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The manager of the Geneva store told me that these were made exclusively for the store. they weren’t messing around either. Hands down the best non-Cuban Davidoff I have ever smoked.

Siglo VI. Sweet and biscuity.

Rafael González Panetelas Extra - circa 2024 (thanks @Luca) ...

How I'd love to know what he knows about the current state of the Coprova... I know they don't get to choose HSA's policy but rarely has a company disrespected as much its own customers as it has for the last couple of years. All the more considering the French market had been one of the most profitable for Cuba for decades 🥲

CoRo - EBM NOV 17

With our Prime Rib and all the fixings for our Christmas dinner. Always a good choice.

The take of Bathie (giving account of / quoting Belaubre):

Yeah, we get enough of this c**p in the spring. Let winter be winter.

For whatever reason my street, the snow packed down instead of plowed. Technically do the plow the road, but my street is pure white packed. Looks like it could be scene from a James Bond movie. Been driving the Miata due to it warming up quicker which adds an element of fun leaving the house.

Nice write up, I have been enjoying mine as well. I think I received them about 6 months ago and they have improved, although now its becoming colder here so they will probably be sitting at least 3-4 months until the next smoke.

Couldn't agree more about being reserved for a time of relaxation. I too have smoked this while doing stuff around the garage and there are so many nuances its easy to miss if not sitting down. Great write up and review!

One of my favorites for sure!

I like the five pack, don't care for the price though!

Nothing like the 6:30am dog walk, pitch black, pouring rain. Dog wants to take his time. Soaked to the bone, freezing and I haven’t even had my first cup of coffee. Ah Chicago winters!

Well, actually there's only one man that could clear this up, maybe, Gilbert Belaubre. The Ministry and SEITA's offices were both on the Quai d'Orsay so I'm not even 100% sure Mr Belaubre could tell... https://www.houseofgrauer.com/fr/blog/2022/01/quai-dorsay

The snow is falling, the fattest cat is asleep on my lap and the wife is 4,000 miles away with the grand children and their new karaoke machine. Somebody must be truly evil to give such a gift. I wish I had thought of it. Happy Holidays to all of you.

'24 Reyes. Finally able to smoke after a week with the flu! Silver lining is a reset for my palate.

Quote: "led to the creation of Quai d’Orsay, which is named after the neighborhood in Paris, on the Seine River, where SEITA’s offices were located" I'm sure that Quai d'Orsay is named meaning France's Ministry for Foreign Affairs not location of SEITA offices. Ltte

The cities around hear have tons (literally) of rock salt that they spread behind the plows. It works pretty well on the roads. I love clearing the snow and the black driveway warms up fast in sunlight to really clean it up fast. Kind of a neighborhood challenge for cleanest snow clearing job. Right now it’s 40 and raining. I’d rather it was 10 and snowing every day.

FOH Puro Desnudo N8 Churchill Lusi meets Sir Winston? That would hook me. Paired with: Nothing Setting: Daufuskie Island afternoon beach walk looking for shark teeth, December 23rd Foot: Forgot to get a photo of the foot. Looked well rolled. Smelled like wet tobacco and sour raisin. Cold Draw: Resistance is right where you want it. Flavor wasn’t my favorite just because it reminded me of the cold draw on pepper bomb non-Cubans. 1st Third: Cream and wood. Color, wrapper, toothy ash and flavor reminiscent of a 2014 box of Fonseca I have at home. Great smoke volume. Smooth and mild. 2nd Third: Cream and wood evolving into something milk chocolatey like Cadbury creme. Very pleasant aroma. My wife walked over to say how nice the cigar smelled. Final Third: More of the same on flavor but with darker notes. Roasty, woody, black coffee, hint of the creamy sweetness on the finish. A lady walking by on the beach from upwind stopped to say she was glad I was having that cigar because the smell had been making her nostalgic as it drifted down the beach. No shark teeth (a theme for the week), but this was an enjoyable, all around, all day worthy cigar. I did not get any Lusi or Sir Winston out of this. More Fonseca and Montecristo, but this was the first one and almost ROTT. The quality control on the construction made this something I would keep near the front of the humidor as a grab-and-go. Headed out for a weekend trip? Grab 3 and head out. I gifted half of mine and had 2 people reach out to highlight the draw and construction. I would like to stock up on these if some cash opens up. Final Score: 91 almost ROTT

If you go to Bern canton, the Swatch HQ looks really cool.

India has the population size (1.4 billion) to overcome any tariff consideration on Bourbon. There's never been a concerted effort to really build the market there. Same with a handful of other cherished American food/drink items, but that is a for another thread.

Just a further update. It wasn't actually hugely high up top. It reached 70% maybe for a maximum of 30 minutes. Judging by my past posts you'd know I'm a super perfectionist. The fans helped lots. I'd like timed fans on a battery, but as far as I know they don't exist, only rechargeable fans. @PigFish hasn't responded to my emails asking to buy his timed fans, so I ended up buying fans from Canada Humidor here attached to a manual mechanical timer. They turn on for 5 minutes very hour. I had tried many different times, and 10 minutes made the difference. The top shelve stays at 70% for 1 minute every hour. I literally spent weeks trying different times and everything. I finally found the perfect time and as I said - it was 10 minutes. Every shelf stays at a perfect 20°C and 65% RH. I also bought a electric water pump to drain water every 6 months. It's better than their thing. Faster, too. I still buy distilled water. I'm thinking of getting a water distiller as I also use a CPAP machine. A CPAP can use tap water but calcium buildup from tap water can be a problem. I did notice calcium buildup from CPAP and scrubbed it out, so buying a distiller will save me money - I just need to make the calulations on how long it will take to save money. TL;DR, buy a Raching if you - like me - want a perfect system. Mines not had any troubled for over 8 years, but I have bought spare parts incase it does. I have constant contact with the manufacturer and the sales representative on Wechat. No comments on Eurocave as I don't have one, but from what) hear they are perfect. Leibherr, etc. They have failed. My brother is very clever, has a Mechanical Engineering degree with first class honours and helped me. I also have a family friend who is a carpenter that did some mods to the shelving to help with airflow on the shelving. Beer being the currency of Australia made things very cheap 😅. In the end, my personal humidor project Hasa Diga Eebowai. Sistema 7L tupperware with 65% Boveda makes it perfect. Used for excess.

C&C time.. From our gracious host.