Making a bad cigar a little better…

        It’s Sunday and it has rained all day again. The good news is that the temperature never made it above the mid-80s. The bad news was it was a day that had to be spent indoors. I don’t smoke inside my house.

        Had a friend once who was given a bundle of 10 cigars for a present by someone who really didn’t understand cigars. Now, it could have been worse – they could have been drugstore cigars – but these were actually purchased at a local cigar shop. They were unbanded, and were definitely cheap cigars. Put it this way, it was 10 cigars and the person presenting them was proud of the fact that the cost was just under $20.

        I won’t say these were unsmokeable, but I thought the best use of them would be as fireworks lighters on the 4th of July. You know, after you’ve spent the day in the hot sun, drinking and grilling, playing a little baseball, doing some more drinking – the kind of day where your tastebuds are so dead you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between bubblegum and chipolte. At times like those, this would have been a good cigar. That and it’s value as a lighter of bottle rockets and other assorted fireworks.

        You know you’ve had a bad cigar when you can still taste it the next morning and wonder who let the dog you know what in your mouth. These were that bad.

        Then I remembered a cigar I had tried before. It was also an unbanded, cheap cigar but there was a difference. The head had been dipped in rum and placed foot down in an airtight glass jar that had a shot glass half filled with rum in the bottom. The jar was sealed and left to sit for about a month. During that month the cigars had actually absorbed some of the flavor from the rum.

        I lit one up expecting the worse and was surprised to find a cigar that was an ok smoke. It would never be confused with being as good as a $5 cigar or one of those $10 cigars flavored with a well know bourbon and sold in tubes for $10, but it was smokeable.

        Showed my friend how to set up the jar and we did his crappy cigars that way. It was a definite improvement.

         I looked up the definition of waffle today. The dictionary said, “see reporting on NFL/NFLPA negotiations.” First there were reports that an agreement had been reached. Then there were the “not so fast” reports that an agreement had not been reached. Then there were reports that the NFLPA executive board and player reps would meet on Monday and vote. That was followed by the “they are going to meet to discuss things, no vote is planned” report.

        I’m getting that the NFL and NFLPA are playing table tennis and the media is the ping pong ball. It’s, “hey! Let’s keep changing our statements to see who we can get to report what.”

        Tomorrow is Monday… and our forecast is for rain again. Good think I have work to do.

Comments

  1. PAUL W KELLERMAN

    Pappy: Have you ever tried Ramon Bueso Genesis cigars……beautiful maduros that I personally love. I have tried both the Muy Bueso and the Robusto sizes preferring the later. I think they are fantastic smokes ESPECIALLY considering their price point. The Rousto size will give you a nice 30-40 minute smoke leaving you to want more. I cannot tell you how many of these I have smoked, and I still have probably 100 or so resting in fully sealed and humidified food grade containers.

    1. pappyjoe

      Paul, I haven’t tried the Genesis cigars but I will look for one the next time I go to my local cigar and pipe shop. I was just there yesterday and was given a La Maeras (I think that’s the name, I lost the band after I smoked it.) It’s apparently a new cigar that’s just hitting the market. I’ve also recently smoked a Tabacalera 1881 Perique which was pretty tasty. It’s made in the Philippines with a Dominican wrapper, Philippine Isabela binder and St. James Perique. It also is a very tasty cigar with just a hint of perique.

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