Been real busy lately...

I haven't had much time to do anything with cigars lately because we are getting ready to buy our first home. They say that the headache comes after you find the house you want, this has been a headache from the get go. I had to threaten the agent with leaving today because her communication skills weren't up to par. After those words came out it was like a light switch, she has been jumping through hoops since this morning. Hopefully all works out...

Big Smoke MGM Foxwoods

As a few of you guys know, I attended the Big Smoke at MGM Grand Foxwoods. This was my first big event that I have gone to, so I was expecting top notch everything since the tickets were $250 for 3 hours. The lines for all of the vendors weren't too long so we got to meet with all the makers and get the cigars that they had to offer. Some swag would have been nice but you had to pay a little extra for that stuff (Opus X hat for 20$?!). One thing that I could not believe was the line to get Rocky Patels autograph. It was probably a 15-20 minute wait and when you got to him, it's hello, whats your name, hand shake, and off you go. I was thinking that people like Don Pepin, Pete Johnson, Alec Bradley, and Litto Gomez would be swamped with fans but you could just walk up to these guys and have a full out conversation. I talked with Pepin for about 15 minutes with the help of his translator, and the highlight of my night was getting to know Pete Johnson and learning how he made it big in the cigar industry. From what he says, he just met the right person (Pepin) at the right time. He was even nice enough to take a picture with his iphone and send it to me since my memory stick was never put back into my camera.

Another guy that I had the pleasure of talking to was Alec Bradley and his associates. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him that I was in the Navy. As soon as he heard that he grabs one of his guys and introduces me to him. The guy that I met was a retired E-9 in the Navy and we shared some stories of life in the Navy. He told me that if I was ever in Miami, it would be a pleasure to treat my family to an authentic Cuban dinner and take me out on the town for smokes and drinks. I told him that he didn't have to BS me so he writes down his cell phone number on his card and told me to just say "hooyah from CT" (it's a Navy Diver thing), and to remind him of our introduction, and he would make a night of it.
The best products handed out were CAO (MX2), Pete Johnson (red label tats, cabiguan guapo), Don Pepin (Blue label DPG, JJ serie, later on he had firecrackers which I never got), Alec Bradley (Tempus), and Carlos Torano (I forget what it was but it was a good one). Most of the others like Arturo Fuente, Rockey Patel, La Gloria Cubana, and Oliva were handing out their lower end sticks which I thought was some BS since you pay so much to play.
My overall thought on the night are they should of had lower prices since it was such a short event and they need to hand out some swag. After seing all the stuff about the Big Smoke in Las Vegas and NY, I was expecting exactly that. If they have one next year I am going to have to pass. In the end, I got to talk to the one guy I went there for, Pete Johnson, so I guess overall I am pleased. Hopefully I can get more pictures from a local cigar maker that was there. He hung out with our group pretty much all night and I get to see him on a weekly basis, so maybe there will be more pictures to follow.

A nice surprise

I got a nice package in the mail today from my buddy pjpacleb (Patrick). It is really funny how you can be friends with someone that you don't even know, you can send hundreds and hundreds of dollars of cigars because you have one thing in common, you both love the leaf.

Once again, thanks Patrick for the wonderful sampler. Hopefully I will have a box heading your way with some goodies in the near future.

Kitty Litter?!...

I would have never thought that you could save a bunch of money by using Kitty Litter instead of Heartfelt beads. 7 lbs. for around $14 vice 1 lb. for $31! All I did was buy the bags from heartfelt industries, fill them up, and spray the bags down so around 70% of the beads were saturated with distilled water. I have no problems keeping the RH at 65%, although the top and bottom of my wine cooler are a little different than the middle portion. I try to keep the temp at 65F but the interior fan makes the top and bottom fluctuate a little. I also purchased 2 oust fans, one is in the bottom and one is near the top. Here's my setup:

14$ for 7 lbs.

I am guessing around 1.5 lbs.? I put the big bag on the bottom and use the smaller ones on each shelf going up.

As you can see, nothing is above 70% RH, this stuff works!

Cohiba Piramids EL 2006 Review

I smoked this cigar a couple months ago and never put a review up on any of the forums. I hope you enjoy it because I know I did!!!

Pre light:

The draw is very easy with a leathery but sweet taste. This is a beautiful cigar with a couple veins running throughout the wrapper. I have been waiting to light this thing up and now I finally can.

Flavors: 31/33

1/3:

This cigar lights up really nice and it just spews out massive amounts of smoke. The first flavors that come up are an explosion of cocoa and coffee bean, very rich flavors not just subtle hints. I am also getting a little taste of mint on the finish which is very surprising. Throughout the first third, the flavors stay the same. There is just a little bit of spice through the nose but it is not overpowering.

2/3:

The cocoa flavor is starting to disappear but the coffee bean is blasting through my taste buds. There is no spice until you get about halfway through the second third then it starts to pick up a bit. The coffee is still there but not as much as the first third. Now the main ingredient is a sweet leather spice that gives a little twang on the finish.

3/3:

The last third offers a blast of spice with coffee and earth flavors. I noticed a lot of changes between all of the above flavors with each puff. I ended up putting a paper clip through the end so I could enjoy the final minutes without burning my fingers. The last few puffs offer a light taste of orange peel.

Smoking Characteristics: 31/34

The draw and burn were great and the amount of smoke you get from this cigar is amazing. I noticed that I was left wanting to see what was going to be next throughout this smoke. I would say it is a medium to full bodied cigar with great construction.

Overall impression: 32/34

From beginning to end this cigar offers a wide variety of flavors. From cocoa and coffee bean to an orange peel ending this was by far a great smoke that will definitely get even better with a little bit of age. I can’t even imagine what it would be like in 5 years. I looked forward to each puff so I could see what it would bring next and that is what I like to have in my hand, something that will keep you interested.

Final Score: 94

Explanation

I used to have a blog and I would use it to keep in touch with family and friends; I hadn't updated it for a while so I guess they deleted it. Here's my blog for my cigar smoking experiences and I will try and update this as much as I can without going overboard. Hopefully someone will be able to enjoy what I have to share.