Hogmanay

Fidel loves bringing in the New Year. 

Bonne Annee, bonne sante everyone.

The last Nov-Dec batch was late due to an unfortunate supply issue... Greg - the latest Passeur Heretique - will hopefully bring back our Australian stock (via France to NZ how ironic) end of January to resolve that. Also i got some a few in from the U.S the other day so there will be plenty of cigars you have never tried in the months to come.

The only new cigar in this batch was in fact a tiny flavoured cigarillo donated by said Sheep's Bane: the Wellingtonians got the vanilla ones and the Aucklanders the cognac ones. Will synchronise perfectly with your short black. Speaking of Wellingtonians, the unheard of 30+ degree heat and heavy humidity was a bit of a challenge over christmas, certainly slowed down my eating and smoking during the day. Makes you wonder how the Cubans smoke at all in their climate!  

It is worth noting that Hadley is leaving our shores for browner pastures across the Ditch (Melbourne) but will keep in touch. If someone has a better job offer for him, make it now and he might stay (does being a high class Escort for poker players pay better?). Also Michael from Whangarei is back after suffering withdrawal from too extended a period without the loving company of the fermented leaf... another place in NZ to drop in for a cigar with a fellow member. 

Enjoy your New Year's celebrations...

Christmas greetings from St Auban sur l'Ouveze, on this day of our Lord's birthday - a gentle reminder of the importance to live life to it's fullest before one runs out of puff or that he returns in a blink of the eye before one has finished one's last puff. I have nonetheless been reassured after reading the scriptures that some words have been mistranslated and failed to capture the full flavour of the meaning contained within. For example, the world 'life' is actually a brand of cigar and so when Jesus says, I came to give you life, and life to the fullest, he was referring to a heavenly cigar brand and the latter part of the phrase would have been better translated 'of the fullest flavour'. I haven't the time now to extend the bible study but will get back to you at a later date.

P.S. 1 The wine was being coaxed past room temperature as the room was a bit cool. The name of the wine was 'Domain du Faucon Dored made by Lou Sanglier (very 'alcoholise' at 15%) and the cheese that is being caressed by my loving lips, was Beaufort with delightful tangy notes found in a mature gruyere.

P.S. 2 I was surprised to see Louisa's birth year inscribed in the brickwork.

Greetings from the snow sprinkled land of St Auban sur l'Ouveze.

Jean-Michel and I decided to do some hunting and after an extensive stalk in Le Hangar, we showed this boy who could hunt.

Some talk about a lamb to the slaughter but this fellow had balls and wanted to go out in style. He was still smoking it when he lost his test tickets. I must confess that I let out a yelp when the knife removed them. The beast in his mouth was a Nicaraguan 'Bahia Blu'.When he ran out of puff, I did the decent thing and finished it off.

Greg (Le Chasseur).
P.S. Pleasant cigar with hints of 'mouton'. I found the end a bit soft - the previous puffer had done a 'Gloria' and salivered it up more than was necessary.

San Cristobal + Pairing drink

Finally the wet butt hole of Auckland shone some sun rays.

This required my lonesome self to take heed of a little cigar time and light up. It's been hit and miss over the few years of trying this San Cristobal but I thought out of all the choices available in my humidor, this would be the best choice for the Founders Fair Maiden Ale that I was keen to quaff to the blue sky bliss.

Not sure if it was the mood, the weather or the age of the cigar but this was delicious. The San Cristobal gave great warm and soft draws the whole way through, filling the mouth to blow out plumes of whitish grey smoke. First third was sweet light wood developing into its 2nd third of dry cocoa a lastly, a dominant chilli skin or capsicum skin which was strangely good. All of these flavours went really really good with the fine organic NZ craft beer. The beer kind of lined the mouth with a balanced bittersweet freshness for inviting the cigar to do its thing.

Here's a photo of my first attempt in growing tobacco and the pairing drink that served well for accompanying the cigar

fala lala laa! it's the season for golf

A quick pause during a great 18 holes of golf to get this nub doing it's thing yesterday. Hadley shot his personal best for the course with a cool 76 and coming in 2nd place was my very contestable 105 hehe. The nub went great - never going out between swings and swigs and was the perfect size companion to the golfballs seated in their holders of the cart.

Montecristo Especiales no.2

Joined my son in a cigar on his birthday. I chose an Especiales because i had nothing to drink and it was around lunch... performed well, definitely bigger in body and stronger in flavour than a couple years ago (still mild though). From memory, nice leathery Montecristo style flavours without the cocoa of the No.4, maybe a touch of oaky fruitiness. Enjoyable and smooth. Deserved some kind of drink especially near the end... I still wouldn't smoke it after a strong tasting meal. Overall this box has improved with age, a little, but my overall impression is that the tobacco for both filler and wrapper was not the tastiest ... luck of the draw. Hence why i now try to get our boxes from merchants who will open them up and select according to requirements... 

Nub 464 - Handstand

A beautiful smoke in the little out side section at Motel. It went well with the unpronounceable whiskey I had at the time.

Arnold's Secret

Not much to do with cigars but Arnie smokes them, bourbon can accompany them, and they were great penalty shots at our invercargill poker game. So by Triangulation it has everything to do with cigars.

Essay Writing on Labour Weekend

The question is, what cigar do I smoke to console myself for not being in Wellington this weekend?

Review from Stonetown

Sept-Oct Batch

• Arturo Fuente Exquisitos Maduro: Great way to taste maduro wrapper over a coffee break
• Illusione Bombones: Try before breakfast. Call Ambulance. Or enjoy it with an islay malt. Smoke now as they are full of flavours and like many american market cigars will get boring with age. 
• Montecristo Especiales no.2: is to the Bombones what fairies are to pirates. Smoke on a clean palate after light food e.g. Joel's salad review . Mar'09 box. 
• Rafael Gonzalez Coronas Extra: another '09 box - as old as the club so a third anniversary special. Waves of ever-changing flavours, complex and reaching maturity as in this review. Mushrooms, cream, cedar etc ... more of a port cigar. 
• Ramon Allones Specially Selected: the last of our veteran Mar'08 box. Restrained complexity absent the strength of its youth. Pair with light sweet whiskies e.g. i tried mine just recently with a Glendronach (selected after tasting almost a dozen other whiskies ;-). Give it a good send-off. 

Texas Hold'Em Up

The cast

The whore

Howdy, Wild Bull Hardcock reporting back on the poker evening last friday. The entire Tamaki Makaurau chapter was present, including overseas returnees Smidgen (Andrew) and Stands-with-a-Flush (Zach), whose prognosis of an impending 30th bday required repeated and large prescriptions of liquor inhalation.

Perhaps the highlight of our cast of characters was this beautiful young lady (Gl(wh)oria aka Hadley) and her enticing assets: a bottle of 25 yr old Glenlivet and a Montecristo A. I will not dwell on the matter of prostitutes and their extremely well lubricated gran coronas, but i sampled one (orally!) a couple of times over the night and the cigar was a cracker.

The occasion certainly broke the midwinter-weather-imposed cigar drought for me, as i had a record three cigars and would have moved onto a fourth had a storm not interrupted proceedings (i suspect it was sent by the all-knowing Ministry of Health). It's amazing how whisky cleans the palate, and my careful progression from a light Nub 464, through a strengthening Vegas Robaina Clasico, to a nuclear-powered Illusione Bombone left me with no regrets... i thoroughly enjoyed the lot of'em. That nicaraguan Bomb certainly lived up to my name.

Other cigars present were a lovely cafe creme flavoured Quai d'Orsay Panatela (def. not a whisky match), more than one Bolivar Petit Corona, and Joel's consolation Bolivar Gold Medal.

Many thanks to ¡Chupapoya! (Sam) for setting up the occasion.

¡Chupapoya! y Wild Bull Hardcock

Chupapoya trades in Injun for chips

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Dapper Dan caught in Gloria's fishnets

Stands-With-a-Flush with a Quai d'Orsay panatela

TV Cigar Hero of the Month

Mainly because he has hair all the way down the front of his deltoids/biceps and narrowly escapes death by termination. [Yeah i saw it on TV last night.]