I had a chance to try the Astral “Foregt Me Nots” I’d gotten last year again. I’d say they’ve smoothed a tad perhaps, but overall I’d make the same comments. Smokable, but nothing special.
I seem to find myself with quite a few not very enjoyable cigars. The 5 Vegas are just not for me, and the Astrals are just not worth the trouble. No worries, I expect to be in possession of some new and very enjoyable replacements soon!
It’s not quite 50 degrees outside, but thanks to a nice crackling fire of maple scraps, I was quite warm in shirtsleeves. It was a hectic evening as soon as I got home. I made dinner, installed some swings for the daughters, and then made a small woodworking project for a friend who frequently watches the girls. It all went smoothly, and the time finally came to unwind a bit.
So a small tumbler of Old Grand Dad and ice, a fire, and a cigar. I decide to give the Acid I’d gotten from Texcigars.com - great prices on cigars - another try. Last time the smoke had gotten interrupted and I thought I’d give it another chance. Reflecting on it a bit further, I’d place it between Fonseca and Punch in strength. The sweet outside coating masks the tobacco a bit at first, but as the cigar burns it adds a nice aroma. Draw & burn were perfect.
It can’t be too many weeks before we’re into normal spring weather, and nights by the fire will be a lot more common.
People will talk at length about the right drink for a particular occasion, and even longer about the right food. But what about the right cigar? Now, for a situation where you’re relaxed an really able to enjoy the complexity, you’d feel no compunction about smoking something complex and expensive. Maybe a Cuban someone gave you, or a Cohiba or whatever.
But what about when the usual vagarities of the office have you frustrated? What then? Punch?
It was just about exactly one year ago when some friends of mine, at a conference down at Disney in Orlando, handed me a Fonseca over drinks out on the patio. So tonight I decided that I’d take a trip down memory lane and smoke a Fonseca - one of the originals from the box of Fonsecas they sent me after I’d gotten home. It was that box that got me started in cigars.
I’ve been accumulating a lot of cutoffs and scrap in my workshop, so I took one of the tubs full of scrap wood and fired up my outdoor fireplace, and experienced two kinds of smoke - one enjoyable, one not so much. I was amazed at the memories that popped into focus as I puffed away. They say that smell is the sense that has the strongest connection to memory and I believe it. I remembered sitting on the porch in a warm summer rain, sitting outside Disney’s convention center talking about various things, and the taste of the Bushmills I was drinking at the time. I remembered the feeling as I opened that package with the first box, feeling like I was opening pornography or something. A good kind of bad ;-)
Anyway, it burned perfectly despite a recent surge in humidity in my humidor and very poor lighting on my part. It started very uneven, and soon evened out to a perfect burn. Taste was as a remember - mild but satisfying, if a bit sensitive to over-pulling.
It was a shame they were only 5-50, and not larger. Tonight would have been the night to smoke a 9-60 if they made such a beast.
A long while ago I wrote about the 5 Vegas I’d bought, and how I’d though they were nasty. I thought I’d try them again, after a year in the humidor. They’ve mellowed just a tad, but they’re still pretty nasty. I won’t say they were unsmokable, they just didn’t have any character. It was like smoking sawdust. Bad sawdust. Dry sawdust.
Now it’s possible that since they were still in their original box, and each cigar was wearing it’s original cellophane nighty that they were just a bit dry. I normally strip anything that goes into my humidor, because I firmly believe that humidity needs to have as few barriers as possible. Maybe it’s because they are Panetelas. I don’t know. But I’ve stripped the rest of them, and I hope they’ll improve a good bit more.