Codex Tenebrae (aka My Big List of Maduros)

Camacho Triple Maduro
$13
Full
A+
Ultimate in maduro bliss

Perdomo ESV 1991
$9
Full
A
Great blend and rich maduro flavor

J. Fuego Delirium
$9
Med
A
Mmmmmaaaadurooohhh

Carlos Toraño Virtuoso
$9
Med+
A
Good smoke, attractive

Joya de Nicaragua Antaño 1970
$7
Full
A
Hold on to your pants.

Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve maduro
$9
Full
A-
Wow. A great follow-up from the original Perdomo Reserve series.

Carlos Toraño Signature
$6
Med
A-
Great smoke, score when possible

Graycliff 1666
$8
Med+
A-
Delicious

Perdomo Habano
$6
Med
B+
Good smoke, great price.

San Cristobal
$9
Med
B+
Nice Pepin blend, but not big on maduro flavor

CAO Brazilia
$7
Med
B+
Spicy and well blended

Camacho SLR maduro
$7
Full
B+
Like getting hit in the mouth with a cedar 2x4 wrapped in leather and sprinkled in cocoa.

CAO Italia
$7
Med
B+
Spicy, but with a little tang to it

Oliva Serie O
$6
Med
B
Another good smoke with a great price

Avo #2 maduro
$8
Mild+
B
Nutty, creamy blend dusted with cocoa

Padron 3000
$6
Med
B
Muscular flavors, good maduro

Oliva Serie G
$5
Mild+
B
Nice smoke, always a pleasure

Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur Dark Knight
$5
Med
B
Solid, dependable smoke

Romeo y Julieta Reserve Maduro
$5
Med-
B
Nice blend, but a little on the mild side

Camacho Corojo
$7
Med
B
Corojo heat, maduro sweet

Carlos Toraño Exodus 1959
$6
Med
B
Good smoke

La Gloria Cubana Serie R
$7
Full
B
Good smoke, with kick

Alec Bradley Maxx
$5
Med-
B
Nice smoke, fat and cool

CAO MX2
$7
Med
B
Good maduro flavors, unusual blend

Macanudo 1968
$10
Med
B
Good smoke, but overpriced

Rocky Patel Edge Missile
$6
Med+
B
Good go-to stick

Perdomo Reserve Maduro
$5
Med
B
Great blend, rich maduro flavor

Perdomo Lot 23
$4
Mild+
B-
Nice smoke at reasonable price

Hoyo de Monterrey Dark Sumatra
$5
Med
B-
Nice blend, but faint maduro flavors

Gurkha Legend "8-year Aged"
$6
Med-
B-
Good smoke, but not much maduro flavor

Arturo Fuente Chateau
$5
Mild+
B-
Nice blend, but faint maduro flavors

Partagas Black
$6
Med
B-
Peppery blend, more coffee and cedar than cocoa

CAO L'Anniversaire Maduro
$7.50
Med
B-
Nice maduro flavors, but overpriced

5 Vegas Series A
$3
Med-
B-
Great blend and smoke for the price

Cusano 18 Paired Maduro
$5
Mild+
C+
Mild blend with spunk, soft maduro flavor

Indian Tabac Cameroon Legend
$4
Med-
C+
Fat, cool smoke, mild maduro tone

Hoyo de Monterrey maduro
$4
Med-
C+
Nice smoke at reasonable price

Sancho Panza Double Maduro
$4
Mild+
C+
Nice maduro flavor

Flor de Oliva maduro
$2
Med-
C+
Budget smoke with a little maduro touch

La Vieja Habana Belicoso D
$3
Med-
C+
Nice budget maduro

Occidental Reserve Double Broadleaf
$3
Mild
C
Good starter maduro

Carlos Toraño Exodus 1959 Silver
$5
Med-
C
Nice blend, but tend to explode

Punch Maduro Maduro
$5
Med-
C
Solid smoke, decent maduro flavor

Gurkha Doble Maduro
$5
Med-
C
Starts off great, tasting like Partagas Black, but gets bland after the first third.

Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ
$7
Med
C
Nice blend, but little maduro flavor

Padron 2000
$5
Med
C
Good cigar for the price

Omar Ortez maduro
$5
Med
C
Decent smoke

Chateau Real maduro
$6
Mild+
C
Not bad, but you can get better for the $

Drew Estates Dirt
$5
Med-
C
Oddball flavor, sweetened cap

Sol Cubano maduro
$2
Med-
C
Nice value smoke

Alec Bradley Ovation
$3
Mild+
C
Not bad. Not great, but not bad.

Arganese Chairman
$5
Med-
C
Decent smoke, but mild maduro flavor

Helix 550 tubo
$4
Mild
C-
Airy, with little maduro flavor

Padilla Obsidian
$4
Med-
C-
Great taste, but very inconsistent construction

Muira maduro
$4
Med
C-
So-so, wrapper may be dyed

Angel 100
$3
Mild+
C-
Eh

Pirate's Gold maduro
$1
Mild+
D
The name is the only redeeming value

Cu-Avana maduro
$2
Mild
D
Like smoking wheat toast

Rio del Pinar "oscuro"
$3
Med-
D
Nothing oscuro about this yard 'gar

Rocky Patel R4
$4
Med-
D
Wrapper tasted super-salty/chemically

Victor Sinclair Reserve
$4
Med-
D
I smoked it out of kindness. Never again

Tierra del Sol maduro
$2
Mild+
D
Avoid. A. V. O. I. D.

Nestor Reserve 2004
$2
Mild+
F
Dyed wrapper covers crummy blend

Bombing Santa

I was downtown to record a concert, and after setup, decided to cruise by my #2 B&M to see if the new Arganese sticks were in yet. They weren't, but the owner kindly gave me an Arganese CL, left over from the Cigar Festival, to tide me over until the order came in.

So, I'm recording the local symphony's holiday pops concert, and who winds his way through the crowd? Santa!

As he gets closer to where I'm camped out with my equipment, I get an Idea...

I asked him "would Mrs. Claus get mad at you for smoking one of these?" and I offered him the cigar. "No, not at all," Saint Nick replied, so I slipped him the combustible morsel, along with a Social Cigar card, and let him go on his merry way.

He did give me a candy cane, after all. So I returned the favor.

Shout Outs for the Nebraska Cigar Festival 2008

Wow, the Nebraska Cigar Festival was a blast: Good fun, good smokes, and great company. I hope we get to do this again next year.

Shout outs are as so:

1) Our local B&M owners, Cattlemen's Bank, and event planners.

You guys rock! Cattlemen's Bank helping out by literally hosting the event, and our B&M's Cliff's Smoke Shop, Ted's Tobacco, and Capitol Cigar Company. Miles, thanks for bringing out the VSG!

2) Gene Arganese

Gene, you were the star of the evening, and really made the event special. There's a good reason why the word "generous" starts with Gene. Not content with merely bringing a supply of great smokes, including his new CL3 and ML3 smokes for us, and he had several Unos given to several lucky winners.

The highlight of the evening was the raffle, to benefit our lobbying efforts. Gene donated 7 trips to his villa in the Dominican Republic, complete with factory tour, smokes, bar, and being fed by Gene's personal chef. Talk about a vacation in the lap of cigar luxury!

3) Other cigar makers supporting the event

Willy, of Willy Cigars, was rolling smokes through the entire event, and I landed a couple gorgeous looking maduros from his table. Cusano sent a supply of Cuvee and Rare Cameroons for the masses. Palamino Cigars came though, as did Savinelli, Clint's, Conch Republic, and delegations from Filipino and Peruvian cigar makers. Ladies and gentlemen, my hat's off to you.

4) Good friends to share the evening with

Uncle Booga and I were counting the hours until the event, we were that stoked to go. Ditch Digger and Liriel caught up with us later, at the venue. We all smoked and chatted the evening away, and for me, the company really made the evening. After the Festival, DD, Liriel and I had a great breakfast, and while DD diverted my attention, Liriel picked up the tab.

Hats off to you all for a great evening. I didn't take any pictures, but DD did, and so I imagine we'll see those soon enough.

Kraft Foods Announces Record Q3 Profits

Despite the volatile markets and flagging economy, Kraft Foods today announced record earnings in the third quarter, caused by an unprecedented growth in demand of their Kool-Aid product. Sales have been steadily increasing over the last 4 quarters with major jumps in the second and third quarters of 2008. When reached for comment, Kraft spokesman Hugh G. Pitcher said "Oh, yeah!"

With inventories at historic lows, Kraft is ramping up production to meet the surge in demand. Another Kool-Aid production facility is projected to begin operations in Washington D.C. during the first quarter of 2009.

Despite Kraft's optimism, analysts predict that sales may level off after the second quarter of 2009, and may even start falling as early as 2010.

Other sectors reporting increased demand, for differing reasons, are Brie, Chablis, Firearms, and Imported Cigars. Also, California agriculture officials are reporting a bumper crop of sour grapes, just in time for the post-election season.

San Martin Liberator

Made by Tabacalera Del Oriente, the San Martin Liberator is billed as a Peruvian puro. One of my favorite Gurkha's, the Grand Age, and the RyJ Reserve Maduro both had some Peruvian tobacco in the fillers, so how bad could it be? My great friend and SC brother Ray copped this at IPCPR, and passed it onto me.

The wrapper on the Liberator is fugly. It's a mottled brown, brindle color that would look great on a pit bull, and has veins that a heroin addict would die for. The draw is nice and easy.

The flavor starts out earthy, with a mild nut mixed in. A nice leathery finish creeps in as the first inch burns away. So far, it's turning out to be an alright smoke.

The burn is a little wobbly, but my torch has stayed in my pocket so far. The ash is also decently solid.

There's a hay-like flavor that's been building, and it's starting to get "mouthful of grass" tasting. Thank goodness for the coffee I'm drinking along with the cigar. I'm an inch and a half into the cigar, and tempted to just let it go out.

Halfway through the cigar, the flavor has turned to mostly hay with a little leather. The original earthiness is still in the background, but I've never been crazy about hay-flavored cigars. It reminds me of the Sherpa I smoked earlier this year.

I'm getting to the point where I'm seriously thinking of grocery shopping, which usually doesn't speak well of the cigar I'm smoking. When my coffee is finished, so am I.

I guess that there's a good reason why we don't see many Peruvian puros: The world already has enough yard 'gars.

Playing Catchup

Wow, 6 months goes by pretty quick. I finished the spring semester with a B in Calculus I, and only by the skin of my teeth, and started the summer off with my wife giving birth to our fourth child. I've also been spending entirely too much time at Social Cigar, posting, chatting with friends, and wasting time in general.

In this long interval, I've been smoking some awesome cigars, decent cigars, and a couple crummy ones as well. I've been sampling some Pepin cigars, and I liked the Tatuaje P-Series enough to buy a box after smoking just one. I also smoked a couple of the Tatuaje Havana VI, CI Legends Yellow label, and Benchmade. I'm starting to see the reason's for the Pepin hype. I just hope it doesn't sour, like the hype around Rocky Patel's cigars.

Speaking of Rocky, I've finally landed some RP Sungrown, and liked them, along with the Indian Tabac 10th Anniversary, which I didn't really like.

The biggest revelation of the spring was my discovery of the Arturo Fuente Hemingway. I have found my "Deserted Island" cigar! If I could afford to smoke these on a regular basis, I would. But, they are not the cheapest cigar, so I save them for special occasions.

Other highlights were Oliva Serie V, Perdomo ESV '91 maduro, CAO Brazilia, Camacho Triple Maduro, and Camacho 10th Anniversary Corojo.

Macanudo 1968

Yeah, I've been on a break for a while. Having a fourth child will do that. But, let's keep it about the cigars...

I pounced on Mac's 3/$10 sampler offer when they debuted the 1968. Being an avid maduro fan, I couldn't pass it up. After letting them rest for a month, here I am smoking them.

This is a beautiful cigar, with a milk-chocolate complexion, oily texture, and mild veining. A squeeze here and there reveals a nicely packed cigar, but not overly so. The draw is easy, and the burn is tolerable, with a little wobbling that did not make me reach for the torch.

Flavor-wise, this cigar starts up in earnest, delivering the goods up front: Leather, earth, walnut and a nice, mild spice. and then it holds that chord for an hour. Sure, it's not a thrill ride, but it tastes good.

In a blind taste test, I'd guess this to be an Oliva Serie G or Perdomo Reserve maduro, but never a Macanudo. Still, at an MSRP of $8.50, it's overpriced when compared to an $6 Oliva or Perdomo cigar.