Matariki 2013 Batch (with box pics)

• Arturo Fuente - Exquisito maduro (i think that was the last of that box of 50)


• CAO Mx2: another handily sized cigar that is definitely not a puro and in this case, all the better for it


• Liga Privada - Unico Serie - Papas Fritas: Liga Privada are expensive cigars, unlike their Liga Undercrown counterparts, and here is the cheapest one ever released which is also the most expensive short filler cigar ever released. Confused? It makes sense if you think about it. It has their top Connecticut broadleaf wrapper but the filler is not whole leaves but leftover cuttings from the big boy LPs (if you tap it on the table some little bits might fall out). Very meaty, huge clouds of velvety smoke, not particularly sweet, and comes in fancy tins (one of which Sam won at poker). Probably a good heavy liquor cigar if you don't want a biggun.    





Another marketing-oriented box. Heavy as & made from weird stringy wood a bit like ponga.



Had a wax seal which could've been cool if they'd chosen a wax that looked less like Warewhare plastic

• Rocky Patel - Olde World Reserve (Corojo wrapper): as per last batch, mild-medium, sweet, velvety and buttery smoke, good after coffee, eminently satisfying cigar.





Liga Undercrown box: attractive but heavy which co$ts in postage. Plenty of fancy cedar inside that smells like detergent. Typical bloody american stuff.

• Liga Undercrown - Corona ¡­­Viva!: Got a whole box of these cos they are reasonably priced for a good cigar. San Andres (mexican) wrapper, mix of Brazilian mata fina and Nicaraguan filler. You've had the Undercrown Robusto, this is roughly the same except they have tweaked the blend to give it a (little) bit more kick (hence the ¡­­Viva!) when they released it in 2012. Smoke the two together and you'll see what i mean ;-) Still medium-bodied easy smoking, just a bit meatier. So goes with pretty much anything. Corona gorda is a much better vitola too in my opinion (thinner than robusto so doesn't burn as hot and easier size on your delicate mouth). 


• Cuaba Exclusivos: Ahhh, cuaba... the only cuban in this batch. A more recent marca (est. 1990s) made up of only perfecto (curvy) vitolas and often criticised for its poor construction. This is a carefully selected box from 2008 so ready to smoke now. On the milder side and yet complex and satisfying - you'll see what i mean. Needs a light drink, and definitely not coffee. Excellent after-lunch cigar. I really loved the small rg of the end you stick in your mouth, for some reason, just so comfortable. Won't improve as mild and 5 years old so smoke it now!!!

Blurb from the Cuaba box - note that in essence it's the same word as Cohiba

Bombones! La bomba!

In honour of the French tour

Inspiration through Inhalation

1. An outdoor table
2. A book
3. Pen and paper, or a type-writer
4. Preferably some kind of view
5. Arturo Fuente or other small to medium-sized cigar

Mix these ingredients up and you'll feel the joy of smoking at your desk like you would have back in the 70s. Combining these ingredients will connect you to your pipe smoking, novel writing ancestors and provide great moments of inspiration.

winter's coming

CIGGGAR />

Heeeeerreeee's Johnny!

Jack and I have so much in common. 

All work and no play makes us dull boys 

and we both get a bit ma-ma-mad when we've been sitting for too long trying to write. 

Gah!!!!!!! 

But a nice stroll through the maze can be great to clear our head, especially with a nice cigar. 

Review of the Illusione Bombones - it's a Gruntfest

Hmmm this review was made last year in The Garage... which sadly is no longer... but i finally got round to posting it on the site!

p.s. tried posting it on youtube for larger-sized viewing but won't embed here, so here's the link

Kurt Cobain with Arturo Fuente

Arturo Fuente howling to the moon (just after this photo was taken a possum came to check me out)

I'm staying in an apartment in Newmarket for the weekend. Went for a stroll with one of these cigars this evening. Nek minit, a middle-aged guy yelled some insults at me from his balcony and slammed his ranch-slider shut. Can't even walk down the street smoking without offending people these days. Good to know one little AF short story can cause some bourgeois' fury! #cigarheretics

9 holes at Red Beach

Greg at the Red Beach golf course enjoying a Robusto. Neither of our four balls ended in this water feature, though one of mine sat nicely right on the edge. 

Greg managed to tee-off exactly 165m on this hole.

The Robusto was excellent for the first two-thirds. We never found out what the last third tasted like as we lost the cigar in the thick grass. We later enjoyed one of those cheap vanilla ones over beers at the local pub. Good combo.

Sinking one's teeth into Julieta

Juliet: What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other word would smell as sweet.

So i'm breaking a flu-imposed drought with some red wine and leftover Easter cheese followed by this RyJ Petit Corona and port... very niiice. The cigar itself isn't that impressive visually, a lighter shade of colorado with a few veins, but one can see the oily sheen on it and the detail of the leaf's little pores... always encouraging. Fired it up to encounter some bitter coffee grinds and a touch of cedar - still tasting a bit dry, probably needs a bit more time in the humi after its transtasman voyage. A cm in and the bitterness is superseded by a fair amount of cedar. An inch in and the trademark RyJ fruit has started to leech out of the cedar, joining nicely with the coffee grinds. Trademark as in burnt cherry style flavour, or else oak from a used port or cab sav cask. This is all joined by a satisfying steaky /hay texture halfway in, and a bit more cedar. Stays like this until just below the band, where the strength of youth takes hold and the force of circumstances (ie my son) makes me abandon the whole enterprise. 

A plague on both your houses!

Had I a larger glass of port (and a large mallet with which to lovingly stroke my boy's head) and i would've kept on going. The rough edges of an overenthusiastic youth are clearly present, but with enough drink, this passionate treachery gives one something unique and satisfying to sink one's teeth into. I'm thinking of Julieta's left buttock. As often with the smaller vitolas, you get a concentrated version of the big brother's flavours, so you will easily recognise the genetic profile of the RyJ Churchill (also reminds me of a young Partagas Short). Also pleasantly enhanced by a phone conversation with Sam aka Chupapoya. Enjoy...

Good night, good night. Parting is such sweet sorrow,

That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

How is everyone's Saturday going? I'm getting my sophistication on and lighting up a freshly rolled tobacco leaf. Okay, it's not the same complexities that our batch offers, and it does taste like the stale tea breath of a smoker that has come into one's personal space a little too close, and the pack is a bit loose, and the outer leaf keeps unfurling, and, yes... it was just a silly spontaneous thing to do while gardening but does offer a sense of achievement that people can grow tobacco and dry the leaves themselves. The rest are being "colour cured" in the garage and I will be making a press for pipe tobacco when they are ready. Just wanted to update with some activity on this blog :)

Easter Bunny Batch

• Arturo Fuente Exquisitos Maduro 


• CAO Mx2 or CAO Cameroon: both good for a long coffee break, a mixture of non-cuban tobaccos (the cameroon one has a cameroon wrapper of course)


• Ortega Serie D no.7 (robusto): Mexican wrapper from San Andres (info on a few types of non-cuban maduro wrappers) with Nicaraguan filler and binder. Apparently smooth and medium-bodied, slightly sweet with a touch of spice. 


• Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Corojo (robusto): Nicaraguan and Honduran filler and binder with a Honduran corojo wrapper. Corojo is a type of tobacco that was used in most cubans from the '30s to '90s (until more disease resistant hybrids were developed), and has its own particular flavour as you will see. This is a mellow sweet creamy cigar. 


• Romeo y Julieta Petit Coronas: RyJs are in the top 3 habanos in quantity, that means quality is a lot more variable, fortunately this box was selected for us. Have that touch of cherry/coffee grinds that marks them out from any other cuban. Mar'12 box but these PCs are already ready to smoke - satisfying and unmistakeably RyJ.

Cabinet Investment

Just found out what a saucer is for ... holding your cigar while you sip your coffee and vice versa!

Anyways, I ordered a box of these Por Larranaga Petit Coronas about a month ago for the club. They only come in cabinets of 50, which actually makes them a bit cheaper per cigar and also ideal for aging. Ideal as in every 6 months you have one to check how they are going. Also this particular cigar is well known to be at its peak after 3-5 years so it's a "long term investment" and precisely the type of thing that the club helps us with (thank goodness for all the low interest credit card deals at mo;-). Now once i find out a way of getting them here (any overseas trips let me know!!!) we can taste and see!

p.s. next batch will be out after next (Easter) weekend.

Jan-Feb Batch out

He he sent out yesterday just in time. Scott and Matt, come and get it.

With some variation for everyone, this is roughly the batch, plenty of new ones:

• Arturo Fuente - Exquisitos (maduro): coffee break

• Liga Undercrown - Robusto: the cheaper complementary cousin of the hard-to-find Liga Privada T52 we had a year or so ago, in that it uses the leaves that aren't used in the T52 (kind of). Medium strength, sweetish cocoa, and satisfying. Weekend coffee break or whenever. [Mexican Otapan Negro Último Corte wrapper,  Brazilian Mata Fina and Nicaraguan longfillers, T52 Connecticut stalk cut & cured Habano binder. They claim that the wrapper harvest is delayed by over 4 weeks, resulting in a "higher natural sugar content and a richer, creamier flavor"] 

• Arturo Fuente Hemingway - Work of Art (maduro): we have had plenty of smaller Short Story Hemingways but with a Cameroon wrapper. This has a Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrapper, and it's still a perfecto shape, but 60 ring gauge at its fattest!

• Hoyo de Monterrey - Le Hoyo du Dauphin: we have had Hoyos in demi tasse (du Maire) and corona gorda (Epicure no.1) vitolas, but not in laguito no.2 (152mm x 38rg - long skinnies like the Monte Especiales no.2s we've had). This was a specially selected box. Medium bodied smoke for an occasion where you can be contemplative and puff slowly (the secret to smoking long skinnies lest they overheat). Sep'11 box.

• Partagas Serie P no.2: Partagas' bigfulla piramide and also a box selected for its quality. Generally a milder blend than the Serie D no.4 (robusto) or the Short. Jun'11 box.

Joel can try this with his NZ tobacco plant:

TOBACCO FOR DINNER

Don Pablo

Got home from work this evening to be greeted by a happy wife and a delicious Stoke beer. I thought this was the perfect encourager for trying one of Hadley's Vegas imported cigars.

The story about this one (Hadley, correct if I have said any lies) goes - Hadley went into a building that was infested with clouds of smoke and cigar rolling. As he was browsing with great enthusiasm he accidently tipped one of the rollers $20 instead the $2 he thought he was letting go of. The spanish speaking man's eyes went from the size of Cuba to the size of U.S.A and gestured for him to come and partake in his daily practice. He showed off his rolling skills and invited Hadley to try for himself. Minus the near misses of guillotine strikes millimetres from Hadley's fingers, the end result and experience was a success. 3-4 days later, Hadley returned to be able to buy the pressed cigars that him and his new friend rolled. Note that for the one cigar rolled by Hadley, Mr Pablo rolled about 15-20.

This cigar is fairly rough to touch, smells like dry grass that is on the sweeter side and draws very good. the burn is steady and does not go out. Plumes of greyish to white smoke as most cigars seem to be and an ash that leans more to the whitish flakey/powdery look. My ash fell off just after reaching the first third. The taste was very mild and dry at first then developed some cream only to quickly change into a flavour of... dead leaves, cardamom, something further leafy and other spices I cant figure out. Once reaching the last third it packed a big bite to the taste buds that took me by surprise as the bulk of this cigar was more of a pleasantly savoury and mild puffer. The end

Will send these out for all to try when I next meet up with Greg. It will be a bit of a Willy Wonker story as one of these cigars will in fact have been hand rolled by one of our own! Let see if we can taste the kiwi flavour.




















Here is an update of my one tobacco plant that perhaps is trying to reach another land in the sky