From Roger's attic ...

[tippexx]

... things you find when you're having a loft extension built.

Was at my bro-in-law's over the weekend and he gave me this old box and a couple of cigars. (see pic). Roger used to smoke cigars, but gave up some ten years back after having had a small heart attack.

The box is Philippine's made La Flor de la Isabela ? 25 x El Conde de Guell SR. Roger was always a Cubans man, generally RyJ Cedro De Luxe No3, Churchills and the now discontinued Panatelas. So I pressed him on when and where he got them, but although being an extensive, now in retirement traveller, he has never been to the Philippine's nor can remember being given them.

So there we have it, an interesting, but somewhat unloved box and equally unloved cigars.

[Pandyboy]

Looks like a nice find there mate!

Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk

[Kdot]

interesting, will you try to resurrect them???

[tippexx]

I'm not sure I need to Kam. They 'pinch' on the band OK. UK ambient temperature/humidity or that up in Rog's attic isn't 70?/70?, but generally the extreems aren't so great or prolonged to really seriously damage cigars.

I'm going to try to get one of them to smoke .... but I'm going to have to do it away from my humi's and tup. You can't see it very well in the pic, but under the cello the cigars have a cedro lining, it's about three-quarter length from the foot to just under the band where it stops. The cedro is I think giving the stick a strongish aroma (the same aroma is coming from the box, so I'm guessing it's Philippine Cedar) .... so, quarantine for these.

[tippexx]

interesting, will you try to resurrect them???

Well I have. And I've smoked one. What wasn't obvious from the pic is that underneath the cedro wrapper is a long tapering double figurado .... very elegant and slightly retro.

Very distinctive in it's tobacco taste .... nothing like a CC .... but not unpleasant by any stretch IMHO.

[daverave999]

Would you describe it as sweet? The few cigars I've smoked with Philippine tobacco seem to have an interesting sweetness that almost seems artificial, a bit like Acid cigars but not quite so offensive!

[tippexx]

No Dave. But I do know what you mean, I had the misfortune of smoking some Philippine minis once and they had an acrid almost perfume sweetness about them.

This I think benefited from the cedro wrapper in that it was quite dry and woody and the sweetness in the tobacco was reasonably discrete ... a bit like a softer form of the sherbet crystals we used to make into drinks as kids.

Like I said, no Cuban, but no where near as half as bad as I thought it was going to be.