Str8BlkCoffee

I was hoping to catch some Cohiba Shorts on the EOFY sale.

I have been knocking about wanting to try a few of these and while perusing the fare at my local Habanos Atmosphere I saw these and picked up a few. After having some help by the attendant who tried to warn me off by stating there have been rolling deficiencies (plugs), I was presented with several that felt passed the grade and were free of hard spots. I took them home and smoked one the next day. I have to say I liked them. Not a super in depth flavor bomb but certainly one to take when you just want a quick smoke and don't need to pay attention to the cigar. No draw issues on the one I did smoke. Smooth, pleasant, with that dominant Partagas spice. Pretty good for a cheap smoke. I'll probably buy a box to keep around for that quick smoke.

Oof! That is hard to recover from. Happy Birthday btw!

Great review. I have been wanting to try this marca but it eludes me when purchase time comes. I may have to make a concerted effort to have these make their way to the carts.

Welcome Ruben. This is a great place, but hang on to your wallet!!!

No box code I picked up a 6er off a recent 24/24. These have laid down for 3 months so I decided to fire one up for the weekend review. 1st third was creamy tobacco with hints of nuts and slight hints of cherry. 2nd third gave way to a amaretto flavor, roasted tobacco, some breadiness and spice. Final third was more amaretto, with graham cracker, finishing with leather and roasted tobacco. Great smoke lasting about 1hour 20 minutes. A few light burn issues including some slight tunneling. Over all a solid smoke I'd rate a 90-92.

I had the opportunity to spend some time with a long time friend who was in town briefly. We trucked down to the Habanos Atmosphere cafe and picked out a few sticks and settled in for some catching up and enjoying some fine cigars. I chose a H. Upmann Royal Robusto Casa Del Habano not knowing anything about it. I just wanted a nice larger ring gauge cigar that I hadn't tried and these were tucked up under the shelf sharing the divided space with a shorter vitola which made it rather hard to see. What a find! I didn't get to spend much time focusing in on the different aspects of the cigar or taking photos. Wow! what a cigar. Nice creamy nuttiness with touch of sweet hay at the start, moving into chocolate, espresso, finally deep roasted tobacco, leather, espresso. I took it down until I couldn't hold it any longer. I would have used my Perfect Draw but I had lent it to my buddy who never saw one before. I need to get a cell phone with a better camera 😕 but you get the idea. A real great cigar that lent to the start to a fine evening catching up with a friend. He is a big cigar fan and has a lot of experience with non-Cuban varieties so it was good to impart my new found knowledge on Cuban cigars to help steer him toward choosing a fantastic cigars to take home and enjoy that evening. We came back after grabbing a nice dinner and burned a stick to round out the night. I chose a H.Upmann - Upmann No.2 for dessert but couldn't stop thinking about the Royal Robusto. I would say a solid 97-98 out of a 100.

As long as it isn't cigarettes she is fine with it. She likes my pipe too!

It is all about people wanting to control what other people do. To make/form the populous into whatever "they" feel is right or appropriate. They want you to feel like you are free and have the liberty to conduct yourself as you like as long as it suits them, anything else and the people need to conform. To save myself from myself. "It is for the children, think of the children!" Those who enjoy freedom and liberty do not like to rock the boat, they just do what they want. It is those whose wish to control others are the one's who are the most vocal and obnoxious. Do what I want because I want what is right (for me).

Lifting weights 5 days with light cardio. Few carbs, zero bread, mostly meat and eggs.

I have had that happen to 3-4 R&J Wide Churchhills and a numerous from a particular batch of Drew Estate cigars and Avo Classics. I could hear the wrappers cracking like rice crispies! I thought it had something to do with my storage temps 70-72F @ 65%RH then rushing outside where it is 105-107F and lighting up. The humidity has been very low here so I thought that may have had something to do with it too. Last night I prepared a RJWC and prior to stepping outside I moistened the entire cigar. Low and behold no wrapper issues! I did have some tracking problems due to them being slightly under-filled, which has been the standard with this batch <shrug> oh well. Decent cigar otherwise.

I hope it doesn't lead to other things...

I have a question pertaining to storage of Cigars. I often hear of people telling others to let them "breathe" when aging. Is this primarily due to the releasing of ammonia as the tobacco ages? In the pipe world they would rather have the tobacco remain unopened/sealed for as much time as possible to allow the tobacco to age and further ferment. Virginia tobaccos actually begin to show crystals as the sugar content comes to the surface. There are tins of old 20+ year old tobacco that have swollen with "goodness" and they sell for hundreds of dollars for a few ounces. Renowned pipe tobacco blender Greg Pease had this to say: "Once the seal of the tin is broken, the delicate balance present in that little ecosystem is permanently altered. You can't go back! So, once that tin is open, either smoke its contents fairly quickly, or transfer it to air-tight containers, like bail-top canning jars. The aging process from this point on will be different, but the tobacco will remain in fine condition for your enjoyment as long as it's kept in good condition. (The plastic lids on my tins will keep the tobacco in find shape for anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months, depending on the ambient temperature and humidity. Just keep an eye on it!) This is the reason, by the way, that I cellar 2-oz tins, rather than the 8-oz ones. Once I open that tin, I want to smoke its contents as quickly as possible to get the maximum enjoyment from my years of patience. It's like a fine wine - cellar it for a long time, but drink it fairly quickly." Is this partly why some like Tubos for long term storage? The micro-anaerobic environment helps the tobacco develop in flavor as well as the physical protection afforded by the storage in the aluminum tube. The same with Cabs vs other methods of packaging?

Congrats!

I had planned to take a bunch of photos but in my excitement of my planned note taking and rush to light this gem up I forgot my camera and by the time I reached my smoking chair I had realized my error. Today was also leg day in the gym so the prospect of climbing stairs and walking back to the lift to my apt in the 107*F heat of the Kuwaiti evening I decided to forgo the photo session, so I apologize. I picked this cab up from our host and has been improving the more I dig into it. The roll was nice and tight and the head was a tad hard. Several from this cab had been spongy and required a pinch to keep the airflow down to obtain a decent draft and avoid the wind tunnel. I punched this one and the draw was pretty tight so I utilized my Prefect Draw to remove a few bits of tobacco from the head and we were off. The nose was barn yard. Cold draw was hay. Toasted with my torch and we were off. The first 1/3rd was paprika, rich tobacco, and a slight toasted sour dough, giving way to baked short bread. Burn was even and the ash held on strong and required coaxing to drop. Once it did the ember even and just above the edge of the cigar. Heavy retrohale was very spicy and brought out some black pepper. I found that smaller puffs being retrohaled was preferred and kept the spiciness at bay. 2nd third and the spicy paprika began to give way leaving heavy baked shortbread, touch of leather, some nut, and a hint of honey comb. Retrohale brought the spiciness back but not like the 1st third. Final third was honey and nut. I kept thinking back that it reminded me some a sweet I used to eat. During a pause it hit me, Bit-O-Honey! This lingered throughout the end of the cigar. I nubbed it until the Bit-O-Honey flavor was subsiding being replaced by rich tobacco and the paprika spice returned. Retrohale on the nub was heady with a wasabi like experience. A few more puffs and the honey comb lingered on the back of my palette and I was done. These are becoming one of my favorite cigars. I am about 1/3 through this cab and will be picking up more so I came age the rest. Fantastic smoke.