Quorum Torpedo - Maduro: The one sentence review!
Despite having a very dark maduro wrapper, this is probably the blandest medium strength cigar that I've ever had. :(
Beef Cubes on Rice
6 years ago
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Happy Birthday Geddy Lee!
Celebrated Geddy Lee's birthday the other day (He's 55!) by listening to a bunch of good tunes from Rush, my all-time favorite rock band. The one song that always moves me is Freewill. As a bass player who has been playing for 17 years now, I still cannot play it note for note. Must practice!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Humidors, Humidity, and Humor
I have three humidors.
I purchased my first new one off the auction site (http://www.cigarauctioneer.com/) that Famous Smoke has back in the holiday period of 2004-2005, which was my crazy time for purchasing cigars. I still have some cigars from that time (mostly Presidente size cigars of Dominique, Tabamex, a few premium oddballs here and there) that are probably really really super smooth now. It started out as a flip top with hinges, but after stripping the screws from too many repair jobs, I decided that it didn't need any hinges and the top fits fine without them. It's actually easier just taking the top cover off when I need to access my cigars. It's a 100-ct. humidor, FSS exclusive made in China. The color of the laminate (my current work involves laminates over wood and plastics) looks like a birdseye maple pattern, nice sheen, still feels like real wood on the outside. I've gotten a large rectangular humidifier that does not one to stay fixed to the top of the cover, so it just sits around the bottom. I probably have only about 50 cigars in there now. They are the lousy Chairman's choice, a few sticks of LVH CC, JR ALT El's, one Ashton Cabinet Tubo, one Phoenix Cigar Company Presidential tubo, and a motley collection of Tabamex, Dominique, FSS Dominican 1000 Torpedoes, and so on. You name it, I got cheap ones in here!
My daughter put a bunch of smiley face stickers on the cover, and it looks really funny. In fact, whenever I would come home from work, my daughter would ask me if I wanted to "play with a cigar or beer". That's my baby!
My 2nd humidor is a small 25 ct. (supposed to be 40 ct. corona sized) that I picked up off of http://www.jrcigars.com/ when they ran a special on Montecristo Peruvians (buy a box, get a free matching humidor!). It's actually a very nice humidor with excellent construction. A nice cedar tray made it a plus! The cigar itself was good but overpriced, so having the humidor made it an easier purchase because for a while I did really want to try other Montecristos.
With that in mind, I had purchased my 3rd humidor as yet another JR deal, this time at their store in Southfield, MI. I saw that they were advertising a similar Montecristo deal to the national website, but with the cigar being any of the Montecristo lines. I asked if there was a minimum purchase size, and the cashier said one box. So guess what I found? Montecristo Afrique cigarillos, way overpriced at $38 for 30 cigarillos (or extremely petite sized coronas as some people like to say). They are actually an excellent cigar/cigarillo, and I do endorse them readily. Now here's the funny part to my story: the advertisement said that I could pick any size humidor. As the cashier was pulling out the corona-sized humidor out, I told her to give me the 40-ct. churchill size humidor. She looked at me, scratched her head, read the ad and gave me my freebie. Then she tried to sell me everything in the store. No thanks! For the last couple of months, I've been seeing a similar/the same humidor on special at Mike's Cigar (a very nice website retailer) for about $70. It's bundled with 10 cigars. Not a great deal, but these really are nice humidors.
Woohoo I'm cheap!
I will put photos up soon for these.
I purchased my first new one off the auction site (http://www.cigarauctioneer.com/) that Famous Smoke has back in the holiday period of 2004-2005, which was my crazy time for purchasing cigars. I still have some cigars from that time (mostly Presidente size cigars of Dominique, Tabamex, a few premium oddballs here and there) that are probably really really super smooth now. It started out as a flip top with hinges, but after stripping the screws from too many repair jobs, I decided that it didn't need any hinges and the top fits fine without them. It's actually easier just taking the top cover off when I need to access my cigars. It's a 100-ct. humidor, FSS exclusive made in China. The color of the laminate (my current work involves laminates over wood and plastics) looks like a birdseye maple pattern, nice sheen, still feels like real wood on the outside. I've gotten a large rectangular humidifier that does not one to stay fixed to the top of the cover, so it just sits around the bottom. I probably have only about 50 cigars in there now. They are the lousy Chairman's choice, a few sticks of LVH CC, JR ALT El's, one Ashton Cabinet Tubo, one Phoenix Cigar Company Presidential tubo, and a motley collection of Tabamex, Dominique, FSS Dominican 1000 Torpedoes, and so on. You name it, I got cheap ones in here!
My daughter put a bunch of smiley face stickers on the cover, and it looks really funny. In fact, whenever I would come home from work, my daughter would ask me if I wanted to "play with a cigar or beer". That's my baby!
My 2nd humidor is a small 25 ct. (supposed to be 40 ct. corona sized) that I picked up off of http://www.jrcigars.com/ when they ran a special on Montecristo Peruvians (buy a box, get a free matching humidor!). It's actually a very nice humidor with excellent construction. A nice cedar tray made it a plus! The cigar itself was good but overpriced, so having the humidor made it an easier purchase because for a while I did really want to try other Montecristos.
With that in mind, I had purchased my 3rd humidor as yet another JR deal, this time at their store in Southfield, MI. I saw that they were advertising a similar Montecristo deal to the national website, but with the cigar being any of the Montecristo lines. I asked if there was a minimum purchase size, and the cashier said one box. So guess what I found? Montecristo Afrique cigarillos, way overpriced at $38 for 30 cigarillos (or extremely petite sized coronas as some people like to say). They are actually an excellent cigar/cigarillo, and I do endorse them readily. Now here's the funny part to my story: the advertisement said that I could pick any size humidor. As the cashier was pulling out the corona-sized humidor out, I told her to give me the 40-ct. churchill size humidor. She looked at me, scratched her head, read the ad and gave me my freebie. Then she tried to sell me everything in the store. No thanks! For the last couple of months, I've been seeing a similar/the same humidor on special at Mike's Cigar (a very nice website retailer) for about $70. It's bundled with 10 cigars. Not a great deal, but these really are nice humidors.
Woohoo I'm cheap!
I will put photos up soon for these.
Punica Pomegranate Liquer
I bought this bottle around the holidays in 2007. This French-made liquor is made with pomegranate extract and comes in a beautiful glass bottle. The low-octane strength (about 34 proof) and sweet, fruity yet unobtrusive pomegranate flavour make this an excellent choice as a mixer (great with vodka) or on the rocks after dinner. I've seen this brand on sale at the store for $18. for 750 ml. When I purchased a bottle during the Christmas season they packaged it with a very nice martini glass. Impressive!
Let's get rid of the Chairman!
Okay, last year I reviewed some cigars that I picked up called Chairman's Choice. At the time I was being generous with the review. More than a year later I have ultimately decided that these are the most taste-free cigars that I've ever had. Absolutely no flavour! While mowing my lawn yesterday (we had friends over for burgers, hot dogs, and smores!) I decided to give the CC churchill another try. When I'm doing work and not concentrating on drinking beer and smoking a stogie (it's hard work multi-tasking :) ), I prefer to smoke something that's mild to medium in build. This cigar unfortunately is sub-mild. After trying to get something out of it for 20 minutes, I finally threw the stick into the firepit. If you are interested in taking these "cigars" off of me for absolutely nothing but postage, leave a contact with your information and I'll gladly send these things out to you.
Value: 2 - these are probably good for lighting fireworks
Value: 2 - these are probably good for lighting fireworks
Friday, July 25, 2008
Old Overholt Rye Whiskey review
This fine and inexpensive spirit was purchased after much reading was done on rye whiskeys. Since I moved outside of Chicago back in 2006 from Detroit, I have found that the biggest foodie/drink/cigar finds outside of great Chinese food have been the availability of good liquors at lower prices. Illinois has high taxes for just about everything but liquor. Don't know why, but I can get a bottle of good bourbon like Maker's Mark for about $5 less per 750 mL than in Michigan. That said, I do not buy bottles of liquor in Michigan anymore. What I do is buy drinks at the bars in Michigan because a good pint of Guiness is usually no more thatn $4 in Detroit versus up to $7 in Chicago.
Anyways, Old Overholt is a sweet and smooth rye that has a very flavourful bouquet. What that means is that when I drink it, I feel the warm burn going down my throat and not up my nose. No harshness, but you know that you're drinking something that was made with a bit of care. At about $13 for the bottle, I must say drink and be merry with this one!
Anyways, Old Overholt is a sweet and smooth rye that has a very flavourful bouquet. What that means is that when I drink it, I feel the warm burn going down my throat and not up my nose. No harshness, but you know that you're drinking something that was made with a bit of care. At about $13 for the bottle, I must say drink and be merry with this one!
Rosa Cuba, you are a bit plugged!
One Word Quick Review:
Neutral.
Cigar: Rosa Cuba Robusto
Where did I smoke them: Full Moon, Ann Arbor, MI while shooting pool.
Appearance: 5 Wrapper is a bit on the thin side, to the point that it's translucent at times.
Construction: 4 Wrapper did not hold up well, started to crack as I pulled them out of the cellophane.
Prelight aroma: 7 smelled nice, like a typical cigar.
Flavour: 6, nothing special nothing offensive
Draw: 3 Plugged on about half of them.
Value: 5 - still better than a Swisher (although I have to admit that machine made cigars are consistent in appearance and construction), and for under $20/bundle for most of the sizes, you have yourself a cheap date. But you could do so much better! This is like going out on a date with your hot female friend's hairy hippie classmate.
Neutral.
Cigar: Rosa Cuba Robusto
Where did I smoke them: Full Moon, Ann Arbor, MI while shooting pool.
Appearance: 5 Wrapper is a bit on the thin side, to the point that it's translucent at times.
Construction: 4 Wrapper did not hold up well, started to crack as I pulled them out of the cellophane.
Prelight aroma: 7 smelled nice, like a typical cigar.
Flavour: 6, nothing special nothing offensive
Draw: 3 Plugged on about half of them.
Value: 5 - still better than a Swisher (although I have to admit that machine made cigars are consistent in appearance and construction), and for under $20/bundle for most of the sizes, you have yourself a cheap date. But you could do so much better! This is like going out on a date with your hot female friend's hairy hippie classmate.
Very old cigar! It's Don Augusto!
Another quick review on a cigar that I actually smoked a while ago:
Don Augusto Toro, from the awful Thompson cigars. Almost everybody that has started out on cigars gets the recommendation from someone that they should check out Thompson cigars. My advice is, do not listen to them! Back in 2004, when I first really got into cigars, I was given an old humidor (40 ct. size, holes were filled with glue), and some cigars. There were a couple of these cigars that looked like the kind that you could find in the local gas station next to the Phillies - comical blue and white striped labeled with gold lettering , just one of those cigars that is meant for a- "it's a boy! it's a girl!" occasion. It's the venerable Don Augusto. I have never seen these cigars on any other website, so I'm going to assume that these are Thompson's 3rd rate specials. They sell for about $1 each, which is the standard Thompson's cheap deal. Anyways, these cigars had sat in my humidor for the next year, and from what I understand, they were now about 4-5 years old. Not wanting to toss out a cigar based on where it came from, I decided to light the Don Augusto Toro up. I sat outside in the cold spring air and I was floored! This was a mild-medium cigar, and it tasted as good as or better than most of the Macanudos that I have had. That's the truth. It had a natural wrapper, no funky taste, just solid tobacco goodness. On a scale of 1-10, it would be a 10 for flavour, 7 for construction (most of this was probably because of neglect), and 10 for value. Now here's the catch. If you buy a box of these, I really do recommend that you have room in your humidor, because aging is key to this brand. Inventory costs money, so build yourself a good coolidor. I have not been on Thompson's website in a very long time, and once sent them an email to tell them to never send their catalog to me. They still do sometimes, but I don't mind it. The writing contained within is even cheesier than my blog. Ew!
Don Augusto Toro, from the awful Thompson cigars. Almost everybody that has started out on cigars gets the recommendation from someone that they should check out Thompson cigars. My advice is, do not listen to them! Back in 2004, when I first really got into cigars, I was given an old humidor (40 ct. size, holes were filled with glue), and some cigars. There were a couple of these cigars that looked like the kind that you could find in the local gas station next to the Phillies - comical blue and white striped labeled with gold lettering , just one of those cigars that is meant for a- "it's a boy! it's a girl!" occasion. It's the venerable Don Augusto. I have never seen these cigars on any other website, so I'm going to assume that these are Thompson's 3rd rate specials. They sell for about $1 each, which is the standard Thompson's cheap deal. Anyways, these cigars had sat in my humidor for the next year, and from what I understand, they were now about 4-5 years old. Not wanting to toss out a cigar based on where it came from, I decided to light the Don Augusto Toro up. I sat outside in the cold spring air and I was floored! This was a mild-medium cigar, and it tasted as good as or better than most of the Macanudos that I have had. That's the truth. It had a natural wrapper, no funky taste, just solid tobacco goodness. On a scale of 1-10, it would be a 10 for flavour, 7 for construction (most of this was probably because of neglect), and 10 for value. Now here's the catch. If you buy a box of these, I really do recommend that you have room in your humidor, because aging is key to this brand. Inventory costs money, so build yourself a good coolidor. I have not been on Thompson's website in a very long time, and once sent them an email to tell them to never send their catalog to me. They still do sometimes, but I don't mind it. The writing contained within is even cheesier than my blog. Ew!
JR Alt. Edicion Limitada to the Hoyo Piramide
Here's a quick review:
Smoked the cigar. Nice looking, sharp end. Smoked it to about 2 inches down. Tossed it. Why not smoke it to the nub? Unlike the other JRAlt EL's that I have smoked, this one just wasn't as tasty. Everybody says that the JR Alts. are the same tobacco wrapped up in different constructions, but in this case, the flavour never developed and it was one-dimensional (straw like, not woody and tannin-like as I prefer for this line of cigars). If I had to rate it from a scale of 1-10, I would say a very neutral 6.0 for flavour, 9.0 for construction, and 6.5 for overall value.
Smoked the cigar. Nice looking, sharp end. Smoked it to about 2 inches down. Tossed it. Why not smoke it to the nub? Unlike the other JRAlt EL's that I have smoked, this one just wasn't as tasty. Everybody says that the JR Alts. are the same tobacco wrapped up in different constructions, but in this case, the flavour never developed and it was one-dimensional (straw like, not woody and tannin-like as I prefer for this line of cigars). If I had to rate it from a scale of 1-10, I would say a very neutral 6.0 for flavour, 9.0 for construction, and 6.5 for overall value.
Consuegra No. 73 Cigar (Toro size, Natural)
Cheap cigars! What a life! I don't even smoke that much, so why do I purchase and patiently review these things? If had more money, then maybe I would buy a few boxes of Don Carlos robustos to smoke and get fat with. Then again, if I had more money, I would be spending it on other things, like a good magazine subscription to Bravewords and Bloody Knuckles or some other cool heavy metal magazine. Or even better, I would spend it on a big double bass or a nice drum kit. Hold on! I'm making a slight thought detour. VroOm! I got a free six issue subscription to Cigar Aficionado last year that finally just ended. I actually enjoyed reading the interviews and learned a (while trying to keep a straight face) from reading the all important cigar reviews, but Everything in there is a bit off, and the stories by a Mr. Suckling (haha, that is his real last name) are quiet pretentious. Yes, James, Cuba is a wonderful producer of cigars and the glory days of 1958-1959 are a thing to remember, but let me tell you. Cuba is still a communist government, and Castro and his brother are vile despots. Therefore I cannot actively support the purchase of Cuban cigars. Yes, they taste good, but I have decided not to speak for them. So you might ask, what about Chinese-made items being sold here? I do my best not to buy them. I refuse to buy food from China, I am diligent in finding USA-made equipment and parts, and will not support companies that are actively pushing all of our jobs over to China (and other countries for that matter). This is wrong, and so is China's leadership, so to all of the US manufacturers out there that are complaining about lower/zero revenues, it's all your fault for supporting this evil. I can't even step into Wal-Mart because of this. Imagine that, an Asian brother that won’t buy Chinese-made items. Until they bring God back into their country, nothing will change over there. Wow, what a rant. I better stick to reviewing cigars. I need to exercise more and get my mind focused. If only it came in Churchill form.
Okay, if you’re still with me, here’s my review:
The Consuegra No. 73 is a good cigar once you age it. These have been sitting in my brother-in-law’s wine chest/cigar humidor storage unit for about 2-3 months now. There was no room in his humidors at the time, so he wrapped up the bundle in several layers of plastic wrap. I was somewhat skeptical on this method of storage, but it seems to have worked. The cigars were purchased at JR Cigars in Detroit and were quite moist. Just about every cigar that I have ever had from there tends to have a lot of moisture within the leaves, so a few days or even week outside of the humidor should not have any detrimental affect on them. We unwrapped the cigars, removed them from the cellophane, and I promptly clipped one with a double-blade cutter. The end that I clipped started to tear slightly, but I managed to peel it off without too much problem. I sniffed the toro and got only slight whiffs of the general tobacco aroma. Strike that up as mild! I put the stick to my lips to get a pre-light taste, and it was woody, mild (no chewing tobacco-like sensations on this one) in flavour, and enjoyable.
One match lit the cigar without any issues (I could be overly snooty and say that I grabbed a tinder from my pile of cedar strips and lit it with the flame that I have kept going for the last 10 years, but then you would probably quit reading my posts and drink a cosmopolitan while talking about how hot Sarah Jessica Parker is and how she reminds you of your mom).
Several puffs into it and the cigar’s draw was perfect. Since Consuegras are seconds, there are times where their cigars can be plugged. Not in this case. The draw was perfect. Again, the taste was mild, plenty of smoke, not a bit of harshness. Best description in terms of what I tasted was that it’s like drinking a good hefeweizen. I’m really enjoying the natural Consuegras. When I want a really full-bodied cigar, I’ll got get my JR Edicion Limitadas out or pull out something from my stash of true premium cigars (yes, I am the cheap guy who keeps a humidor of premiums, but they’re mostly gifted cigars that I’ve received over the last couple of years). The robusto that I reviewed before was excellent, and now this toro can be added to the Metalbass Hall of Exalted Cigars (note – this hall is not listed on the website :)).
Okay, if you’re still with me, here’s my review:
The Consuegra No. 73 is a good cigar once you age it. These have been sitting in my brother-in-law’s wine chest/cigar humidor storage unit for about 2-3 months now. There was no room in his humidors at the time, so he wrapped up the bundle in several layers of plastic wrap. I was somewhat skeptical on this method of storage, but it seems to have worked. The cigars were purchased at JR Cigars in Detroit and were quite moist. Just about every cigar that I have ever had from there tends to have a lot of moisture within the leaves, so a few days or even week outside of the humidor should not have any detrimental affect on them. We unwrapped the cigars, removed them from the cellophane, and I promptly clipped one with a double-blade cutter. The end that I clipped started to tear slightly, but I managed to peel it off without too much problem. I sniffed the toro and got only slight whiffs of the general tobacco aroma. Strike that up as mild! I put the stick to my lips to get a pre-light taste, and it was woody, mild (no chewing tobacco-like sensations on this one) in flavour, and enjoyable.
One match lit the cigar without any issues (I could be overly snooty and say that I grabbed a tinder from my pile of cedar strips and lit it with the flame that I have kept going for the last 10 years, but then you would probably quit reading my posts and drink a cosmopolitan while talking about how hot Sarah Jessica Parker is and how she reminds you of your mom).
Several puffs into it and the cigar’s draw was perfect. Since Consuegras are seconds, there are times where their cigars can be plugged. Not in this case. The draw was perfect. Again, the taste was mild, plenty of smoke, not a bit of harshness. Best description in terms of what I tasted was that it’s like drinking a good hefeweizen. I’m really enjoying the natural Consuegras. When I want a really full-bodied cigar, I’ll got get my JR Edicion Limitadas out or pull out something from my stash of true premium cigars (yes, I am the cheap guy who keeps a humidor of premiums, but they’re mostly gifted cigars that I’ve received over the last couple of years). The robusto that I reviewed before was excellent, and now this toro can be added to the Metalbass Hall of Exalted Cigars (note – this hall is not listed on the website :)).
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