Re: Favorite cigars of 2012
The Monte Cristo is the Cuban variety that comes in a sealed glass, tubo style, from a box of the same.
I find it very good, but lacking wrapper strength, however...
the vanilla scent it gives is heady and the taste notes of nutmeg, cream, and light palate do make it a very good full bodied cigar, just not the typical dark maduro I prefer.
The only Fuente sticks I have are a rather aged Shark, and a couple others that have oh maybe 8 - 10 years on them. I got them from a friend somewhere around 2002 - 2003 or 4, can't quite remember. Each time I look at them in the humidor they just don't have enough crystallized oil on their wrappers to smoke yet.
I note with interest that Fuente fans and Gurkha fans are a lot alike. Each swears his own is the best, but having sat down over the course of a weekend and smoked each with it's matching counterpart head to head, each time the Gurkha offering topped the Fuente by just a little bit and that coming from my partner in crime who was a die hard Fuente guy and still is. Of course our comparison was from Opus X and above. We spent a shitload of money on both cigars and booze to support our mission that weekend...something like a few hundred dollars for six cigars(three each) and two bottles of booze(an aged kelt cognac, and a very old scotch that was way more than I would have spent myself)
When it comes to flavors, Fuente, La Flor Dominicana, and the older lines hold their weight in any market and gathering. The newer lines like Gurkha and Drew Estate have many offerings, as well as some very stellar cigars. If one considers teh entire industry as it looks right now though, there are far too many brands that have nothing to do with farming or cigars outside of contracting someone else to make a frontmark with their name on it, or in other words, mediocre crap marketed to entry level smokers who don't know any better.
For the money, take that junk, toss it, and don't bother lighting it. You will be better off. There is nothing quite like wasting good bourbon and talking to a friend while smoking a cigar that just has nothing but mediocre all over it. It's like fucking a Jewish woman who is balancing her checkbook at the same time and trying to talk to you about home improvements she saw on TV...come on, you KNOW you laughed!
The Monte Cristo is the Cuban variety that comes in a sealed glass, tubo style, from a box of the same.
I find it very good, but lacking wrapper strength, however...
the vanilla scent it gives is heady and the taste notes of nutmeg, cream, and light palate do make it a very good full bodied cigar, just not the typical dark maduro I prefer.
The only Fuente sticks I have are a rather aged Shark, and a couple others that have oh maybe 8 - 10 years on them. I got them from a friend somewhere around 2002 - 2003 or 4, can't quite remember. Each time I look at them in the humidor they just don't have enough crystallized oil on their wrappers to smoke yet.
I note with interest that Fuente fans and Gurkha fans are a lot alike. Each swears his own is the best, but having sat down over the course of a weekend and smoked each with it's matching counterpart head to head, each time the Gurkha offering topped the Fuente by just a little bit and that coming from my partner in crime who was a die hard Fuente guy and still is. Of course our comparison was from Opus X and above. We spent a shitload of money on both cigars and booze to support our mission that weekend...something like a few hundred dollars for six cigars(three each) and two bottles of booze(an aged kelt cognac, and a very old scotch that was way more than I would have spent myself)
When it comes to flavors, Fuente, La Flor Dominicana, and the older lines hold their weight in any market and gathering. The newer lines like Gurkha and Drew Estate have many offerings, as well as some very stellar cigars. If one considers teh entire industry as it looks right now though, there are far too many brands that have nothing to do with farming or cigars outside of contracting someone else to make a frontmark with their name on it, or in other words, mediocre crap marketed to entry level smokers who don't know any better.
For the money, take that junk, toss it, and don't bother lighting it. You will be better off. There is nothing quite like wasting good bourbon and talking to a friend while smoking a cigar that just has nothing but mediocre all over it. It's like fucking a Jewish woman who is balancing her checkbook at the same time and trying to talk to you about home improvements she saw on TV...come on, you KNOW you laughed!
