Friday night started with an Oliva event at the Tobacco Merchant on Bower Parkway in Harbison. Mike Walters was on hand representing Oliva. Nice crowd for the event. The shop ran a buy 3 get 1 free; buy 5 get 2 free, and box specials during the event. Below are pics from the event.
The tough, serious Greer-look
Plenty of Oliva products available.
Mike Walters, Oliva rep, who hates to have his picture taken.
Jordan
Mike Walters with me, while Greer leers in the background
This got to be a joke. I tried and tried to get a pic of Bill Slicer, owner of the Tobacco Merchant with his eyes open. As you will see, it got to be tough.
I gave up for awhile. Here are some pics of the patrons...
Thomas on the phone
Hey look! Bill has his eyes open!
Mike helps a customer
Connie and Mr. Bob
Good gosh! Even Casey can't keep his eyes open!
Group pic: Greer, Mike, me, Jordan, Bill (eyes closed) and Casey
Eyes closed...AGAIN!!!!
Josh
The Punch-guy and me
Mr. Punch
They have Opus in!!!! I picked up a couple.
Phil
Meanwhile, back at the front counter
Brock (David)
Chandler
Here's a new Post Office pic
Super Greer!
This weekend it's back to cigar reviews. I'll be reviewing some house cigars from Famous Smoke Shop.
Cigars reviewed are:
- Famous 70th Perdomo Robusto Natural Cigars
- RP Cuban Blend Robusto Natural Cigars
- La Floridita Fuerte Robusto Dark Natural Cigars
- Final Blend Robusto Maduro Cigars
- Capoeira Professor Maduro Cigars
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Famous 70th Perdomo Robusto Natural Cigars (5x50)
I am a huge fan of Perdomo Cigars so I really wanted to see how this house brand for Famous would stack up. Medium brown wrapper. Test draw was very good. The cigar started with a very spicy mix of predominantly cinnamon with citrus undertones. There was a lot of sweetness and pepper too. The finish was long with sweet roasted almond notes and lingering black pepper. The cigar produced a ton of smoke. The ash was a very light gray; almost white. The ash was also very tight. At the midpoint the cigar did not change much but that's ok; it's great the way it is! Still has the sweet cinnamon/citrus flavor with a very nice amount of pepper. The burn has been very even. Medium bodied. Very solid cigar that I enjoyed very much. I could smoke a lot more of these. Put these on the Tiny Tim suggestion list. Perdomo did a great job for Famous with this cigar.
Score: 91
RP Cuban Blend Robusto Natural Cigars (5 1/2x50)
A reddish brown cigar. Test draw was a bit tight. First impressions; the cigar started with pronounced sweet grapefruit citrus 0notes with cinnamon undertones and good pepper. Finish is long with a thick sweetness with raw almond notes. As I smoked this cigar I noticed that one of the best things about it was it's finish. It really hangs around! The sweetness is almost a syrup consistency; very thick. This cigar does not taste like your typical Rocky Patel cigar. Light vanilla notes noted after 1 1/4 inches. The vanilla notes appear to be catching up to the cinnamon notes making for a nice cigar. At the mid-point the cigar is pretty much consistent. The vanilla notes have lessened back to the degree they were initially. The cigar is pretty solid and enjoyable. Again, if you're thinking this cigar will taste like a typical Rocky Patel, It won't. Actually, it's a nice change. The grapefruit citrus notes are quite nice. Definitely worth trying.
Score: 88
I received a call from my daughter, Chelsea, around 4pm asking if she and her boyfriend, Joe, could come over and get in the jacuzzi. Of course I said yes, so Connie grilled hamburgers for everyone and we had a nice dinner. After dinner I set up the tv on the back porch so that Joe could watch the Notre Dame game. The jacuzzi read 101 degrees when they got in. As I expected, after about 20 minutes they were "done". They were sitting up on the top edge; it gets pretty hot in there! The max temp you can set the jacuzzi at is 104 degrees. Even on the coldest South Carolina night that will absolutely cook you in about 30 minutes! They enjoyed the jacuzzi. I enjoyed a nice Avo XO robusto and some 10 year old Eagle Rare bourbon!
Chelsea
Watching the Notre Dame game
Chelsea
The Avo burned very evenly and tasted great with the Eagle Rare bourbon
The Eagle Rare in the glass; 2 fingers
All that's left!
Joe
Connie was full of stories
Sunday, September 19, 2010
I continued reviewing the sampler provided by Famous Smoke Shop. Today's cigars were as follows:
La Floridita Fuerte Robusto Dark Natural Cigars (5x50)
Dark natural cigar. Here is what the Famous site says about these cigars: La Floridita Fuerte cigars are arguably the most flavorful La Floriditas yet! This hearty, medium to full-bodied blend is handcrafted in Honduras by Nestor Plasencia with a rich-tasting core of Nicaraguan & Honduran Habano longfillers bound in a sweet Nicaraguan Jalapa Habano leaf, then seamlessly rolled in a savory Habano Viso wrapper.
Started off with semi-sweet/bitter grapefruit citrus notes with black coffee. Nice pepper. Dark gray ash that is firm. Burn very even. Medium bodied. At the mid-point notes of raw almonds were noted. The semi-sweet/bitter grapefruit notes stayed dominent. The draw is very good. Pretty good cigar. Not overwealming but good.
Score: 86
Final Blend Robusto Maduro Cigars (5x50)
Dark cigar. The Famous site describes the cigar like this: Final Blend cigars are the result of a marathon cigar sampling session held in Nicaragua, and as so often happens, the very last blend is what earned these uber-flavorful, medium-bodied cigars their name. The 'final blend' is...a core of Dominican, Colombian and Indonesian tobaccos rolled in dark, oily Brazilian Mata Fina Oscuro wrappers.
The cigar started off with a lot of black coffee notes with some citrus and spice with average, or below, pepper. The finish is long with raw almond notes. The ash is very tight. Some sweet notes observed after a half inch. The sweet notes continued although they were subtle. Very light vanilla notes were seen at midpoint along with some raw almonds. This cigar would be a good evening cigar. Not overpowering but the coffee notes make it something that would go well after a meal. The spice intensity improved as the cigar progressed. All in all a good cigar.
Score: 85
Capoeira Professor Maduro Cigars (5x50)
Very dark cigar. I have never heard of this cigar so I had to consult the Famous site to see what they said about it: Pronounced "kapu'era," Capoeira cigars get their name from a centuries-old Afro-Brazilian art form combining martial arts, music and dance. Created by Jesus Fuego, he used mostly organically-fertilized Honduran & Nicaraguan Criollo and Mexican San Andres longfillers, plus a Costa Rican Corojo binder rolled in 4-yr-aged Brazilian Mata Fina Maduro wrappers.
The cigar started off slightly sweet almond spice with black coffee notes and some nice pepper. The finish was long with sweet almond notes. The pepper tends to linger along with the sweetness. The ash was very light in color; almost white and very tight. Nice looking cigar. This is a fairly light cigar; perhaps medium bodied at best. Much less coffee than the previous cigar. A beginner could use this as a "first try" maduro. The cigar stayed consistent. Good cigar but maybe a little mild for my tastes.
Score: 85
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