cfc1016

Love that book. Still haunted by the scenes with him reminiscing about his childhood dog though. That was just cringy.

Just makes me less likely to rush into smoking the precious few i have left. Shame. They'll be missed, surely. I have to admit though - the few erdm choix supremes I've smoked of recent production, have all been reminiscent [to my palate, anyway] of the unmistakable dna of old strain lgcs. Atleast there's still something in current production that kindles the old lgc memories for me - even if it wears a different band.

Hang in there, bud. Hiding behind every challenge is an opportunity.

Looks like you've gotten on to constructing the new deck? Looks like it'll be a nice smoking spot!

Love me some exquisitos... even if I'm the only one 😋

I smoked one that you gave me while groovin to biggie and wu tang on a road trip last summer. I certainly remember it being phenomenal

As usual, you offer the least sensationalized and most rational comment to the conversation, in my opinion. I'll bet my bottom dollar that this traces back to one factory or manufacturer, and some unscrupulous production practice. I likened it, in conversation, to a hatmaker accidentally mixing asbestos into one of their batches of material. A rash of cases of mesothelioma will result, all with the commonality that the sufferers wore hats. "Hats" didn't cause the cancer. Hats made of ASBESTOS caused the cancer. Saying, as a result of these (extremely introductory and inconclusive) findings of pneumonia-like illness, that VAPING is dangerous, is a farce. Isolating a bad batch of material and labeling IT dangerous... makes sense.

Agreed. Though i almost always remove the band, i rarely do so before lighting, unless it very loosely slides off. I'd say most frequently I remove the band around the 1/3-2/3 points

Lovely, either way. If you find any of those REO EP00 lonsdales, just buy em. FIres have been apocalyptic this year. Had a bad respiratory condition flare up as a result recently. Been a really rough summer. Can't do this again next year. I'm moving. Not only has it negatively affected mine and my dog's health, but I've even been unable to enjoy a cigar for MONTHS as a result of it!

Is that one of those REO EP00 lonsdales that have been floating around like daffodil seeds on the wind, these past few years? Those have been absolutely cracker. Think I still have a couplefew lyin around somewhere...

Congrats, @JohnS and g'birthday (if i may) to the boy! Glad you guys did it up in style!

Funny you mention this. I know very little about NCs. 99.9% of my exposure to the hobby has been CC for many years. Someone anonymously put one of these in for me as a freebie on the last box pass I ran. I gathered it was something special, but couldn't find any clear info online about it. I never found out (despite trying) who had put it in there. I'm still curious what the story is with it. I haven't smoked it. Been sitting in my humidor for the past year. So can you help fill me in on the story of this cigar? What about it made it so special? What do I have to look forward to if I ever spark it up (or give it to a friend who is a connoisseur of NCs?

John it's been too long since I've had an inmensas (plus BCG and BBF were my staples of the marca back then anyway), but the mdo2? Impossible to forget. Pre-strain-change, post-strain-change - no matter. They were almost uniformly superlative demonstrations of that je ne sais quoi of LGC dna. Between those and Tainos, you had some pretty monumental flavor journeys with an LGC back in the day. Remarking on strain change transitions reminds me of something I think is pertinent. Each of the few examples i've had in recent years of the ERDM choix supreme have been (at least in my convoluted sentimental sensory memory system) really reminiscent of that pre-strain-change LGC je ne sais quoi, which I know you also adore much like I do. Their demi tasse have a touch of it too, but never as refined, or with the sub-flavors making their 'voices clearly heard' if you will, as in the case of the choix supreme. If the demi tasse is a stage banter between a few vocalists, the choix supreme is a coordinated performance by a classical septet. I digress. I dare say I think there's something almost mystical about the Dalias vitola. It's as if all of the interdependent physical and chemical factors which incalculably determine the 'destiny' of the cigar, if you will, are all perfectly balanced and aligned, like a syzygy. It's like the Excalibur of vitolas. I don't understand it. I've tried. I don't grasp the complexity of factors which make it so. Something about the balance and harmony of that vitola (and i'll throw julieta no 2 in as a very close second on my list) just allows the tobacco to sing with such perfect pitch. There's more than one reason I was happy to accept the 898UV (probably my number 2 fave ever) being replaced by the 898V. The dalia being the new format is definitely up there. I think I've got a couple mdo2s stashed away somewhere. I'm sure it'll be quite a treat whenever they get fired up. I'll try and remember to notate the experience for ya.

Glad you liked it so much!! I cherrypicked that box by code - TOS DIC 16. After all the other great stuff to come out of TOS (La Corona, iirc) that year (yes I'm talkin bout principes lol) I figured it'd be a solid box. Wasn't disappointed. Those are my favorite d4s in a long time. I tried to make sure it was only the good stuff in that care package. I forget what else I sent though,lol. Looking forward to the next commentary!

Fantastic!