Misc Notes

Romeo Y Julietta viejo - light box press,

"B' (belicoso) (6.1"x52)- best one ages well, wrapper from San Andres Valley of Mexico

'C' (churchill) (7.0"x54)

E' (epicure) (Toro) (6.0"x54)

'R' (robusto) (5.0"x54)

robusto - good taste, smoke to a nub

Dom Pepin Garcia - corona, ok but just not tasty

Victor Sinclair vintage select box press 70 ring gauge... robusto, very tasty  a monster

Recent finds:

Coronado, by La Flor, 7 x 50 double corona, excellent cigar.

The Spaniards were the founders of the modern cigar industry in early 1800's. In 1831, King Ferdinand VII granted Cuba the right to produce tobacco

When Columbus travelled to New World, the natives there dried the leaves of a plant called cohiba, and they inhaled this mixed with other hallucinatory plants in a tube also called a cohiba, or the plants were rolled into musket-shaped sticks

Tobbaco plant is made of 3 different types of leaves.
Bottom portion is called volado. These are the mildest leaves, used for filler or binder. They need about 12 months of aging before they can be used.

Binder leaves are usually seco or ligero leaves from the middle & top portions of the plant respectively, thicker stronger leaves
nicotiana tabacum

Stogie: Town of Conestoga, Pennsylvania in the early 1800's, famous for the wagons, and the cigar-smoking roughnecks who commandeered the wagons, thus Conestoga became synonymous with cigars, and became abbreviated to stogie.

blowing smoke rings: coughing technique: use inside of mouth as smoke chamber, use air behind the smoke gathered at the opening of your lips with a cough. the resultant burst of air will push out the smoke and form the necessary vortex and subsequent smoke ring.

The other tecnique for propelling smoke out of your mouth is the tongue technique. This is done by resting the tip of your tongue at the bottom of your lower, inner gum. Anchor it there as the rest of your tongue retracts in preparatio to thrust forward. The top of your tongue moves outward and toward your lips, causing the smoke to be propelled outward.

Hygro-Thermometer Clock
Model 445702 $ 29
EXTECH Instruments
Eileen Kreski
335 Bear Hill Rd.
Waltham, MA 02154
United States

Phone: 781-890-7440
Fax: 781-890-7864
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.extech.com
 

Scotches:

Single malt scotch goes exceptionally well with cigars (sweet wines/liquers do too, so I have been told)

Ones I like:

McCallan - nice line of scotches...

The Glenrothes - my nice neighbor gave me a bottle of this, from 1991, and it was great, peaty.

TEMP/HUMIDITY
60 / xx
61 / 96%
62 / 92%
63 / 89%
64 / 86%
65 / 83%
66 / 80%
67 / 78%
68 / 75%
69 / 72%
70 / 70%
71 / 68%
72 / 65%
73 / 63%
74 / 61%
75 / 59%
76 / 57%
77 / 55%
78 / 53%
79 / 52%
80 / 49%

Cohiba:
from native caribbean word "cojoba", refers to powdered tobacco leaves native Caribs smoked in pipes, Christopher Colombus encountered this word in 1492 when he landed on the island of the Dominican Republic/Haiti. Fidel Castro borrowed the term to name the first new cigar brand created under his regime.

Aging cigars:
6mo-1yr almost any cigar will improve
1-2 yr - optimal for milder cigars
3-7 yr - strong/full bodied cigars
8+yrs - some cigars will age ok, but others will decline.
cigars made with poorly or fermented tobacco will never improve
Who makes what?

Arturo Fuente (Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia): Arturo Fuente, Fuente Fuente OpusX, Diamond Crown, Bauza, Ashton, La Unica, Cuesta Rey, Diana Silvius, Montesino

Consolidated Cigar: Don Diego, Playboy, H. Upmann (dominican), Dunhill, Henry Clay, La Corona, Las Cabrillas, Montecruz, Por Laranaga (Dominican), Primo del Rey, Santa Damiana, Royal Jamaica, Te-Amo

Danby/Villazon & Co.:
Punch (Honduran), Punch Grand Cru (Honduran), Hoyo de Monterrey (Honduran), Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur (Honduran), Bances, Don Ramos, El Rey del Mundo (Honduran), J.R. Ultimate, La Invicta, Castano

Davidoff (TABADOM):
Davidoff, Griffin's, Avo, Tenorio, Paul Garmirian

General Cigar: Macanudo, partagas, cifuentes, Cohiba (dominican), Ramon Allones (Dominican), Temple Hall, Nat Sherman, Canario D'Oro

cigar sizes / shapes

lonsdale -6 x 42 - in 1928 Rafael Gonzalez line in Cuba made special order for the Earl of Lonsdalel- still one of the finest Lonsdales in the world


Yes, there are many cubans I do not care for at all. In particular, the Punch, many of the Partagas (but not the series D!!), Upmann, and many of the "older" names... also Cohiba ... I find only the robusto to be good (not great) in my opinion, and the esplendido's ... well I go through about 5 boxes to find one good box, and that is discounting all the counterfeits...

Right now, looking at the glass door humidor in the office: (boxes)

Romeo y Julietta Exchibicion #2 (great, limited edition, full bodied, complex, just plain tasty) Cohiba Explendidos - a good box, tasty, and good for your friends that want to impress people Cohiba Reserva (black bands) - more complex, smoother, more refined tobacco, overpriced, but a nice
selection with 2 different siglos, robustos, pyramids, esplendidos.. but most boxes sold for
$600 - $1200... would not pay over $400... 30 cigars Partagas series "D" #3, limited edition - dark wrapper, almost chocolatey (sp?), uncharacteristic but great taste.

Partagas series "D" #2 (or is it 4?) - a traditional standard, unique taste and robusto shape
Montecristo #2 (do I need to say more, a classic)
Montecristo robusto limited edition - like chocolate and fullbodied like no other, a new classic, if you have not smoked one, you should, many of my friends say it's the best cigar they have
ever smoked...
Hoyo de Monterrey Particulares - double corona, each one in a separate cedar box - these are also a must try, but can sell for up to $100 each... wonderful balance of power, complexity, smoothness

The singles drawer has a few more bolivar gigante's and royal coronas, the strongest cigars I can find, and about 6 of the super wonderful Cohiba limited edition pyramids... most are sort of mild, but every 6th box or so are again some of the nicest cigars I have ever smoked (The best cohiba I have ever had were the Millenium edition pyramids, with the fancy white band with 2000 on them, and came in the white ceramic jar... they were $1200 in 1999/2000)

those are my suggestions for strong, complex, cubans with what I call the traditional "barnyard" flavor, very full bodied, pungent, and worth going after.

(I have a few others, but they are more rare, and I don't want too many burglers!)

My offerings to others of less discriminating paletts are Hoja Cubana Epicure, Padrons of various sizes, Hoyo de Monterrey rothchilds, and the new ones in the big black box, and a few other off brands that really taste good...

Well, those are my choices and suggestions, and all I can see while typing, I know I missed something (oh, the wonderful Montecristo "A"'s - like 3 robustos back to back)...

Places to Buy

www.lacigar.com

Inexpensive cigars

Cigars I keep around that most everyone likes, and are still a good deal:

My favorites:

* hoja cubana - epicure maduro 6x50 - these are made from short filler leftovers of much more expensive cigars. You won't notice that the filler is shorter, but they are tasty, full bodied. Benefit greatly with 4-6 months aging.

* hoya de monterrey double maduro rothchild - very tasty robusto, the non-doubles are not nearly as tasty. They also benefit greatly from 4-6 months of aging. Get them in the box of 50

Others:

San Luis Rey torpedo 6 x 54 Honduras
fuente fuente opus x - not cheap 5.25x50
manifiesto Gran Reserva - dom rep
montague robusto 5 x 50
* clestino vega cigars
* cupido robusto 5.5 x 50
* conquistador robusto 5 x 50 mexico
grand nica - toro - 6 x 50
 

Good non-cubans- reasonably priced

* padron churchills - I recommend the non-maduro, the maduros are overly sweet tasting.
* villar y villar pyramid
* clestino vega (small ones) manifiesto petite corona 5.5 x 42 $37 box
* partagas black ?

 

more non-Cubans, value varies

I have not smoked these, just compiled from recommendations of others.

* aristoff special perfecto 550 maduro 5x50
* La Tradicion - Perdomo Reserve #1 4.5x54
* Moore & bode - Brass (flamboyan blend) 5.5 x 60 from USA ems wrapper
leon Jimenes Belicoso 6.25 x 52
Al Capone Imperiales 7 x 50

Misc cigars

Here's some more that have gotten good recommendations:

clestino vega (small ones)
padron churchills
hoja cubana - maduro
villar y villar pyramid 6
C.A.O. annavarsario robusto's from costa rica
hoya de monterrey excalibur banquet dbl corona
hoyo de monterrey rothchild double maduro
Astral Vintage 1992 Maestro 7.5 x 52
*Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona
*Upmann Corona Imperial
*El Rey Del Mundo, Double Corona or Choix Supreme
*Vargas - Churchill - 7.5 x 50 frm Canary Islands
*Avanti Europa - dark-fired kentucky wrapper, dry-cured belgian and italian tobacco
*Napa Reserve - corona 53/4-42 sumatran wrapper
*Romeo y Julieta - Exhibicion #3, colorado wrapper, from cuba, bold, classic, 5.5x46
*Graycliff Pirate 6x53 torpedo sumatra

Cubans recommended

*vegas robania Clasico 6.5 x 42
*Lars Tetens, model: evolving 7" x 50
one of a king, alleges pre-embargo cuban tobacco
**Felipe Gregorio Suntuoso 7 x 48
*Felipe Gregorio Reserva B 5.5 x 56
*Partagas 8-9-8 6.75 x 43 - varnished box
from cuba... shorter ones or other box ng
*Cuaba - havana 4.75 inches, 41 ring torpedo
*Partagas #10
*Cohiba Red dot pyramid

* Cuaba Celestial - havana - 7x56
* Cohiba Pyramide - havana - 6-1/8x53
* Montecristo Robusto - havana - 4-7/8x50
montecristo "A" 9.5 x 48
* Quai D'Orsay - Imperiales - 7x41