Still timely, thanks to the deflated balls fiasco, which keeps the SuperBowl in the news six months later

You know how I'm always a little behind because I get distracted by air and Hostess snack cakes? Someone cranked the procrastination up to 11 for this one!

We're not here to talk about the SuperBowl, which bandied on in the background as I started this blog post. Hahaha.*  I'd say no one even remembers what happened during the game (except maybe a couple of commercials), but yeah. This year's. We all know how it ended, with an entire Patriots Nation up-in-arms and a slew of giddy comedians imagining all the "ball" jokes they'd get to make.

Most memorable part of this year's Big Game for us? This La Flor Dominicana collection of beauties:

Wait for it...

And Boom! as our favorite LFDer and SuperFriend likes to say.
(Hi John!)

Whaaa? I KNOW!

Naturally, it all starts with Facebook, as so many things do. A post popped up, revealing these 5 3/4 x 60  babies, only available in Arizona. I started looking up flights and participating shops. 

 

But damn if Caballero #2 isn't the fastest cigar purchaser in the west. East, actually. While I fiddled around trying to find a flight not bogged down by the 76 feet of snow accumulated thus far, he got on the phone and called Arizona.** A few moments later, he sent me a message: He'd purchased a box for our hero.***

 

Of course upon their quick pre-game arrival, Valentino didn't want to open them and ruin the full box of ten.****  "Then I will only have nine," he whimpered. But we did open them, thanks to me making promises I might not be able to fulfill. He, sadly yet happily, set one aflame.

 

The other LFD-Jon in our lives, VP of Sales Jon Carney, said, in an interview with halfwheel.com, "[T]he cigar will be an entirely new blend that uses an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Dominican filler" and is based on an idea from Baxter’s Cigars in Phoenix.

 

The caballeros. Caballeri?

“The cigar is a celebration of football,” Carney said. I say it's a celebration of awesomeness, just like the entire stable of LFD cigars.

 

About the cigar: "This is fucking good."
(The photograph, not so much.)

"Well?" I asked, fingers poised over the laptop, as if I would actually write a timely blogpost and not be lured away by the delicious foods passed around Habanos as part of the big (game) event.

After declaring the cigar a winner, with no accusations later about deflated balls, those two gazed lovingly at the damn cigars with every puff.***** (You can read a full review by not me here.)

About that empty promise I made? Naturally, he remembered. I hit the internet again, beginning a new quest for things to light on fire.****** Found 'em at Fine Ash Cigars, owned by my from-that-point-on best friend Sam Lopez and his lovely bride Rosie.

Bought a box.

Felt content.

He smoked a couple more.

Oh you gorgeous thing.

 

And then I panicked. With four left from that original box, they'd soon be gone and, as I have not only met Valentino but know him better than anyone on the planet, he'd never open and smoke the backup box.

 

I crossed my fingers, began an oft-used mantra that generally accompanies cigar searches, "Please still have some. Please still have some," uncrossed my fingers so I could type, and travelled back to Sam's site.

 

And then there were two--one for my main caballero and one for the humidor.

 

As I type this in June, I worry about that other box getting low. ::types "LFD football edition" into search engine::

 

To again quote our pal, Boom! Found them! Of course I just told you my secret to finding hard-to-find cigars. Dummy.

 

I'll race you there--because the alternative, rewriting a portion of this blog post, would mean you wouldn't see it until the next SuperBowl.

 

Just hope that shiny Ring Ding package over there slows me down.

 

Photo from LFD, which explains is loveliness.

 

 

  

 

*Self-imposed goals/targets are stupid. So are deadlines.

 

**Not the whole state.

 

***Keeping track of the gifts these two give each other is becoming a full-time job. (Applications now being accepted.)

 

****As you may recall, or maybe not because I forgot to tell you, when I purchase cigars (sticks or boxes), I generally get one for each Caballero and one for the humidor.

 

*****Damn you, Litto Gomez (kidding! Love you!), for making that happen. Those looks are generally reserved for me!

 

******I can't help it, since my boy grew up in the 90s, but every time someone mentions football, my brain sees and hears this:

A million life bonus points if you know the show.
[source]

When the cat is away...the mouse will buy him presents.

When Valentino is away, I miss him. So I buy him things.

One time, I got him this:

The Exterminator Deer Call

Another time, I got him this:

I got him other stuff too, but this was most notable.

This past trip, while he fished in Kentucky with Caballero #2, I bought him this:

A rare find! (I'm a great cigar shopper!)

Actually, this box of Double Ligero and I found each other serendipitously. There I was, waiting for my students to finish a writing assignment so I flipped through Facebook. There, on one of the many groups of which I am a member, was the sale of these La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Oscuro Naturals from 2008.

Usually when I see cool things like this, the deadline is a million years away and I forget about it.* Or I've just missed the deadline by five minutes. (Luckily, the forgetfulness softens the blow of disappointment.)

This time, however, while Valentino sent me pictures of the fish he'd caught, I figured other guys on the Facebook group would swoop in and swipe these babies. Then I resumed teaching my class.

Many, many fish.
Too many fish, you could say.
That's what I would say.
That's what I DID say.

Lo and behold, seems while I was shaping the minds of America's youth, I was simultaneously winning the auction by Sam of Fine Ash Cigars.** Unfortunately, I can't keep a secret, so I told him as soon as I won and paid.***

And he said, "I know. I saw that you won on Facebook. I assumed they're for me."

Damn, damn, McDammit. Stupid internet.

As an aside, you should definitely check out Fine Ash, located in Avondale, AZ because 1. Sam's fantastic, 2. Their customer service is top-notch, and 3.You can get the coolest things there, like this:


We have many boxes.
(They are sold out now.
But they have many, many
 other limited releases!)

Or this, which came two days later:


Beauuuuuteeeful.

After the 2008 batch, these cigars weren't released until 2013. Of course I didn't know this when I bought them, although now that I know, I seem quite prescient.

When Valentino FINALLY came home, and FINALLY had time to smoke one, he was hap- hap- happy! And then sad sad sad because of the box of ten, having given one to Caballero #2, meant he only had EIGHT left. He wept openly--and who can blame him?

Proof that one was sacrificed.
::weeping::

Of course I felt the need to research during the writing process and found from Halfwheel.com, "Like the other uniquely shaped La Flor Dominicana offerings, it requires a specially skilled roller to create such a long cigar that is consistent and burns without problems. [Litto] Gomez compares it to the Salomones, Mysterios**** and Diademas as far as the difficulty level" [source].

According to Atlantic Cigars, "Litto Gomez, deciding to push the envelope, doubled the amount of ligero found in many cigar blends, including his own LFD Ligero, in order to create the La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero. These cigars are packed with the finest ligero tobaccos from Gomez's La Canela farm in the Dominican Republic and wrapped in either a sun-grown Ecuadorian Natural or a dark Ecuadorian Maduro wrapper leaf. La Flor Dominicana's Double Ligero continues to be one of the most popular choices for cigar smokers who enjoy full-bodied smokes full of rich earth and spicy flavors."
Also during the course of researching, I may or may not have found another box of 2008 and I may or may not have already purchased those 9 x 47 cigars. And he wasn't even away hunting or fishing or anything! Dammit. I should save them for his next trip.

Except I already told him.

::headbar::


*Because if you've learned nothing else about me, you've learned I have a short attention span.

**And people say I can't multitask...

***Idiot.

****A personal favorite, by the way.