Evil Genius in the HOUSE! (Except not ALL houses--yet!)

I'd like to say the meeting happened accidentally, but if you've ever met Valentino, you know accidents like that rarely happen.

During The Great Psyko Tasting, SuperFriend Karl  (Hi Karl!) just happened to mention Alex Hirsch, president of Evil Genius Cigars, would hang at Broadway Cigars the next morning--which you know is one of our homes away from home. Karl said we should go if we wanted to meet him.

By the way, Broadway Cigars
now carries Evil Genius cigars. Yay!

Now you know we can't pass up meeting someone fab, plus a trip to Broadway* is always a treat. The only thing holding us up? Morning. I move slowly on a good day.  You know how when you're stuck in traffic and barely moving? That's the every morning in a nutshell.** Just i...n...c...h...i...n...g my way toward productivity (hopefully).

But I rallied, thanks to the promise of blueberry pancakes!***

You. Guys. Alex is so awesome. Not only was he kind and funny and giving, he also handled the antics of this little bastard with aplomb:

Oh Will...

And speaking of giving, Alex opened his magical valise, revealing not potions and concoctions, but instead a number of black- and white-banded cigars.  These cigars (below) came our way, thanks to his generosity. (Also, Alex, thanks for not turning us into toads or anything.)

If you must know, another Evil Genius cigar--the Black Chapel torpedo (6.25 x 52)--may or may not have accidentally gone up in smoke--very slowly, as a good cigar should. Actually, we'd say a darned good cigar with a rum barrel-aged Brazilian maduro wrapper, Ecuadorean corojo binder, and fillers from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Peru.  Plus, it's gorgeous, so there's that going for it.

Now you'd think, Why would you start with the stronger one--doesn't the black band say, "Hey, I'm stronger than my white-banded kin over there." You'd think so, but they truly are evil geniuses over there, toying with our expectations, and making the guy in the metaphorical white hat living in the  White Chapel the stronger (bad--but still delish) guy.

That White Chapel is a full-bodied MF,**** a powerhouse consisting of Habano wrapper, sun-grown Ecuadorean Sumatra binder, and three different ligero and a seco tobaccos as filler.  Give that a shot and you'll see just how evil those geniuses are. ::shakes fist at geniuses, evil and otherwise::

[source]

The other day, we were where we always are (Habanos) and a guy came in and asked if they carried Evil Genius cigars. (They don't, hint hint.)

Alex, you've got folks requesting them, so whatever you're doing, keep it up! (We'll try to keep Will out of your path. By the way, he wants to know if you received his application for the above job posting. Apparently, he's hoping to move up the ranks quickly, so prepare yourself.)

Exactly.
[source]

*Cigars, but Theater District Broadway is also always a treat.

**Does anyone actually put stuff IN nutshells? It's a weird cliche, but I'm sticking with it.

***If you ever need to get me somewhere early, blueberry pancakes is a good motivator, as is MILK chocolate chip pancakes. (There's no room in my heart for semi-sweet chocolate. Life's too short.)

****And when I say MF, I mean MF.

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]

From the (Face)Book of Jim

Unless you've been living somewhere other than Penny World (although why would you be anywhere else, since here everything is fun and sparkly. Plus unicorns.)   I wandered away from my sentence again. 

 

So unless you're new, you know how much we adore Jim Robinson, he of Leaf by Oscar and Island Jim fantabulous cigars, as well as the superfantabuloso Leaf and Bean.

Jim and our hero

 

The other day on the facebook,* Jim posted the following missive, which sums up pretty much all that is right with the cigar word.**

 

The only changes I made were adding paragraphing. He said I should change it to make him sound smarter, but I'm ignoring that for three reasons:
 

1. No way would I even attempt to alter his voice. "Find your voice and commit to it," I tell my students.  Jim's writing voice is as open and friendly and honest and awesome as he is. To mess with it would be a crime. 
2. Jim is already wicked smaht, as we say here in New England.

3. I forgot what the other thing was. 

Jim in his shop Leaf and Bean in the Pittsburgh Strip District

 

So with that, please enjoy:
 
All the time as a retailer I am asked what is your favorite cigar. What a question, how do I pick just one. There are so many great manufacturers out there making fabulous cigars, its impossible for me to pick a favorite. My goal is to try them all, yes I have certain tobaccos that I like. But to pick ONE from thousands is impossible for me. And there are so many great masters of the craft, I cannot even start naming names, mostly for the fear I will not mention one of the masters of the craft.

For the most part great cigars are in that $7 - $20 price range. Some below a few higher, but money does not make a cigar taste better to me. I respect a fair number of Master Blenders or as I refer to them the Head Chefs of a fine restaurant who know their ingredients and how to make a great recipe.

I have had fantastic $6.00 cigars, and OK $20.00 cigars. The joy of cigar smoking for me is to experiment, try them, smoke them. I have not in my opinion had a bad cigar yet! Some may not fit my taste profile, but that does not make it bad. Not one, Not one, manufacturer that I know is making a bad cigar. They are making cigars for their market, some markets I fall into, some I don't. Does not make them bad.

We are living in great times, we have choices, It was not that many years ago, that we did not have choices, there was only so many different manufactures to choose from, now every day I am hearing and trying something I never heard of. For me, that is what cigar smoking is all about, always on the quest to try something new, to find that perfect cigar, that perfect cigar that fits my budget.

Not everyone agrees with me, and you know what "Thats OK." That is what is so cool about cigar smoking we don't have to agree. What brings us together is the ritual, the socializing 10 guys and gals around a table will be smoking 10 different cigars and they all at the time think they are smoking the best. Wahoo!

What a country.... For me the quest is on, I am smoking and enjoying and looking for that next great cigar.....

You must have all of these. Go ahead. We'll wait.

So, as Jim would say, "Wahoo!!"

 

*I say this in an ironic way. 

**Imagine one of those Ven Diagrams. One circle says Cigar World and the other says Penny World. That place where it overlaps? And it does overlap. That's a bit of heaven where a handful of people live. It's very nice there, if I do say so myself. 

Happy New Year! (The rest of the story)

New Year's Eve is happening. Right this second.* Although by the time I post this, we could be in 2016.

So here's a brief rundown. 

Our hero, Cabellero #1:

I actually took a cool picture! Yay me!

The Cigar Formerly Known as Mysterioso!  Thanks LFD for bringing it back this year, even though some asshat was mad about the Mysterio/Mysterioso name. (::cough:: click on the link for details ::cough::)

Cabellero #2 takes on New Year's Eve

Cabellero #2, upon us handing him a cigar and demanding he smoke it, had a Kristoff 685, which we told you about recently.

Remember?

Our friend Jake, the Maestro of Hanley's Ale House, loved on this baby:

The ash perplexed us.

It's the darned LFD Salomon, about which Cigar Aficionado said, "La Flor Dominicana Salomon is beautiful, strong, and complex. The man behind the cigar is Litto Gomez, who has become one of the most intriguing and talented cigarmakers in the world today. This Salomon showcases his considerable talents. His blend of homegrown tobacco from La Canela, Dominican Republic, and a stunning, dark wrapper imported from Nicaragua combines to bombard the palate with bold flavor of black cherry, licorice and rich cocoa."   

Okay, so the other day,** we were at Cigars International's Hamburg Superstore and I bought two salomons, natural and maduro, for Cabelleros #1 and #2 to smoke on New Year's Eve.

And I left them at home, in the humidor. Boo! I had the sad. That just means another smoke-together! Wahoo!***

Our friend Deep Dish Dave, smoked this for Old Times' Sake:

Because Jake ordered them for him

And then we started the new year with a new moniker for him. Deep Dish Dave is now LFDave, because our other hangout ran out of the Deep Dish, known for its "Sumatra wrapper, velvety smoke, and toasty sweetness." He needed something, so I bought him an LFD Capitulo 2 and he was done for. A goner. At least until ::hint hint:: the new Drew Estate order comes in.

Our hero ended the evening with this:

 

...of which he said, "Everything about this cigar is amazing." Yep. That's an Opus X Lost City Lancero, the great white whale of the cigar world, and for good reason. According to CI, "The Opus X Lost City was made with rare tobaccos grown on Chateau de la Fuente during the off-season for crop production, tobaccos that have been aging for 5 years prior to production. Made with 100% Dominican-grown tobaccos, this puro features dark Dominican wrappers and an eventful blend of Dominican long-fillers. The result is a bold, creamy smoke with robust flavors delivered in a mild, and smooth fashion complemented by a deep, cedary aroma. Rare, no doubt. Pricey, but worth it. Special, absolutely."

Our friend Jarrid (Hi Jarrid!) gifted the cigar to Valentino. THAT was amazing. Thank you a million times over, friend. A perfect ending to an imperfect year.****

*Hahahaha. Two days ago.

**Like, two? Three? weeks ago.

***Which is the opposite of Boo!

****Ask me some time about how Valentino almost missed the "Happy New Year!" portion of the show. Damn you, Rolex.***** ::shakes fist::

*****Operator error, actually.

Camp Kristoff, Part the First

Not too long ago,* Glen Case (Hi Glen!), the head-honcho of Kristoff Cigars, visited Habanos, one of our favorite hang-outs, a place in our own back yard...

You remember Glen, right? We first met him at Havana Cigar Lounge in West Warwick, RI.

Havana owner Todd LaScola, our hero, and Glen Case.

Well, one night we were shenaniganning** over at Broadway Cigars at a Montecristo event and then later rolled closer to home, into Habanos. And there was Glen Case! It was like we walked into our own back yard and happily found a cool kid from a neighboring neighborhood! Yay!

Unlike the first time we hung around with him, which was an actual Kristoff event, whereby he was required to be an adult in full-adult mode; this time he had the relaxation cranked up to 11.

After we settled in, giving out lots of "hello" kisses, Valentino lit one of these delights, which we'd previously purchased at that Havana event:

The 685 Woodlawn, on the right.
That's the star of this show.

Glen stopped mid-sentence and said, "Where did you get that cigar?"

Valentino took the cigar from his mouth and looked at it, just to remind himself which delicious stick consumed his senses. "At the event in West Warwick," he said, making his way to the bar with Glen and Jarrid Trudeau (Hi Jarrid!), a cool dude in his own right and Kristoff's Northeast rep, to sit with me.

"That's my favorite stick," Glen said. "I don't even have any of those in my humidor at home."

Now if you must know, I have some mad internet skillz.*** So when Glen reiterated the lack of 685s, I hauled out my laptop and began a search.

Pretend I'm currently searching and during the lull, we'll cut away to a montage of information about this cigar:

• The cigar's name comes from the house he grew up in. 685 Woodlawn in the suburbs of Chicago. See? That makes me love it already because you must know by now how much I love a good story. By the way, it's not the family homestead any more, but an ode to your first home? Awesomely cool. (As a side note, Mom and Dad? Don't plan on moving out of that house, especially to move to Florida, as all your peers have. Stay put.)
• A small batch released in April-ish 2013, only 2,000 boxes of 10 were made.
• The wrapper is from Brazil, binder from Nicaragua, and filler from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, and a super secret place--maybe Oz? Santa's workshop? Brigadoon****? 
• Comes in one size, the 6 1/2 x 60 perfecto--one of our favorite shapes!
• I love love love this cigar. (I seem to have a real fondness for small batches, as if the more I know I can't get it, the more I want it. But that's pretty much the way of life, right?)

Glen and Valentino***** whooping it up.
Actually, they were discussion serious life things
while I challenged the mighty internets to a duel.
I won.

So within moments, I found a few boxes of the 685 available for purchase and gave Glen and Jarrid the info. I guess if I were a really good person, I would have bought him a box, and a box for ourselves...but...no.  Of course I regret this now. Or I did! <--Blatant forshadowing.

That night Valentino smoked his one and only 685, filling my lungs with some serious sweetness with a background of pepper. Kind of like smelling and tasting the fruit pie Nana is making in the house while simultaneously inhaling the heavily-peppered steaks' smoke wafting from the neighbors' grill. If you could get both flavors in your face at the same time--the pepperiness, the fruitiness, and the creamy, buttery crust, you'd be experiencing the 685 Woodlawn.

The night over, we were left with some super fun memories of time with our Kristoff friends and the Kristoff cigars. Now the story should end there, but no, because there's another chapter to the story.

On our way to visit my son in West Virginia for the holidays, we accidentally drove by the most massive of cigar stores, Cigars International in Hamburg, PA. Come on, we were driving right by the exit. And we needed gas anyway...

Just a teeny tiny bit of the gigantean place!
Lousy picture by moi!

One of the first things we saw as we entered the store? (That foreshadowing comes into play now.) We saw this:

Oh my sweet darling...

We scooped these up and asked about more.  The very nice staff lady searched high and low, climbing ladders to look in way high cubbies and giving herself a headrush looking in the store's deep, dark crevices.  And know what? She found another box! That was some amazeballs customer service!  We took them and ran!

This isn't true. I held them close to myself, like a treasured Latin textbook****** and we slowly perused the entire store, twice.

We're heading home from our travels tomorrow and I hope on Tuesday we can do some more research with these, see if they will once again help me relive the long, slow, sunny days of a childhood summer--even if I am a grownup now (boo) and we've just entered a long winter (double boo). I may ask Valentino to bring two.





*Keeping in mind I have real issues with time passing quickly and not recognizing it.

**A real word in Penny World.

***Not nearly as good as my friend Shelagh, who could teach a master class, but still better than the average schmoe.

****One of my all-time favorite plays.

*****This picture is actually from later in the evening, when our hero had moved on to a different Kristoff cigar.

******I'm probably the only one who ever actually treasured a textbook, right? Especially a Latin one? Thought so. Just to let you know, I still have my high school Latin books.

As we say here in Massachusetts: Winnah! or: This post brought to you by Benadryl

I have been very itchy lately, as I am allergic to...something. Could it be work? Ummm...maybe? Anyway, I get through the day thanks to Benadryl. You need to know all that in order for the rest of this silliness to make sense.

Hello, friend

I printed out all the names of folks who entered the October cigar giveaway and was going over to the drawer to get the scissors* to make little strips and put them in a vessel of some sort and get Valentino to pick one. I put the paper down in order to freshen up the Benadryl level in my system. While attempting to pop that little pink bitch out of the hermetically-sealed packaging, it fell out and bounced a few times on the paper, ultimately landing smack dab on one person's name.

Look, I know a sign when I see one. And this was a sign, the little bouncing neon pink pill.

And so, by the Order of Benadryl, the winner of the J Grotto Anniversary cigars is...

Nina Mako!!

Usually, the winners receive cigars stolen directly from the 2,000-count humidor here at Casa Awesome.** BUT! The super kind folks at Mr. J's Havana Shop gave us the cigars to give our winner! Thank you thank you thank you!! So Nina will receive two of these, although I can't remember which two... It'll be a surprise!! For both of us!!

Huzzah! Yay! Wahoo!!!!

What's the Cigar of the Month for November?  Howzabout a couple of these?

Yeah, baby!

*We are very organized here at Casa Awesome and the scissors are always ALWAYS in exactly the same place.

**You might be thinking, Well Valentino would never even know they're missing if you have that many!  You'd be very wrong. He knows what's in there and, if you must know, each cigar is lovingly placed "just so"... so he'd know. 

The Litto (Gomez) Shuffle

Valentino and I had to run out of town today, and that journey just happened to take us in the direction of Old Firehouse Smoke Shop in Fall River, MA (and lunch with my parents--Hi Mom! Hi Dad!) and we just happened to stop in to say "Howdy!" to Wyatt.

Hi Wyatt!

Oh, and shop proprietor John Brandt! (Although one of us may or may not have greeted the dog first. That person may or may not have been me.)

Okay, full disclosure. John had something we wanted and as far as we have been able to figure, he's the only one who has them. I guess you could say he's our supplier.

Now, lots of folks have the Small Batch Litto Gomez. But John, John has the 2010 batch. (That's Batch #3, if you're keeping track.) We had picked up a couple (one to smoke and one for the humidor) a while ago just on a whim (okay, and a recommendation). Valentino smoked it at an event at the Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum and swooned. (I'd like to pretend he was swooning over my awesomeness, but we all know it was Litto.)

Let's back up a second. In case you didn't know, Litto owns this little cigar brand called La Flor Dominicana. Hahaha--not little. One of our most super favorites!* I love all their cigars. Even the ones I haven't met yet! You may remember this gem. Oh! And guess what! One of our favoritest cigar friends is John Gallogly, our LFD rep!** Hi John!

According to Traveling Stogie, "Production of this cigar is limited to 30,000 packed in crates of 104 cigars which limits distribution to about 285 crates... [T]he plants used for this production cigar are grown on a blocked off section on farm where only the premium leaves are used."

 

Just now, before he lit it, Valentino tested the draw and said, "This is something. This is something that I can't place." Naturally, I asked the internets for help because you can get anything on the mighty mighty internets. And there it was. "Was it sourdough?" I asked, pretending I knew what I was talking about, but really, the genius belongs to the folks at Traveling Stogie. (Thank you!)

 

With Dominican filler and binder all nestled together with Dominican Sumatra, our new toro love*** has a gorgeous reddish hue on its shapely 6.75 x 52 self.

 

Hello, my pretties.

I'll admit, when I first saw them, I was perplexed. The tobacco leaf veins stood out and left the texture bumpy and craggy. This was completely different from the traditional smoothness of the cigars I'd encountered thus far. But it had personality. And charm. And a beauty I couldn't quite describe. Kind of like Ray Liotta. (Don't judge. Use your imagination.)

 

And now, as I sit here at Habanos with the gang (Hi Lauren! Hi Brian! Hi Nathalie! Hi Dave! Hi Sarah!**** Hi Mike! Hi Lexxie! Hi Doc! Hi Doc's cousin whose name I've already forgotten!*****) (Oh, Hi Valentino! XOXO), I get to second-hand smoke all its deliciousness. Its primary taste is leather, reminiscent of its look, accompanied by cedar and an underlying sweetness of molasses and cocoa.

 

When we picked up six today, I looked at the remaining dozen or so (maybe 18? Math is dumb.), and I'm still thinking I need to go back and get the rest. You guys know how I get about limited editions and "When they're gone, they're gone."

 

I mean, how can I not want him to be this happy for as long as possible?

 

Again, I'd like to say it's my awesomeness, but it's all you, Litto!

Mom and Dad! We'll be shuffling over there for dinner soon!

 

 

 

 

*I came, I bought, I'm actually wearing the t-shirt right this second!

**Technically, he's not OUR rep, but...well, you know. He exudes awesome. And he takes a hell of a selfie!

***Yes, yes, we know we are fickle. But we have so much love to give the cigar world. There's plenty for everyone! Don't worry!

****I'm going to post this before you get here. You'd better come or...I don't even know what will happen to the internets. They may be permanently broken. And then Brian and I will have the sad. Probably other people too.

*****Sorry! Lauren makes a hell of a drink!

The Crux of the Matter* <--Note the first sparkle!

We're sitting at the Mr.J's Havana cigar dinner in that seekrit location and the featured cigars are those by Crux.

"Who?" you ask, and rightfully so, because if you happened to spend the summer smoking old favorites, you might have missed this newcomer to the cigar scene. This past June, they launched the Passport, Ninfamaniac, and Skeeterz, followed quickly in July with Classic and the Bull and Bear.

At the dinner, we were given the first three and we jumped right in! We're nice like that!

First up? Passport, which comes in three sizes: the toro (6 x 48,which Valentino happens to be smoking right this second**), 5.5 x 44, and 7 x 40. The wrapper is Ecuadorean, the binder and filler from Nicaragua, which perked Valentino up before he even lit it. After all, as you must know by now, my guy is the #1 fan of Nicaraguan tobacco. 

True story.

When Valentino first toasted and lit the Passport, I waited patiently, slowly slipping the sangria that accidentally wound up in front of me. (That happens a lot at cigar dinners, for some reason.) He didn't make the "This is effing good," face that occasionally occurs upon the first puffs. But because this was something brand-spanking new, he took the time to savor over a third of the cigar (and I waited patiently, savoring one half of the sangria) before making the proclamation that it was pretty darned good.  Definitely worthy of some quality time.

I wasn't sitting directly next to him, poking him and annoying the crap out of him, like I usually am, not unlike a pesky mosquito (or should I say "skeeter"<--see what I did there?) and because there were so many guys smoking different cigars from Crux, I didn't get a chance to enjoy a good second hand smoke, although I did manage to capture and rein in an occasional chocolate and tobacco taste as friends stopped by our table to chat. Sangria makes me chatty.

Valentino said the Passport was hovering on the high-end of medium/low end of full.*** He also said he was getting a variety of flavors as he progressed through the tasty stick. The chocolate was an actual thing--not just my subliminal cry for dessert. He also picked up some cedar and citrus, along with pepper and leather. I continued drinking and accidentally stopped listening.

As the dinner portion of the evening ended, the raffle began and this happened:

Valentino won a travel humidor loaded with Crux cigars, compliments of the company. Thanks, guys! Our hero, along with the three other winners, and (L-R) Cigar Rep Mike Ferraro, Mr. J's Havana's Mark Feeley, Mr. J himself [Paul Joyal], and Tom, son of Mr. J! Huzzah! Congratulations! And if you must know, I also won--a table-top lighter offered by Mike! Thanks, Mike! Thanks all you super awesome guys! Signed, the token girl at the cigar dinners! XOXO

 

When the festivities wound down, we headed home, but then accidentally wound up at Habanos, where Valentino tried out the 7 x 33 Ninfamaniac, which comes in natural and maduro, although we only had a natural handy. The Esteli, Nicaragua filler and Indonesian binder are lovingly wrapped in Habana Jalapa.

 

Halfwheel.com had this to say about the Ninfamaniac's unique shape and taste: "There isn’t much problem burning through the closed foot of the cigar and establishing a somewhat firm but certainly acceptable flow of air that produces more than enough smoke. I do find myself adjusting how much of the cap to clip off in an attempt to preserve some of the pointed head while also ensuring there is enough of an opening to enable adequate air flow. There are touches of sweetness on the palate in the early going, along with some dry soil notes and a certain tangy zing that I’m inclined to think is coming from the Indonesian binder."

He finished that one, smoking it right down to the finger-burning nubbin and we didn't really feel like ending the evening (even though someone had an 8:00 class and had no right even being awake at that time!), so he fired up the third of the evening, the 4 x 32 Skeeterz--perfect for when you want quick and delicious. (Heh heh)  It has the same filler, binder, wrapper elements as the Ninfamaniac, although because of its unique size and shape, offered up a completely different smoke and experience.

Let's go to Halfwheel for the info about this one, because 1. I know he smoked it; I saw it happen, but I have no memory of any other sensory information about it other than seeing the smoke; 2. I forgot to ask Valentino to tell me descriptive words about it, and he's smoked umpity gajillion cigars since then. I've been a bad blogger.****

"Starting into the first third I’m immediately greeted with notes of fresh hay, a little licorice, a touch of light black pepper and some spice. Despite the earlier soft spots the draw is a little on the open end but still well within the ideal range. The smoke production from this little cigar is billowing and plentiful when drawing and drops down to almost no smoke coming off the foot a few seconds after setting it down. Less than an inch into the cigar and the black pepper has ramped up, coming more to the forefront to join the hay and the overall sweet spice while the licorice from the beginning has completely disappeared."

Yeah. What they said. If I were a really good blogger/reporter, I'd get him to smoke another so I could take in the experience and give you a first-hand report. But hahahahahaha. No. (He's out doing man things right now, so I couldn't ask even if I were so inclined.)

ANYWAY! You're probably dying to know who makes all these dandies.

Say "Hello!" to Jeff Haugen and Joel Rogers, co-owners of Tobacco Grove in Maple Grove, Minnesota!

Hello, Gentlemen! You've made our list of favorites! Welcome to the party!

"We have been retailers of premium cigars for over 20 years and have been truly blessed to be involved in selling a product that has done so much good for so many people. Cigars build friendships and community, uniting people from all walks of life. Cigars allow people to relax from the stressors of life, which allows us to sort out the challenges we face. Cigars allow us to celebrate the moments that matter most. Cigars reward us for our successes and help us accept our failures."

I know exactly what you're thinking: Penny***** needs cupcakes.  Ha ha ha. No.******

You were thinking, Sheesh! That's what Penny has been saying all along! The community! The friends! The culture! They're all favorites!

So...the moral(s) of the very very long-winded story:

1. The cigars? They are good! Super good! And...
2. The three we've had so far? Perfect for three different occasions: The "I want to leisurely hang out with friends" (Passport), the "I need to relax but I don't have a shit-ton of time" (Nimfamaniac), and the "Penny doesn't want to leave yet but the place is going to close and I don't want to fire up a cigar that I'm going to have to let die" (Skeeterz). Also...
3. These guys? They're super cool and you definitely want to support them and their new lines of fab cigars. So...
4. It's crucial that you try all the cigars in the Crux line.*******

 

*Sometimes these things just write themselves.

**And by "right this second," I mean this past Monday when I started this blog post. Sometimes, like a good cigar, they need to age a bit before they're released out into the wild.

***Glass half full, half empty. Whatevs.

****Yeah. Like it's the first time.

*****That's me, by the way, in case you haven't been paying attention--ever.

******I mean yes, I always need cupcakes, but that's not what you should have been thinking at that very moment!

*******See what I did there? Crux meaning the crucial point? Plus it's Latin for cross.********

********Yes, I studied Latin in school. And yes, I know my nerd-level just rose exponentially. Yay!

Serendipity Happens: Lord of the Rings

Serendipity: "fortunate happenstance" "pleasant surprise"

Serendipity: A pretty good John Cusack movie

Serendipity: A chocolate shop where you can get this ice cream sundae:

For a mere $1,000. [source]

Serendipity: One of my all-time favorite words and a favorite occurrence. I get sad when serendipity happens and I miss it!

The other evening, while at Habanos, Valentino saw someone wearing a Tatuaje shirt and asked our friend and fabulous bartender Nathalie (Hi Nathalie!)* if he worked for one of the cigar companies. She said, "No," but thought Valentino would enjoy chatting with him, so she introduced them.

As they chatted, Valentino noticed a magnificent ring on his finger--in the shape of an ashtray with a cigar and lots and lots of shiny elements.Naturally, my man swooned, because that ring, loaded with sapphires and diamonds gold and silver is effing gorgeous.

The man, Hamo Tavitian, told our hero that he DESIGNED it. He MADE it. (You guys! How cool is that?**) He showed Valentino pictures of other things--cufflinks, money clips, bracelets...and much more, that he's designed. You can see some of them here. Gorgeous, right?

Of course, I didn't know any of this was happening because I was home grading papers.*** But when he returned to the homefront, a mere six minutes away, he told me the whole story and showed me pictures. How could he pass up a custom-made ring? Especially one as super cool as that?

Now if I had been there, I probably would have been vying for his attention**** and he might not have even noticed the nice man and his shirt, and then...and then...

The next day, he made the call and ordered this baby:

It's a little reminiscent of that delectable dish above, isn't it?
(Humour me and say, "Yes.")

But wait! There's more:

Here's a funny thing: Let's call it serendipity light.  We were chatting with our friends at Rolling Stogies during the Providence Columbus Day Festival on Atwell's Ave...

Thanks for the day off, sir!!

...and one of the guys (Hi Joe!) said, "Hey, we just saw a guy with a really cool ring. It was kind of like an ashtray."

We were all, "Whaaa?" and "OMG!"

Here's another funny thing: We were at the festival 1. Because you know we love those things and 2. To meet up with Hamo to pick up Valentino's ring!

And here's a fabulous thing about this ring: It is custom-made, so even if another guy did have one, it would never be the same as our hero's!!

 
You need to check out Hamo's website and then you need to contact him and then you need to get one and then you need to call and thank me and buy me a cupcake.*****

Lord of the Rings (and other lovely jewelry)

"I'm passionate about my work," Hamo said. "Jewelry is my first love and cigars are my passion--every piece of Design by Hamo jewelry is hand-designed and hand crafted by me. I hope you enjoy wearing it as much as I do making it." Trust us, you totally will.******

Note the H on the cigar. Hmmm...I wonder what that stands for...
(It's Hamo.)

Know what helps up the Cool Factor? It's as heavy as...a really, really heavy thing. So heavy that if I wore it around my neck for more than ten minutes, I'd become a C-shaped lady right-quick. But it would be worth it because everyone would stop and admire my lovely necklace, just like they admire his gorgeous ring.

Just so you know, Hamo creates a full line of men's and women's cigar-themed rings, cuff links, pendants and accessories with many various stones and metals including ruby, emerald, gold, silver and more. See just a small sampling here and here.

Let's take another look at this and swoon over the blue sapphires, diamonds, Argentinian silver, and gold. And you can't even see the ruby that's mimicking the lit end of the cigar.

Hamo's business is located in Boston, but that doesn't preclude you from chatting with him and maybe getting a little something--or somethings--for yourself, regardless of where you live. Or you could just happen to leave the website open on a page that just happens to have a picture of something you just happen to want. Because sometimes, just sometimes, serendipity needs a jump start.



*Hi (again) Nathalie!

**The Cool Factor is cranked up to a zillion!

***Grrrrrr

****Hahahaha

*****Cupcakes are the world's greatest reward.

******We are incredibly trustworthy, if we do say so ourselves. And we do say so.