half full monty
Member
- Joined
- Sep 24, 2004
- Messages
- 654
The first tomatoes are ripe in the garden and were picked yesterday. That mandated bacon, egg and tomato sandwiches for breakfast. Mrs. HFM picked up some sourdough bread from Trader Joe’s on Thursday. Cut in half and toasted, they make great bookends to the fresh ingredients within.
Having made quick action of breakfast, attention turns to the Sunday morning smoke. Work has definitely been absurd these past few weeks, and now is on the cusp of sublime. It is amazing the lengths corporations will go to convince themselves of an alternate reality. I digress....
Last week I wrote about a fine cameroon wrapped La Aurora. The whole experience was a relaxing respite from the world of alternate realities, so I decided this Sunday morning could offer the same.
This morning’s specimen is a Stanford 90th DCM Cameroon. Moki’s vitolas.net site purports this to be a modified DCM blend to compliment, instead of overpower, the select cameroon wrapper.
Construction is impeccable. Beautiful dark brown cameroon wrapper with a triple cap. This is a 7 x 50 churchill going on two years old. As is typical of cameroon wrapper, this is showing signs of splitting in various places from the foot up to the Stanford 90th band. I will have to handle this one with care.
Quick snip with the xicar and the pre-light draw is pronounced cocao, no mistaking it. Draw is perfect, not too tight, not too loose. Upon lighting, the wrapper splits an inch up the cigar. This has been stored at 72 degrees, 67 RH since purchased. Outside on the deck it is 86 degrees and 52 RH.
Draw is still very good despite the smoke exiting through the splits in the wrapper. This is a long cigar, both literally and figuratively, so we aren’t going to give up on it anytime soon. Initial flavors are of medium to strong tobacco, mellowed with some age so as not to burn the sinuses. Still, a very peppery finish on the pallet. The cameroon wrapper takes some discerning, but is noticeable. This is a woody cigar, with some black pepper on the finish. Little to none of the cocoa flavors that were picked up on pre-light. Ash is pretty stout, considering the now growing bulge in the cigar from the split wrapper.
For those of you who are not familiar with the packaging of this cigar, I would encourage a trip over to vitolas.net to check it out. The tan leather box is very tastefully done with a simple “Stanford’s 90th” stamped on the lower right corner of the lid. The leather is still smooth and supple, reminiscent of a freshly broken in Rawling’s infielders glove. Inside the box is a tastefully done booklet entitled “ A Tribute to an Industry Legend”.
The cigar has really mellowed, both from a flavor and burn perspective. The wrapper splitting still exists but has greatly subsided. The flavor profile has become very complex. Wood still dominate but hints of cocoa and cedar pop as well. The finish is much smoother, but still a hint of pepper. The ash lasted a good inch and 1/2 before falling off from bumping the bar unit on the deck. About a third of the way through this now, and I just picked up a slight hint of smoked bacon. Interesting.
Stanford Newman truly is an industry legend. He has some roots from my hometown, Cleveland. The booklet pages progress by decade, starting with the 1920’s, and includes photos throughout. My favorite is from the 50”s where Stanford is pictured presenting a box of Student Prince cigars to Hall of Fame third baseman Larry Doby. The text tells the story of an Indians Vice-President calling Stanford and asking for all of the negatives to be destroyed and the pictures not to be published due to league policies. It states this photo is all that remains.
This is turning into a very nice cigar. Balanced and complex. Strong tobacco flavors without harshness, great draw and nice even burn now. I am discovering that writing while the cigar is burning helps keep me from oversmoking.
It’s hard to describe, but I can really pick up the cameroon on the periphery of the exhale. It is subtle, not pronounced. The blend is fairly strong for a cameroon wrapped cigar. It is a good thing the blend is tuned down, for any stronger and it would completely obliterate the cameroon wrapper. If I was given this cigar in a blind taste test, I could not tell you the country of origin for this cigar. Emmmmmmmm coconut, wow. Very nice. It seems too meaty and complex for a typical Domincan profile, none of the in your face properties of Nicaraguan, none of the trademark Honduran sweetness and none of the Cuban anise-like twang, yet an unmistakable rich tobacco flavor.
An hour into this and I am about 3/4 of an inch away from the Stanford 90th dark blue band with gold bars trimming the edges. I’ve already peeled off the huge, embossed Diamond Crown Maximus band. I have always admired the consistent quality the Fuente’s use in banding their premium cigars. Very rarely have I ever had a problem removing a Fuente banded cigar, and in fact it is usually just the opposite. The band lifts and peels easily when you want it to come off, never before. In fact, one of the things that bothers me about the Cuesta-Rey Stanford Cameroon Reserves is getting the gold foil off. Very difficult to remove on a cigar with an extremely temperamental wrapper.
Halfway through, both bands are off and this is a fine, fine smoke. Laser sharp burn now, light white ash about an inch long, smooth flavorful smoke with a rich cameroon finish. Cracking has completely dissipated and gives me the opportunity to admire this fine wrapper leaf. Toothy with very slight veins spiraling up the length to the triple cap. The filler is bunched uniformly to promote the excellent draw with no tar buildup whatsoever, remarkable for a cigar of this length. With a little over a third yet to go, the ash is now almost two inches in length, bright white at the mascara line getting progressively jaundiced towards the tip.
The Radio Shack thermo hydro now reads 91.8 and 40% RH in the shade, which tells me it needs to be calibrated, or it is picking up heat from the smoked glass bar top on which it sits outside.Perhaps the summer breezes rustling through the maple, oak, hickory and ash hardwoods masks the heat so typical in the Carolina’s this time of year.
The now lukewarm coffee sweetened with just enough sugar to be noticeable is the perfect compliment to this wonderful smoke. The draw profile starts cocoa, woody then pepper and now leaves a tingle on the pallet and lips. The burn is just perfect and the flavor of the cameroon wrapper is now pronounced. Amazing how this stick has progressed throughout it’s now dwindling life. Also notable is the single unmistakable shot of coconut I remarked on earlier. That was it, no more.
Now 100 minutes in and the nicotine buzz is formidable. I’m patting myself on the back for the hearty breakfast sandwich from the morning that has now evolved into afternoon. A quick itunes click on radioio reveals drop dead legs guitar riffs.... “nice white teeth betty boop!” ah, 1984.......
An appropriate end to this experience is a little Sunday Morning from Maroon 5......
This cigar is a fitting tribute to an industry legend. Long, complex and evolving throughout. As the pepper now dominates the profile, it is time to bail on this smoke.
Overall, I’d give this an 8, despite the early wrapper problems. Definitely not a golf gar, this stick needs and deserves attention and is the experience, rather than a complimentary event.
Having made quick action of breakfast, attention turns to the Sunday morning smoke. Work has definitely been absurd these past few weeks, and now is on the cusp of sublime. It is amazing the lengths corporations will go to convince themselves of an alternate reality. I digress....
Last week I wrote about a fine cameroon wrapped La Aurora. The whole experience was a relaxing respite from the world of alternate realities, so I decided this Sunday morning could offer the same.
This morning’s specimen is a Stanford 90th DCM Cameroon. Moki’s vitolas.net site purports this to be a modified DCM blend to compliment, instead of overpower, the select cameroon wrapper.
Construction is impeccable. Beautiful dark brown cameroon wrapper with a triple cap. This is a 7 x 50 churchill going on two years old. As is typical of cameroon wrapper, this is showing signs of splitting in various places from the foot up to the Stanford 90th band. I will have to handle this one with care.
Quick snip with the xicar and the pre-light draw is pronounced cocao, no mistaking it. Draw is perfect, not too tight, not too loose. Upon lighting, the wrapper splits an inch up the cigar. This has been stored at 72 degrees, 67 RH since purchased. Outside on the deck it is 86 degrees and 52 RH.
Draw is still very good despite the smoke exiting through the splits in the wrapper. This is a long cigar, both literally and figuratively, so we aren’t going to give up on it anytime soon. Initial flavors are of medium to strong tobacco, mellowed with some age so as not to burn the sinuses. Still, a very peppery finish on the pallet. The cameroon wrapper takes some discerning, but is noticeable. This is a woody cigar, with some black pepper on the finish. Little to none of the cocoa flavors that were picked up on pre-light. Ash is pretty stout, considering the now growing bulge in the cigar from the split wrapper.
For those of you who are not familiar with the packaging of this cigar, I would encourage a trip over to vitolas.net to check it out. The tan leather box is very tastefully done with a simple “Stanford’s 90th” stamped on the lower right corner of the lid. The leather is still smooth and supple, reminiscent of a freshly broken in Rawling’s infielders glove. Inside the box is a tastefully done booklet entitled “ A Tribute to an Industry Legend”.
The cigar has really mellowed, both from a flavor and burn perspective. The wrapper splitting still exists but has greatly subsided. The flavor profile has become very complex. Wood still dominate but hints of cocoa and cedar pop as well. The finish is much smoother, but still a hint of pepper. The ash lasted a good inch and 1/2 before falling off from bumping the bar unit on the deck. About a third of the way through this now, and I just picked up a slight hint of smoked bacon. Interesting.
Stanford Newman truly is an industry legend. He has some roots from my hometown, Cleveland. The booklet pages progress by decade, starting with the 1920’s, and includes photos throughout. My favorite is from the 50”s where Stanford is pictured presenting a box of Student Prince cigars to Hall of Fame third baseman Larry Doby. The text tells the story of an Indians Vice-President calling Stanford and asking for all of the negatives to be destroyed and the pictures not to be published due to league policies. It states this photo is all that remains.
This is turning into a very nice cigar. Balanced and complex. Strong tobacco flavors without harshness, great draw and nice even burn now. I am discovering that writing while the cigar is burning helps keep me from oversmoking.
It’s hard to describe, but I can really pick up the cameroon on the periphery of the exhale. It is subtle, not pronounced. The blend is fairly strong for a cameroon wrapped cigar. It is a good thing the blend is tuned down, for any stronger and it would completely obliterate the cameroon wrapper. If I was given this cigar in a blind taste test, I could not tell you the country of origin for this cigar. Emmmmmmmm coconut, wow. Very nice. It seems too meaty and complex for a typical Domincan profile, none of the in your face properties of Nicaraguan, none of the trademark Honduran sweetness and none of the Cuban anise-like twang, yet an unmistakable rich tobacco flavor.
An hour into this and I am about 3/4 of an inch away from the Stanford 90th dark blue band with gold bars trimming the edges. I’ve already peeled off the huge, embossed Diamond Crown Maximus band. I have always admired the consistent quality the Fuente’s use in banding their premium cigars. Very rarely have I ever had a problem removing a Fuente banded cigar, and in fact it is usually just the opposite. The band lifts and peels easily when you want it to come off, never before. In fact, one of the things that bothers me about the Cuesta-Rey Stanford Cameroon Reserves is getting the gold foil off. Very difficult to remove on a cigar with an extremely temperamental wrapper.
Halfway through, both bands are off and this is a fine, fine smoke. Laser sharp burn now, light white ash about an inch long, smooth flavorful smoke with a rich cameroon finish. Cracking has completely dissipated and gives me the opportunity to admire this fine wrapper leaf. Toothy with very slight veins spiraling up the length to the triple cap. The filler is bunched uniformly to promote the excellent draw with no tar buildup whatsoever, remarkable for a cigar of this length. With a little over a third yet to go, the ash is now almost two inches in length, bright white at the mascara line getting progressively jaundiced towards the tip.
The Radio Shack thermo hydro now reads 91.8 and 40% RH in the shade, which tells me it needs to be calibrated, or it is picking up heat from the smoked glass bar top on which it sits outside.Perhaps the summer breezes rustling through the maple, oak, hickory and ash hardwoods masks the heat so typical in the Carolina’s this time of year.
The now lukewarm coffee sweetened with just enough sugar to be noticeable is the perfect compliment to this wonderful smoke. The draw profile starts cocoa, woody then pepper and now leaves a tingle on the pallet and lips. The burn is just perfect and the flavor of the cameroon wrapper is now pronounced. Amazing how this stick has progressed throughout it’s now dwindling life. Also notable is the single unmistakable shot of coconut I remarked on earlier. That was it, no more.
Now 100 minutes in and the nicotine buzz is formidable. I’m patting myself on the back for the hearty breakfast sandwich from the morning that has now evolved into afternoon. A quick itunes click on radioio reveals drop dead legs guitar riffs.... “nice white teeth betty boop!” ah, 1984.......
An appropriate end to this experience is a little Sunday Morning from Maroon 5......
This cigar is a fitting tribute to an industry legend. Long, complex and evolving throughout. As the pepper now dominates the profile, it is time to bail on this smoke.
Overall, I’d give this an 8, despite the early wrapper problems. Definitely not a golf gar, this stick needs and deserves attention and is the experience, rather than a complimentary event.
Mine aren't ripe yet.
