Cigars

The Egypt Shrine Humidor Club is meeting at Cigar Castle on Wednesday May 22nd. Come and enjoy good conversation and fellowship, while enjoying a cigar and a drink. Everyone is welcome both Shriners and non members and of...

The Rocky Patel II-XXVI is the newest small batch line from Rocky Patel Cigars. It was made to commemorate Rocky Patel’s birthday which is 2/26, or in roman numerals II-XXVI. The line has 3 vitolas, a robusto, a toro, and a torpedo, and is limited to 1000 20-count boxes in each size. The boxes themselves are upscale and attractive, with a stunning black and white lacquer “piano” finish. For this review I am sampling the Robusto size of the Rocky Patel II-XXVI. Make sure to check out Rocky Patel on Facebook, on twitter (@RockyPatelCigar), and check out their website here. Size: 5 x 50 Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Binder: San Andres Mexican Filler: Brazilian Mata Fina, Nicaraguan (Condega, Jamastran Valley, and Ometepe) Strength: Medium to Full Body: Full Flavor: Full Cigars Smoked For Review: 3 Construction and Appearance: The Rocky Patel II-XXVI features two bands. The main band has the regular Rocky Patel RP logo in the center in black on white. The rest of the top band is a series of checkered grey and silver squares on a while background and has a nice modern feel to it. The second band has a silver and black border, is white in the center, and has “II-XXVI” written in black in the middle. The wrapper of the Rocky Patel II-XXVI is absolutely gorgeous. It is seamless in construction and has few visible veins. The wrapper has a very rich oily look to it.  The cap is nice and tight and very neat. The cigar feels heavy in hand and there are no soft spots that I can detect. Flavor and Notes: The wrapper of the Rocky Patel II-XXVI has notes of sweet chocolate, coffee, and a light spicy rye. The foot has the scent of chocolate cake (that actually is the first thing I could smell specifically, not just chocolate, but chocolate cake), earth, hay, and coffee. To prepare smoking the Rocky Patel II-XXVI I choose a straight cut. On the cold draw there are flavors of sweet cocoa, espresso, earth, and a little wood. Smoking Characteristics: The Rocky Patel II-XXVI kicks off with a rich white pepper and a mix of spices with a touch of a bittersweet dark chocolate in the first few puffs. After the first few puffs the pepper and spice calm down. They are still present in the blend, but now the primary flavors are bittersweet chocolate, oak, and espresso. The draw is excellent with the perfect amount of resistance and each puff providing a nice full body of smoke. The smoke is smooth and cool with a touch of sweetness on the finish. In the first third the strength is just above medium. Into the second third of the Rocky Patel II-XXVI, the white pepper has become a very subtle undertone along with the spice. The chocolate flavor is now much sweeter and has lost some of the bitterness with the espresso and oak remaining. The lack of evolution and complexity I have experienced at this point is completely overshadowed by the boldness and richness of the flavor. Each note in the blend is well defined and come together for a wonderful overall profile. The strength remains at just a bit over medium at this point, but has increased slightly from the first third. The burn has required one small correction, and the ash holds firmly well past the inch point. During the final third of the Rocky Patel II-XXVI, the spice returns to the flavor profile blending well with the rich sweet chocolate, espresso, and oak. Likewise in this third, the white pepper returns, except it only lingers on the palate along with a bit of dark chocolate, providing an excellent finish. The strength in this third increases to the medium to full range, allowing for a nice buzz to set in. The draw remains excellent, easily providing a full body of the rich, cool, smooth, creamy smoke. The ash remains very firm, and the burn requires no additional corrections. The Rocky Patel II-XXVI smokes cool to the nub, remaining quite firm. Conclusion: The Rocky Patel II-XXVI is easily my favorite offering from Rocky at this point in time. The flavor profile, w

I'm all about supporting the small business, especially local. I've noticed that my local B&M doesn't have some of the more sought after sticks these days. With the recent release ... Read Full Post

Happy Sunday my fellow Brothers of the Leaf! I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s day and treated the mothers in their life right. Now it is time to look forward to the next holiday, Memorial day. Like everyone else I can’t wait to kick it off, and just went out and bought a whole new set of patio furniture so I can kick back and relax. Once again it is time for the Sunday Links, where I assemble my favorite stories from other cigar blogs and post them here just for you. Seth over at Seth’s humidor posted a review of the Viaje Zombie Super Shot, check it out. The guys over at Casas Fumando posted about the Drew Estate Cigar Safari for 2013, read about the third day here. Shawn over at Nice Tight Ash posted another “Smoked up” where he does quick reviews on several cigars, take a look.

CigarStash.com - the ultimate cigars shopping tool! Post from CigarInspector.comSunday’s Cigar Cartoon: “tupperware party”

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.” Lately I’ve been really enjoying smaller format smokes and the Tatuaje Petite Cazadores Reserva has long been one of my favorites of the genre. The 4 x 40 parejo has an unfinished foot, an deep brown Connecticut broadleaf wrapper, and Nicaraguan binder and filler. It’s full of flavor and complexity with dry chocolate, earth, coffee, pepper and good balance. Best of all it’s available for under $4 if you stock up on a whole box. Verdict = Buy. -Patrick S photo credit: Stogie Guys

Guy Stuff – Cream of Smoked Turkey & Wild Rice Soup Back on the smoker this time, I show you not only how to make the main event for this recipe, but how to pull off the best damn Thanksgiving turkey you’ll ever have Just don’t try and compete with the wife or mom, you’ll piss them off when your turkey goes first! SUPER easy to make you can use any kind of basting you wish, I prefer a good beer, using Samuel Adams Boston Lager here, with some olive oil and italian seasoning. I think it adds just enough punch without becoming to prominent. If you haven’t had real wild rice before in soups or dishes (you probably aren’t from the mid-west) you’re in for a treat! It has a creamy, rich hearty flavor built in, delivering the core to this taste. The smoke from the turkey and all the veggies just keep building layers, you’ll be making this one again! It’s really easy to make, just not cheap. To make this you’ll need: Turkey – fresh NOT frozen Parsley Celery Carrots Green Onions Mushrooms Whole wheat flour Wild Rice Non-fat greek yogurt Fat-free low-sodium chicken broth Poultry rub of your choice Beer or liquid of your choise Olive oil

Google engineers talk fragmentation, how to make Android work for emerging markets: Thi… bit.ly/14ikXaN TweetButlers.com Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share via MySpace share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Tell a friend The post Google engineers talk fragmentation, how to make A… appeared first on CigarsEtc Blog.

I get this question so much I had to make a video – even though it’s nothing magic! It’s kinda like doing touchups – there is so much mystery, myth and pure bullshit about the subject people just think there’s more to it than there really is. So here’s all it takes in a nutshell. But cooler. Wash Cooler. Dry cooler. Put in cigars, the more the better, including boxes. Use good beads. Enjoy! ANYTHING else is your personal choice, but nothing else is needed to function. I’ve been running this configuration for many years. The last 600+ reviews have been out of this exact setup.

Editorial: Apple’s billions are building an empire for the future: Given that Apple now… bit.ly/17Mf0aa TweetButlers.com Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share via MySpace share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Tell a friend The post Editorial: Apple’s billions are building an empire… appeared first on CigarsEtc Blog.