Morro Castle

 

Just  the pics for now...

Another Little Bundle of Joy...

What did you think I was talking about?

Romeo y Julieta Churchill

Just a pic for now.  Review soon.

Gurkha G5 Avenger

I received this gorgeous cigar (four of them, actually) in a disgustingly generous bomb from a wonderful brother called msirenoxed from Brothers of the Leaf.  For one reason or another, I never got around to trying one until last night.  But let me tell ya, 5 months rest in the humi certainly didn't do these beauties any harm.

The Gurkha G5 Avenger (Torpedo: 6" x 52) is a dangerously good-looking cigar.  It just looks like it's going to kick your ass... box-pressed, with a very oily, very dark Maduro wrapper and a simple gold-on-black band.  This Nicaraguan puro looks like something you might see hanging off a state trooper's gun belt.  It's heavy in the hand, and unlit, it smells of tobacco and tastes of pepper.  The cap was very hard to cut, but it came off cleanly, and the unlit draw was very easy, promising more leather and pepper to come.  The smoke that arose while I was toasting the foot smelled wonderful, but the first few puffs were downright baffling.  This cigar had all the signs of being a real beast, and I half-expected to burn my mouth on it, but there was almost no flavor.

It was giving off plenty of smoke, so I know it was lit, but I really had to concentrate to get any taste out of that first half-inch or so.  The typical tobacco was the first to appear, and then black pepper.  It was almost disappointingly smooth.  I know that sounds strange... but imagine taking a bite of bacon and having it taste like milk.  You might love milk, but it's just not what you'd worked yourself up to expecting.

However, I need not have worried.  A half-inch in and this thing really came to life.  More flavors, more body, and huge clouds of thick white smoke.  As the tobacco and pepper flavors intensified, I began getting leather and dark chocolate out of it as well.  This was more like it.  This is what was advertised.  Full-bodied and full-flavored, and not shy about it.  Some of the smoothness is gone, but that's a good trade, in my opinion.  It has a long, slightly sweet finish.  One inch in, and the back of my throat is already coated. One third in, and I'm getting a little light-headed and wishing I'd had a bigger dinner.  The burn was very slow and cool, and the draw stayed perfect.

 

I had to hold it in front of my reader so my camera would have enough light to focus...

The ash was firm and pale, and would get about 2 inches long before falling off on it's own.  In the last third, the burn got crooked enough that I had to touch it up with my lighter, and after that it would flake a little every now and then.  The flavors shifted in the last third, too - more leather, and less pepper.  But still damn good and damn strong.  All in all, I milked this baby for 100 minutes or so, and wished for more.  Not for the beginner, or the timid, but a full-flavored powerhouse of a smoke that I will be enjoying again.

Appearance and Construction:  13/15

Flavor:  23/25

Smoking Characteristics:  21/25

Overall Impression:  32/35

Total:  89/100

Roundabout Bomb

It all started innocently enough... one of the posters at Cig.ar.com (G-Man) announced a group buy of Padilla Habanos and I made a smart-ass comment about how I was broke but would bewilling to accept three as part of my prize when I won the monthly lottery I'm in there.  Well, I didn't win the lottery, but another poster, mikemets (aka Mike) bought five of them for me and told G-Man to ship them directly to me.

Unfortunately, Mike didn't have my address, so he asked the infamous and all-knowing shuckins for it, and Ron mistakenly gave him the address of another brother who posts on BotL under the same name I post under at Cig.ar.com.

Confused yet?  So was Mike, when we couldn't figure out why I didn't get his very generous gift.  Eventually though, the mistake was discovered, and the other Strick (aka Dee, in Texas) graciously forwarded me Mike's package at his own expense.

So, essentially, I got this wonderful gift from two brothers at the same time!

- five Padilla Habano (Torpedo: 6" x 52)
- La Perla Habana Classic (Robusto: 5" x 52)

Tatuaje Cabaiguan

I've had a terrible cold lately.  For the past two and a half weeks I've been so stuffed up I could barely breathe.  I didn't smoke the whole time; not because I thought it would make the cold worse, but because my sense of taste and smell were so screwed up I figured it'd be a waste of a good cigar.

(On the other hand, it may have been the perfect opportunity to fire up a couple of dog rockets...)

Be that as it may, late last night I went out on the deck and broke my fast with this Tatuaje Cabaiguan (Guapos: 5.6" x 46), a beautiful, sturdy-looking cigar I got from the infamous Shuckins (aka Ron) in this wonderful bomb.  The wrapper is a very toothy Connecticut broadleaf, so dark that I thought it was a maduro before I researched it.  {Edit:  Apparently it was indeed a maduro...} It's very firmly constructed, and triple-capped, but drew easily enough when clipped.

Once toasted and lit, the Cabaiguan was medium-bodied and delicious right from the get-go.  Leathery and peppery, like many other blends, but also creamy and quite woody and earthy all at the same time, with a faint sweetness that probably came from that dark wrapper.  That's a lot of flavors, but this stick somehow kept them separate and distinct, and I didn't have to concentrate to pick out individual nuances like I usually do.

The Cabaiguan gave off a respectable amount of thick, white smoke, the burn was cool and even and sharp, and the draw stayed consistent all the way through.  The ash looked firmer than it was; it never got longer than an inch or so before falling off on it's own, but at least it didn't flake at all.  The flavors seemed to vary in strength - sometimes more of this and less of that - but it never got out of balance.  The faint sweetness grew a little stronger as it burned, but at no point did any one flavor overpower another.  The Tatuaje Cabaiguan is a wonderful smoke: complex and flavorful, but very easy to smoke and enjoyable right down to the nub.

Appearance and Construction:  13/15

Flavor:  23/25

Smoking Characteristics:  22/25

Overall Impression:  33/35

Total:  91/100