Akela3rd

Do you not get it as a little tingle in the retrohale? A smidgen of spice? Think of the glorious Cumberland sausage, that's white pepper. I'm biased, being from what was formerly known as Cumberland, and associate it with good hearty fare, be it food or in this case, a very enjoyable section of the cigar. Sent from 47171 Lempo

The Robusto is better then the Gran Toro IMHO, bought one yesterday in fact from the Davidoff shop in London. Haven't had one in a couple of years and I'm looking forward to it once the weather finally picks up. Nice summer evening cigar. Sent from 47171 Lempo

Thanks Stef. One of the first boxes I got from FoH back in early '16 so they're a little bit special anyway [emoji4] Sent from 47171 Lempo

I'd dug this out of storage a couple of weeks ago when having a bit of a rearrange as I hadn't had one for maybe a year and never got around to smoking it. Then the RARW appeared... Perfect. Good firm draw with a straight cut instead of my usual V. Nothing of real note on the cold draw, maybe a bit of black tea. Didn't have any orange juice in the house so had a black coffee instead. 1st third started off mildly fruity, blackcurrant/ blueberry, not sweet but like the tannins in the skins. Rounded out nicely to give a fuller flavour without the strength. 2nd third became buttery with an underlay of new leather. Very nice, still hints of the dark fruits in there too. Into the final third I was distracted for a short while getting the dim cat out of the fig tree and it was only when I got an acrid flavour shock that I noticed that I'd smoked into the EL band. Oops. Once properly removed and normal service resumed, the now bandless cigar brought more leather and the first sprinkling of white pepper. All in all very good and definitely has the legs for a few more years. 8/10 Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk

Glad you enjoyed it. RyJ Exhibicion No.3 2009 at JJFox yesterday. I'd promised myself one since I was last in there (with@Luca, coincidentally), having been distracted by a vintage Ramonitas that time. Very good cigar, quite mild but very RyJ in it's profile. Sent from my HTC U11 using Tapatalk

Keep it simple. Accommodation, kitchen, entertainment (fly fishing obvs). Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

Perfect. Thanks for this bit of fun and enjoy your prize! [emoji111] Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

Have you been talking to my Mrs? Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

We can't even decide what continent we're on...or in or whatever it was we voted for, or didn't. Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

First one smuggled out of the PSP box... The wrapper is oily and brindled just like the du Prince and Cazadores I have, both of which smoke beautifully - good sign. I paired this with St Peter's Without, an alcohol free ale strong on the hops and malt - possibly an overload of flavours but we'll see how it goes. The smell of the cigar is cow dung and chocolate, both good things (I grew up in the countryside). On cutting the draw is tight but manageable I feel and the first flavours remind me of buttered toast and Marmite - almost a British version of sweet n sour. There's a defined cream, not the mouth feel but the taste, nice. The draw is becoming a problem but a little massage of the nicely pliable wrapper and a dig with the Perfecdraw sorts it out. What's noticeable is the lack of dark flavours I was expecting, there's no hint of cocoa, coffee, chocolate, no dark fruit. Hmm. It's reminiscent of a Fonseca actually. It's smooth with an earthy sweetness and very slight white pepper. Maybe the strong flavour of the rather excellent beer is masking something? I'm having a hard time discerning which tastes are coming from what, but both are good. Into the second third I'm distracted for a while by messages from[mention=30303]Luca[/mention] who's having a Cazadores (see above) I gave him when he was over here and don't take notes. Into the final third then and the pepper ramps up, changing from light white to a heavier black. The strength finally starts to build too, shame it didn't start out like this. The character of the cigar begins to change from vegetal to meatier, like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding or even bhatura (an oily Indian flat bread). Licorice? Really? OK...The hoppy ale now does a good job of alleviating the building spice. But this soon dissipates as the band comes off and I wring out the finish of the cigar, enjoying it to the nub. Overall, I enjoyed it but they need more time to settle. I'm all for 'the journey' and developing flavours but this really couldn't decide what it wanted to be. Like the splicing of a streetfighter BCJ and a posh effete Fonseca. But in a good way. Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

Take off 30° and half the remainder = ℃ roughly. In the UK we still use both systems - when it's hot it's "OMG it's almost 100 (℉)" and when it's cold it's "OMG it's 0 (℃)". And we officially gave up on metric length/distance measurement because everyone still commonly uses inches/miles unless you're using metric measurement for work. Simple. Not. Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

Ridiculous attitude my man - you could be chucking £250 at single 2011 Cohiba 1966 EL.

HUPC (TOS NOV 16) Lovely cigar. Smooth as butter, rounded flavours of cream and nuts. I'll be rationing myself these (but not ignoring them altogether) until the box is done. One a month for the next couple of years...[emoji848] Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

Trust your source and pay the asking price if you want it that much. Don't gamble. Thunder & Lightening '75-'15

Qd'O Coronas ETP OCT 15. Courtesy of@Luca, who gave me this one to save me having to smoke the few remaining 16s I have left. Thanks dude! A perfect way to spend a spare hour as I managed to bail out of work early, much appreciated. Thunder & Lightening '75-'15