midmofan wrote:The Big Cool Arrows also very very good. The small ones burn hot if not careful, so not as good for a quicker smoke this time of the year, & saving them for nicer spring weather.
Yup. Despite looking like one, the Filero(kee) is NOT a "short smoke". Properly smoked, it's about a 55-60 minute smoke, if I recall right. Treat it like a short smoke, and it's gonna burn too hot and it will suck. Yes, it's small, but no, that does NOT mean
"let's grab it because it's 30 degrees outside and it'll be quick!"All Chiefs must be smoked slowly, and not when there's a lot of moisture in the air (humid day, rainy day, etc.), or they will suck.
Smoked slowly on a dry or dry-ish day, and they're amazing.
Also, don't be so fast to reason that the Ranfla(jo) is much bigger than the Filero(kee) and only $5 more, so you should only get the Ranfla(jo). Strictly in terms of tobacco per dollar, that's correct, however the Filero(kee) vitola performs very differently from the Ranfla(jo), and the flavors seem more intense somehow, plus there is more change during the smoke, perhaps because it's not straight-walled over most of its length like the Ranfla(jo) is.
I bought nearly as many boxes of Filero(kee) as I did Ranfla(jo), for this reason.
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