When she asked if I wanted to go, I almost said now, but then I realized it was a perfect cigar smoking opportunity. The breeze would keep smoke at bay, and for whatever reason walking enhances my enjoyment of a great cigar.

I hustled to my humidor, and picked out the shortest stick I had - a Perdomo. I believe it is what they call a Phatom size in their Estate Seleccion Vintage 1991 series.

All I can say is YUM! that sucker was awesome! I’m a bit predisposed to like cigars that are shaped like me - that is, short and fat - but this ‘gar burned like a champ, with very tasty and plentiful smoke. It didn’t get bitter or wood-smokey near the end. In fact it’s about the only cigar I’ve smoked yet where I could have burned my fingers if I’d been just a little distracted.

Going to have to find more of these guys…my usual vendor of great cigars cheap doesn’t seem to have them.

Well, as thing would happen, the foot of that very same cigar split. It also peeled a bit. To be honest it was looking pretty ratty. Then a few days ago I was rearranging my humidor and I noticed a lot of white crystals from the tube of humidity beads I had in there and decided to vacuum them out. I crabbed the shop vac and turned to, trying to be very careful not to suck up my stash.

Well, you guessed it. I misjudged the power of the vac and faster than I could stop it that little cuban got sucked into the hose. Thank fully I had the hose kinked so it didn’t go very far. I carefully shut off the vacuum and gingerly extracted the poor battered victim out and placed back in its home. I sent the story to a friend via email, and he wrote back “Just reading that I got a feeling like I was watching a guy get kicked in the nuts.” I won’t say it hurt that bad, but it was unpleasant.

I decided that since everytime I saw it I relived the horror of watching it be sucked up the vacuum hose I might as well burn the evidence, so to speak. All I can say is that the vacuum may have sucked a lot of the flavor out of that guy because it was pretty mild. Very good, but much milder than I expected. It took about an inch and a half to get any real flavor going. Up until that point it was like a Fonseca. It’s just as well, as I’m unlikely to get another anyway.

The Merchant Club was nice, with small rooms off to the sides where our party of four could have a nice conversation while enjoying some ‘gars. I was smoking a Gispert, which I was pretty nice although by then my taste buds were pretty pickled. It was a large, box-pressed sucker but smooth and very smokable.

However, the fun ended when they decided to turn up the music, which was mostly rap (you can’t spell Crap without rap) and that ended the conversation and the good times.

Another night we went to the Carnegie Club, which was pretty oppulent with a life orchestra playing showtunes. My first cigar was a SOM (I didn’t ask specifically what brand) and it was very, very rich. It was as thick as any cigar I’ve smoked and it was good. Smooth, rich, thick and with smoke like peanut butter. I was regretting my choice of drink, gin, almost immediately as that cigar really required a single malt scotch to go along with it.

Later one our party ordered a Partagas Black Label, and after one sniff I wanted one of those black oily beauties. Alas, they were out, so I had an AVO instead which was really quite nice. The real trip was when the lady came to light it. First she lit a strip of cedar, and then used that to light the cigar. I could get used to an attractive woman lighting my cigar - I’ll have to talk the wife into it! While I was smoking the AVO I orderd a scotch, the same as someone else - one of those “I’ll have what he’s having” kind of things so I don’t know off hand what it was - and that was the perfect companion.

We got to last call, and still had plenty of cigar left to smoke so we ended up outside Carnegie Hall finishing them up. It was raining, and it’s amazing what damp air can do to a cigar and how quickly.

The downside in both clubs, however, was the smoke from everyone else. I like to taste smoke, but I don’t care to breathe it if I don’t have to. My clothes were pretty much fumigated as well. So, while I really enjoy cigars, I’m not sure I want to spend that much time in a club.  I’m glad I don’t live in a socialist nanny state, but I don’t hold much hope for the future.

When I got home from my trip a small package was waiting for me - 10 Arturo Fuente Curlyheads from www.TexCigars.com. A great cigar dealer. More later on the curlyheads.

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!

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.

But what about when the usual vagarities of the office have you frustrated? What then? Punch?

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.

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.

I made it out of maple and cherry, with a spanish cedar interior. I finger jointed the corners, and it ended up pretty bomb-proof. What it needs is a good couple of coats of varnish over the thin oil coat I gave it to make it nice and tight as far as humidity goes. It’s a bit leaky right now.