Doctorossi

Sounds yummy!

Nice review! What were you drinking with it?

This one is excellent, Ken!

Nice Partagasesque dress box. Troya has always been near the top of the list of marcas I'd like to see re-launched.

Does anyone have any knowledge of faked Winnies, otherwise? They strike me as something that I might think would be faked, but I don't recall ever hearing about them actually being faked.

I've never had one anywhere near as poor as you describe, but I've always been distinctly underwhelmed by this cigar. When you have a better one, you can definitely appreciate some of the "Sir Winston-esque" characteristics that mssrs. Johnson and Garcia really do manage to pull out of it, but they're working in Nicaraguan tobacco, so the whole is not quite the sum of those parts the way it is with Cuban. Nothing against Nicaraguan leaf- this just doesn't play to its strengths. You know... Arnold Schwarzenegger is probably not the first choice to play Hamlet. Yeah, I've never been a big fan of the Reserva SW, but the Reserva J21, on the other hand... that's an all-timer for me (one of the 3 NCs in my top 10).

You can pair Springbank with anything and if it steps on the toes, who cares?

I'm generally not a fan of cigars and whisky together as I find that they often step on and mask each other's subtleties. However, there are a couple of whiskies I find go well with simpler cigars. For this, I like Highland Park 12 and Macallan 10.

If anyone else around here can freeview 3D, there's pretty nice depth in this image.

Uh... gee... thanks... ? Sorry, though... I can't buy any glass-top Montecristos today; I spent all my money on glass-top Cohibas.

Nice review, Deeg. Since it was your first Monsdale, I was reading along, thinking "Will he pick up on the butter note?" I'm a regular-production guy to the core, but Monsdales are the exception that proves my rule.

"Cigars, ginger and pop"- what more do you need? (meats and provisions, I guess)

'98 Punch DCs and '98 Montecristo Especiales

I agree with (very unofficial) historical "standardization" around 42RG. When you talk about a "gold standard", a lot of cigar fans, historically, have considered the corona gorda, at 46RG, to be the "ideal" size for expressing the signature personality of a marca, so I think many would consider that the reference point, if there was one.