Wednesday 24th February 2010

[daverave999]

Flor de Cano Preferidos .... one of a batch of de Cano's I got in a swap with DaveRave. Very happy with it. Easy draw, sweet, sort of garden border taste. Very easy to sit and day-dream with sort of cigar. The taste was generally constant and recognisably Cuban, but did roughen and become 'powdery' in the last quarter which was when I ditched it.

I'll be interested how you find the Selectos in comparison.

Im sure it will, but as long as I can keep the smell from overwhelming the kitchen and stick to just one nice cigar a month, I might just be able to continue this hobby.

So what did you think? Did you like it?

[moppy]

About to go light up right now, I will report back in an hour or so. Im petrified about not lighting it properly so I'll probably do it as slowly as possible with a bazillion matches.

[Vision]

DPG cuban classic. Nice cheap smoke.

[Big J]

A Rass on my morning drive.

[moppy]

So what did you think? Did you like it?

In excruciating detail, here is what I thought.

As for the cigar...it did not go as smoothly as I had wanted it to. I had a hell of a time getting the goddamn thing lighted properly. I did not realise until very late that if I jus lit the wrong end of the matchstick from the candle I could light the cigar immediately rather than wait for the sulphur to burn off.

I ended up having to relight the cigar 3 times because I was too afraid of puffing too often and burning the cigar. In the end I used a stopwatch to puff once every 45 seconds or so. Annoyingly, the inside of the cigar (the filler as you knowledgeable people may put it) was burning faster than the outer layer (wrapper I think?) so it kept going out, I asumme because the inside was getting suffocated with no oxygen?

Also, when trying to light the cigar (turning and puffing while holding it ABOVE - and not ON - the flame) the end of the cigar itself lit up! It caught freaking fire and I had to wave it frantically to put it out. This happened a couple of times and Im sure this must have burnt the cigar.

When everything was burning correctly, I enjoyed it. I could taste flavours that were different to just plain old smoke. It tasted like what I would assume my leather sofa would taste like if I peppered it. Draw as you put it was a little tight, so I pufed hard to get that smoke out. But when I did, there was lots of smoke and I managed to pull off thick, cloudy smoke rings.

Ive decided not to buy another cigar until I have a proper lighter to light it with. I cant do this matchstick business.

[daverave999]

Any old gas lighter would be better/easier. 40p from your local newsagents!

I wouldn't worry hugely about smoking too fast-I'm pretty sure you'd know. If it tastes horrible, blow out through the cigar once until it stops giving off lots of smoke (search 'purging') and then slow down. You'll get the hang of it pretty quick!

[moppy]

Those cheap lighters with the fluid in them? I thought they used the same fuel as my Zippo for some stupid reason! So those cheapo lighters are fine for lighting cigars? Why do people such silly money for those jet flames then?

How can I fix the inward burning thing? Where the inside of the cigar is burning much faster than the outside? Anything I can do to stop it/start again?

[daverave999]

Those cheap lighters with the fluid in them? I thought they used the same fuel as my Zippo for some stupid reason! So those cheapo lighters are fine for lighting cigars? Why do people such silly money for those jet flames then?

How can I fix the inward burning thing? Where the inside of the cigar is burning much faster than the outside? Anything I can do to stop it/start again?

Sorry, didn't realise you'd replied.

Those cheap ones are fine yes. It's liquified butane gas inside which burns cleanly meaning it is unlikely to taint the cigar. Avoid Zippos for cigars. People buy the jet flames because they are REALLY GOOD for lighting cigars (IMO). Turboflame or the one from Millets are less than a tenner. Some people buy more expensive lighters as those who appreciate a fine cigar also tend to appreciate other nice things.

The inward burning thing has varying causes. It's difficult to know exactly without more detail.