavor similar to coffee and cedar. Towards the end of the first third, a generic sweetness was noticed.

The second third developed nicely. The sweetness became more of a mocha type of flavor, or at least similar to it. The woodiness and earthy notes remained behind it. Through the nose, there was an easy spice that left a tingle. There was also a flavor mixed in that I couldn’t identify. This may have been what I remember from years ago… Brazilian tobacco has an interesting uniqueness. I recall have trouble pinning down this flavor in the past.

The last third had a thicker smoke feel that was laced with sweet mocha like flavors. The woody and earthy flavors fell further in to the background. It was replaced with a spice that had a sweet tingle. Some draws were sweet mocha, and others were woody, earthy, and mixed with coffee. At other times, I could taste that elusive flavor I can only pin down as a characteristic of tobacco from Brazil. Glad to see it still stumps me after all these years.

Conclusion:

This was a good, solid medium bodied cigar. The guys I knew as the “Owners” of Dona Flor had nothing to do with this cigar. A part of me wanted to not like the Selecao because of that. But truth be told… I liked it. I don’t know if I liked it as much as the original, but I haven’t had one of those in years. I was glad to see there was that elusive flavor I recall from back then. I think Dona Flor is worth re-visiting, or trying if you haven’t had the chance.

Yes, as a Giants fan, I whooped it up with a choice selection of celebratory smokes for several days on end. Right after the game I poured a belt of single malt goodness and fired up an Omar Ortiz Honduran Maduro and holy guacamole that thing is one serious little flavor bomb – dark, oily, well rolled, and bursting with taste from the first draw! This Central American hottie is quickly becoming a real favorite of mine! Other fine sticks of celebration included the Frank Llaneza ’61, the Rocky Patel Edge, and the Fonseca 1907. Pretty damned nice, huh?

Now last week, the Date of January 19th came and went, the date that the FDA stopped taking public feedback on their proposed regulation of the cigar industry. As of this moment, the organization, Cigar Rights of America has collected over 157,000 petitions that have been sent to congress. Now I’ve heard some complaining from people that the number sounds small, but look at it this way – Take two professional football stadiums filled with 80,000 cigar lovers in each, and that’s one hell of a smoke signal if you ask me! The CRA would like to hit the quarter million mark and with all our help, they certainly can. So I urge you all to keep sending your friends, family, neighbors, FaceBook and Twitter followers to cigarrights.org and fill out the simple petition because this is one battle we simply cannot afford to lose.

All that dominates our tv sets these past few weeks are annoying debates amongst politico dumbasses and a speech chock filled with classic political rhetoric. Good God, talk about blowing smoke. Now this is NOT aimed any political party – it’s the general statement that I have been making for over four years since day one of this blog, as it is MY personal opinion (not that of JR’s whatsoever) that ALL lifetime politicians are lying sacks of excrement who all have their own agendas and do everything for their own political gain. While our political view and parties certainly differ, every time I have EVER posted this opinion, we ALL seem to agree. And while some will say that’s a pretty broad brush I’m painting with, I have to believe that there’s a 99.9% accuracy rate in my assessment.

Take one little for instance: all these politicians who support New Jersey’s 88 year old senator, Frank Lautenberg’s crusade against smoking, well, the fact is that we know that so many of these politico jack wagons smoke fine cigars in back rooms and at private functions, living it up with their cronies. We KNOW that they do… yet, in the name of getting votes, they pander to the anti-smoking contingent leaving all of us lovers of the leaf to ask… Et tu, Brute?

Last but not least, the weather is freezing again here in the northeast, making it a frigid hell for us cigar lovers. But just a few days ago the mercury actually hit the low 50’s and I was outside in shorts and a t-shirt (manly, huh?) smoking it up like a banshee, making up for days of jonesing for my Pepin, Punch, and Partagas! I vow to you right here and now that one day I WILL have that luxurious man cave, oh yes… it will be mine.

So that’s it for this week, my peeps, and all I have left to say is “Smoke ‘em Cuz You Gottem.”

Your BOTL in good Standing,

JR Cigars Blog with the Zman

In a rare display of actual common sense, a democratic state rep from Chicago is pushing legislation that would let casinos and bars apply for smoking licenses that would get them out from under the current ban.

Anthony De Luca says,” It’s about letting the businesses decide.”

Whoa…now that makes sense…and ya know it also may make cents too. Maybe Illinois is finally realizing just how much the smoking ban is costing the state. A study by the St. Louis Federal Reserve in March 2010 showed Illinois took a hit of about 20 percent in gaming revenues when it banned smoking. That cost the state $200-million from gaming alone(some estimates say $500 million). Not to mention losses of tax from closed businesses due to the ban. I can remember lighting up in the cigar bar at the Palmer House not THAT long ago.(The cigar bar is gone now) Or having a nice Hemingway at Gibson’s bar drinking an ice cold martini while the piano player entertained and the place was jam packed with people drinking and smoking. Or even a bunch of us at Ditka’s smoking Bolivars after eatin Da Pork Chop. Yeah Gibsons and Ditkas are still there but I bet they aren’t as packed as they used to be.

Anyway, after the St. Louis Fed report the anti’s did their own study and are using it to fight the relaxation of the state smoking ban. It was truly impactful because it claims that loosening the smoking ban will not bring back more patrons because they never left.

This is how you use statistics, but at least the group who did the study added a disclaimer.

“This report is NOT about revenue, and makes no claims about revenue: It is about admissions. We were driven by the arguments that casinos in Illinois would lose patrons to neighboring states.”

So in other words, the same number of people came into the casinos but since they couldn’t smoke, they left sooner and spent less. Game. Set. Match.

Oh and maybe Illinois is finally waking up to its economic problems since it now has the worst credit rating of any state in the nation.

Not only that but when Moody’s downgraded the state debt, 85 winners in the state’s lottery had their checks bounce. A total of $159,000. I would say the state has much bigger problems that regulating where to smoke.

But leave it to the American Lung Association to push for Illinois to double its state cigarette tax to $2 per pack. When pointed out that tobacco taxes are regressive and hurt businesses and lower income people more than the rich, a spokesman for American Lung that’s ok because they would save more money if they quit smoking. Like taxes will make people stop. Yeah American Lung…Let them eat cake.

The real reason for bans

Dr. Michael Siegel is a tobacco control advocate. He believes smoking is dangerous and wrong. However, Dr. Siegel IS rational. And even he says the anti’s are going too far.

In Florida, those institutions of enlightenment and higher education either have or are banning all smoking from their campuses. They can do that, but as Siegel quotes an article in the Sun Sentinel:

If you smoke, you may be breathing less easily on college campuses these days.

Looking for the designated smoking area at Florida International University? There is none.

Want to light a cigarette inside your car at the University of Florida? Don’t let the cops see you

Hoping to smoke during your break at Nova Southeastern University? You have six months left until NSU becomes the latest college to go tobacco-free. Come July 1, the covered smoking benches will come down and smoke-free-campus signs will go up.

So how far are they going? Into your personal property…your car according to Tom Vitucci, NSU’s director of campus recreation and leader of the smoke-free effort.

“We don’t want your car to be a safe haven, where you do any activity you want as long as you’re in your car,” he said.

So inside a car that you own, you cannot do something that is totally legal. Ok, got it. Christopher Snowden says it shows these bans are nothing more than naked authoritarianism.

Trampling on property rights; paternalism run riot; the tyranny of the majority—why would libertarians not be interested in this?

But it is all because of that nasty smoke seeping out and affecting someone else right? Nope …someone may SEE you.

Patricia Kelly, associate professor, director and doctor of the Health Science Program in the Health Professions Division, said, “Secondhand smoke has been proven to be dangerous in a number of instances.

“Students who do not see their peers smoke, either in public or in private, are less likely to start smoking themselves,” she said.

So we have gone way beyond smoking is bad for you, past the whole secondhand smoke argument and into the crux of the matter…we know what is best for you and we don’t want to even see you doing it. After all, the University of California , San Francisco ban we talked about a couple of weeks ago included e-cigarettes which are not smoked nor even contain tobacco. Appearances are what matter to the anti’s. According to Dr. Siegel:

The anti-smoking advocates have long since left the realm of promoting policies to protect the public from secondhand smoke exposure. They are now in the area of paternalistic policy making which aims to segregate and isolate smokers so as to prevent the rest of the public from ever having to see these people

Be sure you visit the CRA and send a petition to congress to stop the FDA from taking over our industry. As you can tell….it ain’t about the science it’s about control.

Wrapper: San Andreas

Binder: Connecticut

Filler: Brazilian Mata Fina and Nicaragua

Size: Robusto 5 x 54

Price: Around $7.50

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The dark maduro wrapper had a nice, seamless look with no flaws. The smell of the wrapper and foot was hard to pin down. It was sweet but I can’t compare it to anything. The cigar was evenly and solidly packed with barely a hard or soft spot. The draw was perfect, and the pre-light flavor was unique. It was sort of earthy and sweet, but there was something more to it that I can’t describe.

The burn required no corrections, and the ash held for over an inch.

Flavor:

The first third began with a nice and easy peppery spice through the nose. The flavor quickly developed, offering coffee and cedar. The smoke volume was ridiculous, in a good way. Thick plumes of smoke came off of this thing as I puffed, and even when I let it rest on the ashtray. It just smoked, whether I puffed on it or not, and I like that. Back to the flavor… In the background was a sweetness much like cocoa. The smoke feel was thick and somewhat creamy.

The second third took a turn with more sweet rich cocoa. The pepper became a tingly sweet spice that was encased in creaminess. Coffee and cedar remained, with wisps of earthiness in the background. Smoke continued to billow off of the end of the cigar. Despite being in a cross ventilated room with an exhaust fan, the room filled up with a nice aromatic smoke.

The last third saw the creaminess tone down a bit, but the smoke volume stayed the same. The woody and coffee flavors stood out more over the sweet cocoa. The tingly spice remained and may have increased a little. Flavors were nice right down to the nub.

Conclusion:

This was a very good, solid medium to upper medium bodied cigar. As you probably gathered by now, I liked it. Construction, flavor, nice smelling aroma, everything… It was very good. While this is no Liga Privada, it stands on it’s own and it a must try. What more can I say? Keep your eyes out for the Undercrown and pick a few up. See for yourself, you may like it as much as I do.

Wrapper, Binder, & Filler: ???

Size: 5.5 x 50

Price: Bundle of 20 – $31.95

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The wrapper looked good, with small veins and no noticeable flaws. It had a barnyard smell, and the foot shared the same odor. The cigar was a little spongy when squeezed, with some minor tight spots towards the head. The pre-light draw was free, and had an earthy and woody taste.

The burn required a few decent sized corrections, and the ash held for a bit over an inch.

Flavor:

The initial few puffs of the first third were earthy. Soon after, the flavor became a little buttery with some of the associated creaminess. The earthiness fell to the background, and I picked up some woody notes.

The second third kept the same buttery creamy flavor and smoke feel. When passing smoke through the nose, I could pick up slight earthy notes.

The last third developed a slight sweet spice, but otherwise remained the same as before.

Conclusion:

For a little over a buck, this cigar met it’s price point. Obviously it brought nothing special to the table. It was an OK mild to medium bodied cigar. I have run across much more expensive cigars that offer the same as this one does. Because of that, I say this is not bad. At least there were no bad flavors or harshness. How does it compare to the actual Padron? Give me a break, it isn’t even close. Clearly this is a gimmicky sales tactic, which I’m sure you’ve figured out by now.