The Big Bamboo; Super Bowl 2008 cigar

A little background:

Jim Massengale, Connie, and I went on a cruise in 2005. One of the stops was Nassau, Bahamas. We took a quick trip through town to the Graycliff Hotel to visit the cigar factory. While there we held one of the Big Bamboo cigars that they make. It's a 15" long monster with a ring gauge of 50 (at least). Here's a pic of the two of us holding freshly rolled Big Bamboo's in the Graycliff factory:

We both always wished we had bought one while we were at the factory. So, I decided prior to Christmas 2006 that I would try to win a couple on cigarbid.com. Well, I did! I won a coffin of 2 Blue label Big Bamboo's! I gave one to Jim for a Christmas present. We both have been keeping them in our humidors for over a year now. We decided that this year's Super Bowl would be the day to smoke them! Afterall, we'll be at the bar for nearly 5 hours anyway!

Here's the pre-game measurements:

Cigars ready!

Toasting:

Lighting:

Time of lighting: 5:20 pm (15")

The cigar was quite mild with a great draw!

We decided to take measurements every hour to see how the cigar progressed.

End of first hour: 6:20 pm (10 3/4")

At this point the cigar developed some spice.

End of 2nd hour: 7:20 pm (8")

At this point the cigar developed some caramel overtones. Together with the spice it made for a very enjoyable cigar.

There was a quick supper break from 7:20-7:35. A relight was needed.

Cigar relit: 7:35 pm

End of 3rd hour: 8:35 pm (4 1/2")

End of 4th hour: 9:35 pm (2 1/4")

Almost gone!

The nub!

Official end (when my fingers burned): 10:04 pm

Total cigar time: 4 hours 29 minutes!!!

That was quite an experience! I doubt I'll get a chance to smoke another monster like that for quite awhile! The cigar remained consistent with caramel and spice notes from the 2 hour point onward.

I have to give credit to our photographer, Connie!

Thanks Connie!