Practical joke on a cigar aficionado wannabe at work.

[tksamtec]

Finally....review #1 is in.  he smoked the Monte banded stick which was actually one of his favorites in disguise--a Gran Habano Corojo #5.  He smokes Robos usually, and this was a Torpedo, that would be the only difference in his usual smoking preference.

Here is a c/p from the email he just sent me...

"Since this was a torpedo, I didn't try to punch it.  The cap was rumpled up in places, which is something I've never seen before, so I cut this one pretty far down the shoulder.

An extremely mild cigar, it started off with hints of cedar, nuts and toasted bread, with just a touch of ash underneath it all.  The flavors slowly faded, until at the end of the first third, they were completely gone.  There was only the mild ashy flavor left.  Not enough to annoy, but I could taste nothing else.

I kept smoking, but it did not change after that point.

Not even a hint of pepper or leather.  No bitterness.  I am curious about your impressions of this cigar."

end of c/p...

I am still waiting on the other review... and that is the unbanded stick he thinks is Cuban, but I didn't say anything about it at all... its an unbanded Gran Habano 3 Siglos... which is his own personal favorite cigar (and he has told me that many times).

So, with the first review in, its obvious that the Monte band influenced his tastes...  I love it.

When I get the other review from him, I am going to hand him the bands from what he actually smoked and I might even video the expression on his face to post here...

:o

[randomhero1090]

His review is spot on  ;D


Blind reviews are fun.  Friend of mine raves about one of the biggest online retailer's "store blends."  The cigar is made at Raices Cubanas, and he said it smokes as well as any Viaje out there.

He sent me a mixed bag to blind review.  Honestly, I enjoyed some of the "store blends" more than the Alec Bradleys and Viajes.  Nothing floored me, but the "store blends" had the most flavor.  Actually the Bayamo was a pretty darn good cigar.  So there's hint as to who the vendor is.

[tksamtec]

Another comment that he made yesterday right before I left work, was this:

"I didn't finish it, but I did go past the halfway point.  As I said, the flavors I found enjoyable faded after the first third, but I did smoke it a while after that just to see what would happen.  It was a very mild cigar - even the ashiness was very mild.

This was probably the mildest cigar I've ever smoked.  Most of my stash runs medium strength."

Funny that this is a stick from his normal stash but was milder than he is used accustomed to...I realize that some additional aging will "mellow" a cigar, but I don't think this stick had more than 1 year of aging over the other sticks in his collection.

Also, he pitched the cigar and didn't smoke the whole thing because he wasn't enjoying it... good thing he has about 150 of them stockpiled up in his lock-n-lock plastic store-tainers.

:cool:

[brutus2600]

I learned a long time ago not to "smoke the band", but it seems this guy is doing exactly that even though he said the band or brand doesn't have any influence on what he thinks of the cigar.

[mk05]

this is evil and I want MOAR  :cal:

[tksamtec]

[quote author=mk05 link=topic=13394.msg70152#msg70152 date=1335335981]
this is evil and I want MOAR  :cal:
[/quote]
Marc, no worries, there will be alot more coming... next up is his all time favorite cigar.

I might even do 1 more test, if I can find something with a similar wrapper color, and I might put a Gran Habano 3 SLS band on a cuban (like a RASS) and let him smoke that, and see what he says... the possibilities are endless with this guy.

I just hope when its all said and done, he doesn't give me anymore of his cigars, and I won't be giving him anymore of mine, then maybe as a bonus, the mothership will pick him back up and take him home...

[tstoner86]

[quote author=tksamtec link=topic=13394.msg70154#msg70154 date=1335354121]

I just hope when its all said and done, he doesn't give me anymore of his cigars......
[/quote]

or flip out and bring a gun to work. LOL

[tksamtec]

[quote author=tstoner86 link=topic=13394.msg70157#msg70157 date=1335355410]
or flip out and bring a gun to work. LOL
[/quote]

The only thing I would have to fear with this guy, is maybe a kick from big red shoe, or maybe a blast of water from a squirty flower... he is a total clown.

[tstoner86]

Another Hartnell huh?  :rotf:

[tksamtec]

Finally, the 2nd review is in... a little c/p from his email.

"Initial aroma was very pleasant.

Draw was perfect after punching.  Lit easily.

Initial puffs were so mild that they were almost flavorless - about the most I could get was toasted bread.  After roughly 12 puffs, leather started creeping in.  The toast disappeared very early on.  The leather built through the first third, never overpowering, but definitely there.  I smoked it to the halfway point, but there was nothing but leather, and I'm not keen on leather, especially all by itself.  Tossed it about halfway...

Burn was slightly uneven but never got out of control.  Cone showed no dark spots - that coupled with the good draw tells me it was rolled very well."

end c/p...

I felt his review was accurate on both cigars and I tasted very similar notes.  I had a very faint citrus note or maybe a dried apricots? flavor that came and went twice on the Corojo #5 when I smoked it....outside of that, I had a very similar experience to his on both cigars. Basically a taost or baked bread falvor that turned to leather and ash... then completely to ash.

So, I saved his dignity and did not video the expression on his face when I handed him the bands from both sticks.  He was shocked that these were 2 of his favorite sticks, but he said that he knew I was up to something since I have never been so enthusiastic about getting cigar reviews from him before... probably and that makes sesne, getting detailed cigars reviews for sticks I will never smoke and have no interest in, is sort of like watching the grass grow, at least to me.  Either way, he couldn't explain why his prior tastings were so different, and why he couldn't identify his favorite smokes.  He tried to blame one difference on the fact that I gave him a torpedo over a robusto, and I told him that the blends were the same, and that I verified that.  He brushed that theory off, finally backpeddling and saying that he surmised that those sticks were not aging well, and that he was disappointed in the fact that the flavors were mostly gone after a couple years of aging (based on the cello yellowing, I would say 3 or more).  I told him he had better get to smoking his "investment sticks" before they were nothing but ashy garbage.

Another funny comment he made... he actually looked at the cigars closely under a bright light (and even contemplated having them xrayed) to see if they were tampered with, and he said that he was expecting a cigar load or some sort of other trickery.  Who does that ??  Wow... I knew he was paranoid, but that takes the cake.

The outcome of this proved a lot to me, but seemed to prove nothing to him, except proving to him that I was a prankster...but I do think he is now somewhat worried about his "investments" at this point since the end result was to someday trade his sticks for gallons of gasoline.

So, me 1, supertaster 0....gallons of gasoline, ZERO point ZERO.

:smiley-cool: