Weekend review/Meet Ty's future in-laws; December 12-13, 2009

Man! It was a cold weekend here in central South Carolina! Temperatures barely getting in the 40's each day. Of course, I was in the yard doing the usual clean-up on Saturday and just as I finished the rain started. It rained the rest of the day and night and into Sunday. Cold and rain; brrrrr!
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We had a busy weekend too, with 2 Christmas parties and meeting up with Meghan's parents at Ty's house on Sunday. Meghan, Ty's fiance, had her parents in town to attend her Master's Degree ceremony on Monday. They are from Michigan and drove 16 hours to be here! Ouch!
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Friday night's party was the office Christmas party. There were almost all of the employees there which made Diane (mother in law and company owner) very happy. In the Chinese gift exchange I wound up with a Wild Turkey gift box. Not bad; I'll take it. I had a good time and there were other cigar guys there. Of course, we enjoyed cigars throughout the evening.
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Saturday night's party was the Sunday School Christmas party at the Lewis'. Mark and Vicki hosted this year and the turnout was very good. The class regulars were there with their side dishes. Since there are several cigar guys in the class we excused ourselves to the back porch, equipped with heater, to enjoy a cigar and talk SEC vs. ACC football. The hot topic of the evening was this year's Heisman race. Most everyone was happy with Mark Ingram winning this year. Thanks to Mark and Vicki for hosting another great time. The rain continued through the evening as we drove home.
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After the usual Sunday routine of 8:30 church service followed by the gym we drove out to Ty and Meghan's new house near Dutch Fork High School. It is very nice and very large! 2400 square feet! That is much larger than Ty's current house. Ty and Meghan have really come a long way in a short time! Congrat's on the new house!
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Before I get to Meghan's parents visit I'll pause here to give you the cigar reviews. I reviewed 2 Pepin made cigars this weekend and they could not be much more opposite in my review. You'll see what I mean...
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• Don Pepin Garcia My Father no. 3
• Cigar.com Corojo Label

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Saturday, December 12, 2009
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Don Pepin Garcia My Father no. 3 (6x52)
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Pepin's latest creation that is causing quite a stir in the industry. Even the band is great looking.
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The cigar had lots of cinnamon and tons of black pepper. You notice this immediately! The finish is fairly long with almonds. Notes of sweet citrus in the spice. The spice is creamy at midpoint. Quite a good cigar and very pleasing. I can see why so many rave about this cigar.

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At on point I got the idea to snap a quick pic of the ash. I searched for a good spot in the house and wound up taking it with the pic of the Bolivar Royal Corona in Barbados in the background:
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It made a nice looking pic!

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Score: 94

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Sunday, December 13, 2009

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Cigar.com Corojo Label (5 3/4x52)
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This cigar is also Pepin made for the Cigar.com company. It is a house cigar of theirs and when I got it I had very high hopes. If this was a good Pepin cigar it would be a great buy since they are quite inexpensive on the Cigar.com site.

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The cigar had decent spice with almond tones. There was a moderate amount of pepper but not nearly what I've come to expect from a Pepin cigar. The finish was long and had sweet notes and almonds. After an inch it was obvious this was not your typical Pepin cigar. It was mild to medium at best. There was no "pop" of anything. I was disappointed as I expected so much more. There is nothing really special about the cigar. It's an average "ok" cigar. I don't think I'll be buying anymore of these.

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Score: 84

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Now, on to "Meet the Halloran's".

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As I said before, Meghan's parents are in town, visiting from Michigan, to attend her Master's Degree ceremony on Monday. Meghan is graduating with her Master's in Education from the University of South Carolina. Here's Meghan getting things ready when we arrived at Ty's house on Sunday afternoon:
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Her mom, Paula:
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And her dad, John:
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We've met John once before. He was on a teaching contract in Estill, SC about a year ago and drove up to meet us at the Wild Hare. John is a cigar guy so we had a lot in common already!

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The "girls" sat around the dining room table and chatted while the guys watched football.

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(l-r) Diane Poston, Connie's mom; Chelsea, our daughter; and Connie:

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(l-r) Meghan, Paula (Meghan's mom), Diane, Chelsea, and Connie:

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It was nice meeting Meghan's mom and seeing her dad again. I suppose the next time we see them after Monday's graduation will be at the wedding next July, 2010!