joshhooper7

Sadly prior to 2017 I was a buy and smoke cigar man so my older boxes are looooong gone. Only recently have I invested and started aging, coincidentally right at the time I found this forum. Since 2017, I haven’t seen a stretch of quality that touches on late 2019 through 2020 production and can only hope this trend continues.

Asking a raiders fan to root for a division rival or Tom Brady... they’ll never forget the snow bowl of 02 and they’re born and bred to hate the Chiefs, you guys are nuts! sidenote I’m from Boston and that was EASILY an incomplete pass! Bucs by a million

Saw this on Instagram and thought wow, Ken would love that! He’s always saying the cigars Rob brings over are too skinny @El Presidente @Ken Gargett

I’m also in San Diego let’s make something happen

Your Regular Production Cigar of the Year (2017 - 2020 production). Rio Seco, hands down. From cigar to cigar the consistency was phenomenal and the burn and draw was never a let down. Mild to medium, woody, creamy, a touch of ginger spice to flesh it out... might smoke one today! Your Specialty Production Cigar of the Year (2017 - 2020 production). This one is a bit tougher as I love the punch 8-9-8 dearly, snagged 5 boxes and I’m thinking two more are in order but... I smoked a Supremos last night... I have two boxes but I think I need 20. That cigar... my cigar of the year and it’s not even close. MAYBE Davidoff Year of the Ox will come close, we will see. Rich, decadent smoke. Chocolate from first puff to last. Excellent draw and burn. Creamy, leather, spice and a bread note that made the chocolate taste like chocolate filled croissants. This is a SERIOUS cigar. I cannot wait to get my hands on some more. Your Best New Release (2019/2020 production ) I haven’t tried any of the new releases yet, I’m a sucker for the old reliables. Your Most Improved (2017 - 2020 production) Por Larranaga Petit Corona. My 16’ box is really hitting its stride. My go to cigar when I’m outside grilling. Rich, medium+ in body. Toasty tobacco, a brown sugar sweetness and coffee. Your Mr. Dependable Award (2017-2020 production) Bolivar Belicoso Fino. One of my all time favorites. Now that I’m writing this I’m realizing I haven’t bought a box since 2017 and I’m down to 7, certainly need to rectify that! Full bodied. Oaky, rich dense tobacco flavor. El Prez refers to it as a Guinness note and I couldn’t agree more, I’ve always thought it had flavors of strong stout and I typically pair it with a barrel aged porter/stout and the marriage is magnificent.

I've never frozen a single cigar and to my knowledge haven't had any problems. I trust the fine folks at FoH. Maybe I should, I'm not sure but I haven't had a beetle problem in my 5 years buying here.

The original run of Monte 80 from SOM and MOR DIC 15. HSA set out to create a classy top shelf cigar and did so outstandingly.

Only the price of your first born for a box of 10!

Thank God for saving all of my reviews on an app that I can sort by box code! Ive reviewed two cigars from 18 and beyond, a Montecristo Especial No 2 and a Cohiba Corona Especial. Oddly they’re the same vitola. I’ve also smoked a Romeo Y Julieta Tacos that I received from the FOHnies but didn’t score it. I wish I had because I believe that would’ve been my top contender. Absolute DYNAMITE cigar. Thankful to have a box resting. Of the other two, I scored the Monte a 89 and the Cohiba a 93. Without my review template in front of me I’d guess the RYJ was around a 95, the construction and burn were perfect and the flavors a true delight.

Does anyone have any SC El Torreon jars or have a line on where to get one? Not looking for the cigars, just the jar. Thanks!

Thanks guys! Looking forward to picking some up for football season!

Hey guys, anyone here have a lot of experience with Cuban rums, specifically Havana club? Is the quality control on the rum as poor as the quality control on the cigars? I’m planning on picking up a few bottles but don’t want to splurge if it’s not worth it. Thanks!

CoRo, Monte 4, Monte 2

Alright guys, since it’s this themed review weekend I decided to review a cigar that I had smoked about a month ago and it scored a 96. Could be an outlier as tonight’s scored an 86, very interested to see where the rest fall. As always, the review is on my Instagram (Josh.hooper7) so if you like what you see stop by and give me a follow! The full review is below. Gorgeous sheen. Tight seams, decent size veins. Firm and evenly packed. Last one I smoked holds the #1 spot of ‘19 so far, let’s hope this one finishes the same. Perfect draw. (1/3) opens up rich and smooth, medium full body. Clean and toasty tobacco dominates the start with a touch of citrus peel. Toasted tobacco in the cheeks and a stonefruit sweetness on the palate over the course of its long finish. A leathery note joins the fold. Citrus peel takes on an orange peel flavor. Fleeting notes of cocoa on the fringes. Beautiful aroma. Wonky burn required a touch up. (2/3) orange peel dominates the draw. Finish is still long but less fruity and sweet and more dominantly rich tobacco. Rich earth joins the foray. Orange peel picks up a sweetness to it and drowns out the earth. Burn requires another touch up. Orange peel and a baking spice throughout. (3/3) into the final third you get a very minor bitterness on the palate. Spicy on the lips, rich smoke. Orange peel returns with the bitter flavors on the palate, no sweetness. Damn forest floor earthiness on the draw. One last touch up required. Final third is all earth and orange peel. Baker spice on the tongue throughout the finish. Overall this was a good cigar. Not a 96 pointer like the last JL2 but at the price point you can’t expect that every time. Left me wanting a bit more complexity and sweetness but it was still a good cigar nonetheless. The average of the two rating so far is 91, looking forward to smoking a third to gauge the average. Final smoke time: 54 minutes. Overall rating: 86 Appearance - 5/5 Construction - 6/10 Burn - 5/10 Draw - 10/10 Flavor - 23/25 Smoke Temp - 5/5 Final Impression - 32/35

Finally! Can’t wait to get my hands on a box.

I’ve currently got a 150qt cooler that houses all of my full boxes and a custom built wineador that holds about 600 singles. I used to empty entire boxes into the wineador from the cooler when space would permit, but now both units are mostly full. I’m currently waiting for a custom built cabinet to come in. (84x42x20) It’s got 4 angled shelves to display open boxes with enough depth to keep full boxes behind the displayed boxes with two sliding glass doors, and two solid wood doors on the lower 1/3 where I can keep entirely full boxes. At the top of the bottom section just before the sliding glass doors there is a pull out drawer 4 inches deep that will hold all of my loose cigars, roughly has enough space for 500-600. The plan is to move boxes to the drawer once they’re a quarter full, keep them displayed until then, and keep full boxes below. I’ll probably maintain the cooler as well because as we all know there’s no such thing as too much storage and definitely no such thing as too many cigars.

@El Presidente @WarriorPrincess Please help those of us on the brink of divorce with the following option. Love always!

Alright guys, just smoked a JLS2 for the first time since I got the box two years ago. Let me preface this by saying this is my highest rated cigar to date, tied only with a Davidoff Art Edition 2016, a $45 cigar. 96 points overall, the only minor flaw was a burn that self corrected. Loss of one point in each third the burn was wonky paired with a loss of a point in each third the burn was wonky for construction. If you have this box code smoke them now, they’re exquisite. This is going to be hard to beat, at $8 to boot! The full review follows. If you like my review and want to see all of my reviews check out my Instagram, Josh.hooper7, and if you want me to keep posting here let me know! Beautiful sheen. Awesome construction. Draw has the tiniest bit of resistance. (1/3) right away opens up a bit over medium bodied. Big toasted tobacco on the palate. Touch of pepper on the tongue. Cuban twang, bit earthy in the background. Bitter citrus peels on the nose. Leathery. Rich, velvety smoke. End of the first third gets the tiniest hint of sweetness. (2/3) picks up a creaminess paired with the citrus peel. Finish is still long and all rich tobacco with a spice on the tongue. Touch over medium bodied and medium strength. Didn’t expect this punch! Retrohale picks up a very interesting flavor that reminds me of breathing out of your nose after a sip of sherry cask whiskey. Burn is a bit wonky but self correcting. Oddly hoping something goes wrong because I can’t find any fault in this, it can’t be my highest rated cigar! (3/3) Final third continues medium plus in body. Rich and velvety smoke with flavors beginning to mesh. Spice persists on the tongue. Burn still wonky but self correcting, the only flaw here. Toward the nub the orange persists through the nose and a semisweet vanilla creeps in. This cigar... wow. Tied as my highest rated cigar with a Davidoff Art Edition 2016. Price aside this is an outstanding smoke, pair the rating with the price of around $8 and its value is untouched. If there was a value factor this would be a 100 point smoke. Final smoke time: 57 minutes. Overall rating: 96. Classic! Appearance - 5/5 Construction - 8/10 Burn - 8/10 Draw - 10/10 Flavor - 25/25 Smoke Temp - 5/5 Final Impression - 35/35

Thanks! Definitely a medium bodied cigar, the longer they sit the less robust the flavor delivery and the more nuanced the flavors become as they begin to meld. The app is CigarConnoisseur, costs $4.99 but its invaluable to me. Lets you add unlimited amount of humidors and add all of the inventory you're keeping in each.

What a weekend, and the festivities aren’t even over! My wedding anniversary is June 14, today is father’s day (16), and my birthday is Wednesday! The local butcher shop brings in A5 Wagyu for father’s day and traditionally I pick up an 8oz for dinner. Since were celebrating father’s fay with family I decided to celebrate for myself a day early with my favorite Monte 2, a great bottle of wine and my steak. I review every cigar I smoke on an app on my phone that tracks my inventory and the average rating of cigars by brand/vitola etc, so copying and pasting this review over to here will be easy. The cigar! Good color, lacks in sheen. Perfect spongy feel in the fingers, only construction flaw is on the seam where it is clearly elevated off the binder. Good sized veins. (1/3) Opens up with toasted tobacco and rich nuts. All cream and nuts. Toward the end of he first third cream persists and a coffee joins the fold. Medium body. (2/3) Cream, nuts and typical Montecristo earth on the palate. Retrohale carries a touch of coffee. Cut it again due to a tar buildup. I’m getting the tiniest hint of spice on my tongue immediately after a puff, doesn’t stick around long. Burn getting a bit wonky, required a touch up. (3/3) Earthiness ramps up in dominance. Bit of spice on the tongue remains. Burn is wonky again, touched it up and cut it once more to remove the tarriness. Musty earth dominates the final third. Coffee and nuts fade, a rich creamy earth is all that’s left. Flavors were rich and consistent throughout, can’t complain there. The wonky burn was a nuisance but it was still very enjoyable. Not the best Monte 2, but still a very good cigar. Final smoke time: 1 hr 7 minutes. Overall rating: 89 Appearance - 3/5 Construction - 8/10 Burn - 6/10 Draw - 10/10 Flavor - 25/25 Smoke Temp - 5/5 Final Impression - 32/35 This box of Montes was my first buy from 24:24 2 years ago, crazy how my collection has grown since then. This specific box was under filled entirely but none of the cigars have been bad. My app says they average 89 overall with the 3 I’ve reviewed. I use the Cigar Aficionado scoring model and try my hardest to be bias. Here’s a few pictures of the app for anyone who’s as OCD as I am, truly amazing for knowing what I have and how cigars are smoking. If you select a cigar for review it automatically removes it from your inventory too which is super nice and makes for less work!

I got a nice new pair of sunglasses today, they’re the Bose ones with hidden speakers. My birthday is on a Wednesday so I told her to save the heavy hitters until then! And then her birthday is the 29th. June is a wildly expensive month for us! thanks everybody for the anniversary wishes!

I need more friends like Slyly hahaha

Slyly slipped the link to the Leyendas on 24:24 to my wife and told her I’d love them as an anniversary gift. Well, this is the best homemade card I’ve ever received!!

No I’m not, I thought the trade show was open to the public.

Anybody in here planning on going to IPCPR this year? It’s my wife’s birthday weekend so we’re heading to Vegas for the weekend and she’s okay with going to the convention both Saturday and Sunday from 10-5. If anybody here is going we should get together for a cigar! Josh