While I was down in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, I started the day off with a Montecristo Petit Edmundo. Ironically the reason I did this was because I wanted to get the crap out of the way early. As much as some reviewers go apey over these smokes, I rarely have any good results. But I will say that I have been lucky in one way. When I really have to have a performer, the cigar DOES come through. When I am just sitting out on my porch with a beer and a digital camera, they SUCK in masterful ways. But when I am someplace where the cigar just has to be great, I have to admit that the MPE fills the bill. I can recall a fantastic MPE I had up by Sandusky Bay in Ohio while herfing with a hundred of my closest friends. And just last week, I had a great smoke in Luling, LA for Mardi Gras weekend at the Krewe of Lul. (clever name, huh?) It cut and drew perfectly, lit a bit slowly, and gave up tons of creamy, cocoa-ey smoke with a wily little spicy core. The Monte Petit Edmundo burned slowly and allowed me to smoke it very close to the band, and I even pushed it up for a bit of extra time. This was a clutch time for the cigar to perform, because I had just offered what I deemed to be a relative Premium Cigar Novice his choice out of my humidor, and he picked the Montecristo No.5, which left me without a cigar I considered key to a great time and a great series of smokes, on a personal level. So without that Monte 5, things had to start looking up fast, and they did. I can't say enough about the MPE and its performance. If there was one tic in the negative column, it might be that it burned a little crooked, but never badly as a whole. Once the cigar passed halfway, it developed a smoky herbal undertone to the cocoa that I found really enjoyable. I am not going to go out on a limb and say "Well, Skipper, from here on out it looks like smooth sailing...", but I will say that I often judge a vitola harshly by how it treats me from week to week, but I DO try to admit it when over the long haul, things even out, and that I have to give this MPE it's due, it came through in the Mardi Gras Clutch..........90 points.
I can't be there for the Fat Tuesday celebration, but I managed to make a trip down south for the weekend BEFORE Fat Tuesday, and while I DID get a rock peck in my windshield which will end up costing me $150 one day soon, it was a nice trip. I saw things I can't UN-See, and did things I can't un-do, but on balance, sure, it was a good time. I started off with my traditional (thanks, Tina) seafood feast that I get treated to when I arrive. This one was not as good as the others I have had in the past, too much salt in my fried oysters and the shrimp were wrapped in bacon with a jalepeno tucked in there and broiled. Sounds great, but I like SHRIMP, and as much as I love bacon, it DOES overpower something as delicate as the taste of good shrimp. Tater tots were good, lol. And before I go off on it and make it sound BAD, it was delicious. It only stands out against the backdrop of PERFECT meals I have had in Randy and Tina's house in the past, all of the past. But I digress as usual....
A almost first....a great Montecristo Petit Edmundo at 9:30 am.
Beer to follow at 9:35.
Rained out two years in a row, Bill and Edie rolled at last.
Ched the Head and Paul the host
Damn fine meat, and there was a LOT more.
Scratched out art
When is that damn parade gonna get here?
Damn Right, son...
Never EAT food the same color you are....is that King Cake?
No, I see, it's just some shirt design behind the plate.
Kittys
Put this in the bag
Throw me somethin, Mister!......(She DID get that tiger/leopard.)
Hawses!
This girl is gonna milk that giant Tweety for two blocks,
you watch...she won't throw anything for ten minutes.
This guy, HE WILL.
Happy Mardi Gras!
That's a snapshot of the Krewe of Lul, a little local parade that hasn't been little in 20 years. They should be proud of it. They need to spring for a few more bands though, because marching bands are what makes Mardi Gras complete for me. I should have taken pictures of the jello-shot lady that put me down hard. I drank no more beer than usual, but I got a headache way too early and had to stop drinking. I blame the jello shot lady, Vickie. She always puts a hurtin' on those things, and this year they were Absolut-ely gasolinic. The pudding shots Tina made were great. it was a good day. Everybody had fun like they usually do, no scuffles or trouble, lots of good food, Mr. Lionel's Jambalaya, Ched's chicken legs and boudin, and I think he had some deer backstrap poppers that were in demand. Can't believe I missed this trip two years running.
I have not been wandering in the wilderness for 40 days, but it sure seems like it sometimes. I have tried many cigars out of my massive aged stash, and for all my trouble, have gotten very little pleasure to report to you here. That all changed tonight. I set aside two 'long and skinnies' in the dry box for this weekend's blog posts, a 2005 Partagas Serie du Connaisseur No.1 and a 2002 la Gloria Cubana Medaille d'Or No.3.
Sounds like a can't lose lineup, but given the past performances you have read about here, I was not holding my breath. What I WAS doing was opening up the fridge and mixing up a nice cold White Russian which I knew would not melt out and dilute, given the 40 degree night. I put on the trusty LSU watch cap, a LSU hoodie and a pair of sweats and my warmest slippers, took my drink out to the porch, popped open my folding chair and cut and lit this great stick.
I picked up this box of smokes when it was announced that the entire Partagas Serie du Connaisseur line was going to be cut. Not only were these smokes being cut, but a knee jerk reaction by Habanos S.A. to cut out all the 'problem smokes' from their massive catalogue was going to mean the demise of the La Gloria Cubana Medaille d'Or line as well. In the ridiculously bad cigar boom in Cuba (1997-2000), cigars that were difficult to roll were being returned to shops in great numbers because they WOULD NOT DRAW. So HSA decided that these superb smokes were just too difficult to roll by all but a few torcedores, and what's more, they didn't sell well at all. It was an easy decision for them to get rid of these problem children. What they failed to realize is that a closet group of smokers was addicted to these great cigars, and just because they were not 'popular', they were very much appreciated by a loyal following of smokers in the know. But HSA did have one plan that they intended to follow no matter what the cost. They decided that a fixed amount of tobacco would generate MUCH more revenue if they slashed the catalogue to just the most in-demand smokes they offered. The best tobacco would be split up to create only those smokes that were chronically out of stock on store shelves and the greatest number of smokers asked for. This would lead to more happy customers when they entered the shops. So the long and skinnies HAD to go. And go they did. And the majority rejoiced. While the minority lamented the loss of their own favorites. And tonight I would smoke the very first one of these cigars I had ever had. I have had these cigars since they were officially discontinued. They are 2005 vintage, and I got them around 2008. I was all set to buy any number of other boxes, but my priorities shifted quickly when these began to disappear everywhere. I ended up being forced to buy them from a vendor that was FAR from being a discount vendor, and I paid dearly for the two boxes I was able to get, but get them I did.
The cigar drew a LITTLE tight, but was very smokeable, and in fact it helped me to not over-puff on the cigar and heat it up. And when I had my first ever puff of a Serie du Connaisseur of any number, I actually spoke the words "oh-ho, this is gonna be good." This might not be anything odd to the average smoker, but I live alone and I was speaking to no one. But I was definitely right. The smoke that poured forth from this cigar was different from almost any cigar I have had to this point in my long smoking life, but at the same time, very familiar to me. The Partagas pedigree was quite evident, a nice flat spicy core, with a roasted nut and toasted tobacco taste that FORCED you to puff too much, just to get more of this wondrous taste. I have had many cigars that share this profile, in fact, I would say to the well-rounded smoker, it was a delicious blend of the Partagas Super Partagas hand-rolled cigars, and the Partagas Presidente, very classic in style, and as much as I know how hard this is to read, I'll still say it, "old-school Partagas". The cigar tasted like a throwback to the old times I talked about the other day, when EVERY cigar you pulled out of a box of havanas was a special experience, filled with unique flavors and indescribable exoticity. The flavors that made havana cigars the best in the world, no comparison to the cigars that were available from other countries, and sadly, no comparison to the current lineup from Habanos. The compliment of the White Russian was right on time, maybe the perfect drink to accompany this smoke. The cigar drew so well, burned so straight, and offered such hypnotic flavors that I was very close to proclaiming this the finest cigar I had ever smoked. But for one thing. The flavor progression was nothing special. The flavors were perfect, and they kept me coming back for more, nearly to the point of constantly over-heating the cigar. But in terms of what most people would call flavor changes, there were not a lot to be had. And let us all remember that I do NOT have a good palate. So most people would give this cigar MUCH more respect in that category, but as I cannot discern flavor progression unless I am hit over the head with it, we'll just say that this cigar was not as good as the best Fundadore I have ever had, and even a bit below the stunning Partagas Churchill Deluxe I had a few years ago. But wow, what a cigar. About as enjoyable and infectious a cigar as a person could smoke. The ash fell at a consistent 1.5 inches each time, the draw did tighten up a bit near the end, and it was only the cold that began to creep into my feet and legs and hands that forced me to stop smoking this cigar. As it was, I still smoked it further than my traditional halfway. The bands on this smoke were placed lower than usual, and that helped me to feel like I had indeed wrung the last of the great flavor out of the cigar. But it was difficult to let it go so soon. What is it about these old-style long panatelas that just makes the magic happen? There is no abundance of fillers for torcedores to work such magic with. But somehow they consistently impress the true connoisseur. And THAT'S why people are so upset about the demise of this style of cigar. Well, the people that know a good smoke when they smoke one, anyway.
TOP CLASS CIGAR, I have no trouble in the least scoring it a 95. Were it a bit more complex, it could have easily notched the highest score I ever gave a cigar on this blog, currently standing at 97. THIS smoke COULD have been a 98. But who's complaining?
I wanted to make popcorn, and did not want to use a microwave or even eat microwave popcorn. But the only pot I had to use had no lid. It was an old Revere Ware pot....but not that old, mid 80s, and NOT part of the real American tradition that was Revere Ware. Back in the late 30s, a company began to make a type of cookware that was created with stainless steel and had a bottom section covered in copper. It was for decades, one of the finest cookeware lines in the history of American cookware, famous for it's very even heat distribution across the bottom of the pot. But after 1958, an effort was made to save money in production, and the cookware's patented electroplating process was shortened to lessen the amount of copper that would adhere to the stainless steel pot. This was by far NOT the death of Revereware, but it ceased to be 'your granny's Revere Ware' after that decision cut the thickness of the copper layer in half.
ANYWAY, I wanted a lid for my pot, so I started hitting up the Goodwill store in the neighborhood where I work, hoping to find a Revere Ware lid. I didn't find one, but I ended up finding something that would work. What I DID find was a couple of Revere Ware frying pans. I found one of the amazing 12 inch skillets just like my mother had. What I would find out after buying three frying pans though, once I got back to work and searched the internet, was that...well, all the info I passed on above plus a lot more. The pots I had were great, but they were NOT the same as the REALLY good stuff. And if I was gonna waste time buying used pots and cleaning them up, I wanted the best used pots I could get, or I would just do what I had done for 30 years, make do with the crap selection of cookware I had. But one thing DID happen that day, I found out what to look for on the bottom of the pot that told me what to buy and what to leave on the shelf. And in the span of 3 weeks or less, I found a GIANT selection of pre-1958 Revere Ware cookware: 2 more frying pans, 2 medium stockpots, 4 small stockpots, 1 4-quart pot and two lids (finally got my matching LID!) Plus a couple of spare lids, because one thing I found out about thrift stores is that you grab what you find, even if its only a lid. If you don't, the next time you go, you will invariably find the matching piece for the lid you saw yesterday, but in that one day span, someone else WILL snatch your lid. If you buy lids and no pots, eventually the pot will show up. You can also find nicer Bakelite knobs and handles on stuff and swap them onto your best pieces.
Some of the stuff I bought was just WASTED, covered in cooked-on gunk, electric eye scorches, bad scratches....and many would require several hours of hard work to get back into prime condition. In the end though, I have totally filled out my collection of stuff, and now if I pick up anything else, it will only be because the pots I find are best bought by someone who knows what it is and what its worth and is willing to bring it back to prime form. And sure, maybe sell it to someone on Ebay. Its REALLY true about this product, they DON'T make em like they used to, and if you want the best, nowadays you have to go online and find it second hand.
