Humidor Notes Cigar Journals
I’ve seen a few ways here and there where people try to keep track of the cigars that they smoke. From Excel spreadsheets, Phone Apps, to spiral bound notebooks. But none ever seemed to work for me. Either it was too involved to get set up or too complicated, etc.. Recently, I was on twitter talking with a fellow cigar smoker, we usually talk back and forth of what we are smoking, whats new out, and smoking good. Later on twitter, I saw he posted where he had a new site: Humidor Notes I checked out the site and was interested in what I saw. I favorited the tweet so I could come back to the site later.
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Winston Humidor
Around late August I received the Winston Humidor from 1st Class Cigar Humidors. They gave me this humidor in exchange for my review. Since that time I’ve been paying close attention to a few different aspects and now feel that I’m ready to give my assessment of this humidors form and function.
Details
Size: 16-3/4″ W x 10-3/4″ D x 6-3/4″ H
Capacity: up to 150 cigars
Comes With: Humidifier, Hygrometer, Cigar Scissors and 3 Adjustable Dividers
Price: $189.00
Form
First off the Winston Humidor’s combination of eye catching shape and finish make for a nice addition to any smoke room. My personal taste leans towards darker finishes, but in the case of the Winston I really enjoy the mesh of light and dark colors. The unit as a whole is feels heavy in the hands. Quality hardware, in the way of hinges, was used which made for easy opening.
In my experience most humidors of this size are equipped with a lock. The Winston, however, does not come with one. I’m not sure that a lock is actually necessary, and in some cases it becomes a burden when a key is misplaced, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
The Winston humidor includes a humidifier, hygrometer and cigar scissors. All of these items attach nicely to the inside top of the lid using a magnet that is hidden inside the lid. To me this is a nice touch considering the Velcro used in equally expensive humidors which always seems to fail after prolonged exposure to humidity.
Function
The humidor that’s in my procession didn’t seem to have the tightest of seals when I first unpackaged it. I came to this conclusion based on personal experience with other humidors. With others I could always sense a “grab” when the lid was lifted from the base. To me this was indicating a tight fit between the lid and base. I didn’t feel that same “grab” with the Winston. Then I remembered an old trick a local shop owner taught me years ago to test a humidors seal. He told me that if you close a dollar bill between the lid and base that you should be able to feel significant resistance as the bill is pulled out. That indicates a proper seal. I tried this with the Winston and found the seal to be adequate.
Since I’ve been using this humidor for approximately 4 months I’ve had the opportunity to use the humidor in a variety of humid and dry weather conditions. All humidors, in varying degrees, fall prey to the extremes in weather, and the Winston was no exception. During humid times I had to refill the humidifier every two and a half weeks. During drier periods the refills fluctuated between one and a half to two weeks. Overall I’d say the humidor performed rather well. I was able to keep the humidor in a range of 62-8% RH with little effort.
The description states that “up to 150 cigars” can be placed in this humidor. I can wee that if they were all coronas. However, I’ve had a variety of sizes in the humidor so I’ve been able to fit anywhere between 30 and 60 sticks in the humidor at one time.
Final Thoughts
Overall I’ve been very pleased with the Winston humidor. To me it performed well in all the areas a humidor should. The cherry on top is the appearance, which in my opinion is stunning. To me this humidor is a great buy, one that I would spend my own hard earned money on.
For better picutures of the finish and interior of the Winston humidor please visit the 1st Class Cigar Humidors. Also, please leave any feedback you have on this review. Since it was my first time reviewing a humidor, other than an travel humidor, i’d appreciate any feedback you may have on how to make any future articles more informative.
Tatuaje L’Esprit de Vérité Robusto – 2009 Vintage
Editor: Due to technical difficulties with blip.tv, this review is airing later than expected. It was supposed to air before my Top Cigars of the Year list. Never the less, here it is.
Pete Johnson has started a pretty interesting concept with cigars that has been used in France for decades. Pete visited one of the first farms the Garcia’s owned and was really impressed with the tobacco they were growing there. He had an idea about making a cigar using only tobacco from this one particular farm and sell futures on the cigars like you can buy futures on Bordeaux wine. Like Bordeaux futures, they are sold in different tiers with time limits on each tier. After the time has expired on each tier, the price goes up. Each year, Tatuaje will release these cigars in a churchill and robusto size with slight changes in the blend depending on the crops. This year, the robusto blend is 50% Habano Nicaragua, 40% Criollo ’98 and 10% Pelo De Oro. This is an amazing concept for a cigar and one I wish would catch on with other companies as well. Pete even put an A. O. C. designation on the back of the cigar band. Only 20,000 of these cigars were made and quickly sold out, although you can still find a few from some retailers. So, how did this cigar turn out? Watch the video and find out.
What 2012 Will Bring
As we enter the fourth year of Nice Tight Ash I want to extend all my thanks to everyone that visits our site and contributes via comments. The last three years have gone by rather quickly, so quickly we haven’t gotten to change things quite they way we originally intended. So what does that mean? It actually means a couple of things.
In the coming months we will finally be launching a redesigned site that we’ve promised for the last two years. Along with the redesign we’re hoping to improve the way you’re able to view our content. I’m also hoping to change things up and provide some different types of content. With that said, I’d like to once again ask for your input regarding what you’d like to see. What can we do better? What would you like to see? Should we just STFU?
Also, this New Year is going to bring about a change for me. Throughout 2011 you might have noticed a drastic drop in the amount of posts from me. Well without going into a ton of detail I’ll just say there were a number of personal and professional reasons that I just couldn’t keep up. Good news is things are starting to slow down and I should be back to regular weekly posts. I’d really like to thank Ben and Shawn for keeping this boat afloat while I was absent.
One more piece of business. At the beginning of December I posted the “Sometimes I Just Want and El Cheapo” article along with a contest. I sent and e-mail to the winner, Brian, but have not yet heard back. I’ll give Brian until midnight Friday, January 6th to reply. If I don’t receive a reply by then I’ll choose a new winner via a random number generator.
So that just about wraps up all I have to say. We hope you have a great year and look forward to seeing what you have to say.
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em
Ben’s Cigars of the Year 2011
This was a great year for cigar lovers. So many great new cigars were released as line extensions, new lines or limited releases. Every year it gets hard to try to come up with a list of the top cigars of the year. This year, I’m doing it a little different. I chose my cigar of the year and five runner up cigars that, at one time, were all my cigar of the year. After that, I have my Lucky 13 which I consider, for me, to be the best 13 cigars of the year. Finally, I picked two cigars that I call my budget cigar of the year and my surprise of the year. The budget cigar is pretty self explanatory, but the surprise cigar of the year one I consider that came out of nowhere and just wowed me. So, without further ado, here is my Cigars of the Year for 2011:
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Shawn’s 2011 Cigars of the year
Christmas has passed us up this year so that means the year is coming to an end. Each year, I try to make a list of my favorite cigars that are released each year. This year, being no exception to the others, I sat down a thought about this year’s new releases favorites, and came up with this list. Due to the fact I liked them all alot, its hard to give them a numerical order, so I didn’t give them one. They are called my “Delightful Dozen” and are in no particular order. My top cigar of 2011 is at the end of this post.
“Delightful Dozen”
* Viaje Exclusivo Tower 45th Anniversary – I’ll probably catch alot of grief with this being a limited production cigar; but this cigar really impressed me. It was a cigar for one particular retailer, Tower Cigars, I was able to split a box with Ben. This smoke was amazingly good right out of the box and has been getting better with some age on them. I knew as soon as I smoked it, I knew it would be one of my top cigars of the year.
* Crowned Heads – Four Kicks Robusto – The highly anticipated release from Jon Huber was on my “have to get” list. And I was not disappointed by it at all. I had a few of each and decided the Robusto was the best. But the other vitolas were also very good as well. Either size you get, you are getting a solid medium bodied smoke with lots of flavor.
* Adrian’s Cro Magnon Knuckle Dragger – Ben had gave me this unbanded dark wrappered cigar and said “Just try it, I know you’ll like it”. So I did right then and there. About an inch or so into it, I said “Wow! These are powerful and flavorful!” Thats the one thing I like about the Cro Magnons; they are powerful and flavorful. Unlike alot of the other “powerhouse” cigars, the Cro Magnon has alot of awesome flavor! I had the EMH, and even in the larger RG, it was still awesome, but still preferred the smaller RG.
* My Uzi Weighs a Ton (MUWAT) – An amazing collaboration of Drew Estate and Joya de Nicaragua, the “Uzi” is one of the few 60RG cigars that I like and actually smoke on a regular basis. The 60rg has always been too large of a ring gauge and never felt quite right. But the Uzi comes in all 60rg in 5,6,&7″ lengths. It was a toss up either the Undercrown or the Uzi, and the Uzi seems to have a little better flavor profile that I like. The name would let you think that its a powerhouse smoke, but in all actuality its a nice medium-full bodied smoke thats full on flavor.
* E.P. Carillo – New Wave Connecticut – Now, the first thing I think of when I see a Connecticut wrapped cigar is “mild and flavorless”. The New Wave Connecticut is totally different with a nice medium body with very nice flavors that offer a little spice, sweetness, and nuttiness. I don’t smoke many Connecticut wrapped cigars, but this one is on the list of a regular smoke. It goes great with a good cup of not so strong coffee and is a great morning or afternoon smoke. I was really impressed with this smoke for a Connecticut.
* Viaje Late Harvest – Toro – I was at a time where I wasn’t going to chase down any LE cigars, and the Late Harvest happen to land in my humidor and I’m really glad it did. I have smoked both the Robusto and Toro and both are magnificent! I couldn’t pick an overall winner in size. But, the Toro seemed to be my favorite, just do to the longer smoking time. A great flavored cigar that shows a cigar doesn’t have to be full body to be good.
* La Caridad del Cobre – Javelin – I am always on the lookout for new Lanceros and Ben knowing this, handed me one a few months back and just said “try it”. Well, he didn’t have to tell me to try a lancero, but I am sure glad he did! This cigar is at the top, if not the #1 lancero I have ever had! Nice and strong body with great flavors. The shape alone is very interesting in the fact its a lancero/perfecto vitola. With sweet coffee like and spice notes, this cigar was a winner in my book. I did try the La Cucaracha (perfecto) and liked it as well, but the Javelin was still my overall favorite.
* Emilio Cigars – Grimalkin – A simple band design with two eyes staring at you covers up the complexity of the cigar underneath it. Grimalkin means “evil looking cat” and this cat is full of flavors that lead me to wanting more and more. Gary Griffith nailed this smoke as well as his others he has put out. But the Grimalkin reigns as the winner in my book with the nice cocoa notes and subtle spice.
* New Havana Cigars – Capa Especial – Only 70 boxes made, Ben and I were able to split one and I am sure glad I did! Similar to the Tatuaje 7th Capa (same sumatra wrapper), this smoke is totally amazing! This cigar is the NHC Seleccion Limitada with the 7th Capa Sumatra wrapper. The Sumatra wrapper really makes this cigar pop! I am a huge fan of Sumatra wrapped cigars and this cigar didn’t disappoint me one bit!
* San Lotano Oval Robusto – I enjoy alot, if not every cigar that AJ Fernandez comes out with. I saw alot of talk about these on twitter from numerous people when they came out. So when I was at Buckhead Cigar Club I had to try one, and ended up smoking a few. I had the Corona (in which I also reviewed) and the robusto. Out of the two, the robusto seemed to be the best balance of flavors and also seemed to be the favorite size out of many I talked to as well.
* Tatuaje Black Petite Lancero - Once again, a lancero gets in my top cigars of the year. Even though its a petite lancero, I still like this cigar alot. To me, its the flavors of a Tat Black, but more condensed down into a flavor bomb. The price tag of around $9+ kept me away from them some, but it still was not enough to keep me from buying them. I like the Tat Black Tubos, but the rarity of them has me leaning to like the Petite Lanceros alot more.
* Viaje Exclusivo Shorts – At first, these were a little on the “fresh” side and needed some rest. Every month or so, I found myself pulling one out of the humidor and each time, I enjoyed it more than the one prior to it. These are one of my favorite “short smokes” for when I want a powerful & flavorful cigar in a short amount of time.
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“Sweet Spot Smokes”
This small selection of smokes is for the cost conscious cigar enjoyer or a new cigar smoker who doesn’t want to or can’t spend $10 or more on a cigar, but wants a good tasting smoke. I’m calling them my “Sweet Spot Smokes”. I refer to my “sweet-spot” price point at being around $7.00. Not that these cigars are cheaply made smoke, but just an affordable good tasting new smoke.
* Padilla LA Terraza Habano – At around $4.50, this smoke is a long filler smoke that shows you don’t have to break the bank to have a good smoke. Me and a few buddies cleared out a B&M of these during one trip they are a great smoke.
* My Father La Reloba Mexican – Don’t get me wrong, the Sumatra and Habano line of these cigars are good, but the Mexican selection is just a little bit better in my eyes. I think its the San Andreas wrapper from Mexico that really turns me onto this smoke. Usually a Mexican grown tobacco is not very high quality, but in this case, I could care less. Its a great smoke at about $5.50.
* Tabacums by Habana Port Cigar Merchants – When I saw the $3.50 price tag for a long filler handmade smoke I thought to myself “Its worth a shot, it may be a diamond in the rough”. And my thoughts were exactly right. Ben and I liked them enough we did a “quad review” of these cigars right on the spot at the B&M with Thomas Bender and Louis Molina. Its hard to find a hand rolled, let alone a good hand rolled cigar for under $4 these days and this one is definately one of them!
* Room 101 Namakubi – Papi Chulo – For $6.20, this cigar may seem a little over priced for a petite corona size, but if you want a Limited Run Cigar that has great flavors and have little smoke time, try these. A bit of sweetness then some black pepper. Its starts off sweet and ends off with a Severed Head of Black Pepper.
* Tatuaje P Series – I like almost every Tatuaje cigar produced. I saw the “P Series” and learned they were a Sumatra wrapped mixed filler smoke, I had to try them. At about $4.50, they are a milder smoke than most typical Tatuajes, but for a mixed filler, I really liked it. A Sumatra wrapped Tatuaje at a great price is a win-win in my book!
* Man O War – Puro Authentico - A Cigars International exclusive is the only drawback I have with this smoke. But a $6 price tag with awesome flavors that to me are very similar to a very popular cigar (with a “T” in the name) at half the cost is winner to me! I absolutely love these smokes’ flavor, size and price tag. An over all flavor bomb!
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My 2011 Cigar of the Year
Tatuaje Avion 11
I guess I am turning into a “Tat Whore”, but when this cigar came out, I almost didn’t buy it. The $10.65 price tag at the time was a little too much I wanted to spend on a cigar. But I went ahead bought it, smoked it, and enjoyed it enough that I suspect I probably bought a 3/4 box over time.
The woody/earthy core with slight pepper and a faint sweetness is the flavor profile that I have to come to enjoy. The size of 6 3/4″ x 48/52rg (Perfecto Grande) is a great size cigar when you have time to enjoy a smoke. I have enjoyed many of these cigars as well as some of the others in the Fausto line; but the Avion seems to be the best of the line. A cigar with a full body and full (awesome) flavored Nicaraguan smoke is why I consider this my 2011 Cigar of the Year.
2011 Wrap Up and Special Thanks
I’ve had alot of good, great, and not so great cigars this year. I would like to thank all my friends who have gifted or suggested me cigars. Without you, it would be a tough decision on what to smoke at times and I would have possibly missed out on some great cigars. Though I have only been with NTA a few months, I am appreciative of all of your comments, suggestions, and ideas. I look forward to what next year brings. Thank you!
“Nothing Beats a Nice Tight Ash”
Gran Habano STK Zulu Zulu Habano
George Rico has release a pretty interesting lancero. Supposedly this is a private blend for just himself, but decided to release it to the public with a little twist. The artwork for the cigar has an image of two child soldiers from Africa on the box and on the paper covering the cigar. The images were painted by famous Miami artist, “The Kid”. The images were created for this cigar to bring awareness to the use of child soldiers in Africa and portions of the proceeds of this cigar will go to Invisible Children which is charity to bring awareness and help to the children soldiers of Africa. This lancero is larger than most, coming in at 7 1/2 x 40. This is an amazing concept for a cigar which I hope sales go through the roof. George has done a wonderful thing here, but does the cigar fit the task? Watch the video and find out.
Win a trip to Austin, TX and a Limited Edition box of Cromagnon Cigars from Cromagnon Cigars
Editor’s Note – Skip Martin and Mike Rosales of Adrian’s Cigars are running a contest to celebrate the release of the Cromagnon cigar in is full cube box release. Below are the details of how to enter:
CroMagnon Culture Contest
CroMagnon Transcends Lifestyle. CroMagnon is Our Culture.
Prize (1):
- 2 Days in Austin, Texas (The Capital of the Best State in America!)
- Airfare from There to Here. (Domestic – Our Choice of Carrier)
- 1 Night Lodging at the Landmark Driskell Hotel
- Ground Transportation in Austin (Airport Transfer)
- CigarBQ Herf at the World Famous Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor, Texas
- Live Music Capital of the World Pub Crawl
- A 2011 Limited Edition CroMagnon Cube Signed and Numbered 1/111
- Submit a comment on this post letting us know what you think about the contest and indicating your intention to participate.
- Determine your own Top 11 Cigars of 2011 lists. *
- Register as a first-time user at Hava Cigar Online.**
- Submit a comment on Chief Hava’s Top Cigars of 2011 (Honorable Mentions) with a list of your Honorable Mention cigars for 2011. ***
- Submit a comment on Chief Hava’s Top Cigars of 2011 with your list of the Top 11 Cigars of 2011.****
- Submit a comment on Chief Hava’s Cigar Hall of Fame: 2011 Inductees with your list of the 2011 Hall of Fame Inductees. *****
- Between 12/17/2011 and 12/31/2011, send an email to Chief Hava (Skip Martin) with the Subject: CroMagnon Culture Contest. ******
Casa Magna Domus Magnus Optimus
Quite a name isn't it? It almost seems like that should be the name of a Roman caesar instead of cigar. Quesada Cigars released this cigar under the Casa Magna line, which won cigar of the year for that lifestyle magazine a few years back, but this cigar has an extremely low production of only 5000 boxes which was released at this year's IPCPR. Blended by Manual Quesada and Nestor Plasencia, the cigar is a Nicaraguan puro with a special sun grown wrapper from Jalapa. So does this cigar live up to that royal name (Transformers?) or do you need to beware the ides of March?
Upcoming C4 Cigar Club’s Atlanta Christmas Herf
The C4 Cigar Club is a cigar club based in Cobb County, GA, a Northern Atlanta suburb. We get our name from our location, Cobb County Cigar Club, or C4. We have various events throughout the year to support our local B&M’s and to get great brothers and sisters of the leaf together for some fun and cigars. Earlier this year we hosted a Low-Country Boil, we’ve had blind-tastings and participated with other groups in Scotch tastings as well as steak and cigar dinners.
