Head83

Hoping to break my record of one this year!!

First time dry boxing but wanted to save this for a special occasion. I just graduated this morning from a one year school for officers in the rank in Major to prepare us for command and increased responsibilities on staff. There were about 500 of us in the course which included all branches of US military (we even had 1 Coastie!) and 78 different Allie and Partner countries. It was awesome spending a year getting to know our partners from other countries as we intensively studied military and operational planning and the application of air and space power in combat. Now it’s time to relax with a nice cigar while watching my Cubs play. My cigar is a HdM Epicure No 2 OPS Mar 16 that I picked up in the Frankfurt Duty Free coming back from Afghanistan 2 years ago. Dry is woody with a hint of nuts. Nothing special but it has a bit dryer feel than normal thanks to the 3 days of dry boxing. 1st third - after the first few puffs, it quickly comes into the normal creamy HdM profile. I’m surprised cause the last few out of this box were missing that. Thought the box was going through a sick period and was leaving it to sleep for a few months before deciding to pull one out for this competition. Other flavors are cedar and pine nuts with a viscous mouth filling smoke. As it wraps up 1st third, the nutty flavor comes on stronger with a hint of leather coming through. Overall, the stick is much better than the last few from the box 2nd - Cubs just went out 5-0 and the cigar is coming along just as well. The burn like is starting to go off so decisive to knock off ash to help it breath a bit. The creamy HdM is coming on with a sweet flavor to it. Hard to place it but reminds me of something from Christmas time, maybe Horchata? Final - Burn line has improved but not perfect. I huge change in flavors mostly just cream, pine nuts with hints of leather Overall it’s better than I remembered from the box but nothing compared to the Sir Winnie I had on Friday night. Honestly, I enjoyed this box much more fresh than it has aged into at this time. Hopefully they come around again but overall not bad. I would give it a solid 87 overall. It was a nice way to relax after the last year of school and always nice to get a Masters degree for all the hard work reading and writing papers everyday!! Now it’s back to the real Air Force for this guy as I get ready to move across the country to Utah.

I tried smoking a RyJ Taco on Friday nighy sitting by the fire in my backyard. The thing was a tent stake. After 20 mins of ramming a perfect draw in the thing, I tossed it into the fire and grabbed a Sir Winnie. Glad I did, it was amazing.

Does the New legalized weed come in the same plain packaging? I could understand the logic behind cigarettes even though it’s ridiculous. Cigars aren’t even the same market and shouldn’t even be paired to gather, especially CCs. Kids aren’t dropping 30 bucks on a CC to cut it open and roll a blunt, that’s what the Phillies are for

Got it now! Thank you for pointing that out. Ill see about finding the right grommet before I take a drill to it.

@aphexafx Very interesting, thanks for the details. I run a winedor as well but never ran into condensation issues in the past. I don’t keep any boxes on the bottom as a precaution and never push my drawers all the way in, mostly to provide room for airflow. I wired up two computer fans in the rear to run for about a min every five off a timing circuit. Always thought about hooking it up to a humidity probe but I run a passive system with beads so wouldn’t help me too much. One quick question, how did you run your wires inside? I snaked mine through the drain but would like to be able to keep it as open as possible if I can. It still allows for drainage but always looking for ways to improve.

I’d be very intrigued if you could go into a little more details on your system, how it’s built, pictures, etc. never heard of anyone doing this before and it sounds pretty sweet.

@cfc1016 Holy crap that thing is a beast!!!! Are you going to stick with the pull and pick foam or go back to the acoutstic sheets? Its hard to beat that acoustic foam for the natural shape it provides. Youll have to show us when you get it all set up.

That is sharp looking!! Ive seen some folks get a plastic sleeve that goes into the leather pocket to provide some rigidity. Its made by someone from a completely random website. Im sure someone on here can point you in that direction if your interested but I cant for the life of me remember where they come from.

Thanks to @cfc1016 my traveler feels so much more secure. It’s currently being used for my non-CC overflow. Really happy with how it turned out. I could easily add another row if I take out the Boveda tray on the top but no need right now.

Too much math lol! Thanks everyone for the in-depth conversion rates. Since my parents arent very knowledgable on cigars, I gave them a short list of places to go and ask for. They got to the island yesterday and spent the day riding around in a '53 Chevy. Their guide drove them to a bunch of state shops with the list and helped be the middle person. They said they had a really great time in their adventure and were even able to find a few things on the list. I told them not to spend anything over $400 in fear that they get taken advantage of. They still have a few more days there and are hoping to find some more. They wouldnt send me in pictures to keep it a surprise. Either way, they are having a blast meeting locals and going to places they might not have gone otherwise. At the end of the day, its the thought and effort that really counts!

I grew up in Louisiana and have had an intimate relationship for over 30 years to the city. I remember sneaking into my first strip bar there on a school trip lol. To be honest, not a huge difference I can tell pre and post Katrina. The city has its own life and one that is not matched anywhere else in the US. It’s where old money aristocrats meets urbanized poverty. Take it for what it is and enjoy yourself. Eat as much food as you can because that is what they do best down there. I know one person talked bad about Commanders Palace but I would recommend Brennan’s for brunch. It’s pricey yes but well worth it IMHO. Other places are Central Grocery for a Muffeletta, Mother’s for a Po’ Boy, make a lap around the Carousel Bar while enjoying a cocktail in the Hotel Monteleone, get a hurricane at Pat O’Brians, enjoy a shit show attempt of karaoke at the Cats Meow, go to Madame Laveau’s voodoo shop at the end of Bourbon street but go no farther...you’ll know why when you get there, then have a hand grenade from Tropical Isle to make sure all your memories are forgotten by morning. If you have time, go check out some of the cemeteries. Madame Levau is in Saint Louis Cemetary #2, it’s a pilgrimage spot for anyone looking for a little voodoo good fortunes. It’s in a seedy area but safe during the day. Also ride a trolley car down to through the garden district. Take you some drinks for the ride and just enjoy the sights and bead covered tree limbs from the weeks prior. If your going at the end of March, the city will be in recovery mode from Mardi Gras but that time of year is also March Madness and college spring breaks so be prepared for some craziness. The two things you go to NOLA for is the food and people watching, neither will disappoint.

They already got CAD to take down to convert. I read the thread and that is what my understanding of it was. However, when I was looking at the current price list of the YUL cigar blog, they state on the first page: "If you pay with a credit card, since the CUC is only used in Cuba and nowhere else in the world, you will be billed in USD and exchanging USD in Cuba comes with a small surcharge of 3%, not 6 not 10, 3% period." The way this reads, it almost sounds like its possible but they are talking about credit cards from every other country BUT the US. Figured I would ask the experts for clarification.

This is perfect! I showed them the Commodore on the map. I figured the hotel could point them to the shop in Melia Habana if they ask. I wrote up a list with Alex and Yolanda's name. I figured if they got there, they could just show the list to them and they could help them out.. They have no clue what they are doing but willing to give it a shot. I told them to go for customs and a few hard to finds if they should be there by chance. It will be very interesting to see what comes back lol. For anybody from the US, is it possible to use a US based credit card at these two shops?

So my parents are heading to the island in the next few weeks and wanted to try and stop into a place to get me a few boxes. They are staying at the Melia Habana hotel. They aren’t the most adventurous types but If something is nearby, they will go. Does anybody have any recommendations of shops and/or rollers nearby I could direct them to?