I think one of my new favorite smoke settings is on a Minnesota porch in the dead of winter. Friday night, Lauren and I went to the Fujishin's house for a night poker playing and good company. IT was a great time once we got there, but getting there was quite the challenge for everyone. The four to five inches that had fallen in 4 hours made the roads a nightmare. And of course, my alternator died on my way home to school. But I finally got home and talked Lauren in to venturing back out in the snow. It made it easier that we only had to drive 3 miles up the road.
After some delicious Mexican, the game started and I was catching cards. I caught some big hands and was able to build a nice chip lead, which allowed me to do some crazy betting. And that is pretty much how every game went. Unfortunately, I was not lucky in the latter half of the games and never took home first. But hanging around meant I didn't get to enjoy my Marco V out on the porch until late, which I really can't bitch about.
After the third game, I went out and lit up to enjoy my M. Vito x Marco V Cuban Perfecto Platinum Reserve. I really like this medium bodied cigar and it is cheap. I get it for $6.00 at SOG. It is a Arapiraca wrapper with a Dominican Binder with a mix filler from Cuba, Nicaragua, and the Domincan Rep. This was not the first time I smoked this one, and it is consistently good. I am sure folks who smoke $15-20 cigars might have some qualms but I think it is solid all around.
Final Verdict:
Body- 5 matches
Flavor- 4 matches
Next Purchase- Next month
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Long Day
By the time I actually get out of bed, it is already 6:50. I have to leave the house by 7:15 in order to catch the early bus to campus. After running around for a while, I went out and started my car. Once I got my computer and books together and got dressed, I realized making it was a lost cause. I pulled the car into the garage and started working on the presentation that I had coming at noon. When I finally tried to leave for the par-and-ride, my car wouldn't start. The battery was dead-ish (lights would come on but no crank). I figured I would give it a minute and try again later. After some more prep, I went down to the garage but still no love from my 95 geo with 181K miles. Then, I realized that I left my FAB(key to get back into the complex) in the apartment. I am AWESOME. Fortunately the office sent somebody to let me in, and I started to gameplan how I would get to campus. Just as I was heading to the nieghbors to see if they could give me a jump, I caught a guy heading to his car and he hooked me up. Big thanks to random neighbor "Josh"! Eventually I made it to campus and gave my talk. The turn out was tiny, but that was probably good given my state of mind. Needless to say, I was due for some R&R.
After chatting with the guy at Stogies on Grand I decided on the Macanudo Cru Royale. He introduced it as Macanudo's response to people bitching about them only making mild cigars. From the start, I was a little apprehensive because as I cut it, I noticed the tobacco at the end was super firm. I have no idea what that means, but it seemed weird. I got a nice quick light and it drew pretty well. The initial taste however wasn't great. The body was fine, but the flavor was not my favorite. Usually, I love the middle third of cigars. The beginning is fine and the end always taste burnt and the drags are hot. But the middle is perfect. This one didn't seem to be improving. More than half-way through, the goodness finally kicked it. It wasn't amazing, but it definitely gave me a better impression of the cigar. I even had one re-light in the second half of the cigar and the taste was still pretty good, which surprised me.
Finaly Verdict:
Body- 4 matches
Flavor-3 matches
Next purchase: 9-12 months
After chatting with the guy at Stogies on Grand I decided on the Macanudo Cru Royale. He introduced it as Macanudo's response to people bitching about them only making mild cigars. From the start, I was a little apprehensive because as I cut it, I noticed the tobacco at the end was super firm. I have no idea what that means, but it seemed weird. I got a nice quick light and it drew pretty well. The initial taste however wasn't great. The body was fine, but the flavor was not my favorite. Usually, I love the middle third of cigars. The beginning is fine and the end always taste burnt and the drags are hot. But the middle is perfect. This one didn't seem to be improving. More than half-way through, the goodness finally kicked it. It wasn't amazing, but it definitely gave me a better impression of the cigar. I even had one re-light in the second half of the cigar and the taste was still pretty good, which surprised me.
Finaly Verdict:
Body- 4 matches
Flavor-3 matches
Next purchase: 9-12 months
The Beginning
So I have wanted a blog for some time now and finally made it happen. Previous blog ideas about grad school life, academia, religion and other ideas have been tossed around, but they always seemed like they would be lame and just another way to sound pretentious, which I don't need. Today at Stogies on Grand, I was chatting with one of the workers who suggested I get a notebook to keep track of the cigars I like. I knew I would never do that, so I decided keeping track online would be best. Being that I don't know jack about cigars, using this as a way to talk about other stuff just made sense.
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