GaryK 54

Happy Birthday Rob! Party like Brady, but be careful with the avocado tequila. 🎉

No hesitation, A. RASS dark and oily is hard to beat.

That’s a tough one. My palate tells me to go for the Trinidad Fundadores, but smoking a 2 hour cigar every day is a bit much for a year. Practical choice, 5 year old RASS.

Not a farmer or botanist so I could be wrong, but I believe what you are seeing is commonly referred to as ‘grain’ on the leaf. Grain is somewhat different than just a rough texture on the leaf or ‘tooth’. There have been debates on this matter for decades, but most sources see this as a natural outcome that occurs during the drying/curing process when there are higher levels of magnesium, potassium and acids in the soil that have found their way into the leaf. Certainly safe to smoke and shouldn’t have much, if any, impact on the flavor. Following is a link from an old study th

Fundadores and Sir Winston.

What a tremendous write up and valuable contribution to this family of ‘lovers of the Cuban leaf’. Whether a long-time smoker of CC or a newbie, there is something to be learned from what the Captain has written. In fact, several marcas that I have left alone for many years demand a revisit after reading this. Cast my vote to pin this to the top of the forum as an essential reference. Well done brother!

Spot on comment regarding making a simple cigar glue with pectin. Here is a picture from this week of one of my JL Seleccion No. 2 that had some serious wrapper damage. A little homemade glue applied with a small brush put this stick right again. Not pretty, but smoked perfectly. I've saved many cigars this way

I loved number 4... but going with 1 as the most reasonable.

Think I've got this one...

HdM Epicure Especial.