planetary

Greetings, fellow youths! A rich, easy drawing HQ Fundadores from AEM MAR 15 alongside a cup of black coffee, and a cooling breeze. Hope you are all doing well.

A few recents!

Agree with @armada_crew that it's San Cristobal time... Torreon from the jar, AME APR 13 Sneaking a cigar on the deck this afternoon after a spot of morning rain. Aroma at cold is full of chocolate, and the cigar itself still has plenty of backbone. Good stuff.

Congratulations to the family, John!

<picking up this interesting thread, after about a month> I work for a Fortune 30 company in Silicon Valley. Observation: the fact that so many people are saving 2-4 hours of daily commute is simultaneously boosting productivity and improving morale, offsetting some of the COVID-19 impact (e.g. having to take time to care for kids, etc.). We are seeing tech companies competing on how they're extending benefits to employees, and I can see that competition remaining for several years to come at least. In the long term, companies might be incentivized to keep some flex time approaches in place, especially if they can oversubscribe expensive office space, reducing overheads. Demographically, this could lead toward a gradual spreading of the workforce outside of the traditional tech hubs of the world. I was only half-joking to my wife that we should sell our house, pocket the profit, and move to Hawaii. A couple quarterly "work from the office" stints would be a small price to pay.

Very sorry to hear this. Hope you were able to get in touch with the family. On a lighter note, I can feel the hair cover the edges of my ears, and it's been driving me mad for weeks. I am very close to dialing my beard trimmer to its longest setting and taking matters into my own hands.

Orders from FOH: straight into the humidor. Box splits from members: into a tupperdor for a month or two, then into the humidor. I only have a handful of hand rolled cigars from cuba, from a group buy organized by a member. Received vac sealed, and I left them that way. Not sure if this is the best practice.

Classic bell pepper and smoked paprika still in effect after 10 years (OPA AUG 09). Nice oily wrapper, and a long finish.

Hmm. I might not even have brought up the topic of cigars, unless I was sure it wouldn't cause the friend feel guilty or awkward. And if the topic did come up, I'd steer it toward the condition of the humidor, to see if they are open to advice. Agree with @teamrandr that asking for the gift back is out of the question.

Yesterday evening, went to 2006 Siglo-town. This morning enjoyed a 2015 Monte 3 with coffee while watching the AlphaGo documentary (link, recommended).

LUB MAR 15 ... And it's GLORIOUS!

Enjoyed some lovely R&J flavors, and some ridiculously great Cohiba value. Weather is warming up nicely here in the Bay Area. Expect this to be a great week!

Couple smokes in the last few days.

In past years, my Robusto T attempts from this box (AGR SEP 10) have been intense beyond my ability to enjoy. Years later, it's cream, cake, and dashes of white pepper. Much better! Probably a bit under-filled, though. 89 to 90 points, I'd say.

Enjoyed a nice Dip2 while chatting with @rcarlson and @JohnS on the zoom yesterday, followed up by a similarly nice but somewhat underwhleming Cohiba Siglo IV yesterday evening while talking with some of my local poker friends. Today, enjoying a Montecristo No. 3 -- the best of the trio! Delicious Montecristo flavors presented in the vitola of the gods...