Xen by Nish Patel

Now Smoking: Xen by Nish Patel. Rocky Patel is known in the industry for creating excellent cigars that receive high ratings with every blend he creates. Nish Patel is seeking to follow in his brothers footsteps. For this sampling I smoked the Toro sized Xen, which measures 6*52, and is boxed pressed. The Patel Brothers claim that theirs is the first Connecticut box press in the industry. It is also hailed as "Connecticut with attitude." 
Connecticut cigars tend to be mild, light cigars. This cigar, with its Ecuador Connecticut wrappers, and Nicaraguan binder and filler promised to be a stronger Connecticut. I have to say, they accomplished their goal. Don't get me wrong, this is not a strong cigar, but the one I smoked was definitely a nice smooth medium smoke.
 There was a good balance in the flavors with no one standing out from the other flavors this cigar imparts. It had an excellent draw, and even slow burn. The smoke was thick and had a almost woodsy/nutty character. While I normally smoke stronger cigars for pleasure, if I was in the mood for a medium cigar, I would reach for this one again. Out of a possible 10, I give this one a 8. It would of been a 9, but it went sort of flat the last quarter of the cigar. 8/10 If you like a lighter medium bodied smoke, this is the one for you. #cigar #cigarsmoke #cigars #cigaraficionado #cigarporn #cigarpornmovement #eljefe

mrlgperez

Now Smoking: Romeo by Romeo y Julieta-Toro. Romeo y Julieta has been known for creating excellent milder cigars. This cigar is a break from tradition, and is a true medium to full cigar. The wrapper is a Select Dark Ecuadorian Habano that imparts a hardy taste to the cigar. The Dominican Olor binder adds a little sweetness to the cigar, and the Dominican and Olor fillers are married perfectly to create a fuller bodied experience. 

Here is the thing, while it was strong, with some hints of cocoa and spice, it was not overly powerful. The smoke was very smooth, and balanced. If you are looking for a strong cigar that will not bowl you over, I would recommend this one. Rating: 8/10.

A Tale of Two Headshops

I have been on the hunt for empty cigar boxes.  I have a locker/humidor at the shop I hang out and work at, and I want to replace the boxes my cigars currently reside in, and give them back to the shop.

 For those that do not know, you keep cigars in a contained space, a humidor, and you should of have them between 65 and 72 percent humidity.  That is optimum.  With a temperature roughly the same.  If you go to low, they can dry out and become extremely hard, if you go to high, the cigars can become soggy, soft and grow fungus.  Not what you want to happen to your cigars. But I digress, back to the hunting for cigar boxes.

With this being my mission, I decided to stop randomly at a place I have never been in before.  I knew they sold cigars, but the primary mission of this establishment is to assist people in achieving a state of euphoria in means that are not consanguineous to cigars. That being said I stopped in to see if they had any empty cigar boxes.  I first stopped in to the establishment on Monroe Avenue.   

The place was clean, and the people were nice and surprisingly professional.  The area for the cigars was taken care of, and the cigars looked like they were being tended for properly.  They had an excellent selection of cigars, but only one empty box, which they allowed me to take, free of charge.  They nice lady behind the counter explained that they set them up by the door, and people can just grab them.

Armed with that knowledge, I decided to visit their other location, located on Lake Avenue.

This venue was drastically different than the other one.   

Dramatically different. 

If this was the DC Universe, the shop on Monroe would have been Kal-El, son of Jor-El, and the one on Lake would have been Bizarro.   

They had no empty boxes, but it was the condition of the cigars that caught my attention.  Many of the boxes looked like someone had dribbled paint on them, and they were stacked haphazardly in the display cases.  I would say 40% of the cigars I could see had mold on them. 

Not the good kind. Yes, there is a good kind. 

 There is Mold, and then there is Bloom(Plume).

Mold leaves a stain when it's removed, but plume comes off without a mark. Plume (or Bloom) is good; essentially this is solidified oil, which usually is a sign that your cigars are aging well. Mold is a sign that your cigars are in too humid an environment.

These cigars were covered in mold.  I asked to see a few, and they were so soft, I could of used them as a pillow.  I felt bad for the cigars. I saw one of the humidity gauges and it read around 85% humidity.  The girl behind the counter stated that maybe they should turn down the humidity. 

No kidding. You think?

I told her that the cigars may be beyond saving depending on how long they have been in the type of condition.  It is not impossible, just difficult and time consuming.  Time I doubt that they will give the cigars.  That is after all, not their main source of income. I am just surprised that any source of potential income was in such bad condition, and that it was the same company. 

I will end my tale of two headshops by saying if you are going to utilize them, go to the one on Monroe Ave if you live in my city.  The one on Lake is squalid. Skip it.

Padron

mrlgperez

Now Smoking: Padron Anniversary Principe Natural. This petite corona measure 4.5*44, which is smaller than I normally smoke, but by the strength in this cigar, you would think it was bigger, and darker. This Nicaraguan sun-grown cigar is strong. The tobacco is aged for four years, and you would think the aging would mellow it out. If it did, you cannot tell. That being said, for how strong it is, the smoothness of the cigar will surprise you. Extremely well balanced with hints of spice and cedar, this cigar was a joy to smoke. Each cigar is double banded and numbered to guard against counterfeiting. My cigar was number 835695. The only bad thing about this cigar was that there was not more to smoke. This puro gets a 10 out of 10 from me. With the amount of 90 plus ratings this line has received, it is not surprising it is so good.

Asylum

 Asylum 13 7*70. First of all, this is a huge cigar. You need to have time to smoke this one. This is not a cigar for the faint of heart, it is a strong Nicaraguan Puro. There are tastes of cocoa and black licorice, and earth. It lighted very well, and smoked very evenly. Upon puffing, smoke would continue coming out of the top, showing it is a nicely rolled cigar. This was a dynamic cigar that I would smoke again, and am looking forward to trying some of the smaller ones. I would give this one a 9/10. It lost a point simply because of how long it took to smoke.

mrlgperez

When I heard that General Cigars was creating a cigar that sought to bring the SteamPunk genre to cigars I was looking forward to seeing what the final product would be like. Now that I have smoked one, I have to admit, I am disapointed. Not in presentation, the presentation is excellent. Each box is a decoupage of distressed metal surfaces, antiqued patterns, and other motifs you would expect from steampunk. The cigar itself has a fatigued metal gear around the band. 10/10 on presentation. The wrapper is aged 8 years. Count me in. A blend of five different tobaccos from 4 different countries, that are not Dominican, Mexican, or Nicaraguan? I am intrigued. I bought the 6*50 Wells. (H.G) Then I smoked one. The cigar had issues from the onset of lightig it up. There was a hole in the wrapper that caused a very uneven burn, and I had to constantly touch it up. The taste itself was flat. There was not much taste to this cigar. I was expecting much more. To go along with that, I had something happen I have never seen. The cigar split along a vein in the wrapper leaf. A long split almost an inch long. That was the end of smoking this one. I will have to try it again, because this was obviously a bad cigar. I like Steampunk, I like H.G. Wells. I did not like this cigar. Rating- 3 out of a possible 10.

Welcome!

I have a blog for some time, but unfortunately, it has been left neglected and not used.  I have a lot to say at any given moment, a fact that I am sure many of you find shocking, but I have been silent for the most part.  I have decided to finally, start using my blog, and I am inviting you along for the ride.  Follow me and let us have fun.  If you have a blog, let me know, I will follow you.

The content of this blog will be about Cigars mainly, that is one of my passions, and I will be sharing exciting news from the world of cigars and liquor.  I will be posting tasting highlights and my impressions of cigars I smoke.  I will also post about other subjects, just to mix it up. 

 So with that being said, follow me. (I know I already said that, you should do it.)