“Smoked Up” No.55

Posted by Shawn

January 28, 2014

I wish the weather would make up its cotton pickn’ mind!! One day its 60s and beautiful, the next day its sleeting and icing the roads up. Living in the deepest part of MS, the ice and sleet is not anything we deal with on a usual basis and I didn’t like it at all. I ended up working out in the cold for the better part of Friday with the high being 35* and was not my cup of tea. Later thatÂ evening,Â I was planning on taking a friend to New Orleans for a birthday dinner I owed her. But, they ended up closing most the bridges/roads in between Louisiana and Mississippi as they started icing over in the afternoon. I am glad I decided to go to Pensacola instead. I did not want to be stranded in NOLA! But the trip back from Pensacola turned into an interesting one. A few bridges over the swamp in MS had actually iced over. They had road crews sanding/salting them to combat the ice. I did find a few patches they missed and lets say I am lucky to own a 4×4 truck with good mud tires on it! The next day, the weather was mid 60s and nice…. I am over mother nature already.

As I am typing this out, I am in Winter Storm “Leon”. It is sleeting a pretty good bit with good chances of snow later on this evening!

Not too much going on as far as cigar happenings in my area. I did notice on Social media a few retailers at the Davidoff factory for tours as well as some tours happening at Perdomo. I did get a review out of the Ventura Psyko Seven RobustoÂ before the “storm” hit. Was hoping to get in another, but maybe that will get done if they shut down work (fingers crossed).

Cigar Views

Camacho Diploma 11/18: This is one of my favorite Camacho cigars to date. This is the first oneÂ of the “new” Camacho cigars and it did not disappoint me at all. The new larger bands are definitely eye catching and are a nice addition to the great blends behind them. I was gifted this cigar from my good buddy Joe and I really appreciate the gesture. The cigar had nice coffee, dark wood and hints of black pepper here and there. At times, I got a hint or three of a light sweetness on the back end of the dense smoke that caught my attention. I don’t remember such sweetness on the “original” Diplomas, but its been a while since I’ve had one. All and all, it was a good smoke that I will definitely be looking at smoking more of.Â Â

Room 101 Master Collection One Sucio: I didn’t see these ever at my local shop who carries Room 101, but was lucky enough to come across them at Cordova Cigars a few weeks ago. I usually don’t smoke many Churchill sized cigars, but this one was well needed after a long Saturday. This turned out being one of my favorite Room 101 cigars I have had. Great notes of coffee, an ample creaminess as well as some simple spice as well. Very rich and smooth! The draw was great as well as the burn. If I had enjoyed this cigar in 2013, it could have easily knocked someone off my top 10 list!

La Aurora Preferidos Maduro (2007): I don’t smoke too many of the Preferido line, mainly due to the cost. It is a good smoke for the money, but some shops overprice them intentionally and I won’t participate in that practice. I was gifted this cigar from a good buddy and he told me it was from 2007. The draw was a little thick, butÂ the burn was great. Had nice sweet cocoa flavors with some woodiness in the middle as well as a hint of black pepper here and there.Â The more I progressed into the cigar (larger RG), the more the black pepper shined through an overtook the sweetness. All and all, it was a pretty good smoke. I still prefer the Ecuador Preferido over any of the others.Â I enjoyed this cigar with a few cups of dark roasted pour over Community Coffee and made for a nice pairing.

Ortega Serie D Natural No.8: One of my “regular rotation” cigars, meaning I smoke it pretty often. I got a 10ct box of these at an Ortega event and have had nothing but good things to say about the Serie D Natural line. Great flavors, construction, long ashes etc… I won’t go into too much detail upon this cigar as I have featured it in many previous “Smoked Up” issues. All I can say is, if you haven’t had one, try one! If you don’t prefer the natural, try the maduro. They have a few similarities, but more differences. So there is a Serie D for just about anybody.