CaptainQuintero

I think 80 is an okay cigar, 79 and below is a Forest Whitaker Eye to me Which is bizarre because on a /10 scale, 7/10 is pretty damn goodml, I'd say 5/10 is okay but wouldn't buy again, 4/10 is dogger. An 8/10 would be excellent So I'm a walking hypocrite and 8/10 and 80/100 mean two totally different things to me

I'm generally very against legislation over education. Especially here it strikes me as strange: a PM who seemingly has done nothing for the benefit of the public good during his whole tenure suddenly throws this in the ring. It smacks me more of laying the groundwork to being able to discriminate for lifestyle reasons over access to healthcare, and the inevitable replacement of the NHS by private healthcare. It starts with this and when it's accepted it's very each to also say that people who smoke can't access the same level of healthcare as someone who doesn't smoke. The messaging is already being pushed about the tax burden of smokers. Then it's people who are overweight and consume sugary food/drinks, then it's people who consume alcohol etc and their tax burden on the healthcare system. I've seen nothing from this government that isn't about enriching friends and special interest groups at the sake of the general public, I don't think this is any different. It's just wrapped up in an emotive subject.

I used to follow the /100 scale pretty aggressively but found chasing the single digits differences more and more, and losing sight of the experience as a whole. Now I've settled into the /10 scale and go with the flow.

Personally, and in a generalised/sweeping way, from how I taste things I think Cubans have more in common than not; that there's a core 'CC' base blend that makes up something like 40% - 60% of all CC, and the rest is made up of leaf that gives the uniqueness of each marquee/vitola. That base blend can sometimes be very prominent to me. For some the base blend is less prominent eg Bolivar is one of the more unique, but in others that base blends seem to be a higher % eg RyJ and Punch, or QdO and Cohiba, and the similarities can be quite strong. The blind tastings I've taken part in seems to underline this too (To my tastes). From my tastings in for example 1960's Cubans, there doesn't seem to be too much of that commonality. Eg RyJ have been extremely unique and slap you in the face with what they are; I don't really pick up any core/base blend to which RyJ blends have been added, it's just straight 100% unique RyJ.

When in, I do use mine I'll always massage/roll the cigar to try and get the bunch back as even as possible, those first few times before starting doing it I definitely noticed that drawing through a hole experience If you've gotten some of the old 99-02 tent pegs it's a bit more challenging with them being rock hard.

If the blend is off by there being too much of a certain leaf causing the tightness then it won't solve that unbalanced nature to the blend. Also if the cigar is too tight due to r/h issues then am improved draw won't help the flavour either If a roller is making truly plugged cigars then I'm guessing their bunching probably isn't going to be great either.

I'm trying to figure out who the Monte 2 would be as an athlete. It's always a contentious cigar whenever these discussions come up, I love Montecristo (No.3 probably being my favourite) but I've never managed to have a half decent Monte 2, never mind a great one. I keep dipping my toe back every few years but it's been 17 years since I first had one and still never had that experience so I'm many seem to be lucky with. I know the sheer numbers produced also generate sheer numbers of duffs, but I seem to just keep getting them!

I would have thought a Dip 2 when on song would go toe to toe with any cigar in the world regardless of vitola, origin or price.

The Anejados are dead, long live the Anejados! Did we ever get to the bottom of the mysteries of how secret cigars, like the Monte Churchill, appeared out of nowhere aged and new banded but no one had ever heard a whiff about them previously? And with flavour profiles that didn't match the branding?

Are those dolphins able to handle a hit from something as big as that container ship? Or are they more for deflecting smaller boats etc? The force impacting from something as big as container ships must be just ginormous.

He still looks like Harry Potter on his 3rd divorce!

I honest to God can't even remember what his wife looks like, and I forgot they gave him a kid until you mentioned it. But I can remember the haunting childhood home in Skyfall, the loss of a pseudo mother in M, the burning down of the home and everything coming to an end. But yes, a hefty cheque will have been a motivation like no other, especially when you've been type cast almost to Daniel Radcliffe levels now

How would have you ended Craig's run? I think Skyfall was the right ending to call it; great film, lots of nods back to previous films, the end of M's story too. Even without any changes that film felt like the end of the character arc to me, nothing needed changing for it to be Craig's last

I'm seeing the Siglo 2 as Pierce Brosnan's character in Mrs Doubtfire: no one doubts it's pedigree but a bit of a dick. He'll be the one carrying the flag for Cuba in the opening ceremony, will probably suffer a tragic wardrobe malfunction in the final and get pipped to the post by the RyJ Mille Fleur

PLPC not even bothering to warm up, just stood touching up it's baby oil application and gratuitously filling out those speedos.