PapaDisco

Concur on Dr. Strangelove. My teenagers thought it was the best film ever (after "2001 A Space Odyssey"). Followed that up with another Peter Sellers' flick, "The Mouse That Roared." The following Friday (classic movie night in our house) was, "Colossus: The Forbin Project." A very early take on the whole SkyNet thing. The boys also liked the original "The Blob," and "Fail Safe," "The Andromeda Strain," and the de rigeuer classic war cinema entries: "Bridge Over the River Kwai," "Green Berets," "Dirty Dozen," "A Bridge Too Far," "The Guns of Navarone," and "Patton" (but is "Patton" old enough to be a classic yet??). Last Friday's Classic was "Blazing Saddles," which I had never seen. Pretty sure you couldn't make that film today, but hilarious social satire from the early 70's.

Detection of microwaves is easy, but only when the emitter is actually on. Plus they likely ain't using no sloppy generator from your mom's kitchen.

Sounds like good old fashioned espionage to me. High frequency radio waves and microwaves have a well established history of being used to remotely pickup vibrating surfaces, so you can 'hear' a conversation in a room just from the subtle vibrations of the window panes. Once the windows are secured (double/triple pane, vibration deadeners, etc.) then you need an item planted in the room to oscillate. Originally this was a purpose built thing that would be secretly implanted in the room/walls, or, as the technology improved, could be some purely passive item already in the room. As the oscillating surfaces got less and less 'perfect' you'd have to up the energy of the system: stronger and stronger radio waves with greater focus. And it's well established that strong frequencies ain't good for you. Climb a big FM radio tower and hang out next to the antenna and you'll be barfing in 5 minutes. So I would guess that they're not trying to kill anyone, just being reckless in their espionage and probably starting to enjoy all the hubbub they're causing. And there's probably at least some of the cases that can be put down to placebo effect, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if the vast majority were civil servants getting slowly microwaved.

Yes, and the differences are that the supply of bitcoin is limited by the algorithm whereas the NFT is limited from the outset (in this case a single cigar design, but like art prints you could set the number at whatever you want). Advantage of the bitcoin is that it's designed to be a medium of exchange; generic as Bijan said. The NFT is trying to be a unique store of value, like a painting, but virtual.

Good point. Lots of counterintuitive economics going on these days. Raging home prices in the U.S. Raging prices for collectibles and luxuries.

Sheesh! What's next?? Paper Money?

Most of the other marcas seem pretty close to gradual inflation of some level. And many of them are still hovering around the $300/25ct box level; a bit more, a bit less depending on the stick. Cohibas give one the impression that there's a deliberate marketing strategy at work, but when has Habanos ever had a deliberate marketing strategy?? J/K. Maybe it's just the supply issue El Pres speaks of. Bourbon in the last 5 years has given the consumer a painful lesson in price inelasticity: $80 bottles of Pappy Van Winkle going for $500, then $800; Weller's follows suit 5 years later, etc. All an interesting marketing case study in luxury goods pricing and demand. The bourbons demonstrated not just demand inelasticity but accelerating 'inelasticity' if there is such a thing (essentially higher pricing created the illusion of scarcity and increased demand).

I would have thought this had already been discussed, but I've searched FOH and haven't found anything yet. What's up with Habanos' pricing strategy for Cohiba over the last couple of years? Was this originally (originally, not currently) truly demand driven? Or were they deliberately marketing to a "Pappy's" strategy: create demand by using price to indicate exclusiveness? Or was there something supply side driving this? Truly just curious about the marketing 'art' on display with this. I don't want to make this a Cohiba gripe thread or anything. Just wondering. Raising price does seem to have raised demand, but that's just my amateur impression.

In my experience it takes a really long time to season a desktop humidor with your target rH. I did this once a long time ago, trying to hit 70%rH and it was weeks. I finally gave up and just repeatedly dampened the interior wood with a cloth and distilled H2O. Got it to 70% in two days. Eventually that humidor (like 9 months later) had a mold outbreak which led me to converting from the old "70/70" rule to 65/65, and I've been much happier all around. Cleaned out the humidor, let it air dry and then reseasoned (again with distilled H2O) to 65% and haven't had a problem with it in all the years since. I understand your problem with living in a high temperature environment. Any chance you've got a crawl space under your floor? It doesn't matter much if your temperature spikes (like a desert environment with cold nights and hot days) for part of the day. Good insulation slows down temperature changes very effectively. For long term storage at my river cabin, where summers easily hit 100F during the day, I have a big 150qt Rubbermaid cooler in the crawlspace, sitting on a thermostat controlled sprouting mat https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016MKY7C8/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B016MKY7C8&SubscriptionId=AKIAIPFZKKNXUR5ABTTA&linkCode=as2&tag=bestprodtagk133549-20 that keeps the outside of the cooler at 60F at night. An insulating blanket goes over the whole shebang and in the watertight plastic crates, inside the cooler, the cigars never move more than 1F. This is too much hassle for regular access, so your wineador is the answer for that, but if you have more boxes for longer storage it works well.

Even if the boxes are absorbing moisture, they will eventually stop when they hit the Boveda rated level. So it just depends on how many Bovedas you want to sacrifice to get them there. I haven't done this in a while, but out of curiosity I used to check the rH of the boxes arriving from El Pres. Immaculately wrapped and all they invariably kept registering 65%rH on arrival. I'd toss those straight in to my water tight (gasketed) tupperdores with 65% Bovedas and both the rH and the Bovedas would be stable for years. In your case, you've got wood boxes that may be starting at a lower rH and you've got a wineador door that gets opened and closed, and Ziplocks that are actually permeable. So you lose moisture every time you open the door. Without active humidification, the Bovedas are bound to dry out sooner or later. No big deal, just put more Bovedas in and make a decision about what level of Boveda expense you can live with. A couple things you can play with: Saran Wrap and vacuum pack bags are non permeable, so you might want to switch to those, but your cigars and boxes will have to be adjusted to 65% before they go in, AND, if you have a severe temperature fluctuation (power failure) you will get a humidity event inside those sealed boxes. It's unlikely, since your Wineador has insulation and with the cigars a total thermal mass that will slow temperature changes to the individual cigars, but it's worth considering. Tubos tend to have more mold because they're pack at high humidity in Cuba and then flown in a chilly airline cargo hold; instant condensation. I love passive temperature and humidity control. So cellars that are at the right temperature, with tupperdores sealed for rH maintenance and the tupperdores inside of large coolers. The ability for temperature or humidity to swing quickly or widely or severely is eliminated.

Lots of great choices already mentioned, probably too many to choose from in fact. Therefore, I would start with a cocktail of some sort while you're dry boxing the stick. A Double Mojito, or Capiroska, could be two High Balls. That should segue into a Diplomatico rum for the cutting ceremony. If you choose to punch the cigar instead of cutting, and the draw is too tight so that you have to cut the cap anyway, then have a second shot of Diplomatico standing by for this. As many others have said, Champagne pairs well, particularly with the thrilling lighting of the cigar; bubbles and flames you know. Perfect. For all this to work though, you'll have to have drained your champagne flute by the time your ash is set and showing a decent mascara line. The even burn sets in quick, so hopefully you'll have managed at least two glasses of Champagne; wouldn't want to waste the bottle of course. Then for the first third you should reach for the finest Bourbon you have on hand: Pappy's if you've got it, or Four Roses or Blanton's. Anything really good since you might still be sober enough to taste the cigar and the drink at this point. You'll want a double for this first third since you'll be smoking it slow and savoring the experience. Make the pours 8oz or better. By the second third you'll want to move on to a Japanese or Scottish Whisk(e)y for certain. Some will urge a Taiwanese beverage like KaVaLan on you, and it's good make no mistake, but it's made by a company called "King Car" and you don't want to be drinking, driving, and smoking at this point. Stick with a good, 35 y.o. single malt in fine crystal and you'll be pairing an excellent cigar with it's mid-point tars to a bright, cutting solvent of a beverage. Purge your cigar at this point and light the purge. I dare you to tell me if it's tars you're burning or your own breath. By the final third any 45% alcohol will do. Skip the crystal, bring a straw. Have 911 on speed dial.

That queasy nicotine hit gets me too, but it's very rare and doesn't seem to be correlated with anything at all. A five cigar day won't set it off, but a single stick can. I always assumed that I was getting a cigar with an unfermented leaf rolled in it. Something that had been on the edge of the Pilon and didn't get the fermentation that would denature the nicotine.

Agree. The finer differentiation is useful at the upper end, but useless at the bottom. Whatever you're number is for "Dog Rocket" eliminates the need for any further differentiation of detail below that; unless you find entertainment in that very human of habits, "OMG! This is awful! Try it!" 😛 Now that I think about it, this could be a fairly entertaining review contest: it's bad? Just how bad is it??

My scale goes to 11 . . .

You mean "Cigars or Cheese??"