Bomba, 6" x 50 ring gauge, $8.95 I will admit that when I planned on doing "CAO Month" on this blog, I had absolutely no plans to review the Criollo. I have smoked them before and I do not dislike them, but I cannot remember ever having set out to actually buy one; the times I've had them have either been as part of a package deal (at a CAO event last year) or at the Big Smoke. It really has just not made that big of an impression on me until now. So, I was looking through the humidor at my "local" tobacconist last week trying to decide which CAO sticks to pick up to round out the number I would need for my month-long review-fest and one of the few that they had that I had not already reviewed was this one. "What the heck?" I said to myself, "maybe I'll give this one another chance." So here we are.
The Criollo is a Nicaraguan puro and is one of the "oldies but goodies" in the CAO product line. The appearance is rustic--a mottled medium-brown wrapper that is rought and veiny in places, finished off with a pigtail on the cap. The aromas were very pleasant and enticing--a little cocoa from the body and sweet alfalfa and barnyard from the foot. The prelight draw was easy and the flavor was sweet cocoa with just a little hint of spice.
After lighting, the initial flavors were herbal and bready with just the vaguest hint of spice, which I found a little odd for a Nica puro. After about five minutes, though, the spice started to kick in a little and made me very curious to see where this cigar was headed. The retrohale revealed more of the herbal essence (did I just name-check a shampoo?) than the spice. I have to say, early on, this was one of the easiest cigars I have ever retrohaled and it could be a good one to learn or practice the art on. The spice ramped up as I worked my way through the first third; by the time the second third began, the predominant flavor was black pepper.
During the second third, I found the cigar changing appreciably with a creamy coffee note coming through, although it maintained a strong pepper note on the finish. So far, the draw had been excellent and the burn line had gone from slightly uneven back to perfectly even without any correction from me.
Unfortunately, that did not last...shortly into the final third, the draw tightened up considerably. It was not completely plugged, but the extra puffing required to draw a decent amount of smoke made the stick burn hot. The flavors of creamy coffee continued while the pepper diminished toward the end.
Despite the draw problem that developed, I found myself enjoying the Criollo much more than I had expected to. This is a very, very good medium-bodied smoke that has more flavor-change going on than most cigars on the market. While I still cannot see buying a whole box of them, I will probably make it a point to buy one or two from time to time for a change. I could recommend this to almost anyone from the absolutely newbie to someone who has smoked for decades.
Celebrities are dropping like flies these days. First Ed McMahon and then Farrah Fawcett, and, of course, the self-styled King of Pop. But the death that touched me the most, for some odd reason, is that of professional pitchman, Billy Mays. Many people may know Billy just as that loud-mouthed pitchman on TV informercials, but if you watched any of the Discover Channel's reality series Pitchmen you soon learned that he had a big heart to go along with his big mouth.
Billy made a habit of testing new products himself and in friendly little focus groups to try to see if things really worked before putting his name behind them, and for the few products of his that I've tried--I have to say that his reputation is intact. Mighty Putty is currently fixing a leak in one of our bathrooms and Hercules Hooks hold several things up on our walls.
Mays was a small-time wares pitcher in New Jersey who worked his butt off and honed his skills until he became a nationally known celebrity for selling cleaning products. His was a great American success story and there is much to admire in his relentless drive. At least on the TV show, he seemed to have a successful and happy marriage (second time around) with a couple great kids. Thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to Billy Jr., Mrs. Mays, and his young daughter.
This evening I'll be lighting up a cigar in honor of Billy and imagining him walking up to St. Peter at the gates of heaven..."Hi, Billy Mays here!"
P.S. Just found this video this morning...what a fun guy...
Bag of Bones (1998) by Stephen King This novel starts with a trip to the store with Jo Noonan. Everything is going along great when she collapses and dies in front of the store, thus throwing a monkey wrench into the thought that she was meant to be the protagonist of this novel. Seriously, the first time I read this book, I was just starting to like and appreciate and care for this character when King went and killed her. Shocking start to what the back of the dust jacket of the original edition calls "A Haunted Love Story."
Jo's husband, Mike, is a famous author who falls into a period of writer's block after her death. He leaves the home they shared together and sets up shop in their lake-side cabin, which is named "Sara Laughs." And that's when more strange events start to occur, some natural, some supernatural.
Mike does battle with ghosts and with the living in a story that is moving and thrilling and masterfully paced. There are also some important tie-ins with The Dark Tower series. I will not reveal more of the plot here, but I will say that this is one of my favorite King books and probably the top book of his that has yet to be turned into a film. Some years ago, it was revealed that Bruce Willis' production company had optioned the film rights, but that he may not actually star in it. Currently, IMDB has Mick Garris slated to direct the film version; he has directed other King movies in the past including Sleepwalkers, Desperation, and The Stand.
Several months ago I saw a cigar-oriented blog do some reviews of cigar websites and thought it was an interesting idea. Then I started doing more consistent and thorough cigar reviews for the Tiki Bar and I started seeing how vastly different cigar company websites are. They can be high-tech or low-tech (Flash vs. HTML), but the bottom line with a website is simply this: usability. Does the website give you information in a clear and concise manner and remain simply to use, making you want to return in the future and tell other people about it. There are some heavy-hitters in the cigar industry that could do much better than they currently are in this area; thankfully, today I get to start by reviewing a company that is doing it right.
CAOCigars.com And I've picked an appropriate time to review this website since it is still "CAO Month" on the Tiki Bar Online blog. I will start right from the beginning and say that since I have moved to a rural area where "broadband" is a relative term, I uniformly hate Flash-based websites. They take too long to load, they are gimmicky, and they are difficult to navigate and have severe limits to usability. Well, I do not uniformly hate them anymore--CAO's website is a glowing example of how a Flash-based site can actually be a joy and not the world wide web's version of waterboarding.
To start off, even with my DSL-based connection, the CAO home page takes only 8 seconds to load. You are greeted by some familiar and friendly cigar bands, which take you to the page for those cigars if you click on them. There is a circle in the bottom right corner that rotates the view of cigar bands so you can view all their lines; you can also rotate through them using the right and left arrows below the largest band.
To the left is a hierarchical menu that hides until you roll your mouse over it. It can take you to the individual cigar lines as well as to other parts of the site that include Tim Ozgener's blog, an event calendar, and a swag shop. The cigar pages are where I have spent the majority of my time and that's where this review focuses.
Each cigar is introduced with an interesting little story that reveals the inspiration behind the cigars. You can then navigate to the "Anatomy" page to find out where each element (filler, binder, wrapper) originates from (general countries only, though, no specific areas of those countries), the "Packaging" page to see how the cigars are presented in the store, or the "Sizes" page to view all the different vitolas for that particular line--and there is a picture of each one along with the officially-rated sizes. This is a joy to find when trying to accurately describe the contents, size, and inspiration behind some of the best cigars on the market. The fact that each click is followed by just a second or two of delay is very nice as well; despite the fact that this is Flash-based and full of eye-candy, the individual pages end up loading as fast or faster than many HTML pages. Either the sizes are very well-managed or they are using some sort of pre-loading scheme; I don't care, though, all I know is that it works!
So what do I not like about CAO's website? The only thing that bugs me is that they rely on pop-up windows for Events, Ozblog, Newsletter, and other options. I really don't like it when a site insists on opening a new window to give me more information and I would prefer if they could just integrate these elements into the same fantastic design that they use for the cigar pages.
For the two people in the world who have no source of news (come to think of it, if they have no source of news...how would they be reading this blog?)...singer/entertainer/superstar/walking-freak-show Michael Jackson has died at 50. At the left is how I would prefer to remember Jackson...before he took on plastic surgery as a lifestyle and was accused of doing more than sleeping when he had boys in his bed.
Michael Jackson was a seriously talented musician, singer, and performer. There is no denying the power of Thriller and Bad and even Off the Wall and Dangerous were hit machines. I am saddened to hear of his passing, especially when he had not really fulfilled his potential for nearly two decades.
I am also struck by the contradiction that was his life, though. On the one hand, he wanted it all--the fame, the glory, the power. It was he (or his publicity machine, really the same thing) that crowned him "the King of Pop." He wanted people's adoration. He craved the fans acceptance and made a spectacle of himself everywhere he went. And then he started whatever processes that changed his appearance, making himself even more of a public spectacle. At the same time, however, he sang "Leave Me Alone," decrying the tabloids and snoopers. He truly wanted it both ways: to be the most famous man alive and have his privacy. But the real world just does not work that way.
At a certain point, you give up your right to a "real" private life when you put yourself in the public eye. It's like Sean Penn wanting to use his public standing as a pulpit to expound on his political beliefs, but punching out paparazzi when they dare to take his picture. It's like Barack Obama running for President and claiming that actions and words of his wife and/or pastor are out of bounds for political discussion or criticism.
Michael Jackson will be remembered for his music, but--sadly--I think that he will be remembered more for his strange, and possibly immoral and disgusting, behavior over the last 20 years or so. If you can find it in your heart to separate the man from the music, celebrate the music today and grieve for the wasted life the man led.
Holiday Press It's hard to know where to start with this stogie. I have always loved the CAO Cameroon line, so when I had the opportunity to get a rare "Holiday Press" I could not say no. The Cameroon is all Nicaraguan filler and binder with a Grade One African Cameroon wrapper. This particular vitola was produced to look like a bar of gold--trapezoidal in shape. The wrapper is quite beautiful on this cigar despite a few flaws--the veins are all visible, although hard to feel, making spiderweb designs that are awesome to look at. The feel of the wrapper is slightly velvety. The aroma from the body ranges from a touch of vanilla to powerful barnyard, while the aroma from the foot is sweeter with some dark chocolate. Other than that, the other prelight observation is...man, is that a big cigar! It is 7" in length and about 70 ring gauge at it's widest spot. Average thickness is closer to 60, but that still is going to mean about a 7" x 60, which is a seriously big cigar.
This one was hard to cut and light. Hard to cut because with so much surface area, it is hard to know where to begin. Hard to light because..well, because of so much surface area. The prelight draw was dark chocolate. After getting this baby fired up there was a sweetness and a creaminess not unlike caramel, and there was just a little spice on the lips after each puff. The smoke was medium in body and it did not seem like it would be all that strong, but there was a lot of tobacco in there.
During the first third, the flavors remained caramel with a little coffee on the finish. There was a drying to it, too, that made me thankful for the lightly sweetened iced tea that I enjoyed with this cigar. As expected, the biggest challenge was figuring out how to smoke this oddly-shaped creature. It was awkward, but fun, and I got plenty of smoking enjoyment.
In the second third, the coffee flavor because more predominant--not a strong, black coffee, though, more of a creamy, sweet coffee. I have not had one of these in a while and this was reminding me of why I always liked this line--it also made me want to pick up a few more of these at the next opportunity. I had over an inch of ash hanging on the end and was about to tap off when it fell, narrowly missing my tea--disaster averted!
The Holiday Press Cameroon continued to be flavorful all the way to the end. Although the regular vitolas of this stick are not know for their nicotine punch, with this much tobacco, it is almost a given--I had to put it down with about an inch left over. The construction of this cigar is pretty amazing. Although I can't say it burned perfectly evenly the entire time, it was even enough that when I tapped ash, it was not noticeably crooked. It would burn faster in some spots than others, but always seemed to catch up with itself. The fact that this odd bird smoked so evenly and so well is testament to the skills of the rollers. While I cannot really recommend this vitola because of its "limited" status, I can heartily recommend pretty much any of size in this line as a worthy smoke.
It is a generally reliable fact that movies based on video games are going to be garbage. Movies based on comic books have about a .500 batting average (for every Spiderman 2 or Dark Knight there lurks a Batman and Robin or Punisher). Movies based on amusement park rides fare no better than that and probably worse (Pirates of the Caribbean part 1 was pretty good...parts 2 and 3, much less so...and I won't even mention The Haunted Mansion...except I just did). Which brings us to today's topic...movies based on toys.
The first Transformers movie was, to me, hi-tech, mechanized action that was hard to keep up with (regarding who is fighting who because they all look alike) with very little in the way of plot that I gave a rip about. In other words, watchable (barely) but ultimately forgettable. Apparently the second installment makes the first one look almost Oscar-worthy:
Why do people bother? Because there's money to be made, of course! There are some people...there are some adults!...who will pay good money for this crap. And don't even get me started on what they've done with G.I. Joe. Apparently in the upcoming film version, Joe is not a "real American hero" team anymore, but a U.N.-based team. I guess that means they'll try to keep the peace with Cobra until Cobra Commander pulls out a nuke, then Joe will run the other way. Ridiculous.
Watchers (1987) Is this the firstDean Koontz book to feature a lovable golden retriever in a starring role? Maybe, maybe not. It is the first one of his that I read that features such a dog. How do I know? Because it was also the first book I read by the esteemed Mr. Koontz and, as such, began my abiding love for his fiction.
The dog in question here is Einstein, a super-smart dog that resulted from an experimental government lab. He is found in the wild canyons of Orange County, California by the hero of our story, Travis Cornell. This is another thing that attracted me immediately to this story; when I read Watchers I had just recently discovered Silverado and Black Star Canyons and found it to be fascinating how such a wild place could exist in the middle of one of the most populated areas in the country. Then I read this book and my imagination ran wild; I never got the chance to explore those canyons more before they were ultimately built up and then I moved away, but what an opportunity that would have been. (Note: there is still some wilderness area there, but the influx of homes, businesses and freeways has definitely taken away much of the mystery.)
Travis and Einstein are hunted by "The Outsider," another experiment by the government lab, but one that did not go so well. They are all hunted by the people that run the lab. It is a thriller with elements of science fiction and horror. It is one of Koontz's most beloved books as well.
Skip the lousy movie adaptation and its worse sequels, though; these are the movies that convinced Koontz to never give up artistic control of any project because Hollywood just does not know when to leave well enough alone.
Churchill, 6.875" x 48 ring gauge, $8.95 The CAO Maduro used to be known as the "L'anniversaire Maduro" and it still bears the dates 1968 and 1998 on the band. It shares this with the Cameroon, another anniversary blend, and at one point this was considered the top of CAO's offerings. Much has changed since that time--the world has just about completely moved on.
It is hard to say where the fault lies for the appearance of this cigar--it just is not good, though. The wrapper has a fairly serious cut in it (which I didn't notice at the time of purchase because of the cello wrapper) and the band seems too small by a size or two, making the rest of the stick look like it is bulging out. Other than that, the stick has a nice box press shape and a dark, oily wrapper with a well-done cap. The aroma from the body is vanilla and from the foot there is chocolate and some coffee. These last two flavors are also very evident in the prelight draw.
Initially, the smoke was heavy and full and the flavors were earthy with a decent amount of spice. The draw at the start was firm but not so much that it caused me to huff-and-puff heavily. That continued through the first third, but the overwhelming impression was that this is not a great cigar--funny, I remembered this being better in previous smokes.
It is rare to have a cigar turn so quickly, but this one got interesting--and much better--in the second third. The earthiness gave way to a much more pleasant nutty and leathery flavor with some maduro sweetness as an added bonus. It is disappointing, though, that I had to go through a third that I did not enjoy to get there.
In the last third, there was finally some of the coffee and chocolate that were hinted at in prelight (although that vanilla never made an appearance). Overall, it was a good-but-not-great cigar that I cannot see paying $9 for when there are so many other great sticks available at or below that price--and even several of them from CAO!
Misery (1987) by Stephen King "I'm your number 1 fan." Anyone who has read the book or seen the movie should be filled with dread upon hearing those words. I imagine Stephen King has grown tired of hearing them--either in jest or in all seriousness. This is a truly chilling book that was one of the first I read from King. At the time I wanted to be a novelist myself and it was easy to put myself in Paul Sheldon's shoes. Sheldon is the hero of our story here; he is the author or cheesy romance novels that pay the bills but leave him artistically unsatisfied. He has just finished a novel that relieves that artistic yearning and is ready to bury the other part of his career when he wrecks his car on a snowy road and falls into the hands of Annie Wilkes, his psychotic number 1 fan.
Annie makes him a prisoner while he recovers from his injuries and nearly goes ballistic when she finds out that Paul has killed off her favorite character. She burns his "art" novel and forces him to write a new novel featuring Misery Chastain, the character she has grown to love. And that's all the plot I will reveal.
What follows is an exercise in claustrophobia, paranoia, and outright fear. This is a riveting novel with hardcore sensibilities that had to get muted for the James Caan/Kathy Bates film. If you saw the film and got queasy--you ain't seen nothing yet! The book is eminently readable and even if it does not rise to the level of high art, it is one of King's most enduring stories--probably because it felt so personal to him.
One of the highlights of last year's Big Smoke, Las Vegas was the Saturday morning seminar session, which included a unique tasting event from CAO. Company president, Tim Ozgener, brought along sampling kits that featured short puro samplers of each of three ligero tobaccos that are featured in the LX2. 500 of us got to try it in November, but my friend and I were already smoking something else when that event got started, so we took our sampling kits home and smoked them the next week.
Earlier this year, Tim did the same type of tasting event for the members of the Nashville Cigar Club when they came to visit CAO headquarters. These proved to be so successful that he has elected to host a series of tasting events around the country, keeping the numbers small (about 50 or so max) so as to have time to spend talking one-on-one with everyone present. I got a chance to attend one at my local shop, Burns Tobacconist, last Thursday, June 11.
If you were paying attention, you would have noticed that I said there are three ligero tobaccos present in the LX2, which reportedly means: "Ligero times two." Tim was asked about this and he said that this was done to have the cigar name fall in line with the other "X2" cigars that CAO makes (MX2 and CX2); CAO likes to do things in 3's (Brazilia, Italia, America, for example).
The first puro was a fairly common piloto tobacco from the Dominican Republic. I found it to be nutty and earthy with just a little pepper on the retrohale. It was medium-bodied and the draw was absolutely terrible. The flavor was not bad, but it was rather bland. Later Tim let us in on the secret that this piloto tobacco was the balancing agent that allowed the second and third types of ligero to play well together.
The second puro was from the Esteli region of Nicaragua. Tim described the soil in this region as black and volcanic. The flavor I got was woody and spicy with a fuller body and a much better draw. There was also a bit of bitter cocoa flavor present. The oily nature of this one left a film in my mouth.
The third puro was also Nicaraguan, from the Pueblo Nuevo region, where the soil is more reddish. This tobacco was much sweeter, with strong cocoa and chocolate flavors and some spice on the finish. It was much more pungent and tended to get bitter after a few minutes.
Finally, we got to taste the combination of these three ligeros (plus some other fillers that were not mentioned) in the LX2 robusto. This is a superbly balanced cigar in which you can taste all of the elements present in the puros if you are paying attention. It was woody with hints of cocoa and just a touch of bitterness of some places.
After the tasting part of the event was over, Tim was good enough to stick around and talk to everyone, taking pictures and signing autographs. Included in the event price was a copy of Cigar Style, for which Tim wrote the forward. There's also a picture of him that he autographed for almost everyone present. One of the regulars/members at Burns is a painter and painted a beautiful rendition of one of CAO's ads featuring Tim; this was signed and will be showcased at Burns.
Everyone present also received a raffle ticket and to my astonishment--I won something! I cannot remember the last time I won anything at a cigar event raffle, but this time around I not only did win, but I won something I can really use: a very nice, bright red CAO ashtray (complete with a drawstring carry bag!).
If you have the time and this event happens at a location near you...you should stop everything you are doing and just go. Tim Ozgener is a very gracious host who will talk cigars with you all night if you let him (and, Tim, if you are reading this, say "thanks" to the Mrs. for allowing us to borrow you as late as we did).
Box Press, 5.5" x 55 ring gauge, $7.65 The MX2 is one of the first CAO cigars I can remember smoking. I loved its fullness of body and richness of flavor from the beginning, but the one thing I did not like about it was it propensity to have a lousy draw, reportedly due to the fact that it has a maduro binder in addition to the maduro wrapper, which hold more moisture longer and cause the cigar to draw poorly if not allowed adequate drying time. I was excited to see the new Box-Press shape for the MX2; that same shape has provided the best vitolas of Brazilia, Italia and America cigars.
The MX2 is composed of filler from Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Peru--combining sweet and spicy--a maduro binder from Brazil and a maduro Connecticut broadleaf wrapper. This cigar is seriously dark, like one of those extra dark, high cacao-content dark chocolate bars they have come out with. The wrapper is silky smooth with no prominent veins. The aroma from the body is hay and barnyard; from the foot there is semi-sweet chocolate. The unlit draw is firm, but not tight; the flavor was primarily cocoa.
Unlike some MX2s I have had in the past, this one was quite easy to light and the draw was good from the beginning. First flavor inpression was of black coffee, which is nice because that was what I chose to pair this stogie with. The Eight O'Clock Coffee French Roast and MX2 pair very, very well. During the first third, the cigar was full-bodied, drew well and burned evenly. When I tapped ash, it left a perfect cone in the middle--a sign that the stick was well-made. The flavors of coffee were augmented with some cocoa and just a little spice on the finish.
The second third progressed much as the first, except the spicy finish faded away. The smoke continued to be thick and heavy and the cigar packs plenty of punch in the strength department. Coffee is probably one of the better things I have ever drunk with an MX2, although adding a dash of whiskey (Jack Daniels or Maker's Mark spring to mind first) would not be unwelcome.
The last third of the cigar kept the promises made during the beginning--a full-bodied, strong smoke with plenty of flavor and complexity. The flavors became more leathery as it progressed, but never fully lost the coffee and cocoa notes. All in all, this is a great cigar with none of the draw issues that seem to be common in other MX2 vitolas. At under $8 per stick, it is also affordable as an everyday cigar.
Intensity (1995) by Dean Koontz Can one word sum up an entire novel? In this case, yes...absolutely, yes. This book starts off at a fast pace and each passing chapter ratchets up the action and...the intensity. Koontz is often known for the memorable heroes he creates (Odd Thomas, Christopher Snow, various golden retrievers), but here he creates a villain who is for the ages: Edgler Foreman Vess. Vess enjoys making anagrams with his name, my favorite of which is "God fears me."
The heroine in this story is Chyna Shepherd, someone who could have walked away from trouble, but risks who own like to try to aid a stranger. When Vess discovers her aboard his motorhome to hell, he doesn't let on, waiting to see what she will do and how it may amuse him.
This is a thrill ride of a novel and one that you might be tempted to read in one sitting if you have the time. At the time it came out, I believed it was one of Koontz's best and I hold to that opinion. The made-for-TV movie in 1997 was pretty decent as well, with John McGinley (known now for his work on Scrubs) as Vess.
Box-Press, 5.5" x 55 ring gauge, $7.60 The Brazilia is one of the most consistently tasty cigars in the CAO lineup and the Box-Press is the best size, at least in my opinion. The cigar is composed of Nicaraguan filler and binder, covered in a dark, rich Brazilian wrapper.
I have had a few of these before, so I know right off the bat that the appearance of this sample is not typical. It was somewhat mottled in appearance and actually appeared to be damaged to some extent--several rips and holes were evident as well as what looked like a cut from a razor blade. Like I said, this is not typical, so I will not hold this against it in the scoring. What is typical was the wonderful aroma coming from the body of the stogie--rich in dark chocolate and black coffee. There was also a composty, fresh earth smell to the foot. The prelight draw was easy and the flavor was sweet with some alfalfa and milk chocolate; a little spice lingered on the lips, too.
At the beginning, the predominant flavors were black pepper and wood. The first third continued much the same, with some coffee and dark chocolate notes popping up from time to time. The draw was uniformly great and the burn line stayed very even.
As the second third neared its end, the burn and draw were still fantastic and the flavors of coffee and bittersweet chocolate became more predominant. There was also still a lot of pepper in the flavor, owing, no doubt, to the Nicaraguan filler and binder.
Moving through the last third of the Brazilia, there was still a strong pepper component underlying the bitter flavors of strong black coffee and dark chocolate. Overall, the body of this cigar was in the full category through the entire burn, but the strength never got overwhelming. This is an easy full-bodied smoke to recommend to anyone except absolute newbiews to cigars; it would be an excellent cigar for a mild- to medium-bodied aficionado to move up to, and the price makes it very accessible.
Pinocchio, Snow White, and Superman are out for a stroll in town one day. As they walk, they come across a sign: "Beauty contest for the most beautiful woman in the world." "I am entering!" said Snow White. After half an hour she comes out and they ask her, "Well, how'd ya do?" " First Place!," said Snow White. They continue walking and they see a sign: "Contest for the strongest man in the world." "I'm entering," says Superman. After half an hour, he returns and they ask him, "How did you make out?" "First Place," answers Superman. "Did you ever doubt?" They continue walking when they see a sign: "Contest! Who is the greatest liar in the world?" Pinocchio enters. After half an hour he returns with tears in his eyes. "What happened?" they asked. "Who the hell is Nancy Pelosi?" asked Pinocchio.
Desperation (1996) Something horrible has crawled out of the ground at a sleepy, remote town in northern Nevada. The book opens with a couple traveling cross-county being stopped by the small town's sheriff; the sheriff is enormous in size and is acting strangely. "Tak!" He finds a reason to arrest them and take them to the jail where the real horror begings.
This book has at its core a device that King has worked to his advantage in many other books: a fight between something terribly evil and the ultimate good. Desperation is the book that made me aware of just how deeply King still holds to his Christian roots, even as he spreads death and destruction so wantonly throughout his fiction.
King's connection to God in this book is through a small boy, David Carver, who prays to and receives answers from God--and not some universalist, pan-theistic God, but the actual God of the Bible. I will not reveal any more of what happens in plot in this review, but suffice to say that the book attempts to answer the difficult question of "Why do bad things happen to good people?" And King does a better job answering the question than some theologians do; not that his answer is different from some, or even one-hundred percent correct, but it is a thought-provoking answer that satisfies the Constant Reader in me.
Word of warning: this book is one of the most graphically violent and visceral in King's oeuvre. If you don't like blood-and-guts, you should avoid this book!
This is the first my "Cigars for the Recession" semi-regular review feature series. The ground rules for these reviews will be different than on my regular reviews, the basic rule is this, though: all Cigars for the Recession will be available at $4 or less per stick. I won't be spending nearly the same time trying to describe every aspect, but will focus more on generalizations and grade on a curve based on the price point. I want to know if the cigar looks and smells nice before smoking. I want to know where it stands on body and strength. I want to know if it satisfied the urge to have a cigar. Most importantly, though, I want to know if the cigar was worth even the small price you have to pay for it. Hey, just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you have to smoke dog rockets! There are some great sub-$4 smokes around and I'm here to prove it.
Blue Label,Churchill, 7" x 50 ring This cigar has a nice smooth wrapper in a medium brown shade. You know, the wrapper looks nicer than a certain Rocky Patel that I paid about 6 times as much for! The aroma is nice without being terribly complex--I'd have to say "barnyard" is the best descriptor. The prelight draw is very easy and there seems to be a hint of dried berries. It lights easily and produces a good volume of smoke right from the start.
About a third of the way into the cigar, the body is right down the middle medium and the flavor is good, although somewhat nondescript. The biggest problem is the burn, which is quite uneven and has had to be corrected twice already. The ash is pretty crumbly (probably being made from short filler)--watch your lap or you might make an ash of yourself!
At the two-thirds point, the burn line is still having problems, but the cigar is showing itself to be a pretty good performer otherwise. Flavors throughout have been on the earthy/leathery side with a creaminess to the smoke.
I had to put this one down a little early because the rain started to invade the front porch, but so what...I only paid $2 for this little beauty. Is this a blockbuster smoke? No. It's good, though, and for two bucks I can definitely give it a strong thumbs up. I just checked the CI website and their price is quite a bit more than I paid for these (over $5 per stick), but if you watch the deal websites, you can get these for a lot less.
Perfecto, 6.25” x 52 ringEarlier in this decade, CAO introduced the first of its country-based smokes, the Brazilia; it has a beautiful, oily, dark Brazilian wrapper. It was followed up by the milder, but still tasty, Italia, and the feud was begun. Which was better: Brazilia vs. Italia? Eventually, someone had the bright idea to combine the two, so what I am reviewing today is a perfecto-shaped cigar with a beautiful barber-pole composed of both Brazilian and Italian wrapper tobacco. The question which shall remain unanswered, at least for now, is the composition of binder and filler—in case you didn’t know, the Brazilia and Italia are wildly different on the inside as well as the out. I should also point out that this cigar was a limited-edition release and may be very hard to find.Prelight, the appearance of the cigar was an enigma—the different wrappers don’t stand out as well as they do in some pictures I have seen, but you can definitely see them both. The surface of both was a little mottled, almost rough looking, although they did not feel rough to the touch. It had an almost-rustic look to it, which contradicts the perfecto shape, which requires a high level of skill to roll. The aromas from the wrapper were floral and woody; the prelight draw had a sweetness, almost honey or caramel.The initial light was easy because of the perfecto tip; the initial draw was tight for the same reason, but it eased up after just a few puffs. The early flavors for me were leather and earth, with just a touch of cocoa on the finish. The volume of smoke was more than adequate and the smoke itself was thick enough to easily blow smoke rings. If I had to say which cigar this reminded me more of at this point, I would have to say the Italia, although with a little more body and that touch of cocoa that comes with the Brazilia.I brought another country into the mix on this by paring this with the official libation of the U.S.A., specifically some Corner Creek Bourbon. This is a lighter bourbon without some of the bite of some of my other favorites; it also tends to lack a bit of the depth of flavor. It’s not a bad dram, though, especially considering I only paid about $12 per bottle when it was on close-out last year.After almost a third of the cigar, the earthy and leather characteristics were still predominant, but another flavor was coming on strong and I could not place it at first. It took a while, but I finally placed it as a floral component—quite the contrast to the heavier flavors of leather and earth. The body of the cigar was showing itself to be in the lower reaches of the full-bodied category.Two-thirds of the way through the stick the floral element had really come on strong. To the best of my memory, this is more characteristic of the Italia, so I am going to go out on a limb and guess that the filler/binder of this stick is more closely related to that line.Overall, this was an interesting experiment that you should try if you can get your hands on a Bratalia. In the fight raging within this cigar, the Italia won the day with an overwhelming floral note that proceeded to decimate the leather and earth by the end of the cigar. The cocoa notes that cropped up early on were gone quickly, never to return. Disappointingly there was not spice to be had at all, but it could be that this has sat in a humidor so long that all the spice that may have been there mellowed out and disappeared. The Italia may have won in this cigar, but my personal preference is still the Brazilia.Body: 7/10Strength: 5/10Complexity: 7/10AFP ScalePrelight: 1.5/2Construction: 2/2Flavor: 3/5Value: 1/1Total: 7.5/10
Odd Thomas (2003) Although this novel is just fine on its own, this entry is meant to consider and recommend the entire "Odd Thomas" series, currently at 4 novels: Odd Thomas, Forever Odd, Brother Odd, and Odd Hours. The books revolve around the title character of the first book and his supernatural abilities: Odd sees dead people. Unlike others who might run and hide from these spectres, though, Odd does something about it when he sees the dead. It may be a matter of trying to solve a murder or just hanging out with the ghost of Elvis until he can convince him to cross to the other side.
Odd is one of Koontz's most beloved and enduring characters. He is funny, startling, romantic (in the literary sense of the word) and gothic (again, in the literary sense). So far his adventures have taken him around the Southern California desert, up to the Sierra Nevada mountains and down to the Central California coast. I cannot say much more without revealing things that would be better left to Mr. Koontz's prose (as in...you reading the dang books!).
Also available is a graphic novel/manga titled In Odd We Trust, that told an interesting story, although in a style that I was not fond of. And on the Dean Koontz/Odd Thomas website, there are videos/webisodes that span the gap between the 3rd and 4th books.
Koontz has revealed that there will be an additional 3 Odd Thomas books. He knows where the story is going to end, just not exactly how Odd and Co. will get there. I would recommend getting acquainted with this truly unique character and you, too, will look forward to the next chapter in his odd life.
The Dark Tower Stephen King started writing what would become his magnum opus (in some people's minds) in 1970 and did not complete the series of seven novels until 2004. When asked about it, I have frequently referred to the story as a horror/fantasy/sci-fi/post-apocalyptic/western novel. It centers on the last Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and his journeys through a world that has "moved on" in search of the Man in Black and the Dark Tower that is at the center of all worlds.
In Roland's world, Gunslingers are like Knights and even draw from a lineage including Arthur Eld, who would be equivalent to our King Arthur legends. Roland is a highly-skilled defender of truth and justice...or at least he wants to be.
There are so many things to say about The Dark Tower that it is hard to know where to start and equally hard to know where to end--I would not want to give away any secrets or surprises to those who have not read the entire story. What is fascinating, though, is how King has woven the Tower into so many of his stories and how he has woven his stories into that of the Tower; such divergent tales as The Stand, 'Salems Lot, and Rose Madder are all connected with the story of the Tower. In some ways all of Stephen King's writings are connected...but that is saying too much.
I believe when King started this tale he never imagined that it would become what it did--7 books totaling over 4,500 pages. A story that was in danger of not being finished until King himself almost lost his life, inspiring him to complete what could be the finest work of literature by any author alive today. And, surprisingly, it's still not over...Marvel Comics has produced 3 series of comic books that examine some of the events already shown in Book 4 of the series, but adding some new life to the action. Also, the creation of a series of films or a television series is still being seriously discussed; the latest news there is that J.J. Abrams, Carlton Cuse, and Damon Lindelof (the trio behind Lost) will be working together on this project, with Lindelof writing the first film and Abrams directing. In this way, The Dark Tower is the gift that keeps on giving to those of us who consider ourselves "Constant Readers."
Boss, 7" x 56 ring, approx. $16 In what is likely the only collaboration of its kind, HBO contracted with CAO to create a cigar to celebrate their hit show, The Sopranos. This cigar had to be bold and strong in order to represent such a "tough guy" inspiration, so CAO used a blend of Nicaraguan, Dominican and Columbian tobacco for the filler, Honduran leaf for the binder and a dark, oily, super-rich Brazilian wrapper.
This cigar is intimidating in its appearance, long and thick with the very rich Brazilian wrapper--if a cigar can exude attitude, then surely this one does. The CAO website rates this as full-bodied and, honestly, the look of the cigar makes you think that this cigar does not even have to prove that assumption. The aromas form the body and foot of the unlit cigar are very faint, maybe just a little coffee there. The prelight draw is easy and tastes of coffee and dark chocolate, with just a little spicy tingle on the lips.
It was easy to see this was going to be a fun smoke--right from the beginning the body was full and the flavors were "in your face." There was strong coffee and semi-sweet chocolate with a decent amount of black pepper, too. If these sticks did not carry such a hefty price tag (probably owing in some part to the TV show tie-in), I could easily see this one getting in my regular rotation. It was bold and peppery right out of the barrel of the gun. I thought I probably should try to retrohale this beast, but I did it anyway--that is one way to experience a spicy blast! And come close to choking yourself in the process--this thing had some seriously powerful smoke.
At about a third in, the Sopranos Edition started taking on a leathery not. The retrohale was easier at this point and the pepper had died down quite a bit. The burn started to canoe at one point, but it did not get bad and eventually corrected itself.
After another third of the cigar had been put to rest, or sent to sleep with the fish, I was having a newfound respect and love for this cigar. The flavor was still on the leathery side, but with some spice popping up from time to time. The construction was simply fantastic--no draw issues, the one burn issue corrected itself and there was no tendency to unravel as I have experienced in many figurado-shaped stogies in the past. Even the tiny wrapper split that occurred did not run or affect the smoking enjoyment in any way.
Final thoughts--this is a great cigar! Full-bodied but not overpoweringly strong in the nicotine department. The flavors were bold right from the start and did not let up even as they changed. The one drawback, again, is the price. Unless someone makes me an offer I can't refuse, this will be relegated to the "special occasion cigar" status.
On other thought that occurred to me: how much longer will this cigar be made? The TV show that was in the inspiration for this smoke ended almost two years ago, and although its popularity is still high, I would not expect that to remain the case forever. Will this cigar end up being discontinued at some point? Will the blend be retains and repackaged when the deal with HBO is over? I hope that is the case. This is a great cigar and I would love to see it be a permanent part of the CAO line-up.
Quite a ways off the beaten track, far away from the lights and loud music of downtown Nashville, is an unassuming building that houses some very exquisite treasures. I speak, of course, of the headquarters of CAO Cigars.
When you walk into the building, you are faced with a very, very long hallway featuring objects and images from their past and present. First, you see the magnificent collection of Meerschaum pipes. Cano Ozgener first started in the tobacco-related businesses by perfecting a better stem for pipes. This eventually led to the company commissioning their own Meerschaaums, some of which are absolutely exquisite and that you would never want to smoke.
Next, Cano moved onto improving humidors. He did not actually make any, but bought beautifully hand-crafted boxes that he improved upon. Realizing that many cigar smokers many only buy one humidor in their lifetimes, and that some would never even buy one, he decided to move into the business of making cigars in the 1990s.
The CAO Cigar company started small and worked very rapidly up the ladder. Back in the beginning the cigars may have been good, but were not terribly consistent. That did not matter in the cigar boom years, but it did become very important later on, and that's when the company started to take matters into their own hands on a larger scale. Cano and his children,Tim and Aylin, began to take a very hands-on approach to the cultivation, fermentation, and hand-rolling of their tobacco creations, as documented in the video we got to watch at the end of the tour, "From Seed to Soul."
We did get to see the inner-workings of the headquarters building: the warehouse area that serves as a massive humidor, the offices where Tim and Jon Huber work, the studio where the graphic designer works his magic (being a graphics guy myself, I have to give mad props to CAO's graphic guru who comes up with some outstanding images and layouts). We finished up the tour in the "Escaparate," a octagonal room where they age some experimental blends as well as some blends that you might see exclusively at one shop (the MX3, for instance, which is only available at Draper's in Washington, D.C.). The walls are stacked high with rolled cigars...the smell walking in is just overpoweringly awesome...I could be very happy in there for a long, long time!
Outside the Escaparate is the lounge area with some very comfy chairs and sofas and out the door from there is a relaxation area surrounding a large fire pit. It was too warm to appreciate the fire pit the day we went, but I can see how it would be a great place to relax with a smoke on a cool spring or autumn evening.
Our hostess, Susie, was everything a company should hope for in a "brand ambassador." She was very informative and positive about CAO while not criticizing any other company's offerings--she had the confidence that her company's products could stand up to anyone else's. She was kind and generous to us and if anyone in a position to grant it reads this...she deserves a raise! :)
So, the lesson is this: it pays to get to know your local CAO rep. Because my friend, Keith, hangs out in the same local shop as the rep from his area, he got to know him well enough that the rep arranged for us to take this tour. For that many thanks are due to that rep, who shall remain nameless here (hey, I don't want everyone bugging him for the tour!). If you ever get the chance to go, though, this was a great place to spend an afternoon.
Epiphany, 6" x 50 ring As we kick off CAO month here at the Tiki Bar Online, I have to admit that there a few CAO sticks that have never made my regular rotation for one reason or another...and this is one of them...and the reason is price. Even online and buying by the box, these cigars cost over $10 a stick and they tend to run about $15 or so at your local B&M.
So, besides the fancy humidor box with the cool blue neon lights, what's so special about this stogie? It has filler from Brazil, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic along with a Dominican binder and wrapper. The wrapper is aged for 4 years and the write-up online evokes the memories of Einstein, Leonardo da Vinca, and MLK Jr. for its "Vision" name. The is positioned as CAO's premium smoke. If you want further evidence of that, look no further than the shiny pearlescent band--like a Caddy's paint job--and the secondary band with the cigar's serial number--just in case someone tries to counterfeit it.
The wrapper is smooth and virtually blemish-free. There are no prominent veins. The aroma from the body of the stick is lightly woody; from the foot I pick up a little leather. The aromas just are not that strong in either area, though. Both the CAO website and their video "From Seed to Soul" emphasize the fact that they draw test every cigar, so it comes as no surprise that this cigar has an excellent prelight draw (of course, this might be a bad time to mention the frequent draw issues I've had with MX2s...). The flavors prelight are light and sweet, maybe a little leather and nuts, but very faint.
With the first few puffs, the flavors are woody and nutty. The nuttiness comes through even better on retrohaling (blowing smoke out through the nose); this is an easy cigar to retrohale, too, with almost no burn in the sinuses. The smoke is thick, luxuriant, and creamy. CAO's website rates this as a medium-to-full bodied smoke, but I couldn't see that at the start--more of a mild-to-medium at this stage, exhibiting the smooth and creamy qualities that I enjoy most in a milder smoke.
Near the end of the first third, the cigar began to canoe a bit, but a small touch-up corrected it. As the cigar burned its way into the second third, the flavor was more of the roasted nuts, while the woody quality had dissipated. The smoke was still very creamy and would be great for blowing smoke rings if it hadn't been breezy on the patio.
As the second third winds down and the last begins, I finally got what I was hoping for--some spice to prove the existence of the Brazilian and Nicaraguan tobacco in the blend. Not a lot of spice, mind you, but a nicely balanced bit of heat on the finish.
As this cigar finished, it showed some great consistency and plenty of complexity: it stayed uniformally good throughout while providing enough flavor change to remain interesting. The body and strength were both on the mild-to-medium side and I can recommend this to anyone, even the occasional smoker. The only drawback to this cigar that I can find it the relatively high price of admission.
For those many people out there who insisted in the weeks after his victory in November that Obama would govern "from the middle" as well as the 2 people in the country that still believe that, it's interesting to hear what Comrade Hugo Chavez has to say on the matter:
"Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right."
Dark Rivers of the Heart by Dean Koontz (1994) There are other novels by Koontz that have had more acclaim and other characters he has created that went on to longer fictional lives through sequels, but Dark Rivers of the Heart holds a special place in my heart. I think what makes it special is that it is somewhat of a transitional novel from Koontz as a horror writer to Koontz as a suspense writer. Before Dark Rivers he wrote Phantoms, Watchers, Darkfall and Cold Fire, all novels with a strong supernatural element. This was one of the first written under his own name (instead of one of his many pseudonyms) in which the story is told without reliance on supernatural phenomena--it is simply a ripping good yarn!
One of the other things that has attracted me to this book over the years has been the bad guy--a perfectly evil government agent with no conscience. This is the first of Koontz's books that I can remember in which he shows a proclivity for showing the government as corrupt and overbearing and I think this is where his conservative/libertarian side started showing.
Of course, the book does include one of Koontz's most overused elements--the heroic dog sidekick--but I won't hold that against him here. The hero is Spencer Grant who is looking for a woman named Valerie Keene. In his search, he gets caught up in her troubles with a shadowy government agency which is trying to capture or kill her...and now him. One of the massively exciting pieces in the book is the chase through Las Vegas in a thunderstorm that turns eventually turns into...well, I can't tell everything, you'll just have to pick up the book.
Needless to say, this is a very well-paced, exciting book that presaged other page-turners like Intensity and Velocity. This one was optioned for a television movie back in the mid-90s, but the deal fell apart somewhere on the way--the movie was never made.
Robusto, 5.5" x 54 ring The Kristoff Maduro is a dark, rustic-looking cigar with large prominent veins all over the toothy wrapper. The head has a pigtail and the foot is finished in shaggy fashion. The stick I smoked was mostly firm to the touch and I found the dual band had an understated classy appearance; the low-contrast printing on a heavy, textured paper stock was a little thing that was very impressive to me.
The prelight aroma from the body was faint to the point of non-existent. From the foot there were aromas of chocolate and leather. The prelight draw was easy without being loose and the flavors were chocolate or cocoa with jut a little spice on the lips.
The lighting took some work because of the shaggy wrapper leaf--the next time I smoke one of these, I will just remove that portion. The flavors after lighting were predominantly black pepper and dark-roast coffee, with just a bit of bitter cocoa. The reviews I glanced at before smoking called this a medium-bodied smoke, but I would have to say medium-to-full based on the first few minutes.
After about three-quarters of an inch, the body mellowed a bit and the flavor turned more toward the bitter, strong coffee aspect while losing any pepper or spice. The draw was not tight, but it did not feel like I was getting a huge amount of smoke of the cigar.
After the first third was done...have I mentioned that this cigar was bitter? Yes, there was a little sweetness in the middle, but overall, the bitterness wins. Not in a bad way, mind you, just not my favorite flavor profile. It was definitely good, but so far not destined to become one of my favorites.
Deep into the second third, the bitterness abated somewhat (finally!) and some spice returned on the finish. The flavor change finally showed some real complexity and showed that the cigar might be redeemable after all.
As I headed into the home stretch, I was pleased with this cigar if not really blown away. I would give it another chance to see if another sample would be better (rather than bitter) over all and I would like to try the other wrapper option (Corojo).
I almost saved this for the "Friday Funnies" but then realized that Michael Moore doesn't think he's being funny. The sad turd-sicle actually thinks he's is being intelligent and witty when talking about the death of General Motors.
The reality is, Mr. Moore, it was union-pushing maggots like yourself that helped to kill the General. When GM could not compete with the higher quality of the Japanese rivals, the unions were the ones primarily to blame. People like yourself and the union stooges you support actually pushed through a tariff on foreign cars in the early '80s after it became evident that American-built cars were going to be in trouble. So the foreign companies started making the cars here to get around that tariff. They paid their workers a fair wage, but said "No" to the UAW and were thus able to save a great deal of money. In the end, the American-built "foreign" cars still ended up costing more than the American makes (some of which ended up being made in Canada or Mexico) and people still flocked to them--Honda and Toyota never had to offer cash-back incentives until the last year or two when everyone started having trouble.
As far as "building cars people want," who does Mr. Moore think he's kidding? As soon as gas prices went up, people bought smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. As soon as the prices fell again, they flocked back to mid-sized SUVs, making the Ford Explorer one of the top sellers for 2008 (in a year that became synonymous with $4/gallon gas). In Moore's dream, some Obamite bureaucrat will decide the cars people want to buy--or, more accurately, the cars you will buy!!!
It is a sad day for America when one of our mightiest companies fall victim to the faltering economy, but let's not be fooled about what caused this or the culprits most to blame. GM's management has not done themselves any favors for years, but the unions and their craven lickspittle's, like Micheal Moore, were and remain the real problem.
I am declaring June 2009 officially "CAO Month" here on the Tiki Bar Online. I have scheduled reviews of CAO cigars every Tuesday (except for tomorrow) and Thursday through July 2, concluding with the America Bottlerocket (one caveat here: I haven't purchased all the cigars I intend to review so it is possible that one or two could end up not making it when scheduled). I am also planning two special features: one on the tour of CAO headquarters I was recently privileged to go on; the second on the LX2 tasting with Tim Ozgener that I will be attending on June 11. So let's have some fun, smoke some cigars, and celebrate the only major cigar brand whose headquarters is in the great state of Tennessee!
Anyone who knows me well knows I like to read...a lot. I have read just about anything I could get my hands on most of my life. I enjoy books about musicians, books and magazine and website about politics, car magazines...the list goes on and on. When I get the time to devote to a novel, though, is when I really enjoy the gift of reading, and the two novelists that I have enjoyed most over the past 20 years or so have been Stephen King and Dean Koontz. For the next 5 weeks I will be presenting one novel (or series of novels) by each man, King on Mondays, Koontz on Wednesdays. Call this my "recommended reading list" for these two fantastic authors. This time around, I am starting with the best from either...
The Stand by Stephen King (1978, 1990) King's classic tale of ultimate good versus evil was first published in 1978 as his fourth novel. He had an unproven track record at the time so his publisher forced him to cut the novel by several hundred pages. It took another 12 years before he could get the full "unexpurgated" edition published. As one who has read both versions, I have to say that in this case bigger is most definitely better.
The novel starts with a section in which about 99 percent of the world's population is killed through the accidental release of a super-flu from a military installation. The deaths are chronicled in truly horrifying fashion by King whose descriptive powers are unparalleled. After the death of most of the world, the survivors line up behind two figures: Randall Flagg and Mother Abigail.
Mother Abigail talks to God and He talks to her. God leads the people who are more predisposed to good to her and she leads them to Boulder, Colorado where they will begin rebuilding their world.
Randall Flagg is the devil, or at least Satan's man in this world. He collects the convicts, firebugs, and corrupt in Las Vegas and sets up a reign of terror which includes crucifying his enemies on telephone poles. He is also King's ultimate villain, appearing as himself or other slightly altered forms of himself in Eyes of the Dragon and The Dark Tower.
"The Stand" of the title is what good people have to do when confronted with evil: they must stand against it. This is a great book and it did make for a great television movie mini-series, which I can also recommend.
Bomba, 6" x 50 ring gauge, $8.95
