cigarblogger.com

I haven’t been posting a lot lately. In fact, I only managed 3 cigar blog posts last month — at the very beginning!

Between being very busy and smoking way too many cigars I just haven’t had time to write. I’ve smoked every single cigar in that last sampler pack I posted about in June — and ordered more since then. I actually spent over $100 on cigars in June! The worst part is all thats sitting in my humidor right now are La Veija’s, 2 Juicy Lucys (left over from that box of 40 ordered April — at the time I said this is enough cigars to last the summer!), and one Romeo y Juilieta Vintage.

Perhaps you’ve heard of this monster, the infamous Drew Estate Egg (seen here on their official site.)

I recieved two of these FedEx on Monday. Yesterday I had the oppurtunity to smoke it.

To start off, it had a pretty weak burn, but a good draw. As it burned further I couldn’t draw any smoke from it. Then I ashed it, and it was good again. By this time it was getting into the thick middle. Sadly, there was nothing remarkable about this cigar other than the shape. I was hoping at least for a sweet taste like the wrapper of the Drew Estate Jucy Lucy — which, according to their web site is in the same catagory of the Natural cigar family, “Aqua Systems.”

I didn’t manage to finish this cigar. I had enough and I let it go about halfway.

Perhaps just looking at a cigar of that shape promises a larger than life smoking experience leaving an inevitable dissapointment of that expectation.

Now I know why know why I haven’t read any great reviews of the Egg cigar. But hey, I had to try it once. Should you buy it? If you don’t mind spending $10, and don’t build up your expectations for it, then give it a shot. Its too wierd not to.

After grilling some burgers and hotdogs I sat down and smoked a Griffin’s Fuerte cigar with a friend.

I had no idea what to expect before smoking this cigar. When looking at my humidor the white wrapper caught my attention.

This cigar impressed me. It is mild without a hint of harshness. It had a great draw, burned perfectly, and left a nice white ash. I looked forward to smoking another one of these!

Today I recieved a sampler pack via UPS from famous-smoke.com — “Famous XV Premium Cigars.” Here is what I got:

1 Acid 1400cc (No Tube) Natural 5 X 50
1 Acid Atom Maduro 5 X 50
1 Acid Kuba Kuba Natural 5 X 54
1 Acid Liquid Natural 5 X 50
1 CAO Gold Robusto Natural 5 X 50
1 Don Tomas Cameroon Robusto Natural 5 1/2 x 52
1 Don Tomas Dominican Robusto Natural 5 x 50
1 Don Tomas Special Edition #300 Natural 5 x 50
1 Griffin’s Fuerte Robusto Natural 4 3/4 X 48
1 Hamiltons House Robusto Natural 5 x 52
1 Helix X550 Natural 5 x 50
1 Natural Clean Robusto Natural 5 X 50
1 Olor Fuerte Robusto Dark Nat 5 X 50
1 Plasencia Reserva Robusto Natural 4 3/4 X 52
1 Romeo Y Julieta Bully Natural 5 X 50

This afternoon I smoked the Acid Liquid. Unfortunately I lit it wrong and messed it up! Not a good start for a great sampler pack.

After I returned home I got a call from a guy over at cigar.com. They are doing a Father’s Day cigar special and offered me a discout. They made it too easy — I just couldn’t resist ordering two Drew Estate Natural Eggs.

Its been a while since I posted last. As I posted before I purchased 3 boxes of cigars. Because my humidor is overflowing (and my bank account isn’t) I haven’t purchased any new cigars recently.

I definately recommend the La Veija Habana’s for a good cheap smoke. The Drew Estate Jucy Lucys are great if you want to smoke something with a sweet wrapper in 10-15 minutes.

Right now my to smoke list consists of a few Acids (I still haven’t laid my hands on one!) along with more cigars in the Natural line. Ideally, I’d like to try every single one!

This isn’t a political blog, but when the topic involves cigars, well, what can else can I talk about.

Time Magazine has a photograph of Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay smoking a cuban cigar. Big deal? In 2004 DeLay had this to say about US economic sanctions against Cuba.

“(Fidel)…will take the money. Every dime that finds its way into Cuba first finds its way into Fidel Castro’s blood-thirsty hands…. American consumers will get their fine cigars and their cheap sugar, but at the cost of our national honor.”

I took a lot at what US Customs had to say about cuban cigars.

“It is also illegal for U.S. persons to buy, sell, trade, or otherwise engage in transactions involving illegally-imported Cuban cigars. The penalties for doing so include, in addition to confiscation of the cigars, civil fines of up to $55,000 per violation and in appropriate cases, criminal prosecution which may result in higher fines and/or imprisonment.”

If this issue is so serious that it may potentially involve imprisonment of US citizens then what are his actions saying? Would it be appropriate for George Bush to take a trip to Amsterdam and light up some reefers just because its legal there?

I don’t think we should hold this against Mr. DeLay. I hope instead it will bring to light the ridiculousness of the Cuban Trade Embargo. Good thing he was smoking that cigar in Israel. And hey, you never know, it may have been a fake!

I have hardly touched the blog this month. Don’t worry, I’m still here. As I said in the last entry I needed some time to “cool down.” Well, thats over now. My humidor is now completely full. In fact, we can’t even fit all of our cigars in it right now.

Today I played a game of disc golf (a game with frisbees) while smoking a Clean Robusto from Drew Estate. Damn. This cigar was incredible. It had an excellant taste, spicy but not harsh with a wrapper full of flavor. I wouldn’t have even had this cigar except that it came free in a pack of 4 with my last cigar order.

I just can’t get enough of Drew Estate cigars. Last order I purchased a box of La Veija Habanas (20) — this cigar is cheap. It doesn’t stand up to the quality of the other Drew Estate cigars, but for the price it can’t be beat. We also got a box of Jucy Lucys (40) — excellant. Short but not as fast as a Twig or Kahula cigarello. They take about 15-20 minutes depending how fast you are smoking. I also got a box of 10 Baccarats. That were on sale.

Last Saturday I smoked a Cigar.com Cuban Label while playing disc golf (a game using frisbees which I am terrible at; the cigar smoking didn’t help.)

The cigar was a little too strong for my taste. About midway through the cigar it seemed to calm down. I think that this cigar would be better with some more humidor time.

Speaking of humidor, mine is almost empty! I don’t know how it happened. One day it was almost full, the next it only had one full cigar left in it. My friend and I purchased two tins of Kahulas and 5 twigs for a party last Saturday. Earlier in the day I had smoked the Cuban Label while my friends smoked two Quorum cigars (one was mine, but I don’t like to smoke in front of other cigar smokers.) The bottom line here is that last Saturday I smoked four or five cigars.

I’m going to have to hold off for a few weeks so I don’t get carried away and “burned out.”

La Vieja Habana is nothing like Acid or any of Drew Estate other cigars. If you like “normal” cigars then you really need to try this one. Its priced under $3 and is well worth the price.

I picked up a single La Vieja Habana at a local cigar store several weeks ago. I left it in my humidor and pulled it out the other day when we finally got some more nice weather here.

From the looks of the cigar I was a bit skeptical. It was dry and the wrapper was damaged. When I cut it the wrapper actually started coming off (first time thats ever happened to me.) I’m not sure if the quality problem was the cigar store’s or Drew Estates because I haven’t seen any other La Vieja Habanas closely.

I lit this one up. I’ve smoked several $5-$8 cigars and this one was every bit as good as those. I actually had a few friends recommend this one to me (after I had bought it, of course, — I’m a big fan of Drew Estate.) They were right about it.

Without a doubt, I will order a box of La Vieja Habanas. The only other cigars that have gotten me this excited are priced at over $100 a box! In comparison you can pick up a 20-count box of La Vieja Habanas for anywhere from $35-$50.

If you haven’t smoked a La Vieja Habana yet put it at the top of your list and get a hold of one.

Here is a review of several online cigar stores I have used. I actually wrote this earlier this month and posted it on one of my message boards.

3/04/05
I’ve ordered cigars online from www.cigar.com and www.famous-smoke.com and www.jrcigars.com.

Cigar.com
Arrived fast (helps that they are in Chicago). Ordered 4 singles, all in good condition. Website was very easy to use.

Famous-smoke.com
I ordered a 5 pack of Drew Estate Twigs and a torch insert for a Zippo. One of the the Twigs is damaged. I ran into some shopping cart database problems when first ordering. Second time worked.

I’m still waiting for my order from JRCigars.com. Unfortunately my only option was USPS. I had to re-enter all my info when their site told me this. When the order arrives I’ll follow up.

Out of all the sites Cigar.com worked the best. They carry most of the cigars I like including Drew Estate (my favorite label.)

Here are some more links:

Natural by Drew Estate — Root is great
cigar.com
FamousSmoke

Z Plus Torch Zippo Lighter insert( only $10) - if you want a huge flame for your zippo check this out

3/05/05
Smoked one of the Twigs today. I was having trouble with the draw on mine. Other than that is was pretty good. You can order 100 of these for $75-$100; not a bad deal for a quick smoke that tastes good.

JRCigars order came today. The humidor is nice. I also got a Zippo in the order. Good price on both.

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Here is a photograph of my (cheap $20) humidor as of 3/29/05.

I made my third cigar.com yesterday. It arrived today. I ordered a 10 count tin of martini Kahula cigars, 5 Drew Estate Twigs, and 1 Cigar.com Cuban label.

I placed the ordered about 3 yesterday afternoon. An e-mail came a few hours later saying the order had shipped. The first two orders I made didn’t take more than two days. This past one was certainly exceptional. I wish every online retailer was that fast!

The weather has been great the last two days. I smoked another Kahula mini on Easter Sunday evening. Monday was even nicer but I held off on smoking.

Monday was actually the first “top down” weather we’ve had this year. It was between 60 and 65 degrees outside. There’s nothing like taking the top off for the first time in months and driving around back country roads. Next time there will be a cigar in one of my hands

I smoked a mini Kahlua cigar a few nights ago with a friend. When you open up a tin of these you will be overwealmed by the great smell. The truth is that the Kahluas don’t even smell like cigars before you smoked them. Certainly enticing even for a non-cigar smoker!

The Kahlua I smoked was a small 4×32. Like most other Drew Estate cigars the Kahlua had a sweet wrapper. This is the perfect on-the-go cigar to smoke. The only notable downside is the price. Even in a tin of 5 you are paying about $1.50 a piece for one of these. I’d feel a lot more comfortable smoking one of these if it was under one dollar. Hell, even if it was 99 cents.

The Flor Del Todo isn’t an expensive cigar at all. In fact its the first cigar under $1 that I’ve smoked. You can pick up a bundle of 40 Flor Del Todos at Cigars International for $39.05. Other places have them for even less. You do the math on that one.

I recieved a Flor Del Todo from a friend’s humidor. He says after you let them sit for a year or more in your humidor they turn in a pretty good cigar — especially for the price. I was eager to smoke this one. In fact, I smoked it the next day! (It would have been sooner but 11pm is no time to smoke at cigar.)

I had a few friends over. Earlier in the day a box arrived from cigar.com. I had ordered a few presents for my friend’s birthday. As usual cigar.com’s order arrived straight from Chicago within 2 days. Cigar.com has become my supplier of choice for fast-delivery cigars!

So, here I am with my under $1 Flor Del Todo in hand. My friends have their cigars, one a tiny little Acid Blondie, the other a Drew Estate Natural Juicy Lucy. As I smoke mine all I am thinking about is their cigars and how great they smell! Thats mistake #1.

Mistake #2 was dranking a soda as I finished my cigar. For the next 4 hours every time I burped I got a nasty after taste! Yuck, it finally went away after dinner.

Despite the “mistakes” I made the Flor Del Todo was a good smoke. Everyone can afford a lot of them. What you might not have is the patients to let these set in your humidor for a good year or more.

Would I smoke another one? Sure. Would I buy 40 of them? Probably not. I’m really not an “every day smoke” type of person. I’d much rather smoke one or two premium Drew Estate cigars a week than a $1 cigar every day.

I picked up a Cusano18 at a local cigar shop about 20 minutes away. The owner recommened it as a good “cheap” cigar. You can grab one for about $5.50 at cigar.com; I picked mine up locally for a dollar and a half cheaper.

The Cusano 18 is made of 18-year old Dominican tobacoo. I imagine you could let this sit in your humidor for a while, but it certainly doesn’t need it.

I’ll admit I’m a huge fan of Drew Estate cigars, so the Cusano 18 isn’t something that really “blew me away.” However, it really is a good smoke and I’d recommend that you check this one out. The taste was smooth and very mild. I don’t have any complaints about the quality of the wrapper, the draw — anything. The Cusano 18 would arguably rate as a 90+ cigar. Of course personal preferance plays in to this rating.

The biggest downside for me was, once again, the cold. I ended up smoking this thing with a friend in my garage. We spent most of the time trying to blow smoke rings (there were a few.) By the time we were finished the garage was in a smoky haze. It took a good week for the smell to dissipate.

Cigars #3 & #5 were Drew Estate Twigs — little 5×20s. I bought a pack of 5 for about $5 from Famous Smoke Shop. I only got to smoke to of them because my friends got the rest!

The Drew Estate Twig is also from their Natural line just like my first cigar Root. If you want a fast smoke this is definately the way to go. They are pricey for the size but definately worth it!

I smoked my fourth cigar on an unusually warm March day while washing my car. It was a Baccarat No. 1 ( 7×44.)

I was a lot more happy with this cigar than I was with the La Aurora No. 4. It may have helped that this was also the first cigar which I put the correct side in my mouth when smoking! Oops!

At $3.83 on cigar.com I found this Baccarat No.1 to be a good deal. Cheaper than the Drew Estate Root. Similar as far as being smooth and sweet. It had a light wrapper and gave off plenty of smoke. I liked this cigar enough to add it my list of “to buy.” I am planning on picking up a couple of 8.5″ Baccarat Kings sometime within the next couple of weeks.

The second cigar I smoked was a La Aurora No. 4. At $3.36 for a single on Cigar.com it wasn’t a bad buy.

I can’t say I enjoyed smoking this one. This was very different from the Drew Estate cigar which I smoked first. While the Drew Estate Root was sweet and mild the La Aurora No. 4 was full bodied and a bit bitter. Being a novice cigar smoker it just isn’t fair for me to pass judgment on a cigar this early in the game!

I’ll crossed this one off my list as cigars I’d be interested in smoking again in the near future — however I’m aiming to smoke this again sometime in 2006. When that time comes I’ll write an actual review of it.

The first cigar I smoked was Root by Drew Estate. Root is part of their Natural line.

The wrapper was sweet. I enjoyed it. Unfortunately it was absolutely freezing outside while I smoked it which certainly didn’t help the experience. The weather is still terrible right now in mid-March. I’m looking forward to smoking this one again without freezing my fingers off.

A few months ago I ordered a couple of cigars from Cigar.com. Before this I had never smoked a cigar. I was taking a risk — I didn’t know if I would like them at all!

Over the next couple of days I will be adding some of my experiences with cigars. If you are a new cigar smoker that wants to know how to smoke cigars, what cigars are best, then keep reading! I’m pretty much in the same boat as you except I’m ahead by a few months. I’ve dealt with some embarassements along the way including smoking cigars backwards!

Essentially, every cigar I smoke will be included in this blog! I’m going to try to get photographs of every cigar. At the very least I’ll include scans of the cigar bands.