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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 clearng 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 rechargable fans. @PigFish hasn't responded to my emails asking to buy his timed fans, so I ended up buying fans from Canda 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 carptenter 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.

Looks like you have heated roads and drives! I hate the cold. Especially when it's prolonged.

A classic Christmas smoke for me... 1/3 - Icing sugar, Almonds and Marzipan 2/3 - Goes savoury and a real red pepper sauce over steak flavour (a bit odd haven't had this happen before) 3/3 - Ah here we are. Christmas cake/ pudding, panettone dunked in cappuccino, baking spices... Tails off into coffee/ cocoa/ marzipan flavours and is nubbed with delight. Paired very well with some Dead Reckoning Rum.

A couple of weekends ago I stood in 18 degree F temps for hours for a chance to snag some highly allocated stuff, and I wasn’t alone. There was probably 500 other people there. In the top ten numbers called, half of the people appeared to be flippers. Just SAD. Greed is what will kill it, greed from the flippers and greed from the producers boosting prices and limiting stock. Plenty small places going broke already.

Juan Lopez No. 2 ESU ABR 23 Super Solid 92-93 point cigar! Lovely citrus notes with heavy notes of cream, leather and cocoa. Also small hints of Chocolate. Draw and burn were great. If I could, I would smoke these everyday.

I have a box of 2019 and getting very creamy smoke as well! Awesome review and reminds me that I need to smoke another soon!!

Killer cigar. Started creamy and mild. Progressed to. . .more creamy and. . .medium. Very complex. Fruit rolled into woody and, yes, more creamy and citrus/fruity. Incredibly well constructed. Musty, aged tobacco with bright floral/ citrus; light earthy. No pepper (thank God). Love these.

Old Avion (t110 blend). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ha! Very much so. When I started taking cigars seriously, for my own sake to narrow in on what I like, I didn't want to score them subjectively so I came up with this. Admittedly it’s kind of harsh but it works for me. You don’t see it here, but I have descriptions for score ranges in each of the categories as a cheat sheet so its actually worse than it looks too! I don’t use it every time but mostly when I’m trying to get a baseline for something new or revisit something I haven’t had in a while.

Your social style must be analytic with this scoring system! Love it and love the HU#2! Great description of the wonderful experience this cigar can bring!

H.Upmann No. 2 RAT SEP 20 🔸 PRE-LIGHT Appearance: Medium brown, satin wrapper, minor veins and seams; no soft spots Aroma: pleasant barnyard Cold Draw Notes: earthy, milky cocoa, raisin ⸻ 🔥 FIRST THIRD Flavors: bready, nutty, creamy - exceptionally smooth and pleasant; bakery like Body: mild + Strength: mild + Draw: perfect Retrohale: very smooth, similar flavors, zero spice or irritation Construction: slightly wavy burn line at first, slowish burn rate, nondescript ash ⸻ 🔥 SECOND THIRD Flavor Transitions: no transitions, same smooth rich flavor Body: medium Strength: medium Retrohale: no different notes, smooth Balance: smooth and creamy Construction: good overall; couple relights but I was doing work outside and not puffing enough to keep it lit ⸻ 🔥 FINAL THIRD Flavor Transitions: no transitions, a bit richer Body: medium Strength: medium Retrohale: same Harshness/Heat?: none Nicotine Effect: medium Construction: same as second third; couple relights but not due to the cigar ⸻ 🧠 FINAL IMPRESSIONS Dominant Flavors: bready, nutty, creamy; very relaxing and smooth. What I expected flavor wise, except maybe this one was more linear than I was hoping. Very enjoyable but should be reserved for a time of relaxation, not doing work in the garage ⸻ 🧮 COMPOSITE SCORE (100-POINT SCALE) 1. Appearance (5 pts) Score: 4/5 2. Burn & Draw (15 pts) Score: 13/15 3. Flavor (Balance & Complexity) (25 pts) Score: 20/25 4. Body & Strength Integration (10 pts) Score: 9/10 5. Finish / Aftertaste (10 pts) Score: 9/10 6. Enjoyment / X-Factor (15 pts) Score: 13/15 7. Aroma (Pre-light & Retrohale) (5 pts) Score: 4/5 8. Consistency Across Thirds (15 pts) Score: 14/15 TOTAL: 86/100 (very good for my scale)

Vegas Robaina Unicos MEG MAR 16

Welcome! Is there such a thing as being able to get to taste any actual Chinese grown and made cigars in the US? If not, are there any good detailed reviews of their flavor profile and information about what tobacco is used in them, how it is grown and aged, etc?

Monte 4

Let alone Fiddletown.

Nice win!

How you gonna stay away from Balls Head?