AdeUK's Collection - my third.

[Simon Bolivar]

So yesterday I went fishing & caught a very significant fish. This wee pike took a large yellow fly, right at my feet. I hd been able to see the fly for the last 12feet due to the colour of the water. SAM_4388.jpgI had fished form that spot for over an hour (I had bait rods out) without a take, but after not reacting to jerbaits & spinners, it launched itself from the bottom of the pit up to my fly, inhaled it & dived back down again. WOW! If was plunging & thrashing about giving an impression of a bigger fish.SAM_4387.jpg

Although a modest 6lb 09oz, it was my 600th Pike in grand total - the first back in the early 70's, my 300th Belgium pike & a PB on the fly. I also saw my first kingfisher for over eighteen months & a colony of wild bees coming out of hibernation from the sandbanks around my swim. Along with my 2,000 post, I had some good reasons to celibrate down at the cafe on a lovely sunny afternoon. I took this pair down with me & I'll give the write up later tonight as I am off to the allotment now.SAM_4395.jpg

[ValeTudoGuy]

So yesterday I went fishing & caught a very significant fish. This wee pike took a large yellow fly, right at my feet. I hd been able to see the fly for the last 12feet due to the colour of the water. [ATTACH=CONFIG]16033[/ATTACH]I had fished form that spot for over an hour (I had bait rods out) without a take, but after not reacting to jerbaits & spinners, it launched itself from the bottom of the pit up to my fly, inhaled it & dived back down again. WOW! If was plunging & thrashing about giving an impression of a bigger fish.[ATTACH=CONFIG]16032[/ATTACH]

Although a modest 6lb 09oz, it was my 600th Pike in grand total - the first back in the early 70's, my 300th Belgium pike & a PB on the fly. I also saw my first kingfisher for over eighteen months & a colony of wild bees coming out of hibernation from the sandbanks around my swim. Along with my 2,000 post, I had some good reasons to celibrate down at the cafe on a lovely sunny afternoon. I took this pair down with me & I'll give the write up later tonight as I am off to the allotment now.[ATTACH=CONFIG]16031[/ATTACH]

My kind of day is that Simon! I have never had a pike on the fly though. What weight rod do you use?

[RobustoClubHavana]

Looking forward to the review on the Cohiba 2000 jar as that was the only one


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[Simon Bolivar]

Finally a 100 pointer!SAM_4401.jpgSAM_4402.jpg
So I started with the H.Upmann. As you can hopefully see this was a perla size 40x4", wth a Conical head. SAM_4393.jpgThis was a Pre-Rev cigar, it doesn't appear in MRN or Cuban Cigar Info site. I was impressed with the look of the cigar, the shape, size & the embossed label, this brand must have been one of the first to go embossed? Score 10.
My original plan was to smoke this in the glass house of the cafe, as not to loose the faded flavours in the fresh breeze but in the end I holed up best as I could in the Cafe courtyard & protected the stick with a cupped hand when necessary. It seems a little disrespectful for such an aged cigar, which are usually due a little pampering & to be smoked inside when possible but I am glad to say, this cigar proved on this occasion at least, it wasn't nessecary. After all,this was the perfect early spring day tosmoke outside & I naturally wanted to enjoy my smokes in the full sunshine if possible.SAM_4398.jpg

I cut a small piece off the conical tip, & found the pre-light draw fine. No dustiness either, that you can get on old non-cello'd cigars. It lit easily & required no re-lights. I was pairing this with a coffee & once the coffee finished, a Stella; I thought a stroger Belgian beer might overpower this venerable vintage smoke). The flavour can through right at the first few puffs which, frankly I'd hoped for, bearing in mind it was such a short smoke. Personally I cannot give a description of H.U. flavour apart from tobaccoo flavs.SAM_4399.jpg On a blind tasting I hope I could tell a Boli, RA, Party, Hoyo,ERDM & Cohiba but I would only really guess the H.U by elimiating it from the other more distinctive brad flav's.SAM_4400.jpg

However this was pure H.U. flav from start to finish, it did get a little stronger in the last 1 1/2" but was so good I got out my coctail stick (usually used on poking a plugged cigar) & used it to smoke this beaut down to the width of the label. The Smoke, Ash & Draw was perfect. The flav, well you either like H.U. or you don't but it was as better than even an original Mag 50EL! Value (well I'd have paid 20quid for another - no worries) 10points & Overall satisfaction, gotta be another 10. 5x10x2 =100. I have never rated a cigar 100 points before. I know James Suckling has had many but then he's smoked many more than me. SAM_4403.jpgBut as I sat there contempating this remarkable wee smoke I asked myself, was there anything lacking for it? Was there anything that could have been improved? The answer to both was no, ergo I finally nailed my colours to the mast & gave it a score that outranks my prev best, the Monte No5. Personally I prefered the Monty flav profile, if I was marking them together (allowing for the fact they were smoked yrs apart, I would probably give the Mone No 100 & the H.U. 100 too.SAM_4404.jpg

So I drank another coffee & allowed my palate to reset before lighting up the Cohiba 2000 Millieum Resevera. Now I believe Butters had his reservations about this stick & RobustoCH said he was looking fwd to reading this reveiw & to be honest was wondering if I was going to be able to rack up two 100 pointers in a day?

I certianly the ideal smoke for my 2000th post & I happily gave it 10 for appearance. It's unique label set it apart & the maduro wrapped not too dark, light even compared with the more recent Cohiba Maduros. It smelled great & felt firm to touch. I clipped a small piece of the tip & lit up. The flav came though, strong & clear immediatley. I was paring this with a Leffe Blonde & it went well At home I would have had with whiskey but the cafes charge too much to the two or three doubles I would have needed for this stick!SAM_4408.jpg

So after the initial good impression, the problems started to creep in. I had to constantly correct the burn. Remembering I was outside on a breezy day I shouldn't have been too worried but as I was protecting it as much as possible I was disappointed, after all you are expecting a lot with this cigar. If I had paid for a single stick from the jar on Mitch's site, it would have been 50quid+. SAM_4409.jpgThe maduro flav was more noticable on smoking than on the appearance & it seemed like they were trying to force more flav in rather than having the perfect Cohiba blend, which is just fine for most of us. The construction flaws began to be noticed. Although the top & bottom of the stick remained firm, the sides were soft & underfilled underfilled on such an expensive smoke! If this was my first smoke of my Jar of 25, I would be panicking about the quality of the rest right now. This cigar was actually rolled in '99 & we know there were quality control issues at this time but I certianly didnt expect to find them on a stick of this calibre.

So Smoke, Ash & Draw. Well the draw was fine but that's probably because I took such a small cut, a larger cut would probably resulted in an easy draw to reflect the underfilling. The ash kept dropping off at 1/2", never lasted longer (the H.U. managed nearly 2" in the same breeze). Value? Well poor on what most would have paid for this & overall satisfaction low too, total score 91. And to be honest that was
being generous. Another interesting point, the H.U. lasted a good 40+mins, the M.R. only 55mins, due to constant drawing to keep lit.SAM_4410.jpg

I think we have just had a discusson on another thread about judging a stick on price alone, this pair show the folly if you actually used that as your main critiera.
So sorry to disappoint, I really didn't expect the wee stick to outshine it's bigger brother but on this occasion at least it certianly did. If I had some more M.R. I wouldn't dry box, this was one occasion when leaving it fully humified could have been benifical, smoke indoors if possible as it just wasn't robust enough to cope with such a gorgous March day.

[RobustoClubHavana]

Nice review simon seems that there shows that price is not everything just don't tell anyone what you paid for them lmao


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[monkey66]

Fantastic post Simon.

Old HU's can be stunning ....let me know when you find and split the box

There is nowhere to go after smoking a perfect stick. Anything that follows can only be a disappointment.

It is fair to say that high-end vintage cigars are a mixed bunch. Sometimes it turns out one is paying for the experience/education rather than the satisfaction.

[Sean]

Great write up simon that leffes look great

[cigarmo]

Great write up simon that leffes look great

i wish i had never met this blonde

[Simon Bolivar]

It's the one blonde that'll never let you down Mo!
Martyn, Just between you & me mate; as I said if I'd have paid the going rate I'd be mighty peeved.

Monkey, Your right of course, the clever thing would have been to have walked away after the H.U. but hindsight is a wonderful gift. I seriously expected the M.R. to beat it hands down so planned then that way around. If I smoked them the other way around, the H.U. would have made me feel a lot better ending on a high note but perhaps my mood being altered & the magic of the day a little diminished, THe H.U. might not have stood out in it's own right so well. Awarding 100pts after the M.R. would have been difficult as I would have assumed I was being unduly influenced by the previous smoke.

Vintage smokes amazing, avge, mild but never indifferent. It always means alot to me to finally light a stick that has survived 55+yrs. It's probably been through several owners. There were numerous occasions when it might have been smoked but somehow it survived. I just intend to do my best to ensure none in my collection out survive me!

[cigarmo]

It's the one blonde that'll never let you down Mo!
Martyn, Just between you & me mate; as I said if I'd have paid the going rate I'd be mighty peeved.

Monkey, Your right of course, the clever thing would have been to have walked away after the H.U. but hindsight is a wonderful gift. I seriously expected the M.R. to beat it hands down so planned then that way around. If I smoked them the other way around, the H.U. would have made me feel a lot better ending on a high note but perhaps my mood being altered & the magic of the day a little diminished, THe H.U. might not have stood out in it's own right so well. Awarding 100pts after the M.R. would have been difficult as I would have assumed I was being unduly influenced by the previous smoke.

Vintage smokes amazing, avge, mild but never indifferent. It always means alot to me to finally light a stick that has survived 55+yrs. It's probably been through several owners. There were numerous occasions when it might have been smoked but somehow it survived. I just intend to do my best to ensure none in my collection out survive me!

well done I think the 55+ yrs stick is twice the age of a fair few members on here, If only sticks could talk !!
I much prefer the brunette

[PeeJay]

Its older than me, just.

[Sean]

i wish i had never met this blonde

Best blonde i have ever had

[peanutpete]

great write up Simon glad you finely hit a 100 pointer,lucky devil

[smokin_e2011]

Amazing collection of smokes....

[Simon Bolivar]

Belated catch up with my 2nd half of my leave. So I have already mentioned the first 8 smokes I had but got too busy to keep posting reviews so for the sake of completeness I will re-post the one of Ade's I posted on the 26th March here.

'So despite a late start to my day thanks to el Presidente, I went down the allotment with my hired help & fixed the leaking roof. Applied paint remover to the walls & whilst waiting for it to bubble up turned over a 1/3 of the ploughed land. Stopped for lunch of English cassaroled sauages, then stripped the remaining paint from the shed, cleared up & removed a car load of rubbish to the dump.
Nipped down to the cafe later than usual. It was cloudy so I took my cigars into the Glass room, to give them the best chance to shine. I started with a Punch Coronations Tubos '80's. My friend Moondancer has often told me how good these used to be from 80/90's so I had to try this one. Frankly its a pretty ugly stick but smelt good & the pre-light draw ws fine. It lit well & never needed any corrections or re-lights. The flav was good & a wee bit punchy from the off. The ash stayed on for half the lenght of the stick before falling. Once the final third started it turned bitter, I persisted a while but put it down with a 1/4 left. If the flav from the first half had carried on until the band I would have given it 90, as it was a good 86. These come up at auction & would be worth a buy if you like the Punch profile..'

Sunday 30th March, I managed to persuade the wife to come down to the cafe with me & catch a few rays. We took the upper level walkway as it was quite late in the afternoon & the sun stays longest up there, until it goes behind the main building in front. I had brought out a rather rare cigar with me, that I had hoped to smoke the evening before at a friends 70th birthday party. Despite being a BBQ (which by defination gives plently of smoking opportunity), I never found the right moment to light up. The BBQ was set for 18:30, dine by 19:30 but when we arrived on time & the caterers hadn't even lit the barbie, I knew we were in for a long delay. That's when you start wishing you'd eaten something beforehand! However the bubbly was freely given & went down as easily. I could have smoked before the meal but naturally I wanted it aftewards & before it was very crowded on the small patio outside the hall. I could see someone complaining if I lit a cigar, even though the fag smokers were puffing away & of course we were conversing with our hosts so it seemed better not to. The meal was late but not as late as I feared. However by the time we had finished, there was entertaiment but on by friends, for which it would have been rude to slip away from & afterwards it was dark & really nippy outside so I did the decent thing & played the game.

My main reason wanting so smoke a special cigar was that I had just finished my pike season at midday & had managed to have my second best season & my second with over 400lbs of the toothy critters. After getting the baits out I had made a breakfast of scrambled eggs with cup of Lemon teaPike.2014.03.29.SAM_4458.jpg, which I followed with a R&J Petit Julietas '80's, with coffee.Pike.2014.03.29.R&J.Julietta.80s.SAM_4462.jpg I was disturbed a couple of times by some swams that arrived from a neighbouring water & wanted to go bottoms up in my swim. Pretty & annoying, always the worrying one will hook themselves on my bait so hissed them away.

Just after packing up catchless, the fish farmer arrived with a consignment of carp for the lakes. The owner had finally agreed to put in a few pike to breath new life into my fishing & an unspawned 10lb & 4 8lbers were released by myself. These pike where a little crazy having been on high levels of O2 for the journey & thrashed around like crazy whilst I tried to get hold of them through the chin grip to release them safely, unfortunately on the of them managed to twist out of my grip & managed to cut my thumb through the rubber glove I was wearing. Cleaned up wound & glued edges together at home, now healing nicely. Here's a few of the smalle rlures I have been favouring htis season the most successful being the handmade redheaded jerkbait.

So back to Sunday. I have never seen a RA PC before, I think they disappeared some time ago. Officially they were discontinued in 2002 but sometimes these official deadlines are given to stock that hasn't been produced for yrs. Although this stick had the standard band C which means from '72 - '08, it had the appearance of being at least from the 90's.RA.PC.2014.03.30.SAM_4485.jpg Perfect draw on punching & on lighting a wonderful mellow RA profile that began to transport me to sunnier climes.RA.PC.2014.03.30.SAM_4486.jpg I smoked most of it with a coffee & the rest a Stella.RA.PC.2014.03.30.SAM_4489.jpg The first half I was a little worried I would have to give another 100pts so soon after my first would seem as little O.T.T. but although the first half was truely that good, the second brought it down a few pegs. The burn was crips & even & the ash hung well, it was just the flav that went a little bitter & took the shine off. I settled for 96pts & left me wishing I had an other 24 of these at home.


Wed 1st April: Martyn agreed to dash over from Watford, on the super scooter to join me for lunch at the Green Cafe, Ecclestone St. I was there a little early & having been to the post office, to send off a couple of multipiers for a service before my fishing hols in June, I went to the Italian cafe on the crossroads & had a Punch Petit Punch pre '04. My first PPP was one that Martyn gave me, when I went to a herf at his place several yrs ago now so a fitting smoke for the day. It was lively & punchy enough, with only a Fortnum & Mason's Welsh Rabit for breafast. Smoked down to the band, delightful. 94pts!


Time to go to the cafe, I sat outside in glorious sunshine & when Martyn arrived (dodgy making arrangments on April Fools but he was as good as his word), we had a light lunch of ham, eggs & chips.Herf.UKCF.Bosidales.2014.04.01.SAM_4497.jpg Nipping across to Boisdales at 12:30, we took our Whitstable lager up to the terrace, which was very sunny & surprisingly empty. For once I didn't have to rush as I had the 16:00 ABZ train so took out one of Ade's SP Coronas Gignates. New vitola for me & I hoped it would be more interesting than the Sanchos I had tried in Spain, which was totally boring in it's blandness.Herf.UKCF.Boisdales.2014.04.01.SAM_4498.jpg Whilst Martyn got to work on a delightful LGC No3, puffing away & producing a surprising amount of smoke from a 28RG, Herf.UKCF.2014.04.01.IMAG0034.jpgI was still struggling to get the damn thing to draw. I took out a cocktail stick & poked it well in, I could feel a total plug about an inch from the head so I took the drastic measure of cuttng it off but still a lousy smoke. I might have persisted a little more on my own but we were supposed to be herfing so I put it down & took out a 50's Jamacian flor de Lancha. I have tried a couple of 50's Jamacian cigars before from CA & they make a very pleasent starter smoke. Mild, with good smoke & I felt I was getting back on track.NC.FlordeLancha.50s.2014.04.01.SAM_4502.jpg One of the best NC's I 've had & even gave it 88pts, mostly for me NC's rarely make 80.

Afterwards I was now running short, needing to keep a couple of sticks to smoke when I get off the rig in a fortnight so Martyn kindly gave me a Party Short of Ade's. Herf.UKCF.2014.04.01.IMAG0033.jpgI have a couple of these & you can see them on the first post photo, they have incredibly dark wrappers. This was a bit tight & a bit harder work than usual for a Short but it had been a very pleasent afternoon & we left & parted at 15:00, time for both of us to get back to work. Herf.UKCF.Boisdales.2014.04.02.SAM_4503.jpgMarc, was that an April fools wind up about the San Luis Ray?

So 8 cigars in the first half, 8 cigars in the second. a total of 1383 pts. Divided by 16 = 86 but take out the total disasterous 51 pts for the SPCG, an avge of 88. The first half totalled 180yrs, the second approx 190 so 370 for the leave! Pretty amazing & a wonderful experience. It's not a target or anything I am going to try & beat. I'll be wanting to make Ade's last a while but they are still some great sticks to come, including those from the silent era so I'll keep you posted.
P.S. Martyn pointed out from counting the sticks in the photos, I seem to have taken slightly more than a third of the whole collection. My apologies for my poor mathmatics but to be honest, I'd have been very happy to keep the lot!