Writing Style?

There's a web site that analyzes your writing style, and this is the result I got after feeding the preceding cigar review into it:

I write like
Raymond Chandler

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Great, now I'll actually have to go out and READ some Raymond Chandler.

Apokalyptic Rating System

Okay, so I don't really give quantitative ratings to the cigars I smoke. I don't really believe in the numeric ratings system used by the big mags, but I guess I should give some sort of indication of how much I like a given cigar. So, I've developed my own system.

Four Horsemen Rating: An excellent cigar in Construction, Flavor, and Value.

3.5 Horsemen Rating: A great cigar in all areas.

3 Horsemen Rating: A good cigar, may have a drawback, but generally good.

2.5 Horsemen Rating: An alright cigar, may not be perfect, but satisfactory in most respects.

2 Horsemen Rating: Eh. So-so. I was hoping for better. you get the point.

1 Horseman Rating: I want my money back. What was I thinking. Never again.


So, I'll be gradually adding these to past reviews, as well as reviews going forward.

More from Cigars Direct

Okay, so, some of you might remember that I had agreed to write reviews for and link to Cigars Direct. I had agreed to it, then thought better of the whole venture, and e-mailed them to cancel the arrangement.

Four weeks after asking them to cancel, I got a box of 5 cigars. Well, two weeks after that, I come home today to find ANOTHER box of 5 cigars. If it didn't come with loaded expectations, I'd be dancing in the aisles.

So, I feel obligated to smoke these fine cigars, and write my unique brand of critic pap about them. Oh woe is me. [In case you didn't catch it, I'm being facetious.] I guess that we'll soon be seeing some reviews for CAO Brazilia, Italia, MX2, which are some long-time favorites of mine, plus CAO Black and Black VR, which are newcomers to my humidor.

Once again, thanks to Cigars Direct for the cigars! Maybe I should send them cancellations more often.

Cigars Direct

A few weeks ago, under the delusion of grandeur, I accepted an advertising deal with Cigars Direct. After some soul-searching and ego tamping, I decided that my calling is not to be a bloviating sack of cigar opinions. I e-mailed Cigars Direct, and informed them that I was going to ice the blog and pursue humbler aspirations.

Well, sure enough, 7 weeks after accepting the offer, and 4 weeks after informing them to cancel, a box of five fine cigars shows up on my doorstep. So, being a man of my hastily-given word, I'll be placing copious links to Cigars Direct's website from the reviews of the cigars they've sent me.

I've already reviewed the Rocky Patel Fusion, so I've added appropriate linkage within that review. Some of these other cigars I have not reviewed, so those reviews will be forthcoming as well.

Tatuaje Havana VI is a personal favorite, though I haven't written a review for it. Nub Habano and CAO Gold will be new experiences.

As for the Sherpa toro, I've already reviewed once, but am willing to try another. A man can't be dragged through grassy hell TWICE, can he?

Fuente Anejo #55, and other thoughts

Well, I made it through another busy semester of work projects, class, kids, cub scout meetings, late night lab sessions, and teeth-grinding exams. I was oscillating between D and C for much of the semester, thanks to a couple disastrous exam results. My lab work an homework assignment grades were my upwards lift.

The final exam consisted of circuits and problems that gave people the most grief of previous exams. The final semester grade came back as 3.0, meaning I did pretty good on the Final Exam. So I felt like rewarding myself, and fished out a Fuente Anejo #55 that I bought before New Years.

Mmmmm, smooooooth. Aside from some irregular burning, the Anejo smoked great, and the flavors were a chorus of leather, cedar, coffee, and mild spice. What a cigar.

I've noticed something about the super-premium cigars that I've been fortunate enough to smoke: the flavor profile seems to be a true blend.

To borrow a musical analogy, I'd explain it as the difference between a small singing group and a choir. Gladys Knight & the Pips, Ray Charles and the Raelettes, or the Bee Gees are all great singing groups, but there are some dominant voices, and others that sink way into the background. That's how I see the flavors of many premium cigars, where there's one very obvious flavor at the moment, with a couple others lurking in the background. The foreground flavor may change here and there, but there's always someone in front, and the others back in the background.

The choir analogy for the super-premium cigars speaks to the complexity and character of the blend. There's a harmonic richness, and individual voices are more difficult to single out. The overall experience is one of smooth, rich texture, without having to be 'strong' enough to kick you in the teeth.

The Anejo #55, Padron Anniversary 1964 maduro, and Oliva Master Blends I strike me as choral masterpieces of cigar blending.

Okay, enough blathering for now..

New Arrivals: Dulce Vida

I came home tonight to a pleasant surprise; a box with a double fistful of robustos from Dulce Vida. Some of my favorite cigar blends have a helping of Peruvian tobacco, and Dulce Vida is flashing the Peruvian flag at me. I'm going to let these rest a couple weeks from their travels, then I'll smoke'm up and hollah about it.

Like a Vampire, it Rises Again

I just couldn't let all the reviews just vanish forever. I'm just going to be more casual about the reviews.