Why you always carry a camera

I learned a hard lesson today.  When I got my good camera last year, I took it for every walk I went on.  Then I put it away once I had tested it to my satisfaction.  Tonight I realized why the best photographers say, you ALWAYS have a camera with you.  I was walking along and on the sidewalk in front of me was a Sponge Bob ice cream confection that some child had dropped and obviously his parent told him to leave it on the ground. 

This is not the photo.  I was too angry to shoot one.

What WAS a 5 inch tall ice cream had melted to a PERFECTLY still intact foot long blob, all the colors still  crisp in their lines, the face still perfect, just 2.5 times as long as it had been.  I should have turned around right then, there are 20 dogs or more an hour that walk on that sidewalk.  But instead I finished my route then got on the bike with two cameras and headed back to the spot. 

DOH!

NO FACE.  Just utterly useless to all but ants and more dogs to lick up.  I was crushed.  This was a cash money photo.  Gone...and as fragile as ice cream itself.   It's not like it was hot outside.  It was 50-something farenheit...Damn dogs.

What's the Deal with Winter??

I know that for a lot of my European friends, this will not be any comfort, and might sound an odd complaint, but where is the world is Winter?  It is Monday, the 13th day of February, and we have just had our first cold weekend of Winter.  It was in the Mid 20s overnight for two straight days, but we are heading for the 50s again here in just a few days.  The more I see this kind of activity, I am not as sure we are in Global Warming as we are in "Global Climate Change".  It should start raining in the world's deserts anytime now.  I am pretty sure it IS getting warmer, as the ice caps are melting, but I am becoming ever more convinced that what we are actually experiencing is a shift in the earth's magnetic field, rather than climate change per se.  I do believe in the power of greenhouse gases, but the pole IS shifting and the weather IS moving.  Igneous rocks show distinct evidence that the world's magnetic polarity has indeed flipped several times, likely many times, and other studies and methods have determined it likely that tremendous changes in global weather have accompanied these polarity changes.

So what does this all have to do with cigars??  Well it's interesting..................Nah, that's all I've got, I was just BSing.  Rain and seasons may eventually impact growing zones and planting schedules, but I have absolutely no idea.

And I am no fan of cold weather, but I HATE oppressive heat, so given a choice, I like the cold.  I can buy and put on a coat.  Once I am down to my naked skin, I can no longer moderate the temperature downward.  So even I know, we need to get down into the tens and teens for a few weeks every year, preferably spaced every 3 weeks or so.  It's just odd that we have only had this one cold snap so far this year and we are well into February.  I will try to smoke a cigar this week.  This past weekend was supposed to have been the time.  I chickened out.  I even went for a walk on Saturday that was supposed to be 4-5 miles, but when I turned south on what is generally a southwest journey halfway to the park, I quickly realized that 3 miles back into that cold wind was not happenin'.  So I turned due east and cut my walk down to a mile each way, perpendicular to the wind.  That was fine enough.  But anyone who was thinking, 'GREAT, another blablabla blog about general BS and no cigars and no pictures', take heart....I did manage to smoke some excellent beef ribs in that chilly weather..

Boy were they good.  I also smoked a Boston Butt, but I let the heat go too variable, and while it was DONE through, it did not fully disintegrate the connective tissue properly before I got tired of tending it, so I sliced it up into big chunks of meat.  OUTSTANDING.  Had some Sunday morning, pan-fried with a couple of eggs and two slices of rye toast spread with delicious real butter and a cool glass of milk.  Life in the south is good.

Right until they cut off your legs for diabetes, anyway.

Warlock Belicoso from OMAR ORTIZ Nicaragua

I got this from a friend, Hugh, this past August.  I am not much of a cigar smoker from countries other than Cuba, but when someone gives you a cigar at a herf, and you have a blog for cigar reviews, you gotta do what you gotta do.  I like a belicoso, and I like the taste of Nicaraguan tobacco.  Well, to be honest, I like Padron cigars....I am not a huge fan of the Omar Ortiz.  After decades of padronery,there is no easy way to duplicate that taste from any Nicaraguan tobacco-packed cigar.  But I liked this smoke.  It was not as strong as the "Originals" from Omar Ortiz, and I am used to cuban tobacco, I don't like a kick in the teeth cigar. 

This smoke cut perfectly, but was obviously rolled in that way I hate, like you'd roll up a newspaper to smack a dog on the nose.  And it burned like those do, 30-40 degree angle all the way up, requiring fixing lights the whole way.  I cut the smoke very close to the tip, less than a quarter inch gone, and it drew like a dream.  This had lulled me into a false sense of security not yet knowing what would happen with the burn.  But the draw worked well for smoke production, and that was most important.  Burn-patching lights are a pain, but far from the worst thing a cigar can do.  The smoke was rich and semi-sweet without much nuance.  Maybe some coffee and a little spice.  There were no really noticeable hints of the telltale taste of nicaraguan tobacco, but it was certainly not a Dominican.  A little nutty perhaps as well.  As an experience, however, it was very enjoyable, likely due to the fact that I have not smoked a cigar in what seems like months.

I would try and give a more detailed description of the smoke and how it progressed, but the smoke was really not doing much that would stand out as the cigar burned down.  The burn was crooked all the way, the taste was similar all the way, and there were no BAD things going on for the duration of the smoke.  So that's not bad, just not good enough to drag the review out to a lengthy read.
I don't really rate non-cuban cigars, but this one had enough good and bad points to stack up as a middle-of-the-road smoke to begin with, and I tend to ask a bit more from cigars from Nicaragua to boot.  So while I would not recommend the Warlock brand, I am guessing it is not going to break the bank, as most of the Ortiz cigars are priced right.  So if you like his other cigars, or just like a solid, good-tasting cigar at a good price point, you might look to these.  In fact I would go further and say if you like his originals, you will LOVE these.  it is strong enough to please, but not so strong that those who prefer a mild-medium body can taste what's going on without being blown out.  It is much better than the generic offerings from JR, Holt's and others.  And it draws well, which to some is good enough.

I should also mention the Old Rasputin Russian Impreial Stout I had with the smoke.  What taste, what texture.  Just a fantastic beer with a thick, viscous body, chocolatey aroma, the perfect amount of carbonation and a sweet, rich flavor.  NOT an expensive six pack, I say BUY EM now.

Holiday Cigars on tap

In a gigantic break from protocol, I went away for a 5 day vacation in North Carolina without a single cigar.  It says something about where I have come from and less about where I am going.  I started smoking cigars in 1988 with some old El Productos while I drove a moving van from somewhere to somewhere.  It didn't take me long before I realized that I needed to move up a few notches, less than the time it took to smoke half a cigar I think.  I smoked a lot of Dominican H. Upmanns and some Arturo Fuente cigars of various sizes and quality.  It was not uncommon for me to smoke 5-8 cigars a day on the weekends, it became a part of enjoying the night air after work.  But as I have progressed on to havana cigars, I have taken Zino Davidoff's advice to smoke fewer cigars, and of greater quality.  I knew that my trip was likely to be spent in large part indoors avoiding rain, mist, cold or other inclement Christmas weather.  I was right.  But there was also a time when my brother in law would come out onto the porch and smoke with me, something he no longer chooses to do.  So there was no reason to bring along smokes, or so it seemed upon departing. 

So now I look forward to a year which will begin with a bang, as I fully expect LSU to dominate Alabama in the college football National Championship game that almost no one wants to see.  They secretly DO want to see it, but they are upset by the team chosen to play LSU and they are making themselves heard.  Exactly ONE fan base wants to watch Bama play the Tigers.  But, they are a large fan base.  And whiny.


I also have a job, which in and of itself is a real plus in a tough economy, but now I am actually making the kind of money that makes the job worth doing, and that is worth celebrating.  I am looking at a menu of cigars for New Year's Eve.  I know that I will smoke a Partagas Serie du Connaisseur No.1.   I have a box of these and a few people want to sample them, so there is no reason to try to hold them intact. 

I will also smoke it's doppelganger in a different band, the Montecristo Especiales No.1.  It will be interesting to see how these smokes do.  I LOVE them short and thin and long and thin.  Not so much in between, nor so much larger in ring gauge. 


I will also burn up a metric ton of fireworks, mostly mortars and large scale candles with  big pops of burning magnesium in the sky.  It should be a great new year.  Hope things are better for all in 2012.

2007 El Rey del Mundo Choix Supreme

This is the first time these cigars have seen the light of day.  I have a few cigars.  I can afford to buy a box of cigars and wait 5-6 years to smoke them, and I often do.  But these have been calling out to me for years.  I do not smoke as many cigars in a year as I used to, so they are welcome to call away, it's unlikely their cries will be heard.  But today was the day that they would have their day in the sun.  I raked up a couple hundred pounds of wet and muddy leaves out of the gutter, and in 40 degree weather, I sat out in the sun in a T-shirt with a Hop Wallop and a freshly lit Choix Supreme. 

I must be on a real roll, because right from the first puff, this cigar was impressive.  In fact I would say that I BELIEVE them when people OFTEN say that the Choix Supreme can be the equal of the Cohiba Robusto on any given day.  I think that this is true, the cigars obviously share some similarities in blend, but what I think shows itself in the end is the INTENSITY of elegant flavor of the Cohiba robusto that is not quite there in the Choix.  But certainly the two cigars start out very similarly.  VERY CREAMY, sweet and spicy, with a gigantic core of toasted tobacco flavor.  The cuban twang was  just outstanding.  And CREAMY??  Man, what a creamy stick.  I was knocked out by the constant stream of great flavor.  it was extremely balanced and mouth-watering.  The burn was a little more rugged than my recent CORO,  but the burn was manageable and the draw was superb.  As I smoked into the core of the cigar near the middle of the stick, I was shown what the real difference is between the two cigars.  The wonderful flavor was  there, but there was a distinct lack of the chcolate and coffee in this cigar.  It was still loaded with vanilla, baking spices, butterscotch and toasted tobacco.  But creamier than the CORO.  I like that....a lot.

The burn was a little crooked, but not out of control and it did not affect the burn or enjoyment.  I have a lot of these smokes put away, and I think I might smoke every one. WOW, what a great little cigar.  I score this one 91 points!

Cohiba Robusto....unbelievable

What do you think about a cigar that everyone holds up as the quintessential cuban cigar that you smoke and smoke and never find one that performs up to standards?  Not fake, just not the finest cuban cigar everytime.  My experience hasn't really been hit and miss, it's been MISS.  I have not had more than about ten in my life, but I have yet to have one that just belw me away.  Well, until Thanksgiving, anyway.  I have not enjoyed Thanksgiving with my family for 4 years.  I work a go-kart race that takes place over Thanksgiving, and while I am not a big fan of Thanksgiving, nor am I a fan of driving ten hours to see family for one weekend, then turning around and doing it again in a month's time for Christmas, I do miss having this weekend to myself.  And the stress of producing all this TV content doesn't make it much better..  So in a way, I have not missed Thanksgiving.  But I have missed my family.

I was sitting on a "balcony" at a Super8 Motel on Thursday night.  I had just finished producing a 90 minute live show from the race track and I was beat from a week of doing 3 other shows live, and had two 12 hour broadcasts coming Friday and Saturday night.  I needed a REAL cigar.  So I poured myself a few fingers of Basil Hayden and rocks, and cut and lit a 2004 Cohiba Robusto.  From the first puff I knew things were about to change.  And they did.  Loads of creamy sweet tobacco flavor with cinnamon and vanilla came bursting out of the smoke.  This went on for a full inch, then the cigar began to ramp up in strength and intensity of flavor.  As I smoked away into the second inch, I was assaulted by coffee, toffee, chocolate, toasty tobacco and cuban twang like no other cigar I had ever had.  I was speechless.  Mostly because I was alone, there was no one to talk to anyway...it was a cold rainy night, I was in sock feet and I was drinking cold whiskey.  But man, what a cigar.  I knew that AHnohld loves this cigar, although as California governator, he had had to sneak around a bit to get them.  But here was a cigar that I could enjoy.  Not a movie star, not a rich man, just a man with great connections and a love of havana tobacco.  As I smoked along, I experienced a tremendous, perfect draw, burn and flavor, all in one perfect smoke.  As the cigar drew near the end, it never lost it's fantastic flavor or its ability to put a smile of disbelief on my face.  I pushed the band up and continued until it just got too cold to smoke.  I slid off the band and threw it in my shaving kit.  I wanted to remember this cigar.  I have smoked a few of these and never once had this kind of experience.  If you listen to the communist propaganda, you would think it's like this every time you light a Cohiba.  I am here to tell you that's a lot of hooey.  but THIS cigar...wow.  An easy 95 points!!!

At last, a new cigar - 1998 Le Hoyo du Depute'

It's been a while since I smoked a cigar that has not been smoked here before.  I am not very swift with the updates, and I don't smoke many cigars in a year, so oftentimes you will find that I have reviewed a cigar that I have tried 2, sometimes 3 times before.  Tonight I grabbed a old and beautiful cigar out of a fresh cabinet of 25, seemed a shame to break up the set. 

It provided a breezy draw from the slightest cut.  To me that spelled trouble, but I have had more trouble lately from stingy flows, so I lit it up quickly and drew the first, tasty puff.  At first I thought, man, this is a 13 year old cigar and it tastes like it came off the roller's table yesterday.  But after the first half inch, I realized that was just the power talking.  These are strong and woody cigars without much complexity.  Tasty, but not extremely interesting.  I had a hard time determining what intricacies I was experiencing in the taste.  I tasted crushed weeds and a mentholated cool, vegetal taste with a body of white wood.  The cigar burned extremely straight and reasonably fast.  Within a half an hour, I was pretty much done with this one. 

There was a full inch to go when I put it down, but I couldn't see much sense in continuing.  The cigar was good, but not compelling enough to take it to the nub.  On this cigars best days, they are really refreshing and mouth-watering.  I love em.  It's sad to see this one be a little blah.  If you can find a box of these you should really pick em up.  Don't be put off by this one.  80 points.