Thursday 25th June 09

[HabanoSy]

Had a day off today, took the wife and little 'un to the Grovesnor in Stockbridge (lovely little village near Winchester) for a spot of lunch.

It had a lovely garden/terrace at the rear so with a bottle of the good stuff I puffed my way through a Por Larranaga Petit Corona and a Partagas Serie du Connoisseur No.3 - perfect...

[daverave999]

My last PLPC was astonishingly good-almost like it's not smoke coming through it but sweet air. Not tried the No. 3 though-worth looking out for?

[HabanoSy]

The PLPC is one of the best cigars of this size, great balance between quality and price with medium taste and good aroma.

For those who sometimes like the thin format, then No.3's are quite elegant and I believe to be a far better option than say Cohiba Panatellas. They are not however IMO exactly like the Partagas range in taste, they are a bot more spicy but not quite as forward. They smoke extremely well and slightly slower than most other thin gauge cigars.

[Robusto]

Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No2

Smoked in just about perfect conditions.

Late afternoon in my hidden garden spot in the shade from bright sunshine. On my own with just the birdsong for company.

Warmth. Peace.

A Havana Club in hand as accompaniment.



This was the cigar that turned me into an aficionado back in the early 1990s. I still have a couple of yellow Hoyo binding ribbons in my bedside drawer. Believe me, they need to be in such an exalted place.

I haven't smoked one for a good few years. I didn't smoke at all yesterday, so this came to fresh tastebuds.

A very interesting smoke.

This is not a big hitter of a cigar, in my opinion. I know that from experience, and from several guidebook assessments.

And yet it creeps up on you. The taste in the mouth after the first third is rich and dense. The smell is beautiful. When I went into my shack, the brown pushed-out smoke was treacle-dense and... FILTHY!

It is not a slammer of a Bolivar, say, but it is a substantial cigar none the less. A grower, and glorious company.

I wrote elswhere that I knew this cigar when it had no band at all, and I have to say the one thing I do not like about it is the double band. It looked, towards the last third, as if it was bandaged, and I don't like having to be concerned about burning the band when I smoke.

The bands on this one are a bit cheap-looking, in my opinion. It is because they are predominantly white.

My younger boy asked for a lift to his shift at Sainsbury's when I was half way through, and I must be a bit of a pervert because I seriously get off at people looking at me in the car with a cigar on the go.

I would appreciate being told that I am not alone in this, fellow Cowboys.

I have written elsewhere about my neurosis with cigars sometimes in public. I am very pleased to say that I really no longer give a shit when I go in and out of the house and car to the street, and when I walk a bit in town, like I had to today.

I don't think I give a damn about it at all any more. When we have our staff end of year, ahem, "party" - a muted, stiff affair - I am going to pull out an enormous one and hold court to colleagues who never suspected that I was an addict. (The friends know, of course).

Either that - or I will skip the evening.

I still haven't made up my mind on that one, but I'll probably be anti-social and go solo...

[Deano]

Get your large one out Robusto and bloody flaunt it. Wave your big stick in their eyes and let them lap up the cigar sappage that you let fly!

[Robusto]

Folk do love a bit of show and waft - and, excuse me, I fucking love showing it off.

[HabanoSy]

Go for it Robusto - WHY NOT!!!

Just finished my evening off with my last Saint Luis Rey Churchill (have to get some more - a fantastic hidden gem of a cigar) accompanied by a couple nips of Remy Martin Cognac - what a great day...