Treamayne
On the run...
- Joined
- May 19, 2004
- Messages
- 1,482
So.... What'd you smoke on your Holiday weekend. I (mercifully) was granted a full four day pass for the holiday weekend (first days off since August - since we've been so busy I've had to pull 4-8 hours every Sat and Sun for a couple months) So I took my mom (who lives with me overseas) and with a few friends and families we went to a miltary recreation park on the Pacific side of Okinawa (White Beach for those who "know") and spent Wed (Night), Th, Fri and Sat(morn) just relaxing in trailers by the beach. Here's a list of the 'gars Rich, Scott and I sparked during the much needed 72 hr rest. (in Order)
Wed:
Brazilia Anaconda - Wow, what a mammoth. Just pulling it out of the Humi gaver me a quiver of anticipation mingled with fear. Construction was top notch (like all Brazilia) and pre-light aroma was nice. Light and first draw was great. Unfortunately, with the prevelant Oki winds (a problem the whole weekend) the Burn was a little uneven in the windward side and the ash never stayed on too long, getting blown off by a gust every inch or so. The taste was a bit different from a standard Brazilia. It seemed to lean a bit more to the full bodied side of teh Med/Full line with a stronger earthy tone than I remember from my last Gol or Samba. I don't have the best palate yet, but there seemed to be some nutty tastes that came out when I held the smoke a few seconds longer before letting it billow slowly from my mouth. Never really got spicy, but seemed blod the whole way through, building up to high point at about 2/3 and letting off at the finish. Never realized how strong she truely was until I tried to stand afterwards. <grin> I wouldn't say it was as strong as a Power Ranger or DL Chisel, but after 2 hours fo slowly nursing the cigar, I didn't feel the effects until bitter end when I started moving around again, which really snuck up on me. I waited quite a while for these and they didn't disappoint.
Th:
Ashton VSG ER - <Bows before Moki>
What can I say except WOW! Moki gifted these to me and told me the wouldn't disappoint. He should have said they were a slice of heaven in the Humidor. I can't think of anything I own that could have topped a noon Thanksgiving Potluck better. Everything about this cigar seemed perfect. The taste an odd (to me) blend somewhere between creamy, milky, nutty and spicy. Everytime I thought I figured the taste out it seemed different on the next draw. Just Unbelievable. I stuck to water witt this baby so as not to hinder it in any way and even Rich (the guy who snared me into this hobby and has been smoking Cigars for 10 yrs) was floored. I don't have the skill to adaquately describe this one so I'll just say WOW again.
Scott finally showed 24 hours late.....so that night we shared a
Drew Estate Medusa -
This wasn't as bad as some reviews led me to expect, but wasn't spectacular. Probably more of let down coming 6 hours after the VSG ER. It was also my first Culebra and I had a time of trying to find a good way to hold it. Flavor seemed similar to the DE naturals Blackout, a bit dark without the Acid Chemical taste or the Sweetness alot of DE has. I'm sure the Yr+ of age helped dramatically. Mild-Med with some leather / earthy tones but nothing spectacular. I wouldn't walk away form another, but would seek them out either.
Fri:
Diablo Torpedo
Better than expected with what I've seen in other review on these boards. It wasn't as spicy as I expected after reading This Thread. The peppery tones did build through the smoke but never seemed overpowering to me. There wasn't much else there though, no complexity. Construction was decent, burn and light good. Again, nothing spectacular but I wouldn't throw it away. Doubt I'd actually buy them though.
Padron 1926
Now this was what the doctor ordered. I'd been a little skittish about trying these, since a few reviews note a coffee flavor, and that's one thing I can't deal with. Any overt coffee flavoring always spoils things fot me (I won't even eat Tiramisu) After keeping them locked up in the humi for well over 6 months I decided to give it a whirl. Nice.... very nice! I didn't taste the coffee (or I probably would have pitched it) but I did taste the sweet cocoa (which I love) and the stick was very smooth. Great burn (as long as I rotated it to allow for wind) and nice white ash. After 24 hrs of Semi-decent smokes, this really lit the night. Not on par with the VSG ER, but definitely one of the best smokes of the weekend.
There were a couple others in there here and there, but nothing worth reviewing. A Don Ts Pipe Tobacco that Scott brought. It was Cherry with bad construction and over humidified (the end felt mushy - before the light) and a DE Acid (don't remember which) that lasted an inch then went into the Bon Fire ecause I couldn't deal with the Chemical Taste (something I had never noticed in a DE before, but I always saw in reviews - so I am either refining my taste or I've been lucky with DE up til now)
How about ya'll?
Review your Holiday smokes here!
Wed:
Brazilia Anaconda - Wow, what a mammoth. Just pulling it out of the Humi gaver me a quiver of anticipation mingled with fear. Construction was top notch (like all Brazilia) and pre-light aroma was nice. Light and first draw was great. Unfortunately, with the prevelant Oki winds (a problem the whole weekend) the Burn was a little uneven in the windward side and the ash never stayed on too long, getting blown off by a gust every inch or so. The taste was a bit different from a standard Brazilia. It seemed to lean a bit more to the full bodied side of teh Med/Full line with a stronger earthy tone than I remember from my last Gol or Samba. I don't have the best palate yet, but there seemed to be some nutty tastes that came out when I held the smoke a few seconds longer before letting it billow slowly from my mouth. Never really got spicy, but seemed blod the whole way through, building up to high point at about 2/3 and letting off at the finish. Never realized how strong she truely was until I tried to stand afterwards. <grin> I wouldn't say it was as strong as a Power Ranger or DL Chisel, but after 2 hours fo slowly nursing the cigar, I didn't feel the effects until bitter end when I started moving around again, which really snuck up on me. I waited quite a while for these and they didn't disappoint.
Th:
Ashton VSG ER - <Bows before Moki>
What can I say except WOW! Moki gifted these to me and told me the wouldn't disappoint. He should have said they were a slice of heaven in the Humidor. I can't think of anything I own that could have topped a noon Thanksgiving Potluck better. Everything about this cigar seemed perfect. The taste an odd (to me) blend somewhere between creamy, milky, nutty and spicy. Everytime I thought I figured the taste out it seemed different on the next draw. Just Unbelievable. I stuck to water witt this baby so as not to hinder it in any way and even Rich (the guy who snared me into this hobby and has been smoking Cigars for 10 yrs) was floored. I don't have the skill to adaquately describe this one so I'll just say WOW again.
Scott finally showed 24 hours late.....so that night we shared a
Drew Estate Medusa -
This wasn't as bad as some reviews led me to expect, but wasn't spectacular. Probably more of let down coming 6 hours after the VSG ER. It was also my first Culebra and I had a time of trying to find a good way to hold it. Flavor seemed similar to the DE naturals Blackout, a bit dark without the Acid Chemical taste or the Sweetness alot of DE has. I'm sure the Yr+ of age helped dramatically. Mild-Med with some leather / earthy tones but nothing spectacular. I wouldn't walk away form another, but would seek them out either.
Fri:
Diablo Torpedo
Better than expected with what I've seen in other review on these boards. It wasn't as spicy as I expected after reading This Thread. The peppery tones did build through the smoke but never seemed overpowering to me. There wasn't much else there though, no complexity. Construction was decent, burn and light good. Again, nothing spectacular but I wouldn't throw it away. Doubt I'd actually buy them though.
Padron 1926
Now this was what the doctor ordered. I'd been a little skittish about trying these, since a few reviews note a coffee flavor, and that's one thing I can't deal with. Any overt coffee flavoring always spoils things fot me (I won't even eat Tiramisu) After keeping them locked up in the humi for well over 6 months I decided to give it a whirl. Nice.... very nice! I didn't taste the coffee (or I probably would have pitched it) but I did taste the sweet cocoa (which I love) and the stick was very smooth. Great burn (as long as I rotated it to allow for wind) and nice white ash. After 24 hrs of Semi-decent smokes, this really lit the night. Not on par with the VSG ER, but definitely one of the best smokes of the weekend.
There were a couple others in there here and there, but nothing worth reviewing. A Don Ts Pipe Tobacco that Scott brought. It was Cherry with bad construction and over humidified (the end felt mushy - before the light) and a DE Acid (don't remember which) that lasted an inch then went into the Bon Fire ecause I couldn't deal with the Chemical Taste (something I had never noticed in a DE before, but I always saw in reviews - so I am either refining my taste or I've been lucky with DE up til now)
How about ya'll?
Review your Holiday smokes here!
