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81384- Mystery cigar

*81391 - DE Liga T52

81392: RP Royal Vintage…looks like I’m in for a sprint. At least it’s not a Gurkha marathon

*It’s been almost an hour and Toker hasn’t finished a cigar. I’m getting worried about him. Should we dispatch investigators?

81393 - Ashton Cabinet #8 - 7x49 - Nice creamy Dominican with a light golden CT shade wrapper. Nice draw and burned perfect with no touch ups required. It's a box worthy cigar though I think if I do it will be a number 3 - 6x46 Perfecto.

81394 - Tabernacle broadleaf maduro

81395- DE Liga Privada H99 papas fritas... smoked it yesterday

81396- Oliva Black Swan torpedo

81398 - Plasencia Reserva

81400 Caldwell Blind Man's Bluff with thanks to jakethesnake. Another cigar I know nothing about other than I hate Caldwell but had a good one yesterday so maybe my hatred is unfounded. Oh and it says on the band it's a habano. But it's dark tan and glistening with oils type of habano. I feel like it should be sticky based on appearance.

First light is oily, rich. Wide open draw, small pepper on retro loads of leather and some wheat toast. But no butter or honey or cinnamon or anything to go along with it. Smooth boot leather and toast. And pretty mild boot flavor...to boot.

The burn line is uneven but I'm leaving it to self correct. Tapped off the first ash drop. Maybe some sweetness but it's more like the sweet leather smell when you go into one of those boot stores they used to have before the internet made them go away. This should be called blind man's boot.

Continues on with that leather note, some dry slightly bitter toast, but I'm really reaching for flavors. There's not much here. This could have the band removed and toss it in with my collection of $3 yard gars and I'd not notice.

2" in there's a bit of pepper on retro, maybe some coffee beans in there. Texture is oily but thin like an olive oil vs beef tallow. It's not rich. The smoke is thick. It hasn't self corrected, seems there's a 1/4" of the wrapper that stays proud of the burn line but it's following a prominent vein. I do not like it but it's not awful so I'm gonna finish it.

Little past halfway it does get a little more body but our short relationship isn't going to mend with this slight concession. I wrote off Caldwell years ago. Yesterday's Caldwell got me thinking I'll at least smoke what I've got, and I will. But I really don't think they make good cigars. Nice packaging, catchy names and stories, and pricing like a real premium boutique brand while being not that thing Caldwell is more like Rocky Patel than a small craft cigar company.

I walked away with well over 2" remaining. If these were priced as yard gars, I might give em a pass. It's a decent yard gar. Despite the uneven burn line i never corrected. That vein got larger as it smoked towards the head and the delayed burn point trailed even further behind. It had great draw, and some cigar flavors. I don't think I would smoke another.

Just checked my spreadsheet, there's 5 Caldwells left in there.

81403 - DPG Blue

81406 sancho panza triple maduro “lancero”. It’s a romusto.

Thank you jeebs!

You’re welcome, sir! That’s a cheap one but I like it. Same with the Cuba Libre.

Everybody's top shelf is different.

Somebody likes these, and somebody don't like the things I do.

I'm still learning what I like and don't like. But I learned the Caldwell lesson a long time ago. They're not blended for my tastes.

On one of my earliest CBid auction wins, I won a 5er of the torpedoes. Tried one. Wasn’t impressed. Tried another one a few weeks later. Nah, not for me. Four or 5 months later I gave the rest to my h.s. classmates who were going golfing. They came back and raved about them! So who knows, mebbe a few months of nap time and they’ll improve?

Yep! I think this is a good lesson for noobs (noobier than me). Someone telling you what they like will only go so far. I really like Caldwell stuff and like the Blind Man's Bluff. But, I also really like habano wrappers. They're not Danm's thing. People's tastes differ. Nothing is going to replace trial and error. Listening to other people can maybe cut that short a little, but maybe not.

My wife LOVES guacamole. I can take it or leave it. I like liver, especially fried chicken livers (southern style) with rice and greens. I'm down. Lots of people find it disgusting. A bunch of people that I trust telling me that a new restaurant is fantastic, and that they love it, is a reason for me to try it. I might love it too. I might think it's overpriced and overrated.

And you know, I think trial and error is part of the fun of the hobby. I just bought a box of Fuentes that I've never smoked. A year ago, there's no way I would have run that risk on Fuentes. I'm into them now because I re-try things I think I don't like. If someone had a crystal ball and had told me a few years ago what I would like today, I think I would feel cheated.

I think you guys have a good idea here. They are bought and paid for and I know I’m not satisfied, so why smoke it? May as well experiment and add to my learning. I’m going to put these back in the rack. Thanks, Palama.

81410: Perdomo 10th anniversary Champagne

My first time with this blend

That's a good'n Jeebs

I like collared greens. Not so much the chicken livers.

If they’re tender I get down with the gizzard. My mom’s side of the fam grew up on that kind of food. I get down with almost anything

Asparagus brussel sprouts and salmon are about my only no go regular food. I’ll eat basically anything else. Within reason.

81415: RP Vintage 99 church. I always seem to be working on a 5 pack of these. #3 of 5 from last year. Cold draw has just a hint of spice, not much else. Initial lighting has that overwhelming mineral taste from the Dominican filler that reminds me of those nasty local DR cigars that the missionaries would share at conferences. Thankfully, it subsides some in a few minutes with those classic Connie tastes moving in. Bright white ash. Started this cigar with a good Murchies coffee, but the acidity from the coffee and the minerality from the cigar was too much, switched to a mid morning Coors and that helped in more ways than one. By the one third mark the minerality has died down, more slight spice. Great smoke volume and color, even burn. By two third mark, spice takes over (nutmeg) with a nice hint of Irish cream finish. Toward the end the minerality comes back, not nubbing it. Unfortunately, this is typically with most RP five packs. One makes you question why you bought it (this one) 2 are solid and 2 make you want to buy more. Will wait a few months to smoke the next one.

81,416 - Tatuaje Havana VI Artista.
C/O SOB.

The only flavor I could find in it was ashy tobacco. I’ve got 9 more laying down. I hope I can get the creamy, nutty flavors out of those. I must say, I was disappointed. Like I said, high hopes and open mind for the rest of them.

After looking for a box to buy, I'm not going to buy a box. They're pretty expensive and the other JRE/CLE corojos are available on discount sites. Still, it was very good and I'd love to have more. Probly at least grab a fiver.

81420 Oliva O Churchill from darklord trade. One of my least favorite cigars. The first box of cigars I bought on cbid was Oliva O Churchill. Still have the box it holds heartfelt beads.

Awful cigar. Construction and burn were perfect. Smoked half of it. Notes of burning cardboard, very dry. Nothing in there I liked. Still one of my least favorite cigars. At least its consistent