Thursday 31st January 2013

[Northamptonshire]

Montecristo White Toro Grande and a Budweiser

[DavidD]

A La Flor Dominicana Ligero Maduro this afternoon with a litre of pineapple juice. A very good smoke but a tedious one as the maduro wrapper is extremely thin and kept flaking away in patches. Nevertheless, an enjoyable smoke.

[smokin_e2011]

Monte No4 for me this evening

[spirit_of_will]

Upmann Half Corona, just the right size for a blustery evening!

[AdamK]

Upmann Half Corona, just the right size for a blustery evening!

Ooo i nearly picked some up the other day. Wish I had now

[DavidD]

A Cohiba Robusto to end the day. The stars are out which means a very, very cold night. However, I could walk the garden, now free of snow, and savour the moment. Managed to get back indoors before freezing to death ! It began to feel like a Titus Oates moment !

[monkey66]

First smoke for a month, finally free of winter diseases.

Tried 2 new venues in London.


The Hippodrome:

http://www.hippodromecasino.com/

Casino and 'two-floor' smoking deck - Complete sh1t, did not even light a stick, not for me.

http://www.ukcigarforums.com/showthread.php?13238-The-Hippodrome-cigar-terrace

The Wellesley

http://www.thewellesley.co.uk

Stunning, great double terrace on Knightsbridge oppisite the park, hotel and restaurant. Well heated and covered. Only drawback is it is very expensive (even for high-end London venues). Cocktails ?15, cheapest bottle of wine ?50. Some nice sticks in the Humi. Will return but maybe not get hammered on cocktails until 0230hrs on a school night.


Smoked/tried:
'98 Monte Esp - nasty pure dried wood taste, hopefully a bad stick not a bad box (first of these).
'04 OR Edmundo - stunning
'04 OR Coloniales - very, very good, complex, balanced
'00 Cederos 2 - very nice, delicate spice
08 Duke - Flatter than flat, tasted of nothing, back to sleep.
Monte 4 Reserva - very nice, coming back from the wilderness
'80's RA Gigantes - dream of a cigar, wish it/they were mine.
?? BHK52 - Did exactly what you would expect it to, my first since the launch, very approachable/friendly, none of the complexities of some of the sticks mentioned but may be great in 10-20?
'05 Mag46 - Really, really good.


Taxi home, 0330hrs and Mrs Monkey not best impressed. At work now, would love to sober up sometime soon.

[SmokeyDave]

Hehe nothing like getting back on the wagon in style Monkey

I'm still waiting for the right time to present itself for my smoke of 2013

[monkey66]

Hehe nothing like getting back on the wagon in style Monkey

I'm still waiting for the right time to present itself for my smoke of 2013

1545hrs and I'm still feeling rough

[spirit_of_will]

Interesting you found the Duke on the flat side, not dipped into mine since last summer when I thought they were coming along great!

[monkey66]

Interesting you found the Duke on the flat side, not dipped into mine since last summer when I thought they were coming along great!

It was pete's. He ditched it by half way. Im sure they will come back up but probably a good few years. Could have just been a dud of course.

[mb55317]

Blimey the absolute best I can do is two decent sized smokes in a night

[monkey66]

I smoked 4 and tasted the others. It was a long night

[cj121]

I tucked into an Arturo Fuente Short Story whilst having a leisurely stroll around a park during lunchtime. Just the right size and did the job nicely.