Silliness: a cigar-off
I've been experimenting with cigars lately, a new thing for me. Tonight I round-robin'ed three of different brands in order to decide which I like the best.
These three specimens are of similar price, and are what I, in my ignorance anyway, would consider mid-level cigars.
The first, a Torano "Reserva Selecta Madura" (top; multiple countries), was the least surprising, with a smooth, somewhat mild taste for a madura. Pretty good, but not intriguing.
The second, a Padron "3000 Madura" (middle; Nicaragua), had an unexpected harshness. I have to admit I snipped it too far, so the draw was very fast, but even accounting for that it had an overwhelming, superficial, spicy blast to it. I'm exagerrating a little; it was not horrible, but I wonder what the fuss is about.
The third, an Avo Uvezian "Domaine 60" (bottom; Dominican Republic), was the pearl. It's somewhat sweet scent first threatened to turn me off, but as it turned out this aspect was mild and a welcome contributor. Like the Torano, the Avo was smooth and approachable, but it also contained a deep, rich flavor, not unlike a very good cup of coffee, with an indescribable, transcendent yumminess that reminds you why we have vices anyway.
If it sounds ridiculous to smoke three cigars in one night, that's because it is, and I in fact cheated and put each stogie out after sampling for several minutes, lopped the burned end off, and returned it to a plastic bag for later usage. Aficianados would no doubt scoff at this: the hot smoke would have dried out the remaining tobacco, spoiling the flavor of any "seconds." But I am neither enough of a smoker to finish three in one sitting, nor enough of a man of substance to toss away half a cigar.
No animals were harmed researching this blog post -- the Torano web site did throw an unhandled ADODB exception, however.
These three specimens are of similar price, and are what I, in my ignorance anyway, would consider mid-level cigars.
The first, a Torano "Reserva Selecta Madura" (top; multiple countries), was the least surprising, with a smooth, somewhat mild taste for a madura. Pretty good, but not intriguing.
The second, a Padron "3000 Madura" (middle; Nicaragua), had an unexpected harshness. I have to admit I snipped it too far, so the draw was very fast, but even accounting for that it had an overwhelming, superficial, spicy blast to it. I'm exagerrating a little; it was not horrible, but I wonder what the fuss is about.
The third, an Avo Uvezian "Domaine 60" (bottom; Dominican Republic), was the pearl. It's somewhat sweet scent first threatened to turn me off, but as it turned out this aspect was mild and a welcome contributor. Like the Torano, the Avo was smooth and approachable, but it also contained a deep, rich flavor, not unlike a very good cup of coffee, with an indescribable, transcendent yumminess that reminds you why we have vices anyway.
If it sounds ridiculous to smoke three cigars in one night, that's because it is, and I in fact cheated and put each stogie out after sampling for several minutes, lopped the burned end off, and returned it to a plastic bag for later usage. Aficianados would no doubt scoff at this: the hot smoke would have dried out the remaining tobacco, spoiling the flavor of any "seconds." But I am neither enough of a smoker to finish three in one sitting, nor enough of a man of substance to toss away half a cigar.
No animals were harmed researching this blog post -- the Torano web site did throw an unhandled ADODB exception, however.
posted by Brad Williams @ 11:59 PM
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