Weekend review; February 28 and March 1, 2009

A wet weekend here. It rained pretty much all day Saturday. It made for a good day to stay inside and catch up on some needed rest! They called for snow on Sunday but all we got was MORE rain. I checked the rain gage today and it had 3.6 inches in it!

Friday night we were at the Maduro Room's 2nd anniversary party. Grady Marsh has been in business 2 years now and the place was absolutely packed! That's the most people I've ever seen in the store! 2 reps were present; Mark Rudacille of Rocky Patel and David Ludwig of Fuente/Newman. This was the first time I've met Mark. I gave him the lowdown on the SC Sit Down in hopes he might be able to help out.

Toward the end of the evening there were the raffles. I got lucky again and won a nice cedar lined 3 finger cigar case!

Here's some pics from the evening:

Me with Mark Rudacille, Rocky Patel rep.



Me with David Ludwig, Fuente/Newman rep.



Jim, Grady (Maduro Room owner), and Me

World Famous "Twig"

.

Mr. Bob

Cigars reviewed this weekend:

• Nub 358 Cameroon
• El Baton Belicoso

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Nub 358 Cameroon (3 7/8x58)

Very spicy cigar with some pepper notes. Severely lacks Cameroon flavor and sweetness. I was really looking forward to trying this cigar as I am a huge Cameroon fan but this cigar misses the "Cameroon" mark. The finish is somewhat leathery and long but with the lack of Cameroon flavor I am rating it low. To be honest, I am very disappointed in this cigar.

Score: 82

Sunday, March 1, 2009

El Baton Belicoso (6.25x56)

Dark cigar but it's not a maduro...I don't think! This is a new cigar that I picked up Friday night at the Maduro Room anniversary event. Here's what I found online about the cigar:

El Baton is the first premium, non-bundled, cigar made for J.C. Newman Cigar Company that is NOT made by Arturo Fuente. El Baton is made in Nicaragua and composed almost entirely of Nicaraguan grown tobaccos. Eric and Bobby Newman are keeping the blend a closely guarded secret. What is known is that the tiny factory in Nicaragua where El Baton is made, makes NO other premium cigars than El Baton.

Interesting. Here are my thoughts on the cigar:

First off, this is "not your mama's Fuente or Newman cigar"! It's powerful! There is a ton of pepper along with a lot of spice at first light-up. Somewhere in the midst of all that power are subtle hints of vanilla, especially on the finish. This is a very full bodied cigar. Earthy notes are present. (I'm not real sure what they mean by earthy, but to me it's just a deep, strong flavor.)

This cigar could be put up there with an LFD double ligero. I suppose the Fuente/Newman guys needed a powerful cigar to offset their other mild to medium smokes. Well, they have it now! I like this cigar. The only thing I would change is the amount of spice it has. I'd like more. The pepper overwhelms the spice at times. Other than that it's a very good cigar. Perfect burn.

Score: 91