La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero 700

Tonight's cigar of choice was the La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero 700 cigars.

Rating in at a 60 x 6 1/2, this bastard is one you shouldn't take for granted.

From their site...

Country	Score	Size	Ring Gauge	Length	Price	Issue Date
Dominican Republic	91	Corona Gorda	60	6 1/2"	$5.95	August 2003
Filler: Dom. Rep.		Binder: Dom. Rep.		Wrapper: Ecuador

A powerhouse cigar with girth. It draws well and produces a spicy aroma. This only Toro smacks of creamy, full bodied flavors including notes of chocolate. The finish is long and loaded with spice.

Due to the double ligero, it's a relatively powerful cigar, that I enjoyed immensely.  

The DL700 has a beautiful wrapper and didn't give me many problems with the burn.

While I didn't have to touch it up at all, the burn wasn't quite exactly what I was hoping for.

The ash of the cigar didn't flake off which is one of the few consistencies within the LFD line.

I was going to have one of my Camacho 10th Anniversary Corojo cigars, but I decided to hold off on that one for another day.

While I wouldn't recommend paying full price, if you can find these at your favorite online retailer, I'd suggest picking some up.

The Gurkha BEAST

I had one of the Gurkha "Beast"  cigars tonight after a long day of running around after visiting family after our honeymoon.

Here's the official rundown on the cigar...

The Gurkha Beast is a rare limited production blend with only 1,000 boxes produced annually.

Just as its name indicates, the Beast is a massive 6.5 x 58, allowing for several hours of smoking time with a large ring gauge to ensure the cigar never burns too hot. Medium to full-bodied and full-flavored, the Beast draws much of its flavor from the aged Costa Rican Maduro wrapper that covers the cigar. This wrapper is accentuated by a tri-country filler from the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Columbia.

What did I think of it, while it was a good cigar, it wasn't really a great cigar.  I liked it, but would I spend another 15 dollars on one, probably not.  Several hours smoking time, well no, not so much.  (I got an hour's worth.)

The burn on this cigar wasn't like I would typically expect out of a Gurkha product, towards the end of the cigar it started to even out, but I still had to keep fighting with it to get it to that point.

While I was slightly disappointed, I'm now looking forward to getting my limited edition Camacho Traveller's Bag on Tuesday even more.

Camacho Liberty- new current favorite. I have never smoked one down to less than 1/2 inch before...honestly who would. This cigar was amazing great draw - smooth burn ashed only in the wind at about 2 inches. Flavor from start to finish.

http://www.camachocigars.com/our-brands/ultra-premium/camacho-liberty-2007-series/

La Gloria Cubana Serie R # 6

Yesterday, Kim and I went to her brother's house in Eden, NY for her niece's 3rd birthday party. Afterwards, we went to the Seneca reservation for gas ($2.87 / gallon), and there's a new cigar shop "The Cigar Parlor", just behind the Heron's Landing gas station in Irving, NY. It's not a bad place, just REALLY new.

When we walked in, I wasn't really that impressed, since prior to that on the rez we used to go to Big Indian Cigars which went out of business for awhile, and is now back, but no cigars :(
As I said, The Cigar Parlor is in the back of the gas station which is built like a pole barn, so it just seem like a cigar parlor, it's more like a cigar workshop. I thought that there'd be auto repair tools mounted on the wall. Anyhow, the prices at the Cigar Parlor made up for everything else.

I picked up 3 cigars for $15.75. One of them was a La Gloria Cubana Serie R # 6 (now you see where I'm headed with this post), and two Romeo Y Julietta Habana Reserve Toro cigars. The RyJ's were $4.15 per TORO cigar. Not too shabby there, I'm used to paying between $5,85 - $6.20 per stick so I was really impressed at the price. And I got two free Cusano corona cigars to boot. I think they're flavored, but I'm not positive. After leaving the shop, I decided that I was going to have the LGC on the way back to Kim's house.

It's been a little while since I've had one since I tend to favor the less expensive RyJ Habana Reserve, but I forgot how much I missed these damn cigars.

The La Gloria Cubana Serie R # 6 is a 5 7/8 x 60 cigar.

This toro shaped cigar is manufactured in the Dominican Republic and is a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan filler, the binder is also Nicaraguan, and finally the wrapper is Ecuadoran.

Unfortunately, the LGC # 6 isn't the most consistant of cigars (at least that's what I've found over the years). While it's not a constant problem, it's more annoying because when when I want this cigar the most, I'll buy a batch where the burn is REALLY BAD. The other problem that I've found with these cigars is the tar buildup at the head of the cigar can be pretty nasty. And while I always try to make sure that the cigar is cut properly, I stopped using a plug cut a long time ago because you're really just begging to have this tar buildup.

Last night's cigar, however was GREAT, in fact I was really pissed when we got back to Kim's before I finished the cigar because I just didn't want it to end.

Gurkha Shaggy XO Cigars

Last night my fiancee and I along with a buddy of mine went with a couple of other friends of mine out to Macaroon's bar to see a see our friend's band Blind Vision play.

While we were there, I picked up two Gurkha Shaggy XO cigars which were damn good.

Here's the link http://www.gurkhacigars.com/cigars.htm

Strength: Medium
Wrapper: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dom, Nic
Origin: Honduras

I found various sites which described the cigar and one of them had said that it has ligero in it. I had never really paid THAT much attention to cigars before, I knew where I liked cigars from and the wrappers that I like (in general), but never to the actual blend itself.

It was great cigar (as usual), the burn was was GREAT especially considering that we were outside smoking them. I wish that we could have been indoors so that I could have enjoyed the aroma.

It's not a cigar that I can (okay SHOULD) buy all that often, but it's rapidly becoming one of my favorites. This cigar has some kick to it so I'd suggest having some dinner before having one.

It's amazing that I almost missed out on this fine cigar line because I had always just dismissed it as being generally "too peppery". My friend Bob had suggested that I try them after he had one earlier last year. I took his word since we both know the types of cigars that we like and I'm glad that I did. :)

The San Cristobal....Wow!

San Cristobal! An Ashton line that is just amazing. A full bodied smoke. Great burn but I did have a little flaking...but not gonna complain. I paid about $9 for this one. A little pricey but it is a great cigar.

About the burn...

Starts out a little strong and then smoothes out to a dark earthy, dark chocolate and toasted nuts flavor for the rest of the cigar. No doubt a full-flavored, full-bodied cigar. The aroma carries and is just wonderful. It is the kind of ciagr that people can smell a block away! I would say this cigar definitely has a nicotine kick to it too. Highly recommend!!!

Ashton link: http://www.ashtoncigar.com/SanCristobal.jsp
Some stats:

Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Time: 1.5 hrs

The taste of excellence! Very Nice.

I attended an Ashton Taste of Excellence last week. Had a free Ashton Cabinet series and free wine. We had a great discussion on how tastes enhance or take away from your cigar experience. Unsalted walnuts was the key to cleansing your palette. I was told chocolate too. I cant have nuts so WOOHOO! But mixing the right combinations of choices will make or break your night. For example - a heavy full bodied cigar and a Heineken are not a good combination. The taste of the beer will negate the taste of the cigar. Were an nice glass of white wine and full body cigar complement each other. They each stimulate a different part of the tongue. If you have a chance to go to one.....don't hesitate!