shaxbeard

My head a-hangin' low from my recent ego bruising (see my "Cigar of
Defeat" post), I might be expected to shun the limelight and retire to
the privacy of my own home to lick my wounds . . . but no! This Friday
I joined a local Baltimore group of smokers and partook of the
following:

La Perla Habana Black Pearl: This is an Ecuadorian wrapper with
Nicaraguan filler. I had a robusto size and was looking forward to it.
I'd heard a lot about these, and I anticipated something full and
explosive. All in all, it wasn't bad. I'd call this a
medium-to-full-bodied cigar with a decent amount of spiciness that
went slightly bitter near the very end. Had a little trouble with the
even burn on it, but the draw was fantastically easy. Lots of smoke on
this. However, this was not an overwhelmingly great cigar by any
stretch of the imagination. I liked it, but not enough to invest in a
box. Grade: B.

Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte: Introduced at the 2004 RTDA, the Extra
Fuerte is made from Honduran-grown Cuban-seed leaf with a long-filler
blend of Nicaraguan and Honduran leaves. I had the Pamplona (robusto
sized), and I was also looking very forward to sampling this. I happen
to be a big fan of the Sancho Panza Double Maduros, and I like strong
cigars, so I thought this would be the best of two worlds. It was, but
those two worlds were Harsh and Acrid. Right from the beginning, this
had an overwhelming taste like burning paper or wood smoke. I expected
the flavor to mellow a bit, but it really just got warmer. It
delivered quite the nic kick, though that may have had something to do
with my not having eaten much beforehand. Whatever the case, I didn't
really enjoy this at all and give it a C+/B-.

On Saturday, I drove around trying to get an estimate on what it will
cost to replace my dashboard after a couple of delinquents decided to
forcibly remove my CD player with a crowbar and ended up cracking the
dash in several places. Of course, it was silly of me to try and get
an estimate because it was Labor Day weekend, but what wasn't silly
was the cigar I smoked while engaged in this fruitless task:

Perdomo 2 Exponente Maduro: This is the yellow label (the red is the
Cameroon wrapper) of a box-pressed, fine blend of Cuban-seed tobaccos
grown in Nicaragua. I've had the Cameroon and enjoyed it thoroughly,
so I bid on a 5-pack of these from Cigarbid (NADA). I remembered the
red label as being medium-bodied and smooth but with a tight draw.
This had no such tight draw, but seemed a little fuller bodied to me.
Not overly strong, but a little harsher than its Cameroon brethren.
The flavor is sort of like burnt cocoa--if you can imagine that as a
good thing. I enjoyed this as I drove around and around with no hope
whatsoever of finding an open body shop. Grade: B.

On Sunday, the g/f and I decided to go to the Maryland State Fair.
Because there is a horsetrack there, I knew I would bring some cigars.
I tossed 3 into my pocket Traveldor (NADA) and headed out. I enjoyed
an El Rey del Mundo, but somehow managed to lose my Traveldor while
being whipped around the dark corners of a funhouse ride called The
Lost Mine. The clown who ran the ride shut it down briefly to look for
the dropped case, but he swore up and down that he couldn't see a
thing. My opinion is that he swiped it—-my case, my cheap cutter, and
2 cigars (CAO L'Anni Maduro and Trilogy Native Cameroon). I doubled
back several times to see if I could catch the cuning carnie smoking
one of my fine cigars behind the ride, but he had disappeared.

And that, my friends, is why you should never give a clown an even
break. They will steal your cigars and Traveldor every time.

Rob

hogg

Nice reviews. It's that goddamn Bush again...

Good advice. I hate clowns. I have always hated clowns, even as an infant and
child. They are hiding something behind all that pancake make-up. In truth I
dislike clowns much more than mimes. Mimes I find annoying and pathetic.
Clowns I want to stay away from; mimes I want to punch.

Demonick

dhannes

Hey...as someone that has earned some money doing professional "clowning," I
can attest that we aren't all crooks...just the Republican ones are.

D