When I Finish this Cigar

I really enjoyed the time spent with Stephen when he was home on leave.  We shared a "Step" Father/Son moment.  Stephen remarked that he had never had a "real cigar", other than a (cough cough weeze, weeze) Black & Mild.  So I went into my humidor cut and toasted a Perdomo Exhibicion for him while I had a Gurkha Ninja Knife. 

What Immediately ensued was the complaining, by his pregnant wife, about the smell of cigar smoke.  

So I promised that, before his leave was over, I would take him to a lounge where we could enjoy a cigar in peace.  We headed up to Fine Ash Cigars, I cut and lit a Perdomo 10th Anniversary Champagne for Stephen and I enjoyed a Tatuaje Capa Especial. 

Upon leaving Fine Ash, Stephen asked a question; "Are Acid's any Good?"  he is damn lucky I didn't post that to the facebook page "Serious Silly Sh*t Said in the Cigar Lounge!"  or Did I

Bonding with your (step) Son over a Cigar $14.93;  recieving text's from your respective wives say "It's time to come home, Now!"  $adness;  Being doused by Fabreeze when you walk in the door.  $Priceless

Earlier this week, I decided to return some emails and phone call over a cigar at Cigar King in Scottsdale.  Brandon pointed me in the direction the Cigar King Gold Series Lancero.

Mitchell Hirsch, the proprietor of Cigar King, works with several manufacturers to produce some very exciting brands that are exclusive to Cigar King.  Brandon explained to me that Willie Herrera (now with Drew Estate)  created this blend, for Cigar King, 5 years ago.

This was an enjoyable medium to full bodied cigar., that is not overpowering. The best part is the price point $5.95 per stick!

In recent weeks, when short on time and not wanting to spend a whole lot of money on cigar, I've picked up the Padron 2000.  In my humble opinion this cigar is an excellent value cigar.  The retail price on this cigar was $4.95 per stick

Last night we had, hopefully our last indoor meeting, of the West Valley Cigar Club.  Due to triple digit temperatures, we have had our events at Fine Ash Cigars in Avondale, Ambassador Fine Cigars-West in Peoria, and last night Fair Oaks Cigar in Peoria was our host.

This Ashton Cabinet paired very well my Yuengling Lager!
Thank's Again Chet, it is much appreciated!

#KEEP TIGHT ASH

It's All About the Family

With Rhea's recent illness, with the help of the Red Cross, Stephen was able to get leave to be with his Momma. Currently Stationed at Fort Riley, KS.  He has been a big help, spending long nights in the hospital with Rhea, watching movies with her.  Sunday we had both boys home, Sierra, Zayne (aka Z-Man) and Rhea's Mom, who has also been here since these episodes began.

Yesterday was about Lego's, BBQ, hose fights, and a Step Father Step Son smoking a cigar.

Here is Stephen, Ryan, Sierra, and Rhea playing with Lego's.  There is one this missing from this photo,  Z-Man.  He was taking his afternoon nap. 




 Ribs, Burgers, Nathan's Hot Dogs, Corn on the Cob, and Baked Beans were the meal of the day.

In the interest of Z-man's dignity there were no pictures taken of this future super-hero running around in swim diaper. 





This morning, I start the next phase of my career with 1013 Communications/AZ Interactive Media Group, publishers of the East Valley Tribune,  Ahwatukee Foothills News, The Daily News-Sun, Surprise Today, the Northwest Valley Newsa and The Tucson Explorer.  I will be part of the AZ Interactive Media Group publishers of Clipper Marketplace and U and Your Home Magazine.

Let the adventure begin...

Back to Our Regular Programming

Let's see last week we survived my wife suffering thru four TIA's or Mini-Strokes, we survived the loss of my job at the Arizona Repugnant, um Republic.  But all is right with the world,  I start my new job Monday.

Meet Ted, errrr Kevin.  Kevin is a get well gift from Rhea's boss Ted and the rest of the Team at AZ Interactive Media Group/Clipper Marketplace.  Coincently Ted is also my new boss.  And I am looking forward to what lies ahead.   Ted visited Rhea every day she was in the hospital and it is a great feeling to know you are working for a company that really cares about it's employees.

Ted is a huge fan the Berger & Argenti Entubar, He love the full bodied flavors that this cigar offers. He chose to pair with a Corona.

Ted left us last week to move to Kansas with his new Thunder Buddy Zayne (AKA Z-Man the Super Hero)

One final note on Rhea illness.  The cigar community has been awesome, I can't tell you how many calls, text messages, emails, Tweets, Direct Messages I received but on Friday I remarked to Rhea that "You have people that you have never even met wanting to know if we need anything to just ask.  If you need someone to sit with your wife just call  me, my wife does nothing all day. She'll be glad to sit with Rhea."

 It did not go unnoticed and it is very much appreciated.  Thanks to, fellow Penn Staters Chris and Jim,  Eric, Sam & Rosie, Vartan, Nick, Shelley, Jim, Joe, Juan, Prof., Del, Ron, Garo, Brandon and "Uncle" Michael.  You have no idea what your friendship means to me, um us.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts 

              

Last week after seeing a tweet from Jose Blanco about smoking a Joya de Nicaragua Cabinetta Serie Lancero I decided to pick one up.  Jose is one of my favorite people in the cigar world.  Like the Perdomo's he interacts with his customers and if you ever spend any time with him  in person, you'll see what I mean.   While I couldn't get the Lancero I did enjoy the Corona.  Now I am waiting patiently for Jose's new blend the Cuenca Y Blanco. Any Day Now, Any Day!

Brandon Puckett, from Cigar King, knows that I was the bonehead who came up with whole Maduro Monday, Toro Tuesday and Yada Yada Yada so last week when I walked into the humidor he says; Maduro Monday Right?  He had me try the new Master Maduro from Torano.  He was right! this Cigar does NOT disappoint.  Torano uses a habano maduro wrapper and the cigar is  medium in strength but full of flavor. It's a flavorful blend that has complex balance of sweet & spicy notes with a rich finish.

We all know that cigar shops often  have the own house blend.  In my humble opinion these are often compared to well know lines but never measure up to what they are compared to.

The best house cigar I have ever  had comes from Ambassador Fine Cigars in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Vartan Zoravar was blended by Henrik Kelner who is the head blender for Davidoff and both cigar's consist of five year aged tobacco and are rolled in the Davidoff Factory in the Dominican Republic. 

This week I treated myself to the both of the blends in the line.




If you are ever in  Scottsdale, or Peoria,  Arizona you owe it to yourself to stop by Ambassador Fine Cigars and try this magnificent cigar.

Also Congratulations to Vartan on being named a Davidoff Golden Band Award Winner.

 

Becoming An Episode on House

Its been a bad week probably the worst week of our life together. Earlier this week I received a call from my wife saying she was being taken to the hospital for she was having a stroke.
Realize Rhea is ONLY 45! The doctors, at West Valley Hospital, administered a TPA or clot buster which works to prevent permanent damages. Rhea has since had three (3) more TIA's or mini-strokes. The Doctors are having a hard time figuring out where or what is causing these episodes, which why this post is titled Becoming an Episode on House. Now it is just a waiting game and on Monday we should have the answers we are looking for. Please keep my wife Rhea in your thoughts and prayers.

Little Bit of This Little Bit of That

The week got off to an interesting start, when Monday morning I awoke, showered, and turned on SportsCenter.  This is no different than any other weekday morning except for live news coverage of the NCAA President announcing the penalties for my beloved Pennsylvania State University.  It was harsh, and many say that it is/was unfair. However whether Students, Alumni or just fans we have been beat up.  Some have called us PED State and others have referred to pSu and its fan base a Cult.  In regards to the sanctions it is what is.
 ".... I get fired up because this is our school.  The people have made this generalization, they say that we put football before education. Who is saying that? Have you read the rankings? Penn State is No. 1 in graduation rates. Penn State graduates eight out of 10 of their players. No other school can say that. To say that my degree means less because of what happened… No way, not a chance."

Senior Linebacker Michael Mauti

We Are STILL Penn State....


Now keeping with the topic at hand, I have mentioned that I will not be posting the same ole cigar photo I try and enjoy something new each week.

The Perdomo La Tradicion Cabinet Series P was a cigar that I picked up when I short on time and didn't want to spend over $6.  It is a well balanced smoke and after some interaction with Nick and Janine Perdomo I think the world of the Perdomo family.  They care about their product and they care about their customer.

Late in the week, Fine Ash Cigar in Avondale, with Eric Parkinson, hosted and Emilio Cigars launch party.   We were given a choice of the AF, AF1 or AF2.  Based on a discussion with Eric I was given the AF1 Robusto. The Cigar has a San Andreas Maduro wrapper with Nicaraguan filler/  I will describe the cigar as Dark and Rich that has both a spice and sweetness in its notes. 










A couple of weeks ago, a colleague took a trip to Costa Rica.  Before Jennifer left, I made a joke that my teammates went along with.  The joke was that if ANY of you go anywhere, and the trip is more than 45 minutes away and It involves plane or boat YOU must bring me a gift.  For the record in years past this has failed miserably. 













From Jennifer and Costa Rica I was given a Vegas de Santiago VDS Corona.  No its not a box press, but it came in a beautiful cedar travel tube


Aside from Cuba, most cigars come from the Dominican Republican, Nicaragua, Honduras

I was curious to find out about the tobacco that was this cigar.  My research concluded that the filler was a  Costa Rica Ligero blended with select Nicaraguan tobacco's .  The wrapper was a natural wrapper from Ecuador (assumption based on that's where the cigars in this line come from) 

During the Cigar Education portion of last month's West Valley Cigar Club Meet-up I learned that it is important to "re-season" your humidor every couple of months.  The extreme heat and low natural humidity in Arizona make this a necessity and is  good practice to get into. 

Anyways. me and my Ziploc Bag full of cigars are on our way to Fine Ash Cigars for a few hours.  Peace Out!

The Sooner I Fall Behind, the More Time I Have to Catch-Up

That is a quote about procrastion,  again someone needed to remind me that I needed to update my blog.   I have become the creature of habit smoking the same thing day in and day out, but with the IPCPR show a few weeks away new product is making its way to my local cigar shops. It's like Christmas only more exciting.

The other day I was reminded that it was Maduro Monday, which is followed by Torpedo Tuesday, Habano Hump Day (which recently replaced Wavell Wednesday), Toro Thursday, Full Bodied Friday, and Sumatra, Sun Grown, or Shaggy Saturdays and Sundays.

Here is the San Lotano by A.J Fernandez, it is a Maduro but it also is a Toro, whiche means I can smoke it on a Thursday without getting any more grief from Shelley at Ambassador Fine Cigars

Breaking News:  Effective Immediately Wavell Wednesday is now Habano Hump Day! It makes it a lot easier to find something that falls within the guidelines of Themed Smoking Days.  Hindsight being forsight this looked good on paper, but is a royal pain in the ass!

<----At left is the San Lotano Habano Lancero, this cigar was paired with water but half-way through the smoke, I picked up tall hot blonde, from Starbucks, which brought out further notes of coffee  I was picking up along with a bit of earthiness.  This is a significantly more complexed cigar that the Maduro.

My favorite day of the week is Thursday. A few months back I started using the phrase S H I T, or So Happy It's Thurday.  What naturally occurred next was the creation of the SHIT Smoke.  Meant to be similar to the TGIF Smoke or the new MILF Smoke (MILF, meaning Man I Love Friday), the SHIT Smoke is gaining traction.  Well it's gaining traction at least on Twitter.

Recently I branched out and enjoyed the Viaje TNT ------->
With it's fuse like cap and closed foot, this is one explosive cigar.

Reminder Friday is Full Bodied Friday, but with all the new stuff arriving I had go "Against the Grain" and light up the new CLE 11/18 Corojo.  This cigar is classic corojo, spicy, burned slow, with a decent amount of  strength but not overpowering.  It is well priced and a thoroughly enjoyable cigar. 








In addition to the Corojo CLE also released the Cuarenta. Also available in the 11/18 size the Cuarenta  has a Habano wrapper  making it a flavorful medium-bodied smoke.

Last week I was given a pre-release of the Room 101  Papi Chulo (4 inch by 42 ring) Daruma.  I will describe this as a medium to full bodied smoke that left me wanting another one!







Wednesday evening was the monthly meetup of the West Valley Cigar Club, Chet Parker the president of the club, goes well out his way to make sure the events are memorable.  This event was about education, Professor Eric Parkinson  taught Cigar 101, topics included Region, Tobacco, Tasting Notes. The highlight of the event was the panel discussion that broke out between, Eric, Vartan Seferian, and Patrick Lagreid about Cuban Cigars.  It was like EF Hutton, when these three very knowledgable individuals spoke and people listened! And listened intently.  I also learned to Retro-Hale.  Retro-haling, in other words, is to smoke a cigar through the nose. It also helps distinguish much more flavors.

On a side note I won one of the door prizes (Above)  which include Cigars from Ajo, Cusano, Camacho, Berger and Argenti, Kristoff, Davidoff, Hoya de Monterrey, Vartan, and Rockey Patel.

The Hoya de Monterrey Reposado en Cedros figuardo,  as I understand it,  this cigar is agedin a cedar-lined aging room  via a process called immersion . I paired this with a glass of Robert Mondavi Meritage. I would have expected this to be heavy on the cedar notes but this cigar, in my humble opinion, was fairly well balanced with a straight burn and clear draw.

Bill Krawczyk, was my creative director at the Roseville Press Tribune. Bill, early on in my career, told me that some of the best ads are wine labels and cigar bands.  The band on the Flor De Las Antilles from My Fathers Cigar is one of the most beautfil pieces of art I have ever seen and is a fitting tribute to the Cuban heritage.  The Sungrown wrapper give this cigar a medium body, with fairly full flavors and its a box press!  Which gets it extra points in my book

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG POSE FOR YET ANOTHER HABOOB

This went thru the entire Phoenix Metro Area including  the cities of Scottsdale, Gilbert, Mesa, Apache Junction, Santan Valley, Chandler, Casa Grande and downtown Phoenix. by the time it our house, in the Southwest Valley it had lost most of it's steam




There was no official data on the size of this Haboob but it was estimated 2,000 feet tall and 40 miles wide and brought along with it winds of 35-50 MPH.

Sunday I tried another one of my door prize cigars.  The Padilla 1923 Torpedo.  This cigar has a Nicaraguan corojo wrapper, Cuban seed Nicaraguan criollo binder and filler.  I will again describe the cigar as medium to full bodied.

Anyway's need a laugh check out this new Facebook Page
Seriously? Silly sh!t said in the cigar lounge.  Quotes are real, ALL to real, only the names have been removed to prevent embarassment to those who actually said this stuff.

A Tight Knit Community Loses One of It's Own

The Phoenix Cigar Community is a close knit community. While we all have our favorite shops or lounges we often visit many shops throughout the Valley of the Sun.  If any of you had been toYe Olde Pipe and Tobacco on 24th Street and Camelback chances are you would have met Derek Tormala.  Early this morning I learned that Derek had passed away.  RIP Derek