CAO Lx2 Cigar Review
Imagine, if you would, that the world of Middle Earth described by the legendary J.R.R. Tolkien was true. In this world there are little people, some call them halflings, which is rather discriminatory and insulting, but they call themselves hobbits. Hobbits, as everyone knows, are a race of humanoids about half the size of men and are rather impish (is that racist?). One of the little known facts about these hairy-footed creatures is that they loved to smoke pipes. I would like to think that if cigars were around then they would smoke the CAO Lx2 Razor, a 4 x 38 hobbit-sized cigar.
It is a well constructed cigar but with a distinctly rustic bent. Not being perfectly shaped it is still an appealing cigar and, due to its very small size, is a very short smoke. The wrapper does exude some oils but the real attraction of this cigar is the fact that you can easily smoke it during a lunch break.
Cigar Stats
Length: 4″
Ring Gauge: 38
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan Pueblo Nuevo & Dominican Republic
Price: $10.95/Tin of 5 | $84.00/50 Cigars
Hobbit Name Flame!
My biggest concern when buying these cigars is that they would like size because they are so diminutive. But that has not been the case for me. This cigar is starting off pretty well with heavy and wet earth flavors and a light, cutting spice to freshen things up.
Even though the flavors are pretty powerful for this cigar there is not a ton of evolution to it. The second half brings on a bit of maple sweetness, deep and dark though it may be, there isn’t much else new to find. It is a very heavy cigar in terms of flavor and that is most likely attributable to the fact that it’s a CAO Lx2. With a small cigar like this I feel that it is probably better to go with a stronger cigar since both the flavors and the strength are somewhat hampered by the small size of these cigars.
Nearing the end of this cigar now and I can safely say that this is a full bodied cigar with a good draw and burn. While the flavors aren’t anything special they are very good and if you are looking for a cigar that smokes very quickly and packs some strength and intensity of flavor then you should check this cigar out. One note of caution about this cigar is that there is a bit of an aftertaste with this cigar, especially nearer the end. It’s flat and the closest I can come to describing it is: wet wood. Not very appetizing but not a huge drawback either.
Ideally, this cigar should be smoked on a drive, if you do smoke in your car, on a walk or during a short window of time like a lunch break or while waiting for a table at a restaurant. While it is good enough to enjoy while sitting down and concentrating on the cigar the best time for it is while doing something else.
90 points
PS: I was actually pretty shocked when I first tried these cigars. I never thought that such a small cigar could be enjoyable but this thing definitely was. Part of me thought that they were too small to pack any flavor and another part of me thought they reminded me a little too much of cigarettes, which isn’t a great comparison – especially after smoking these cigars. By all means, give these little sticks a chance and, for that matter, give some of the other dinky (I’m sure there’s a correct term for this vitola but dinky still fits) cigars a chance.
If Baseball Last Night was a Cigar…
…It would have been a 100 point cigar. No doubt.
Four teams: the Red Sox and the Rays in the American League; the Braves and the Cardinals in the National League; and there were only two golden tickets left for the playoffs. And all was decided yesterday.
Days like yesterday are what World Series dreaming boys live for. Nomadic scouts and under-appreciated coaches have seen countless days of baseball and have never seen anything like what happened. If yesterday was the last scene in a movie the cranky as Sparky Anderson movie critic Roger Ebert would have given it one star for being utterly insane. And it was.
Beating the Astros 8-0, the Cardinals were the first team still in contention to take care of business. It was like a cigar that starts out amazingly but without much complexity. You know the kind of cigar I’m talking about: the flavor, whether it be spice, earth, meat or what have you, is very pure and gives your mind a readily available comparison to a flavor you already love. But something was missing.
The next game to end put the Cardinals into the playoffs; unfortunately for the Braves, it eliminated them. Thirteen inning affairs are hard fought battles that leave nerves raw and drain every last ounce out of everyone involved; fans included. This is even more so when the stakes are as high as they were yesterday for the all-but-playoff-bound Braves. They lost the initiative a couple of weeks back and never found their way back to the right path. I think all baseball fans have a little bit of pity for that team and their fans.
With the National League’s playoff dance card now filled in such a dramatic way you would have been right to proclaim yesterday as one of the better day for baseball fans. It was like a cigar that is powerfully flavorful evolving into something that was even better. More flavor, more nuance. Just… more. And then the most amazing thing happened.
Joe Maddon has been “new school” for so long that he has made it old school. For well over a decade, probably closer to two, he was the Angels’ consigliere of statistics. Before there was Moneyball there was Joe Maddon serving as the Angels’ bench coach with enough stats to make the combined works of Tolstoy look sparse. Massive three ring binders elucidated the tendencies of every opponent the Angels faced. More Sun Tzu than George Patton, his even keeled demeanor and analytical mind set the tone for the Angels for at least the last decade of his tenure in Los Angeles via Anaheim.
I know Mike Scioscia gets most of the credit for the Angels’ successes over the last decade but Maddon (and the rest of the coaching staff) deserves more than a footnote worth of the credit as well. It may sound odd ridiculous to the uninitiated baseball fan but Maddon became a hero to Angels fans while we were lucky enough to have him. That is why even though I have a lot of respect for both the Yankees and the Red Sox it is the Rays that I root for once (hopefully someday soon that will be an “if” again) the Angels get eliminated. Even though I don’t have a great knowledge of their roster I know their team because it is the embodiment of the bespectacled Maddon.
Basically since the earliest days of August it was a fait accompli that the Yankees and the Red Sox were going to the playoffs; one winning the East and the other the Wild Card. When September rolled around Maddon’s Rays were nine games out in the Wild Card and all hope seemed lost. But Maddon, the maestro of determination, kept his team playing hard. As each week passed the Rays crept a little closer to the faltering Red Sox. Soon, faltering became flailing and flailing became collapsing. And all of that lead up to yesterday with the Red Sox tied with the Rays.
Yesterday turned out to be a microcosm of the seasons that both teams had. The Red Sox got a lead and looked like mortal locks for the Wild Card once the Yankees tacked on seven runs against the Rays early in their game. A rain delay in Baltimore became like Chinese water torture for the Red Sox as they were able to see the Rays score some runs against the Yankees and, in the ninth, tie their game with a pinch hit home run by a guy who makes pitchers take a sigh of relief. Dan Johnson, the improbable hero in an improbable Rays’ season, doubled his home run total and breathed life into a beleaguered Rays’ team with one swing of the bat. Right down the right field line his hit sailed over the wall as if it were pushed by the collective will of thousands of Rays’ fans. The game was tied and headed for extra innings.
The Red Sox game had continued by this point and soon their Superman closer, Jonathan Papelbon, came in to at least guarantee his team a one game playoff between his team and the resurgent Rays. Papelbon quickly disposed of the first two hitters that he faced with such dominance that there seemed to be no hope for the Orioles. But then Chris Davis doubled and then a guy named Reimold hit a ground rule double to score Davis’ pinch runner. The game was tied and the only thought going through my mind was: “collapse.” They had the game in the bag but they just couldn’t close the deal. The next batter up, Andino, hit a single and made every heart in Boston sink a little further when the Orioles scored the winning run and gave the Rays a way into the playoffs without having to play in a game 163.
A mere five minutes later in a city 1,000 miles away a phenom named Evan Longoria walked to the plate and dug in. A ball, a strike looking, a strike swinging, a ball and a foul ball started off the at bat. And then Longoria sent a screaming line drive down the left field line. It was very low and did not look like it had any business going over any Major League fence but it did. In what had to be the shortest home run of the year the Red Sox were banished from the playoffs and the Rays were able to clinch a Wild Card berth.
Every element of baseball last night was amazing. For a fan it embodied everything that is amazing about baseball. It transcended the normal bindings of baseball and reached you at an emotional level.
Hopefully someday I can smoke a cigar that is as amazing as last night’s games. It might not happen but, as the Rays and the Cardinals proved this September, anything is possible.
Perdomo Lot 23 Cigar Review
I received this cigar from Cigars Direct. My opinions are my own.
Even though I am sure that there are a lot of people who love Perdomos I cannot say that I particularly like them. It’s not that they are horrible cigars; they aren’t. They are usually constructed and burn well. For me, they tend to not have flavors that I love. But maybe this one is different.
It looks like a really nice cigar. No raised veins, just a couple minor discolored spots, oily and packed perfectly. Let me just say that the torpedo vitola is one of my favorites and I’m happy to be smoking another one for this review.
Cigar Stats
Vitola: Torpedo
Length: 5 ¾″
Ring Gauge: 54
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: $100.00/Box of 13
The Wall Sizzle!
The prelight draw is wide open and gives off hints of wet wood. After being lit there are flavors ranging from sweet wood to burnt wood. Those flavors quickly transition into a meandering deep sweetness. It’s not a bad flavor; it’s actually kind of nice.
And then, like a rabid mongoose after a snake, the sweetness blossoms into this earthy bitterness with a hint of chocolate. Bitterness is a great addition when it is offsetting sweetness.
Both the draw and the burn are great. This is a medium bodied cigar but the flavors are in full force.
Sweetness all but departs after the first half. The earthy, bitter and chocolate flavors take over. It is a good grouping of flavors. I really like this cigar.
I just looked over my previous short cigar review of this cigar and everything is adding up. It is a good cigar and is a credit to the Perdomo line of cigars. But is it a great cigar? Yes, but just barely.
90 points
It looks like a really nice cigar. No raised veins, just a couple minor discolored spots, oily and packed perfectly. Let me just say that the torpedo vitola is one of my favorites and I’m happy to be smoking another one for this review.
Lizard Torch!
The prelight draw is wide open and gives off hints of wet wood. After being lit there are flavors ranging from sweet wood to burnt wood. Those flavors quickly transition into a meandering deep sweetness. It’s not a bad flavor; it’s actually kind of nice.
And then, like a rabid mongoose after a snake, the sweetness blossoms into this earthy bitterness with a hint of chocolate. Bitterness is a great addition when it is offsetting sweetness.
Both the draw and the burn are great. This is a medium bodied cigar but the flavors are in full force.
Sweetness all but departs after the first half. The earthy, bitter and chocolate flavors take over. It is a good grouping of flavors. I really liked this cigar.
I just looked over my previous short cigar review of this cigar and everything is adding up. It is a good cigar and is a credit to the Perdomo line of cigars. But is it a great cigar? Yes, but just barely.
90 points
Cu-Avana Punisher Cigar Review
If you spend any time whatsoever searching through certain online retailers I am sure that you have seen them pushing the Cu-Avana Punisher. Chances are you have read something like this:
Be warned, Punisher is no joke. This full-bodied, potent blend of Nicaraguan ligero tobaccos is one of the strongest cigars we’ve ever experienced.
Obviously, the main selling point of this cigar is that you are going to get a major nicotine kick when you smoke this cigar. Perhaps it may even be the strongest cigar in terms of body that you have ever smoked. But is that a good thing? Should that even be something that you should consider when you are buying a cigar? Probably not but it did pique my interest and, anyways, I just wanted to see how strong this cigar actually was.
The Punisher’s wrapper has a greyish-brown hue to it and it only comes in one size: a 6″ x 52 torpedo, which is adequately constructed. As far as I have seen with the few of these that I have smoked there were no major problems with the construction of this cigar.
Cigar Stats
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 52
Wrapper: ?
Binder: ?
Filler: ?
Price: $100.00/Box of 13
Breaking Bad Sizzle!
[Aside: Usually, you can find information about the makeup of the tobacco used to make a cigar. In this situation, after minutes of exhaustive searching, I could not find any information on this cigar's makeup other than it was made at Nestor Plasencia's factory in Nicaragua and that this cigar contains a lot of ligero]
Even the prelight draw to this cigar is absolutely spicy. It feels almost like they dipped this cigar into a scotch bonnet pepper paste and that tingling on my lips and tongue makes me seriously wonder how they made this cigar. Could it be infused? Personally, I have only smoked one infused cigar and that was by accident early on during my cigar smoking tenure. Basically, I do not have enough experience with infused cigars to say one way or the other.
Actually, the tingling sensation is not completely off-putting. It is equal parts compelling and disgusting and just numbing enough so that I really cannot make any discernible flavors out during the first couple of dozen puffs. When my taste buds sufficiently revived themselves the flavors that I do get remind me of jalapenos and other more intense peppers.
Surprisingly, the flavors are not all that bad but they are definitely very one dimensional. If you are a person who loves the taste of peppers then this is a cigar for you. If you are a person that only wants to smoke the most full bodied cigars out there then you might want to think about another cigar. It’s full bodied but not overbearingly so.
Going into the final third now and I am struck by how pure the flavors are. It tastes almost like they were able to distill the flavor of peppers and instill it into this cigar. But this is a very specific cigar since it doesn’t have any evolution of flavors and because the flavors present are so intense. Both the draw and the burn have been excellent throughout and I would peg this as a full bodied cigar. But not overly full bodied, the flavors are just insanely close to the flavors of peppers.
“Unique” is the best way that I have come up with to describe this cigar. There is always the chance that you will be one of the people who would love this cigar because you are such a pepper fanatic. For example, if you have a framed chart of Scoville Scale in your office then you might be the type of person who will love this cigar. However, I cannot say that I am one of those people. I am glad for having tried some of these but there is no way I will ever seek them out again save, perhaps, on a lark. It was an experience though.
87 points
How to Hold a Cigar
Personally, I like to hold my cigar between my middle finger and my ring finger. I have seen it done other ways but that is the way I like to hold a cigar. Iconoclast? No, that honor would have to go to someone like the Iraq War-supporting Christopher Hitchens. But it is different; you have to admit that.
The most popular way to hold a cigar is between your forefinger and your middle finger. I don’t know why this is the case but, to save space, that is just the way it is. I guess most guys, I’m sorry, people, like to hold cigars betwixt the forefinger and the middle finger. There’s no reason to argue, there’s no deep down analytical way to argue it, like pitch f/x in baseball, that is just the way it is.
Maybe it is more comfortable for most people. I don’t know. All I know is that it is the way most people hold their cigars. Thumb and middle finger or, for that matter, forefinger, makes more sense. It is more stable and results in less slippage, but forefinger and middle finger just seems to be the way it is done. Enough said.
Right now I am watching the great Halloween season 2 episode of The League and holding a Pinar del Rio 1878 betwixt my forefinger and middle finger. That is what is comfortable for me. Sure, the forefinger is useless, like the appendix, but that is just the way that I hold a cigar. It’s a stubborn idiosyncrasy of mine that I do not give up until a cigar comes near the nub, which, at that point, I use the forefinger and either the thumb or the middle finger.
How you hold a cigar is a personal choice. Travolta, in the underratedly awesome Swordfish, holds what looks like a panatella to me between his thumb and forefinger. That is cool, a terrorist sure, but an American terrorist. A kind of 21st century privateer. Who can argue with a guy who blows up the pleasure yacht of the Sheik of Badistan? I thought naught.
Basically, the point of this alcohol-induced post is that you can hold a cigar anyway you damn well please. If you are the type of person who has their cigar held by a $100 hooker from Cuba (I am told that is what they cost), that is fine. If you hold your cigar between your ring finger and your pinky, while being effete, that is alright as well. If you are that person, however, make sure that you are smoking something better than the PDR 1878, it just isn’t that impressive of a cigar.
