I just received a combined large order from Mike's Cigars and JR Cigars to take advantage of the free or low cost samples that go with certain brands. Enough for one cigar a day for a year.

So far I am very disappointed with the 3 versions of Don Thomas and the Trinidad natural wrapper. Way too mild and not enough flavor. I will post my reactions to Partagas, Fonseca varieties, Hoyo de Monterrey varieties, Maria Mancini, CAO varieties, Oliveros, and Mayorga natural as they are smoked.

I to think Don Thomas are dogrockets..hold it you didnt say that you said too mild..oh well.

What CAO's did you get? I've seen a anniversary and a new Black VR that looked interesting.

I have had some Trinidad in a rather plain gold band that I thought were pretty good. A bit stronger than medium and good tobacco flavor.

CAO Black have been very good for me. Lots of interest and plenty of strength.

Yeah I've had the Black, but they have a new Black VR that appears to be a whole new line.

I have traditioanlly had problems with the draw of teh Dom Tomas. But, I love the Corojo line of theirs. Great flavor, good construction and very cheap. I think I picked up a box for $40!

The CAO Black are a fantastic blend and I haven't tried teh VR's yet either. If their like anything else CAO makes, I'm sure it will be good.

You might try waiting a week or so before you smoke the cigars you get from the internet. At lot of times they send them "wet." This could lead to some burn problems as well as having a tight draw.

I'll be looking foward to seeing what you think of the others cigars.

Enjoy!


Lucky

Luckkydogguy: Quote"
You might try waiting a week or so before you smoke the cigars you get from the internet. At lot of times they send them "wet." This could lead to some burn problems as well as having a tight draw."

I Never smoke a stick "off the truck" either. There's just way too much instability on the stick. I would recommend letting it air in your humi for 2 weeks and come back to them. I would not be surprised if you have a different opinion on the smoking experience.
One other option to keep in mind with cigars, and i am sure you already know this, is to "dry box" your cigar. Place it in a box that has no humidification system but is closed to the elements so that the cigar can dry a slight bit before lighting up. If you notice that certain lines are consistantly hard to keep lit, and your humidor is reading only %65 then the stick is definately a dry box candidate. Usually a day is enough. Adjust as needed with trial based upon your RH in the room.



hope this helps some ( you guys all help me )


Davey

Very new to cigars here, but I keep a few in the humidor at all times. Would you recommend, particularly GLP here, leaving a cigar in the celo until a day before smoking it then unwrapping it?

I'm bad about keeping up with the humidor so I'm afraid if I unwrapped a cigar as soon as I got it and put it in the humi that it would dry out within a week. Is the celo doing me any favors at all here?

Showme,

I know you asked for GLP , but if I may add something. Let me first ask you how big your humidor is and how fulll you keep it? Also how close are the cigars to the humidification devises?

The cello is very helpfull for keep the wrapper of the cigar from getting "abused". Whether it be from too much handling or nicking the foot of the cigar against the himudor, dropping it ,etc... But, the thing that concerns me most with keeping cigars in a smaller humidor, with the cello OFF, is how close is are the cigars to the humidification devise? This is important because the cello adds a little bit of a barrier from the humidity. I have found out in my smaller humidors that an uncellophaned cigar that I kept close to the humidification devise sarted to trun colors. It got darker and often abosrbed more water. In turn, expanded the cigar so much that the foot started to mushroom. Upon lighting that cigar, its draw was very tight and teh burn was very uneven. Of course leading to a crappy smoke that was not enjoyable!


Your cigar will not dry out if uncellophaned in your humidor. That what a humidor is for. With some TLC your humidor will keep your cigars in smokable conditions for you to enoy at any time. There should be no need to "dry box" any cigar if your humidor is set to the right RH. I like to keep mine at 67 RH. I find it both ages my cigars nicely while keeping them ready to smoke. You just have to find out what RH you like you cigars at.

Also a humidor should keep the same RH for at least a month. So there's no need to worry about it drying out.

Hope this helps you out a bit.

Enjoy,
Lucky

Thanks for the reply, LDG. Maybe PB can chime in about the specifics of the humidor; I got it from him.

Without going downstairs and looking, I'm gonna guess the humidor might hold 80 cigars? It has one lift out tray and the humidifying device is probably an inch or so away from the top tray. I keep approximately 10 cigars in there at any given time, all on the top tray.

I've found that different locations in the house do better as far as humidity inside the 'dor. It may have to move again soon and that is why I'm curious if celo is good or bad overall.

showme

Whoops, I may need one of those threadjacking emoticons they were talking about in another thread. Sorry CP. To bring it back on topic, you could send me some of those cigars from your large order and I could have a couple more cigars in the humi.

Showme, there are few people who can turn around a problem to become a need for a sample. You have been my protege long enough. Maybe when the cookies arrive....

Fonseca cigars: I believe I have now smoked all the varities of this brand. The most flavorful are the With Cedar and Cubano lines which I recommend. Only line I did not like was the Predilecto. The others were non-descript mild Dominican type cigars.

CP,

I agree with you, Fonseca (for the most part) are uneventfull smokes that can be enjoyed at a ....say... parade! They don't do much for me and I don't keep many on hand. I have about 6 right now but they have been aging for about 2 years. I should probabely try one again to see if it inproved at all.


Do you have any other brands you currently trying? Or some you would like to try?


Lucky

I have some CAO lines, Maria Mancini in light and dark wrappers, Astral cameroons which are new to me, Hoyo de Monterrey Sumatra which I like, oliveros which is new to me, Excalibur sampler.

I like the Mayorgas, maduro especially. I tried a Don Tomas sampler and did not like any of the lines. La Gloria Cubano is ok but loosely wrapped. Have smoked one CAO cx2 and really enjoyed it, as I do the Brazilia line. CAO gold is tastier than Macanudo for a mild cigar. I like the Diamond Crown Maximus a lot and some of the Fuente lines. The only Cuban I have liked is the Montecristo #2 which should be smoked slowly with a glass of aged port or sherry.

Showme,
I totally missed the question you posed...

The humidor has had 120 corona and robusto sized gars stuffed in it. Twas a beautiful thing . Celo is neither good or bad, its much like piping everyone has a differant view. I handle it like this, If it came in Celo it stays in celo, if it didnt I dont worry about it. If its a tubos I unscrew the thing and set it all in the humi (gasp) . The humidifier in it is actually designed for CigarJuice, known to the pipe world as PG. I'd go to paylesscigar,cigarinternational, twoguyssmokeshop, or maybe even cigarbid and pick up a couple drymistats or one of those humijars. If all you keep is 10 one drymistat will work fine. The advantage of the drymistat,beads,jars etc etc etc is that you can visually see when you need to add some purified water. Simple as when the balls get small (shut up guys) add some water. As for moving it around the house I'm at a loss, dont know why it would matter unless you set it right over/under a airvent.