Bless me Father, for I have smoked.
It's been six weeks since my last blog,
and these are my cigars…
Yes, it's been a while, but obviously the weather is
entirely to blame.
Record rainfall levels in June, and July looks like another record breaker, so you'll appreciate that the opportunities to
generate cigar blogging material have been few and far between.
That is not to say cigars have not been smoked. Au contraire. But I decided it was time for a post, and one that's full of cigars, because the next post will have almost nothing to do with them.
First up is a very special cigar, that was picked up a few
months back in Madrid. A Sancho Panzo
Corona gigantes.
I love these cigars, and I've had a few of these beauties
previously, and never been disappointed.
Although I mostly smoke robusto sized cigars, I much prefer
the churchill size. The problem is they
take a long time to smoke, and in this weather, time and opportunity is a rare
thing.
The cigar is pictured in all it's glory with some
tomato plants that I transplanted earlier in the day.
I think I spent a good four hours pottering
about the garden, and as the sun was shining, I decided I had time, and more importantly, deserved a nice long
cigar as a reward.
The cigar smoked perfectly from the start, never
harsh and burned consistently throughout.
The picture opposite shows how even and
handsome the cigar looks at the final third.
A dignified cigar, and one of the best churchills in my opinion, which lasted almost two hours.
I'd recommend this cigar for a sunny Saturday afternoon
after a bit of gardening, when you need to cool down with a beer or four.
Next up is a "la flor de Isabela" corona which
comes all the way from the Philippines.
One of the brothers-in-law, Ronan, bought me a box of five
last year, and I must admit, at the time, I wasn't sure about these.
In fact, I'd never heard of Filipino cigars, but I now know
them to be as old and distinguished as the best of them.
So it was pure ignorance on my part and the cigars proved to
be as good, if not better, than a lot of non-Cuban cigars that I've smoked.
The band is a pretty yellow thing that was way too big for
the cigar, and promptly fell off as soon as I picked it up.
I took the picture at an angle so it would stay on, and in
the background, you can see England getting a lesson in football from Italy.
The second picture shows a lovely whitish ash and a smooth
wrapper.
The cigar is pretty much as
good as it looks, and although I wasn't expecting much, it was very enjoyable
and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these Cuban seed cigars.
This
link gives a bit of history and tells a nice story of
the how cigar making came to be in the Philippines.
Next up is a Grafton robusto.
I had this robusto sitting in the humidor for well over a
year, and after reading a recent blog entry by
Cigar Craig, who's son had one
on a boat, during
C.Gars Ltd hosted herf around Manhattan (jealous moi? Non), I
decided to smoke it.
I must admit to having a mixed feelings of the Grafton. I've had maybe half a dozen of these
previously, and they nearly always got harsh during the second half, and ended
up binned by the last third.
This one had been sitting in the humidor for a decent stretch so I was
hoping it might be different, and I suppose it was to a certain extent.
The wrapper felt a little brittle and not exactly the best
wrapper I've ever seen, but looks aren't everything.
The smoke was decent, and it should be, coming from the
Decent Cigar Emporium, on Grafton street, so no prized for guessing where it
gets its name from.
The problem, as you can no doubt see in the picture
opposite, came when I tried to remove the band, which was glued onto the cigar.
If you look carefully, or not, you can see the word
"adhesive", which I'd expect should have been stuck to the other end
of the band, rather than the wrapper of the cigar.
It's the first time I've seen this and I'd have to say I
thought it was a bit sloppy by whoever did the job. But worst things happen at sea you know.
The Grafton is a budget cigar, but just because a cigar might not be moins cher, it doesn't mean it won't have problems of its own.
I had a Cohiba robusto recently that split about mid way
through, but the Cohiba R is such an excellent cigar, I forgave it and smoked
it down to the nub anyway.
I'm about midway through this blog entry, so if you want, now's a
good time to take a break and make yourself a cup of tea, or have a cigar or something.
A night time cigar next, in the form of a Macanudo 1968
Robusto.
Kaz and Rolo kindly gifted me some of these for my 21st
birthday last December, which means this one had been resting for a good six
months.
I've enjoyed a few 1968's in the past, but some have been
disappointments. Irregular or a hot
burn, harshness and tunnelling, you name it, these cigars suffered it.
That said, the six months appears to have settled this one
down, and it turned out lovely.
It's a great looking cigar with a rich dark oily wrapper and
I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the garden late into the night with this one.
The last time we visited John and Gill in Luxembourg, the
nice man at the La Casa Del Habano, Jean-Claude I believe, recommended a box of
Ramon Allones Superiores.
These have to be the best cigars I've ever had, although
I've no doubt said that about other cigars, but for me, these cigars are perfect.
Taking size, strength, flavour, length of time to smoke and everything else into account, these cigars have it all.
This was the last cigar from that box of ten, and I'm thinking I might not find another box before they're all gone.
They don't seem to be available in the UK, so
if you're lucky enough to find a box, get a box. They worked out at €8 each, and in my
opinion, that's a bargain.
Almost there now.
Only a few more to go.
The first time I had a Partagas culebra was with John and
Rolo in Luxembourg, and what a wonderful cigar it was too.
I've had them many times since and enjoyed every one of
them.
The latest culebra came from a box picked up in Madrid,
which was the last box in that particular shop. Now out of production, and worth picking up when you
come across them.
Don't be put off by
the bendy weird look, or by the size.
These cigars are medium strength, burn brilliantly, produce lots of smoke and are just a fun cigar to smoke.
I think they look fantastic and here's a picture to
prove it.
I'm going to finish up with a new cigar with an old friend.
We spent last weekend in Paris with John and Gill, and on
Saturday evening, we got to enjoy a Partagas petit corona especiale.
I'd been told to look for a smaller cigar, one that would take
less than thirty minutes, and as a result, I ordered some of these from C.Gars
Ltd.
A nice cigar this, but not as small as I thought, lasting
roughly forty minutes, and seen here being enjoyed by myself and John in Paris.
Paris proved a little disappointing for cigars. There's no problem finding a well stocked
shop, although we missed the two cigar shops I wanted to visit on Saturday by
about ten minutes.
Both shops shut at
7pm, but as the rain had been lashing down earlier, we found ourselves stranded
in a restaurant with only a plentiful supply of wine to keep us going.
I found a shop the following day, and when I say Paris for
cigars was disappointing, it wasn't the selection, or the quality that I had a
problem with, it was the price. Prices in France are fixed, so they're the same price everywhere.
Although cheaper than in England, they weren't as cheap as I
hoped, and with a trip to Berlin coming up in August, I decided to
save my money until then.
That's it for now, and after that marathon of a blogging
session, I think I deserve a beer and a cigar, but alas, it's raining again.
