Pairing Cigars and Drinks

Drinking and smoking go hand-in-hand. My favorite beverage to pair with a cigar is coffee. The java flavor seems to enhance the tobacco flavors. In the morning, I love my coffee with medium strength cigars because it's too damn early for a full flavored powerhouse. After a meal, I tend to gravitate towards a full strength cigar.

Check out how others on the web are pairing drinks with their cigars:

• How to Pair Monks Cafe and Troubadour Obscura with a Cigar
• Pairing Drinks and Cigars: A Guide

Keep herfin' my friends.

Cigars for Beginners

Famous Smoke Shop just published a beginner's guide to cigars for junior BOTL's who wish to learn about the cigar basics. It's available on their website, as well as in PDF format which you can download - click here to download.

There's a good chance anyone reading my blog is well aware of the basics, so please share it with your friends who are just getting started.

Keep herfin!

Famous Warriors Fighting for Freedom

I am thankful for the men and women in uniform who have taken it upon themselves to defend our freedoms against our enemies whenever, and wherever they rear their ugly souls. Ask yourself if you would sacrifice your life for our freedoms. If the answer is no, then you need to pay homage to the soldiers who unselfishly throw themselves in harms way so that we can enjoy the lifestyle that we take for granted, and the lifestyle that the troops wish to maintain for their family's future.

I'd like to introduce everyone to The Famous Warriors, from A Troop, 2nd Platoon, 1-172nd Cavalry Regiment (RSTA), 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) aka Rogue Platoon. These brave warriors are in the badlands of Afghanistan right now.

One of the members of the Rogue Platoon is a good friend of mine, SPC Robert Marts aka Jersey's Badass aka The Taliban's Worst Nightmare aka the proud owner of Jersey Camo Skins (the hottest camo wraps site on the web - check it out).

Everyone here at Famous Smoke Shop pitched in cigars to help the Famous Warriors kill time, and enemies. Sending cigars was the least we can do, lord knows these guys would fight just for the love of this country, and that's why they are true heroes

I'll be sending in cigars to The Famous Warriors whenever they run low, so if anyone reading this blog wants to pitch in, contact me on my Facebook and I'll make arrangements with you http://www.facebook.com/cigarstogies  It's been a while since I blogged last, been busy with work, but I had to chime in with this blog to express my gratitude for our troops.  I will keep everyone posted when I plan on shipping the next batch of freedom cigars to the Rogue Platoon.

I've had time to try out some really killer cigars during the last 3 months, looking forward to sharing my thoughts, so check back over the next couple weeks.

Until then, keep herfin!

Perdomo 2 Limited Edition 2008

What's new BsOTL?

I'll tell you what's new. Check out my new zebra wood humidor engraved with the logo of the 2008 World Series champs! Fightin' Phils baby, gotta love it! The logo was engraved as a sunken relief, providing a 3D feel. Best part it the outside of this humidor was crafted with wood from Ryan Howard's broken bats from the 2008 season and of course lined with Spanish cedar -well the first part was a joke, but that would be pretty pimp if it was.


So it's been a while since my last blog post about the GH2 by Gran Habano, had some major work to attend to after the holiday. By the way, I herfed my last GH2 the other day out of the bundle I split with Gary Korb, the Cigar Advisor.  That was a great buy, a buck a stick off the MONSTA.

Anyway, as you may know, I keep the Cigar Monster website up all day at work, and every hour when the deal changes and the Monster does his evil laugh, I check out the new deal. Well at 10am today, I heard the laugh and was souped to see he was giving away a Perdomo Super Premium Sampler for $29.99 (regularly at famous for $49.99).

I've thoroughly enjoyed a couple Perdomo's before, so I jumped on this deal and by 10:10 I had the sampler in hand, ready to christen my new humidor with its first set of sticks.

G-Man suggested I start out herfing the Perdomo 2 Limited Edition 2008 box press. I'm about halfway into it now as I type this blog.

Wrapper Check
First thing I do before I light up a cigar is run it under my nose from head to toe to get a good whiff of the wrapper. Smelled like a dynamite cigar, often times you can really tell it's going to be a great smoke.

This was my first boxpressed cigar that I've smoked. Don't act surprised, you know I'm a newbie, although I'm beginning to acquire a taste for my ideal cigar. This Perdomo 2 profile might just be what I'm after.

The cigar was was constructed very well, no ugly veins, no soft spots, dark brown coffee-color wrapper.

First Draw
Once I lit this bad boy I was in stogie heaven, the flavor was so buttery like I just cracked open a snowcrab leg drenched in melted butter.

Burnin Love
As all Perdomo's I've smoked to date, this Perdomo 2 Limited Edition is burning evenly, leaving compact ash in its wake.

Consistency
I got about an inch left till I hit paper, will need to remove the label because I'm taking this one down to the cap, that's how good it still tastes.

Well that's all I have for today, wanted to introduce everyone to my new humidor and chime in on what I thought about the Perdomo 2 (squared) Limited Edition 2008 boxpressed cigar. Seriously though, if you havent' checked out Cigar Monster yet, you really need to, that's where I'm testing cigars to see which ones deserve a roster spot in the Fightin's humidor, and which ones get sent back down to the minors.

Check out the Monster Mashup from 11pm - midnight tonight if you're interested in grabbing the Perdomo Super Premium Sampler - here are the contents of the sampler if you are interested - you should be!

1 Perdomo 10th Champagne Robusto Natural (5 x 54)
1 Perdomo 10th Criollo Robusto Natural (5 x 54)
1 Perdomo 10th Maduro Robusto Maduro (5 x 54)
1 Perdomo 2 L.E. 2008 Robusto Natural (5 x 50)
1 Perdomo 2 L.E. 2008 Robusto Maduro (5 x 50)
1 Perdomo Habano CT Robusto Natural (5 x 52)
1 Perdomo Habano Robusto Natural (5 x 52)
1 Perdomo Habano Robusto Maduro (5 x 52)
1 Perdomo Lot 23 Robusto Natural (5 x 50)
1 Perdomo Lot 23 Robusto Maduro (5 x 50)


Until next time, keep smokin...

GH2 by Gran Habano

So before I left the shop on Christmas Eve, I picked up a bundle of GH2 by Gran Habano cigars off the Cigar Monster because the price was right - just $24.99 if I remember correctly. I wanted something to smoke during the holiday, but since my wallet was light after the holiday season, the monster delivered a reasonable deal.

You may notice I'm wearing green today, that's because the Philadelphia Eagles are looking like the team to beat in the NFC - works for me! Twas a nail-biter last night coming down the wire but D-nabb and the boys pulled it off.

Anyway, enough Monday morning quarterbacking about the Beast of the NFC East that is long overdue for a Superbowl ring, and back to this GH2 by Gran Habano corono gorda bundle I bought to hold me over till I returned to the cigar shop this brisk Monday morning - a bit nipply out there today (.)(.)

Bobby Rica from Half Smoked asked me how the GH2 cigar smoked via my Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/cigarstogies (friend me up!) so figured I'd burn 'n blog about it today.

Construction - the cigar is put together well, I haven't noticed anything weird. no unraveling, took the cutter like a champ.

Color - dark and rich Habano wrapper, coffee color, it's twat I like, I'm not big into the lighter color cigars that literally resemble cardboard (think Phillies blunt). Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of excellent cigars with light wrappers.

Taste - full-bodied flavor, seems like a *hint* of chocolate and coffee, with a matching aroma. I'm still learning the differences between tastes and the plethora of adjectives used to describe stogie flavors, so pardon me if you are an aficionado and have a more refined opinion. Your comments are welcome, by all means! After all, I admitted to being a newbie when I started the blog.

Smoke - thick n creamy

Burn - burns evenly, only had to relight once so far because I left the room for a bit.

At full retail price, it's worth checking out, but that's why you have to perioidically check the monster for those no-brainer opportunities to try a new cigar, and perhaps make it a full-fledged member of your cigar rotation. At a buck a stick off the Cigar Monster it's hard to deny the Gran Habano GH2 some love.

I think of the Cigar Monster as my testing grounds for new cigars because nothing's worse than buying a bundle of cigars at full price that you end up not liking "here you go buddy, try these..."

The GH2 by Gran Habano was worth the 1/2 calorie I burned cutting and lighting this stogie - it's tough work lifting cigars, but someone's gotta do it so it might as well be me!

Until next time...keep smokin!

Don Salvatore Ash Tray

Check out this Don Salvatore Ash Tray I just got from the Secret Santa gift exchange today over here at the Famous Smoke Shop lab.

Every cigar newbie needs a new ash tray for all that burnt carbon, so that's what I asked for this holiday season. As usual, Santa delivers the goods - THANKS!

Since my recipient is an insanely experienced cigar smoker who has all the cigar accessories one could ask for, I bought him a 1/5th of Johnnie Walker Black. According to Famous Hayward, a Nicaraguan Puro would go well with a glass of Johnnie - perhaps a Pepin.

As I write this wildly entertaining blog about a cigar ashtray, I'm smoking on a sample cigar (the one on the right side of the picture) we are testing to see if it's up to snuff to become a Famous brand cigar. I'm not really digging this one so I'm not going to give it a good review - it's decent, but not worthy of a Famous label. That's how we roll at Famous Smoke Shop - nothing but the best for our loyal customers.

This ashtray holds ash like a champ!  (*crickets chirpin*)

Not much more I can say about an ashtray, so until next time - keep smokin!

Famous Nicaraguan 7000 Super Toro Maduro

WOW. I fell in love with this cigar at first whif! That's why I had to take the picture with my nose to this Famous Nicaraguan 7000 Super Toro Maduro.

I know what you are thinking, "this guy works for Famous Smoke Shop, he wouldn't dare talk smack on the brand."  I'm not shittin ya though, hear me out....

First thing's first, the cigar is very well constructed with a rich chocolaty color. I like the super toro size, it feels substantial in your hand as opposed to a lancero.

Nearly half way through the cigar now, the flavor and aroma remain consistent.

Full-bodied with a peppery, earthy undertone, this super toro maduro is treating me well. Burns consistently, haven't had to steer any boats yet. I'm working with a full 2 inches of compact ash right now, with no sign of an imminent breakdown - trying to stretch it out as far as possible.

Well, the ash fell after that little stunt, but who cares, the cigar still tastes great.

Those are my thoughts on the Famous Nicaraguan 7000 Super Toro Maduro - if you've tried one before, I'd like to compare notes - leave a comment!

Have a great weekend everyone, until next time - keep smokin...