Cigar Review: LFD Cameroon Cabinet

La Flor Dominicana produces the Cameroon Cabinet in fairly limited numbers and I had never even see one for sale until I got one in the sampler at the LFD event a few weeks ago. The size included in the sampler is the Corona Gorda at 6.25" x 54 ring. The filler is Dominican and Nicaraguan, the binder is Dominican, and the wrapper is...surprise! Cameroon. If you can find them, the retail price is between $7 and $9 a stick.

Prelight, this cigar is oily to the touch and the veins are very visible, although not prominently raised. There's a minor flaw on the cap, but otherwise a beautiful cigar. The band is a classy brown and gold, setting itself apart from the normal color scheme of LFD bands. The aroma of the unlit cigar is of cocoa and earth. The prelight draw is free and tastes sweet with ints of cocoa, although not nearly as strongly as you might get with one of LFD's Ligero line.

The Cameroon sweetness is evident from the beginning--if you dont' like Cameroon wrapper flavor, stay away from this cigar. The same flavor is prevalent in other Cameroons like Fuente's Hemingway line. The smoke is medium to full and leaves a bit of dryness in your mouth on the finish. There are some leathery and coffee notes as well. The draw is perfect and the burn, so far, is even, defying the gusty wind on my front porch while I am smoking.

As the second third starts, there's a touch of spice as the cigar exhibits a more earthy flavor than before. The smoke is still on the more medium-bodied side of medium to full. The draw has been fairly effortless and the burn is still very even. This is a very well-made cigar.

Chugging through the second third and into the third, the spice picks up and the strength of the cigar is starting to show. The flavor is still exhibiting the earthy and leathery notes, but has picked up some nuttiness as well. Overall, a very nice, complex cigar that should be enjoyable right down to the nub.

Strength: 7/10
Body: 7/10
Complexity: 8/10

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10

Cigar Review: Ambos Mundos, Robusto, Sumatra wrapper

I was able to get around to smoking my second Ambos Mundos on Friday, a robusto with a Sumatran wrapper. I have to say...very nice! Overall, much better flavor than the Habano wrapper. I can't say if the filler/binder is different on the two cigars or the same with differing wrappers, but this cigar had more sweetness to it and a slightly fuller body, as well. The only problem I had was that about halfway through, several splits appeared in the wrapper. It could have been worse, though--none of the splits opened up wide and made it unravel, so the stogie was easily preserved.

I would definitely recommend this one over the Habano version of the same line, especially at the relative bargain price of $5.25.

Top 10 U2 Songs...Ever

In a move to get the attention of a least one of my potential readers, I decided to take the opportunity of U2's latest album, No Line on the Horizon, to assemble my take on the 10 Best Songs that U2 ever released. First, it should be noted that the first two albums, Boy and October, are completely unrepresented here; I will admit that I am not as big a fan of the early stuff as of the albums they released from the late 1980s on. You should also note that All That You Can't Leave Behind and How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb are also not represented on this list...and I did love those albums: I simply thought they did not contribute anything that would supplant the 10 that I did choose. Not all the songs I chose were/are big hits, but that's not the point: these are my picks for 10 "best" not 10 "biggest" or even 10 "most important." So...

10. "Two Hearts Beat as One": a track from War that is not nearly as overplayed as New Year's Day" or "Sunday Bloody Sunday." It features the same martial drumming and solid rhythm section as those other song (and most early U2) but because it hasn't been overplayed it sounds fresher to these ears.
9. "The Fly": I hated this song when it came out. I hated Achtung Baby when it came out. I was a fan of Rattle & Hum and Joshua Tree and thought they had ruined their sound with this crap. Later the song grew on me and now I think it's the best song on the album... and that the album's one of their best. The sounds are new, but not; the drumming is solid, the bass is in your face, the guitar is just strange, Bono's falsetto is off-putting and moving. The lyrics are perfect, though, dense and confusing, revealing and transparent, depending on what mood you're in.
8. "Running To Stand Still": that resonator guitar that begins the song is beautiful. The song captures the beauty and darkness in some of the best moments of The Joshua Tree, still their best album overall. The lyrics allegedly deal with drug addiction, but as with any great song, they can be about what you want them to be about. Another great song that is on this list because it didn't get overplayed on radio.
7. "Moment of Surrender": so I didn't include anything from the last two albums after having years to grow to love the songs, but I included this one from the new album after having the CD only a few weeks. This song is haunting and beautiful, though, with dense sonic layering (as is the whole album--you have to listen to No Line on headphones at least once) and experimental rhythm sounds. The lyrics are theological and experiential. I find this one running through my head all the time when I'm not listening to the album--kind of like "It's a Small World" but in a good way!
6. "Pride (In The Name of Love)": I couldn't exclude all the "big hits" from a list like this. Even though it was (and is) overplayed, this song doesn't seem to get old. I don't agree with U2's politics most of the time, but this tribute to MLK is well-done and MLK mostly deserves the praise he gets. Edge's ringing guitar may have hit its pinnacle on this one, too.
5. "Stay (Faraway, So Close)": Speaking of haunting songs, the beautiful simplicity of this song and its message sticks with you for a long time.
4. "Numb": The second song on the list from the neglected and under-rated Zooropa album, and the first of two songs on the list where Bono doesn't perform the main vocal. Edge had done lead vocals for a song on Rattle and Hum but here he epitomizes the song title while Bono and drummer, Larry Mullen, Jr., sing around him on the chorus. Bono restricts himself to his falsetto on this one and it's somewhat disturbing--which makes the song that much more effective.
3. "Bad": Another song whose lyrics deal with drug addiction (allegedly). Makes you think that a lot of the band's friends from back home in Ireland had some big problems. In my opinion, the best song from The Unforgettable Fire; it turned out to be one of their most popular concert songs. The song builds slowly, layer upon layer, gaining in intensity and purpose.
2. "Where The Streets Have No Name": Okay, yes, it's overplayed, but this song never gets old. Featuring possibly the best ever intro for a song and a description of a place that could be the Mojave Desert or Heaven, with a video shot on a rooftop in L.A. (not that original as the Beatles had done it a couple decades earlier, but hey...I liked it!). "I want to run, I want to hide..." I want to jump up and dance every time this song comes on! Bono once said that when they played this song in concert, every night it would be like "God walking through the room."
1. "The Wanderer": Bono said that compared with Johnny Cash, the rest of us look like sissies. So it's fitting that the best U2 song features lead vocals by the Man in Black in a song about redemption. The band backs up Cash vocally and the music is the experimental type that encompassed Zooropa. It's surprising that an album I initially dismissed as garbage provides three of my favorite U2 songs, more than any other album. It points to the genius behind an album that is fairly inaccessible upon first listen, but rewards the listener with layer upon layer of complexity for years to come. I get that sense with much of the new album, too, although it has a few pop moments mixed in to make it more immediately accessible.

Chuck Norris

I saw this on the Nashville Cigar Club forum and thought of Thomas; this one's for you, man:

http://www.nashvillecigarclub.com/cigar-forum/viewtopic.php?t=1381

Friday Funnies

A Couple of Political Notes for Friday

First, a huge thanks to the creative powers of Steve Crowder, a regular contributor to the "Big Hollywood" blog. This video speaks for itself--at a time when you could cry at the state of the country, sometimes it's better to have a good laugh instead.

Second, the global warming/climate change/Al Gore scam crap never ends. This Saturday, March 28--that's tomorrow for all you Obama voters--the scammers are trying to get everyone to turn off all their electrical devices (lights, TVs, computers, etc.) for one hour to bring awareness to climate change. I have made the decision that between the hours of 8:30 and 9:30, Saturday, March 28, I will be turning on every single electricity-sucking device I can find in the house. I will set all computers in my control to not go to sleep during that hour (even "monitor sleep"); I will turn on every television and radio in the house (and turn off the sound so I don't have to hear them all); every light in the house will go on, including every light on the outside of the house. Just for an hour...while those numbskull, lying scammers are doing their "Earth Hour." It won't cost that much and the additional cost of all that electricity is worth it if enough people do the same and tell the idiots where they can stuff their global warming. I hope you'll all join me in keeping the world alight!

Cigar Review: Ambos Mundos, Robusto, Habano wrapper

Last Friday I picked up a pair of Ambos Mundos cigars when I was down in Chattanooga for the morning and I finally got to light one up last night.

If you haven't heard, Ambos Mundos is another Pete Johnson creation. He says he wanted to have a more budget-minded line of cigars since the Tatuaje ended up retailing for more than he originally intended. There are two sizes of AMs (so far), a robusto and a toro (6 x 50), and two different wrappers, a habano and a sumatra. At Burns, the robustos are $5.25 and the toros are slightly more. I picked up a robusto of each flavor.

Last night I had the habano. In pre-light it was nearly flavorless so I thought it might end up being a very mild cigar. The first few minutes didn't do anything to change that opinion. After about 10 minutes or so, though, it started picking up some more body and flavor. Overall, I would say it is medium-bodied, kind of a nutty, earthy smoke with just a touch of spice.

I am a big fan of the Tatuaje brown label (the red label less so, and the white label less still) and I did not think this cigar compares well with that one. It wasn't bad, just not what I was expecting from Pete Johnson. A decent smoke at a pretty reasonable price, but I think there are probably less expensive smokes that I would like even better. Worth a try, but don't get your hopes up expecting it to be another Tat.

Senate Stupidity

I don't often get passionate about sports. Football's fun...especially college. Pro baseball is interesting (although, I prefer the National League, not that sissy American League/Designated Hitter crap--just trying to see if you're paying attention!). This news just struck me as highly asinine, though:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9759GG00&show_article=1

So the Senate wants to have a hand in regulating college football and determining how the national championship is won. I'm sorry, but it's not the government friggin' business how college football operates. It shouldn't be up to the government whether baseball players can or can't take steroids, either. Even if the economic was coming up roses, our border with Mexico was secure, and Islamofascists around the world were not trying to cut Americans' throats, it wouldn't be the Senate responsibility...or even their right...to make any decisions regarding these things, so they shouldn't be wasting our taxpayer money talking about them.

Virtual Herfing

It was very nice to have the Tiki Bar all back together again for the virtual herf last Friday. If it hadn't been raining here, I would have actually had a Tiki torch burning behind me, too, but...you can't have everything.

Thanks again to Keith for getting the virtual thing to work as well as it did and thank you to everyone who was able to be there Friday night. You all have been and continue to be a huge blessing in my life and it was great to see everyone again. Hopefully we can do this in the future many more times.

Rush's CPAC Speech

I know this may be a week or two late, but I finally got around to watching Rush's nationally televised speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) this morning. He was typical Rush--funny and brilliant. For those who didn't bother to watch or listen to his words, his major point was that conservatives love this country, love people and want every person to be successful by striving to be the best they can be and not relying on the government to "make them successful."

I watched the speech in 10 parts on YouTube and am struck by the inanity and foolishness of some of the comments. I'm not really surprised, but stupid things like "Meth Head" and "Joseph Goebbels in a fat-man clown suit handing out cyanide-laced cotton candy to the lock-step Boomslang lackeys" are the typical liberal, Obama shoe-sniffer responses.

Those who are content to remind us of Rush's past drug abuse (addiction to prescription pain-killers in response to a botched back surgery, by the way, for those Obama voters out there), seem to completely ignore that while Rush was starting his meteoric rise to the top of the talk radio and political commentary world, Barack Hussein Obama was still snorting cocaine--without a prescription! But that's irrelevant.

For those who compare Rush to Nazis or clan members, I would remind them that Obama had a 20+ year relationship with a blatant racist, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. And I would remind them that it was Obama that inspired the neo-fascist songs of praise from children and Obama Youth Corps.

Some people should just shut up and listen to the words of the speech instead of insulting a man's looks or assuming that he is some kind of little Hitler just because those are the images and lies force-fed to them by the MainStream Media.

Second Thoughts: Casa Magna

It was quite a sensation when Cigar Aficionado named a Casa Magna as their #1 cigar of the year for 2008. First, the company seemed to come out of nowhere to claim the top spot. Second, the cigar does not carry the ultra-premium price tag or illegal country of origin that CA's favorite cigar's usually have. I was excited to try my first one shortly after the Big Smoke last year--we each got two of them at the event. Let's just say, that if that was a store-bought stick I probably would have asked for my money back and I definitely would not have bothered trying it again. The pre-dominate flavor of that first CM was ammonia. It was astrigent and bad and I don't think I even bothered finishing it.

Knowing that ammonia flavors in tobacco come from incomplete aging, I thought "Well, I'll just give the second stick a few months in the aging humidor and see how it is." Someone else suggested to me that cigar companies often rush a batch of cigars into production for the big shows like the Big Smoke, so it made even more sense that these sticks would have been delivered a little on the "green" side.

I pulled out Sample #2 last night, after 5 months of resting it, and was pleasantly surprised. None of the harsh ammonia flavors. It was a medium to full-bodied smoke with a lot of leather and a little coffee and spice mixed in. It's not one of my "top ten" of the moment, but I'd definitely smoke it again. (Click the picture above for a link to another blog's actual review.)

Final note, this is the second time in less than a month that I've given a cigar a second look and found that second chance to be more favorable than the first. I'm thinking of making this another semi-regular feature on the blog; not a full-blown review, but just a second chance to a stick that didn't impress me in the past. I have another cigar that's up for Second Thoughst: Padron 1964. I'll be getting to it in the next couple weeks, I think.

Special Event: La Flor Dominicana

Last Thursday, March 5, I had the opportunity to go down to Burns Tobacconist in Chattanooga for my first Tennessee cigar event, and lucky for me, it happened to be an event sponsored by my favorite cigar company at the moment: La Flor Dominicana.

The LFD rep, Drew, was very knowledgeable and eager to sell the LFD line of products (which makes him a good company rep, I guess). He started with the sampler pack special that they were featuring for the event: 10 LFD cigars representing virtually all their lines in one large pack for about $81. Actually, they were going to give you 10 percent off if you buy any 8 sticks, so that drove the price down to $73 and then they would throw in 2 extra cigars (L-400 Cabinets) when you buy the sampler, so in essence it became 12 cigars for $73...but Charlie, one of the people who works at Burns, gave me another stick (L-300 Cabinet) out of the open box in the members-only room that I was a guest in for the event, so 13 cigars for $73. This was getting better all the time! Oh, plus you got 2 raffle tickets...seemed like everything was going my way!

The people at Burns treated me like a long-time regular. I talked at length with Charlie, Jason, and Jacob. Matt cut open a cheap Fuente cigar and showed how the binder was made of brown paper--great object lesson for those looking to save money on cigars: don't go to the very bottom of the barrel. I talked to another member who actually lives in Florida (can't remember his name, sorry) and Dan, a local FedEx driver. The Havana Room (members-only room) is tastefully decorated in leather furniture and dark wood with hunting trophies, autographed celebrity photos and a couple big screen TVs on the walls. I sat under the picture of Rush Limbaugh, which I took to be a good sign.

During the raffle, they gave away about 5 more of the 10-cigar samplers, 3 or 4 smaller samplers that came in wood boxes with a cutter and lighter, 4 or 5 ashtrays, a baseball cap, and a box of L-300 Cabinets. Alas, I won nothing...which is nothing new for me with raffles! At least I was expecting to win nothing, though, so the disappointment wasn't crushing.

The sampler I bought included in the picture above: a couple from the "Premium Line" which I had heard of but never seen before, a DL-Chisel, a DL-Maduro, 2 from the Ligero line (one each natural and Oscuro), a Coronado, a Cameroon Cabinet, and a Mystery Blend (which the rep tells me is the same blend as the mystery blend in the Perfecto Sampler box--he also said that both mystery blends in that box are the same thing). There was also a Reserva Especial that I tried to smoke on Thursday evening; it began popping its wrapper while I smoked and was close to coming completely unraveled. Jason, from the shop, saw it and said he would get something to replace it. He brought over the rep who gave me a new L-400 Cabinet (he didn't have any extra Reserva Especials) and asked what had happened. He said it might be a good idea to let the rest of the cigar sit a few days before trying to smoke them as they may have experienced some climate changes (temperature especially) while he drove around and they should be okay once they have sat in a single place for a few days.

One other note: seems that the subject of the LFD Cheroots is a bit of a touchy thing for the rep and for Litto. These were never supposed to be a market cigar so they never planned on people asking for them, but they've gotten lots of requests in the past year. The rep was surprised that I even knew about it. He said that for the foreseeable future, the only place to get them would be Empire Cigars online. He also said that he is soon going to be moving across the country and will be the rep for the Southwest, so it's possible you guys on the Left Coast will see him in the future.

CNN bias showing again

CNN is running this story as its major headline on the front of its website as I write. I find the story itself to be somewhat dismissable as a commentary piece, but you have to realize that the story is being presented as hard news. But the fact is, their basic premise is completely flawed.

Today, President Obama reversed President Bush's executive orders prohibiting federal money from being spent on embryonic stem cell research. Bush didn't absolutely prohibit federal money, either, but limited it to research lines that were ongoing at a certain date. Obama is basically doing more of the same that's been doing ever since he took office: spreading other people's money around.

Far from "separating politics and science" this new policy of his marries politics and science together ina completely unhealthy way. A political party led by a charismatic political figure is telling scientists that they can have money from the taxpayers of this country in order to fund their research, which has been historically fraught with ethical problems and has shown little if any real value in real world testing.

"Stem cell" therapy has shown value. "Embryonic stem cell" therapy has actually been shown to be dangerous, causing tumors and organ rejection-like disorders. When people are treated with their own stem cells, adult stem cells, or with cord blood stem cells that were harvested at birth from themselves, they are showing progress in fighting diseases. Scientific research money is being funneled to the people who are making progress. If you think that "Big Pharmaceutical" isn't going to fund a viable cure for Alzheimers, Parkinsons, or paralysis with lots and lots of billions of dollars--then you're just fooling yourself. Only loser proposals need government crutches to prop them up--I give as prime examples solar energy and ethanol from corn.

Anyway, what the real news here is that CNN is still an outlet for Democrat Party talking points and is far more liberal in their presentation of the news than Fox is conservative. Not that this should come as a big surprise to anyone.

And, once again, Obama is wrong on the science, wrong on the ethics, wrong for this country.

Cigar Review: Camacho Scorpion

This weekend, I had the opportunity to taste and review a very exclusive and hard-to-find cigar from the folks at Camacho: the Scorpion. The blend is a secret and the run is rumored to be limited to only 5,000 cigars per year. I picked this one up at Burns in Chattanooga where it retails for about $12.50; I had a "loyalty points" discount so I ended up paying about $7.50. I joked with the manager at the time that I would let him know if it's a good $12 stick or a good $7 stick.

Prelight, the Scorpion is slightly rough and veiny will also appearing to be solidly constructed. The cigar is slightly spongy to the touch with no hard spots evident. The aroma from the wrapper is definitely barnyard and from the foot I got more of an organic manure aroma. After clipping with my Xikar MTX cutter, the prelight draw was free and I detected flavors of raisins or black cherries with just a little hint of spice as well. I almost added that there was an aroma of marijuana, too, but it turns out that must have been coming from the car that drove by my house just then.

Due to the exclusive nature of this cigar and the reputation it has amassed online, I had very high hopes for this cigar. Alas, it seemed to want to dash them from the very beginning. The free draw in the prelight turns out to have probably been a channel going up one side of the stick; when I lit it, there was an immediate canoeing and it was an absolute beast to get fully lit at all. Once I did finally get there, though, the volume of smoke was more than adequate. I touched up the burn line and slowed down my puffing to try to let the canoe even out. There was also a tiny hole in the wrapper that smoke was escaping through, so I had to play this one like a tin whistle for a while.

Besides the criticism for construction, the cigar smoked fairly well. The overall impression at the beginning was medium- to full-body with a certain nuttiness to the flavor. There was also a bit of pepper on the finish. Overall, it'snot bad, but not the flavor profile I usually look for. In a good point for construction, the initial ash held on for over an inch and the burn moved well toward evening out by the time the first third was smoked.

As the second third starts, the flavors moved toward a mixture of nuts and toast. It's a pleasant mix, but not my favorite--add in some banana and deep-fry it and Elvis would like it, though! People say this is supposed to be an extremely strong cigar, but so far I'm just not feeling it.

During the second third, a spiciness emerges and the body seems to increase, as does the strength. I enjoyed this cigar with some Maker's Mark and, as usual, it pairs quite well with the stogie. The cigar definitely started to grow on me as well. That is--until it started to canoe...again. I had to touch this one up in a very large area to correct this one.

Finally, in the last third the Scorpion started to show its sting. The power built up and ended up packing quite a punch, although I would hesitate to say that the body of the smoke ever got beyond medium to full. The flavor near the end was still nutty with some spice and just a remnant of the bready/toasty flavor.

Concluding, this cigar definitely had some strength, but no nearly as much as I expected. While the flavor was not outstanding to me, it definitely is the best Camacho I've had. At $12.50, it's too expensive to ever consider buying again. At $7.50 with the discount I got, I feel satisfied from a value perspective.
---------------------------------
Body: 7/10
Strength: 9/10
Complexity: 8/10
---------------------------------
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 7/10

A Milestone

Two years since this pictures was taken...Happy Anniversary, Keith and Kim.

With Love, David & Luanne

Cigar Review: Panacea Natural

Check out my review of the Panacea Natural that I submitted to our friends at An American Front Porch. Also be sure to take advantage of the discount that AFP has arranged with Paul Bush, the creator of the Panacea; click the link on the top right hand side.

Cigar Review: Rocky Patel Winter Collection 2009

Size: Corona, 5.5 x 46
Price: $6.25 (Burns Tobacconist, Chattanooga, TN)

Today's review of the Rocky Patel Winter Collection will not only attempt to review the cigar, but will also attempt to answer the question "Can the Winter Collection alone keep you warm when it's 40 degrees with a wind chill of 32?" The prelight appearance of this stick is oily and dark. The aroma from the foot exudes cocoa and hints of coffee.

Immediately upon lighting, you are greeted with a massive amount of pepper, but also the undertone of cocoa. The body is quite full--definitely not a cigar for beginner smokers. Probably not a taste profile that would please everyone, either--if you don't like full-bodied smokes that are "in your face" spicy, then just pass this one by.

After 10 minutes or so the pepper tones down quite a bit--not nearly so in your face. The cocoa flavor becomes more prevalent, but there's still a bit of the spice on the finish. The draw is very good, but it is impossible to get more than half an inch or so of ash at a time. This could be due to construction standards or it could be a reaction to the tobacco to the cold weather.

At the halfway point, I had to relent to the reality of the biting cold (a dry cold, by the way, but still friggin' cold!) and I got some hot cocoa to ease the suffering. This was a "White Chocolate Mousse" cocoa that was a Christmas gift from someone at work and should be a nice, natural pairing with a "winter" cigar. I have to say, it was a bit strange, but it did work. I think it would work even better with some coffee, but I wanted to sleep later that night, so it wasn't something I was going to try.

Even as I got into the last third, there was plenty of spice on the finish, but the overwhelming flavors are of coffee and chocolate. The body is full, but it is not terribly strong. All in all, this is a very good cigar that does it's job: it is delightful on a cold, winter's day. Does it keep you warm, though? No--get a jacket...or three!!!

Body: 9/10
Strength: 6/10
Complexity: 8/10

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10