Well, cameroon4me and I were going to try and get some folks together for some cigar smokin at a local pub tonight, but it didnt work out.... I grabbed the girlfriend and went to the pub anyway, on the off chance that someone who read the post would show anyway. Plus, I just wanted to smoke and as much as I enjoy the weather in detroit in july, its december.....
So, we went off to Shanahans in Livonia, MI with 3 cigars in tow....
For myself, I had a Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Cordoba (44 x 5 1/4" [$3.35 @ TraderToms]) and a CAO MX2 Rob (52 x 5" [$5.75 @ TT's])
My girlfriend had commented on wanting to try a cigar (first step to not hanving to smoke on the deck?) so I picked her up a CAO Flavors Eileen's Dream (a petit corona I think [$3.00 @ TT's]), it's apparently flavored with chocolate and irish cream liqour...
So, we grabbed a table and I got a pint of Smithwick's and Stacey got a pint of Boddingtons and I lit up the Sancho Panza.
The SP was quite nice, the friend who recommended it to me said it was a maduro, but the wrapper was quite a bit lighter than most maduro's I've ever seen... None the less, it was a nice construction, slight oily-ness to the wrapper, wmooth roll, no obvious stems and a box press to top it off. I'm a sucker for almost anything with a box press, dont ask me why, I just am.
The prelight draw was nice, and unlit the cigar had a very nice aroma. I toasted the foot and lit her up and away she went. The burn was very even, and did not require any touching up. The first half was very nice, not as strong as I like, no real pepper or anything, and then a little over half way though the flavor changed and it started to get quite a bit stronger and a hint of pepper appeared and got stronger the rest of the way down. I smoked it until there was about an inch left. The ash was a little soft at first, the first half of an inch of ash fell off on its own quite quickly. It seemed to firm up as it went though
By this time, Stacey had decided to try her first cigar. It's a beautifully made little gar, cedar wrapped with a ribbon around the end. She loved the look of it and we both agreed it smelled quite nice I showed her how to toast the foot of it and get it going, she did fine with it. It smelled quite nice from where I was sitting and i tried a draw of it. I found it very very mild, but with a pleasant taste. I don't like flavored cigars, but this wasnt bad. I wouldnt buy one for myself, but it wasnt too bad.
I just interupted Stacey from watching Eye's Wide Shut to ask her what she thought of it. 3 words: smooth, mild and tasty. She also said she want's another. I suppose that if you want to try to get your woman interested in cigars, this might be one to get her.
Shortly after she lit hers, I got out my second cigar of the evening, and ordered another Smithwicks to go with it. The CAO MX2 Rob is just a beautiful cigar. The wrapper ws very dark and oily and quite smooth, it had a slight hint of a reddish color to it as well. The prelight aroma was excellent adn when I put it to flame it lit right up, no retouching the burning end. What I did have to retouch was my cut. The draw seemed somewhat hard so I added another punch to it, overlapping the one I had already done...
Throughout this cigar it went from a somewhat tough draw to almost plugged and back again a few times. The flavor was excellent. Lots of pepper, lots of smoke. It was a great smoke down to the last inch and a half where it got very very bitter at which point I put it out. I will try another one though, because it was a very nice smoke. The ash on this one was very firm, I only ashed twice while smoking it. It had a very very bright white ash.
My ratings:
Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Cordoba :: 89
CAO MX2 Rob :: 87
And stacey rates the CAO Flavors Eileens Dream... :: low 90's....... She also just commented that it was much better than a marlboro.....
So, we went off to Shanahans in Livonia, MI with 3 cigars in tow....
For myself, I had a Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Cordoba (44 x 5 1/4" [$3.35 @ TraderToms]) and a CAO MX2 Rob (52 x 5" [$5.75 @ TT's])
My girlfriend had commented on wanting to try a cigar (first step to not hanving to smoke on the deck?) so I picked her up a CAO Flavors Eileen's Dream (a petit corona I think [$3.00 @ TT's]), it's apparently flavored with chocolate and irish cream liqour...
So, we grabbed a table and I got a pint of Smithwick's and Stacey got a pint of Boddingtons and I lit up the Sancho Panza.
The SP was quite nice, the friend who recommended it to me said it was a maduro, but the wrapper was quite a bit lighter than most maduro's I've ever seen... None the less, it was a nice construction, slight oily-ness to the wrapper, wmooth roll, no obvious stems and a box press to top it off. I'm a sucker for almost anything with a box press, dont ask me why, I just am.
The prelight draw was nice, and unlit the cigar had a very nice aroma. I toasted the foot and lit her up and away she went. The burn was very even, and did not require any touching up. The first half was very nice, not as strong as I like, no real pepper or anything, and then a little over half way though the flavor changed and it started to get quite a bit stronger and a hint of pepper appeared and got stronger the rest of the way down. I smoked it until there was about an inch left. The ash was a little soft at first, the first half of an inch of ash fell off on its own quite quickly. It seemed to firm up as it went though
By this time, Stacey had decided to try her first cigar. It's a beautifully made little gar, cedar wrapped with a ribbon around the end. She loved the look of it and we both agreed it smelled quite nice I showed her how to toast the foot of it and get it going, she did fine with it. It smelled quite nice from where I was sitting and i tried a draw of it. I found it very very mild, but with a pleasant taste. I don't like flavored cigars, but this wasnt bad. I wouldnt buy one for myself, but it wasnt too bad.
I just interupted Stacey from watching Eye's Wide Shut to ask her what she thought of it. 3 words: smooth, mild and tasty. She also said she want's another. I suppose that if you want to try to get your woman interested in cigars, this might be one to get her.
Shortly after she lit hers, I got out my second cigar of the evening, and ordered another Smithwicks to go with it. The CAO MX2 Rob is just a beautiful cigar. The wrapper ws very dark and oily and quite smooth, it had a slight hint of a reddish color to it as well. The prelight aroma was excellent adn when I put it to flame it lit right up, no retouching the burning end. What I did have to retouch was my cut. The draw seemed somewhat hard so I added another punch to it, overlapping the one I had already done...
Throughout this cigar it went from a somewhat tough draw to almost plugged and back again a few times. The flavor was excellent. Lots of pepper, lots of smoke. It was a great smoke down to the last inch and a half where it got very very bitter at which point I put it out. I will try another one though, because it was a very nice smoke. The ash on this one was very firm, I only ashed twice while smoking it. It had a very very bright white ash.
My ratings:
Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Cordoba :: 89
CAO MX2 Rob :: 87
And stacey rates the CAO Flavors Eileens Dream... :: low 90's....... She also just commented that it was much better than a marlboro.....
