opelmanta1900
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 9:52:16 AM
The first one or 2 iterations of the hooligan were ok... They were regular candelas, nothing particularly special... Essentially a different sized 858 candela...

Then they switched to a barber pole style and it improved significantly...

Last year they did a 3 leaf barber pole as well as the regular 2 leaf wrapper... Didn't get a chance to try the 3 leaf, but I smoked several of the 2 leaf... It's a good st patty smoke...

The best candela on the market is the Holy Lance by Illusione... Not an opinion, just a fact... The sky is blue, it's 38 degrees outside, and the HL is the best candela around...

GaryR
  • GaryR
  • Enthusiast Topic Starter
Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:26:32 PM
Well, I have tried 1 of each.

In true AB fashion, the 2 leaf was mediocre and no where near the amazing smoke I picked up in July. The 3 leaf however, was awesome. Had great flavor, even burn, very enjoyable all around. Going to let my 2 leaf sticks I have left sit a couple months and will probably buy more 3 leaf.

By the way, the store I was in was really gouging on the price of these. Wanted $250 for a box of the 2 leaf (22 sticks). Saw them on Freefall for 165.

Edit/update: Just bought a box of each on FF. Wish me luck!

Pudding Mittens
Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:37:28 PM

Well, I have tried 1 of each.

In true AB fashion, the 2 leaf was mediocre and no where near the amazing smoke I picked up in July. The 3 leaf however, was awesome. Had great flavor, even burn, very enjoyable all around. Going to let my 2 leaf sticks I have left sit a couple months and will probably buy more 3 leaf.

By the way, the store I was in was really gouging on the price of these. Wanted $250 for a box of the 2 leaf (22 sticks). Saw them on Freefall for 165.

GaryR wrote:

My local B&Ms are full of morons who buy boxes there at 2x-3x or more the price they could get the exact same thing for here, or elsewhere online. Sometimes, albeit rarely, when you're talking a screaming "online sale plus promo code stack" situation, you're looking at the B&M costing 4x-5x as much or more!

But hey, they certainly and majorly help keep the lights on in the place, so I'm thankful to them!

I buy singles to justify my presence when I use their lounges, but I'll never buy boxes there, unless I hit the lottery or something and suddenly have "IDGAF money". Good lord.

.

GaryR
  • GaryR
  • Enthusiast Topic Starter
Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:40:23 PM

My local B&Ms are full of morons who buy boxes there at 2x-3x or more the price they could get the exact same thing for here, or elsewhere online. Sometimes, albeit rarely, when you're talking a screaming "online sale plus promo code stack" situation, you're looking at the B&M costing 4x as much or more!

But hey, they certainly and majorly help keep the lights on in the place, so I'm thankful to them!

I buy singles to justify my presence when I use their lounges, but I'll never buy boxes there, unless I hit the lottery or something and suddenly have "IDGAF money". Good lord.

.

Pudding Mittens wrote:

I do the same. I usually buy my higher priced sticks (high to me) from B&Ms since you can't get a deal online for a lot of them any way. Talking Liga 9, Padron Anniv, Eiroa 20yr Anniv., stuff like that.

opelmanta1900
Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:41:53 PM
Some people would prefer support a local small business than a giant faceless corporation, even if it means not getting to smoke as many cigars... Not sure that makes them morons...
Pudding Mittens
Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:43:32 PM
.

My personal record was getting cigars online for a price where the B&M charged 16.5x as much.

March 2018 CI crazy "BOGO-plus-$20 Bucks-card" sale on MUWAT and MUWAT KFC. One of the MUWAT KFC vitolas offered was the Kyoto, normal CI price was $24 for a 10-pack. Here they were BOGO plus you got a $20 Bucks card. That's $24 - $20 = $4 net price for two 10-packs.... that's $2.00 per 10-pack.

My local B&Ms charged $33 per 10-pack. OVER SIXTEEN TIMES AS MUCH. You want to support local business THAT much, you go right ahead, I won't be joining you!

Did I load up? Oh hell yes I did. I also loaded the hell up on MUWAT non-KFC Nightcrawler, a bigger (4.5x50) version of the same blend as the MUWAT Baitfish. They were $45 BOGO plus $20 Bucks card, meaning $45 - $20 = $25 net price for two 10-packs, which means $12.50 per 10-pack. Wow. I backed up the truck! Still got tons of those aging 2 years later Great cigar, but even better at $1.25 each!

Local B&M price $55 for a 10-pack of MUWAT Nightcrawler, 4.4x as much as I paid.

(Yes I know KFC is love-it-or-hate it, but just like Parodis, I love them!)

.

GaryR
  • GaryR
  • Enthusiast Topic Starter
Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:44:47 PM

Some people would prefer support a local small business than a giant faceless corporation, even if it means not getting to smoke as many cigars... Not sure that makes them morons...

opelmanta1900 wrote:

I get that, and as a small business owner appreciate it. But I like to support me first. 😃

By the way, the place I was in does just fine. It's located in a very busy shopping area with lots of high end stores. It's a great business model. Husbands spend their time sitting and smoking while the wife bleeds them dry.

clintCigar
Thursday, February 27, 2020 4:48:04 PM

I buy singles to justify my presence when I use their lounges, but I'll never buy boxes there, unless I hit the lottery or something and suddenly have "IDGAF money". Good lord.

.

Pudding Mittens wrote:

ditto

clickbangdead
Thursday, February 27, 2020 5:07:40 PM
I admittedly never tried the Hooligan, but based off my past AB experiences, I'll pass. I will second the Illusione HL candela though, those are one of my favorite lanceros period.
frankj1
Thursday, February 27, 2020 11:26:10 PM

I admittedly never tried the Hooligan, but based off my past AB experiences, I'll pass. I will second the Illusione HL candela though, those are one of my favorite lanceros period.

clickbangdead wrote:

I like the 88 and 888 too, best candelas around.

might be just me, but I swear I taste chocolate on the cold draw

RMAN4443
Friday, February 28, 2020 11:27:24 AM

I like the 88 and 888 too, best candelas around.

might be just me, but I swear I taste chocolate on the cold draw

frankj1 wrote:

That's just one of those FLASHBACK thingies they promised you back in the 70s....🌫

frankj1
Friday, February 28, 2020 7:12:17 PM
I'm finally peaking
m j toal
Friday, February 28, 2020 8:53:59 PM
Me no likey AB.
Goose7
Saturday, March 14, 2020 6:53:00 PM
I finally decided to buy a box of the 2020 vintage yesterday when they showed up on a CB FreeFall auction, which I hadn't seen on offer before. Considering I paid $58.00 less for the box than the next cheapest discount box price I could find on the web, I think I did pretty well. You can really clean up with those FreeFall auctions if you know what you are doing.

As far as Alec Bradley goes... I enjoy the Tempus and the Project 40, and neither of these has ever disappointed me. The Project 40 can have burn issues on a few rare occasions, but considering the level of discount you can get them for on CB, I can't complain. I've had a few Opus Xs and 1962s with burn issues too, so its not like it doesn't happen to much more expensive cigars.

If it turns out I don't like the Hooligan, I figured that they would make great giveaways for future birthdays and holiday gifts.

izonfire
Saturday, March 14, 2020 7:08:01 PM

I'm finally peaking

frankj1 wrote:

DUCK!!!