Cigar and Pipe Musings

Monjure Pipe Show et al

2011-12-22T12:59:00.000-08:00

Author's new Brebbia Pipe

Howdy all, it's been a while since I last posted anything to this blog. A lot has happened since my last post. I went to two pipe club events, one being the annual NY Pipe Club picnic and the November meeting.

The pipe club picnic featured, as always, the summer corn cob pipe in both straight and bent styles. We had a few aromatics and other tobaccos brought by the club members. We also had great food, pork chops, burgers, sausages and this time we enjoyed beers from a number of micro breweries. As in 2010 the weather was perfect not too hot and we had a slight breeze blowing.

The November meeting was our pre-Thanksgiving leftover event. We smoked tobaccos that were featured at previous meetings. Some of the tobaccos that were featured included samples of the pipe club blends (still in progress) plus samples of the blends that were featured in the Balkan Sobrani showdown at the Chicago pipe show. Two of those blends won and one, Blue Mountain (McClelland's entry), is available for sale. The other by Russ Oulett is still in work and should be available soon. It was a pretty nice event with a pretty decent turn out. Pictures can been seen here November_Meeting.

The Monjure pipe show took place at Barclay Rex Tobacco shop, 75 Broad Street and 70 East 42nd Street, on December 8th and 9th, 2011. This is Steve's big event in NYC before the Christmas / New Year Holidays. As always pipes from Brebbia, Ardor and Rinaldo were featured. Steve Monjure was on hand to answer any question regarding the pipes. Yours Truly bought, yet, another Brebbia pipe. This one was smaller than any of the other Brebbia pipes I bought in the past but it is great as I didn't have a pipe for a quick smoke. Also on display was a gorgeous Rinaldo pipe which, is the custom, was to be raffled off. As always I put my name into the hat not expecting to win. Low and behold I get a phone call from the folks at Barclay Rex informing me that I won the raffle pipe from Steve Monjure. I collected my pipe the next day 12/9/2011 and have been smoking it since. Here are pictures of the pipes at the show Monjure Pipe Show. Pictures of my Rinaldo pipe to follow.

As I write this I am sitting in the dining room of my grandmother's house in Kingston Jamaica in the West Indies. The temperature here is in the low 80's.

As I close I want to wish all the people who take time out to read this a Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous 2012.

March 2011 Pipe Club meeting

2011-03-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

Michael and President Lou Carbone discussing pipes

Hi all, just got some time after a busy week and week-end to bring you up to date with the latest happenings in the New York Pipe Club. This month we were fortunate to get two tins of Solani Pipe Tobacco, courtesy of Steve Monjure from Monjure International, for the club to sample.

The blends we tasted were:

Blend 633 - A classic flake with bright Virginias and perique. This cool, slow burning blend has a natural sweetness and a wonderful room aroma.

Solani Aged Burley Flake - Blend 656- A skillful mixture of three aged Burley's - dark brown Burley from Kentucky, light Burley from Brazil, and white Burley from Malawi - Southeast Africa. A very natural blend with absolutely no additives or flavors - a true Burley blend.

I had the opportunity to try the Blend 633 and as a fairly novice virginia smoker it was refreshing to try another virginia blend. I found it an easy smoke and took care to smoke it slower than I normally smoke other tobacco blends. For those not familiar with pipe tobacco blends Virginia blends have Virginia tobacco as either the only tobacco or one of the components (as was the case with the Blend 633). The Virginia component is high in sugar which can lead to tongue bite if smoked too quickly. Also the flavor component is not as sharp as other blends so smoking it slowly allows the subtle flavors to develop.

We had a great turn out for this meeting so a lot of folks got to try the blends as well as peruse the pipes Hank brought to sell. i looked thru the pipes and purchased another Brebbia pipe (guess I'm drawn to this brand).

A great time was had by all. Up next I'll be reviewing the NY Pipe Show that took place earlier this month in Newark NJ.

INTERNATIONAL PIPE SMOKING DAY

2011-02-22T14:51:00.000-08:00

New York Pipe Club celebrating International Pipe Smoking Day

Howdy all, back with you again this time we're at De La Concha Cigar Shop celebrating International Pipe Smoking Day. This year we celebrated IPS Day one day earlier, on Saturday February 19th, since the official IPS Day fell on Sunday this year. We had a good turn out, on such a cold day, by members of the pipe club (as seen in the picture above).

We arrived at roughly 2pm and proceeded to get setup in our usual spot by the window. Our thanks go out to Vernon Vig who secured the spot for us to hold IS day. Also, to our surprise, Vernon had De La Concha display the custom made Dunhill pipe presented to him by the NYPC. President Lou brought couple of bottles of Port Wine for the members to share, Also De La Concha extended a 10% discount on all pipe tobaccos and some of the members took advantage of this.

It was a fun time and everyone enjoyed getting together to celebrate International Pipe Smoking Day even if it was a day earlier. As always pictures can be seen here IPS Day.

Hope to see you all at the next meeting to be held on March 8th, 2011 at Florio's from 6pm - ?.

MEETING WITH PIPE MAKER PEDER JEPPESEN

2011-02-20T21:20:00.000-08:00

Pipe maker Peder Jeppesen

Happy Friday to all my readers, as the title of this post states I will be giving you an overview of the New York Pipe Club's meet and greet with Peder Jeppesen at Merchants East on Thursday February 10th. In attendance were club president Lou Carbone, Avi, Larry, Bob Sacks, Hank Satchi, Allan Goldschmidt and yours truly Patrick Grant.

A history lesson for those who are not familiar with this pipe maker. He is a Danish pipe maker who, for 25 years, worked with a few well known Danish pipe makers one of whom is Erik Nording. After perfecting his pipe makings skills Peder went out on his own forming Neerup Pipe Company, named for one of his grandmothers.

Peder was on a tour of the US visiting as many Tobacconists and the occasional Pipe Club to introduce the stores and pipe club members to his rather wonderful pipe line. Avi and Allan purchased a few of the pipes Peder brought to show us.

It was nice to have this event at Merchants so some of the members could see the location and decide, for themselves, if this was a venue they'd vote for.

It's now Saturday the 19th of February and I figured I should, since I have a free moment while I clean my pipes, to finish this post before heading to celebrate, a day early, International Pipe Smoking Day at De La Concha cigar shop and lounge. Hopefully we'll get a great turnout for this event.

Pictures from the Peder Jeppesen meet and greet can be found here Peder Jeppesen. See you at our March meeting at Florio's in Little Italy.

REVIEW: FEBRUARY MEETING NEW YORK PIPE CLUB

2011-02-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

Club President Lou Carbone enjoying his pipe

Howdy all, just got a free moment riding the #7 train to update my blog site. Here we are in the second month of 2011 and we just had our second pipe club meeting. As always we met at Florio's in Little Italy to have dinner then retire to the smoking lounge to smoke our pipes.

This meeting was different, what with the passing of Larry Amarouso the previous month, we now have to pay $10 to use the smoking lounge. The management referred to this as a usage fee. The members that were there paid the fee and enjoyed a night of pipe smoking and camaraderie. We had a total of 19 people that showed up in the lounge, with a smaller contingent coming for dinner.

All that being said, we still had a wonderful time smoking our pipes and trying tobaccos brought in by other members. Meeting adjourned around 11:30pm or so.

The next Pipe Club meeting is in March, plus we have the International Pipe Smoking Day on Saturday February 19th from 2pm - 6pm at De La Concha on Sixth Avenue. Hope to see you there to hoist a bowl for a wonderful evening of pipe smoking.

Before I go, here is the link to the pictures from the meeting Photos. Enjoy!!

REVIEW: JANUARY PIPE CLUB MEETING

2011-02-01T15:04:00.000-08:00

Well it's a miserable day here in New York so I figured I'd take the time to get you up to speed on the latest happenings in the cigar and pipe worlds. Since my last post I suffered an unfortunate mishap. Nothing too serious, if you don't consider a broken left elbow serious. It will require surgery to repair and at least a three month recovery, but other than that all else is operational since I'm a right handed person so I can still function.

On to better things, on January 18th we had our first pipe club meeting of 2011. It was both a happy and a sad occasion. More on the sad bit later. Our first 2011 meeting was delayed a week due to the inclement weather we've been having in New York this winter. We met, as usual, at Florio's in Little Italy where we had dinner and then went upstairs to smoke our pipes.

At this meeting we honored former president Vernon Vig with a one of a kind custom made Dunhill pipe for his hard work and dedication to the efforts of the club. We also had a custom certificate made to commemorate the occasion. Vernon was quite surprised by the generous tribute bestowed on him by the club. In honor of the occasion the club generously bought all in attendance a drink of their choosing.

We then retired upstairs to enjoy the newly reintroduced Dunhill pipe tobaccos, courtesy of Peter Guss and Liam O'Mally, which were a big hit with all in attendance. Meeting was a great success with all in attendance.

Our normal high energy meetings were made a bit somber when we were informed of the passing of our host, for many years, Larry Amoruso at 51 years young. He lost his battle with cancer on January 13th, 2011. Our condolences go out to his family and close friends.

Our next meeting is on February 8th, 2011. Hope to see you all in attendance where we may sample some unusual tobacco. Before I forget here's the link to the pictures of the evening Pipe Club First 2011 Meeting

DECEMBER 2010 PIPE CLUB MEETING

2011-01-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

A belated Merry Christmas and a happy 2011 to my followers. Sorry about the lateness of this post, but like most of you, I was enjoying a bit of the holiday cheer myself. I'm sitting down with a lovely cocktail and figured that I've put it off too long and I should get to writing the latest installment. As the title suggests this is my review of the year end holiday meeting of the New York Pipe Club.

As always we had a wonderful turn out of folks at this meeting and we also had some brand spanking new members who came to support this wonderful past time. In attendance was our current president Lou Carbone as well as our past president Vernon Vig. We all sat down to a wonderful dinner followed by a round of drinks on the club, which as Vernon explained has been a tradition. Afterwards we proceeded to the smoking lounge where we unpacked our pipes in preparation for smoking.

This evening featured a tasting of some wonderful blends from GL Pease. The blends we tasted were Quiet Night and Chelsea Morning. Quiet Night is a flake tobacco while the other, being the same blend, is a ribbon cut tobacco. Also in attendance was a gentleman named Charles, who said he was a long time member. Charles is the keeper of the 'leaf' and to that end he produced the suitcase of some unusual tobaccos for members to sample.

As always we had a wonderful time trying the GL Pease blends, one of the author's favorites, and celebrating the holidays with the members.

Our next meeting is January 11th, 2011, it's hard to believe 2010 is in the rear view mirror, and hopefully we'll have some interesting tobaccos to taste.

As always I'll keep my ear to the cigar / pipe ash to see what events are in the works.

Oh, least I forget, here's the link to the pictures of that fun evening. NYPC FINAL MEETING 2010

Hope to see you at the first pipe club meeting of 2011.

MONJOUR PIPE SHOW

2010-12-06T19:02:00.000-08:00

Steve Monjour at the Barclay Rex Pipe Show

Howdy all, just got a chance to report back about the Monjour Fall Pipe Show. Show was held on Thursday December 2nd, 2010 at Barclay Rex 75 Broad Street, NYC from 11am - 6pm. There were pipes from Brebbia, Ardor and Rinaldi with varying prices. Steve Monjour, as always, was on hand to answer any questions on the pipes.

There were many lovely pipes, some of which I loved, but were out of my price range. However I did find another pipe, yet another Brebbia, that is a clear version of my squashed tomato bowl Brebbia I bought at a previous Monjour Pipe Show. (Picture to follow)

Steve also brought a pipe that was made to be raffled off. Unfortunately I didn't win the raffled pipe. Hopefully I'll be able to win one at the next Monjour Pipe Show.

Here is a link to the pictures from the Monjour Pipe Show Monjour Pipe Pictures.

The next event coming down the pipe (no pun intended) is the December New York Pipe Club meeting on December14th, 2010 at Florio's / Three Little Indians in Little Italy. We'll be tasting two blends from the GL Pease tobacco line. Hope to see you pipe lovers there.

November Pipe Club meeting

2010-11-14T07:26:00.000-08:00

The Author smoking one of his Meerschaums

Hello again, time's sure flying this year. Here we are again at the November Pipe Club meeting. Once again we took up residence at Florio's / Three Little Indians for dinner and an evening of pipe smoking.

This month's meeting was jam packed with happenings. First member Bob Sacks showed the members the Dunhill pipe, created for former president Vernon Vig. President Lou encouraged the members in attendance to send a contribution so that we could, at a later date, present the pipe to Vernon as a gift from the NYPC. We also had a raffle for a elegant wooden tamper with granite bit which was won by Gene. Then we got down to business.

The evening featured some Ashton blends that have been reissued. (For a description of them one can visit the NYPC website New York Pipe Club). We ha roughly 6 - 7 tins that was sent to us by our contact at McClelland. We thoroughly enjoyed the sample tins provided.

Yours truly and Mark pitched a few ideas to Peter concerning events we could have at future meetings. Hopefully we can plan these events and hope that the loyal members will be on board.

As always a fun time was had by all in attendance. Here's the link to the pictures so you can re-live the event, if you were there, or see what you missed if you were unable to attend. NYPC Pictures

Well that's all for now, will keep my ear to the cigar / pipe ash to see if any events are in the works.

Review: Rocky Patel Cigar Event

2010-10-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

Event Poster on the door to the humidor

Hi again folks, your friendly neighborhood cigar and pipe reviewer coming to you from the Starbucks a blog away from Barclay Rex's main store on Broad Street in NYC. I have been lapsing in writing this review about the Rocky Patel Cigar Event that took place September 30th, 2010 at 2 of Barclay Rex's locations. The first being the Broad Street Store and the second being the much smaller 42nd Street location. I was feeling lazy that morning, as it was two days after my birthday, so I decided to go to the 42nd Street store for the event.

I arrived at the store at approximately 3pm and was greeted by Mr. Patel standing outside smoking a cigar (one of his own). The event was a buy 3 get 1 free. I purchased 2 of The Edge and 1 of the Patel Brothers cigars. The complimentary cigar was the 1961. Since I have enjoyed the other 3 in the past I decided to give this one a try. True to the brand this one was just a good as the others. It is an even fuller body than the others in the Rocky Patel line. I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar and will review it at a later date for my loyal followers.

Rocky Patel standing behind the counter speaking to a customer

I had the opportunity to speak to Mr. Patel, who I have meet some years before at the Big Smoke NYC, and we were talking about his cigar line. He said that the Sumatra line are one of the strongest he's manufactured to date and since I like a full bodied cigar I should give this one a try. Will have to try this one at a later date and post a review of it to this blog site. Blow are some of the pictures I took at the event which shows some of his cigars, lighters, cutters and a signature humidor that can hold approximately 100 cigars.

A Rocky Patel signature table lighter

The Rocky Patel 15th Anniversary Cigar with the 1961 and Signature Cutter

A few of the cigars in his line including the 1961

The Limited Edition Decade Cigar

The 5 Year Old Edge cigar with a warning label

The Rocky Patel Signature Humidor

It was a great event, only wished that I could have gotten down to the Broad Street Store as it's the larger of the two stores. However I enjoyed smoking the 1961 and as I said before I will try to smoke another one and post a review on this blog site. However subsequently, at the October NY Pipe Club meeting, I was able to obtain a Rocky Patel 1990 Anniversary cigar and was blown away at how full bodied this cigar is. Review of this one to follow.

Barclay Rex will be hosting the Savinelli Pipe show this upcoming Thursday October 28th at the Broad Street Store and on October 29th at the 42nd Street Store from 11am - 5pm. Will try to attend either of these dates and post a review of the show.

That's all folks!! (stealing the line from Porky Pig). As always will keep my ear to the cigar / Pipe ash to see if there's any events happening in the near future.

OCTOBER PIPE CLUB MEETING

2010-10-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

Author's Club Meerschaum with white gloves

Well, I was just looking at my blog site and realized that the last posting was about the August Pipe Club picinic . We got a nice turn out at this meeting including member Dominick who, for work reasons, missed the last two meetings.

A lot has happened since the September meeting. The Club Meerschaum, ordered back in June, finally arrived from the Turkish Carver which look very good. Peter Guss brought the pipes along with pairs of white gloves (to honor the old fashion meerschaum smoking tradition). He also brought some tobacco blends made by McClelland in tribute to some of the old Dunhill blends. The blends we tried are AM Pipe a clone of Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe (EMP), PM Pipe a clone of Dunhill's Nightcap and 925 a clone of Dunhill's 965.

Also we have chosen the blends that will eventually become the official New York Pipe Club blends. The three selected are the VaPerOr blend (Virginia #2), The Balkan #1 (The English #1) blend and the Cigar leaf blend (Sailorman Jack blend). At the meeting President Lou Carbon said that we would also add the Virginia #1 (Straight Virginia) blend as well. We have decided that the VaPerOr and the English #1 need to be tweaked further to see if we can improve the blends. For the VaPerOr we will increase the Oriental component. For the English #1 we will increase the Latakia component. Hopefully we'll get two blends that meet the Club members approval. We should be able to re-taste them, before we make a final decision, to see if they are to our liking. We will also come up with names and artwork that will go on the final packaging. Cornell and Deihl will be the company that will tin the final blends for retail sale.

The night ended with the remaining members, Harvey, Hank, Lou, Liam, Dom and yours truly putting down our pipes. No we weren't quitting pipe smoking but we had some great cigars that Liam and Avi had brought along. Liam brought three anniversary Padron cigars 1966, 1965 and 1964 (44yr, 45yr and 46yr) and Avi brought yours truly a 1990 Rocky Patel cigar (20yr). We enjoyed the last of the evening with these wonderful cigars and then closed out the October Pipe Club meeting.

For those who wish to see the pictures here's the link to them October Pipe Club Pictures. Enjoy the pictures.

Well as always I will keep an ear to the cigar / pipe ash to see if any events come up before the November Pipe Club Meeting.

NYPC Summer Picnic

2010-09-15T18:18:00.000-07:00

Country Gentleman Corn Cob Pipe

Howdy all, I finally acquired the link to the pictures from the NYPC second annual picnic held at Todd's house in New Jersey. The link is NYPC Summer Picnic. Enjoy the pictures if you didn't attend the meeting or if you did it'll be a trip down memory lane.

In the next few days I'll be posting a review of the NYPC September meeting complete with a link to the pictures. As always I'll be keeping my ear to the Cigar / Pipe Ash to listen for any news on upcoming events.

As always enjoy your smokes, whether it be pipes or cigars. Until next time

NY Pipe Club Summer Picnic

2010-09-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

Corn Cob Pipe showing The Club Name

Another view of the Corn Cob Pipe showing the date

A big shout out to all my loyal followers. Here we are post Labor Day and it's a rather cool evening here in New York and I am just sitting down to write my review of the NY Pipe Club's second annual picnic held on Saturday August 14th, 2010. The picnic was once again held at member Todd Platek's house in beautiful Berkeley Heights New Jersey. Todd was nice enough again, he must love doing this, to open his house and yard to the New York Pipe Club members and their families to enjoy a day filled with food, booze and of course plenty of pipe smoking.

The day turned out to be a gorgeous day with overcast skies and low humidity. We were able to sit in the backyard amongst the trees and enjoy the great food and drink. Club member Avi and I meet in Queens and we drove out to Todd's house arriving there about 1:30pm. Since this was a BYOB (bring your own booze) event Avi brought a six pack of beer and yours truly brought, which was well received, a bottle of Knob Creek Single Batch Bourbon.

Lou Carbon, Club President, brought his two sons plus the blends from Russ for us to sample again, and for those who were not at the August meeting so we could try them and decide which blends would become the official New York Pipe Club blends. Also Peter Guss brought the official New York Pipe Club Corn Cob pipes and a bunch of aromatics that we could smoke in the corn cobs so as not to gunk up our more elegant pipes.

Todd was nice enough to provide the food for the event as well as sodas. The food consisted of hot dogs, burgers, hot and sweet Italian sausages, ribs, pork chops and corn on the cob. He also provided chips to accompany the beer and bourbon. The picnic lasted well past sunset and the guys were having such a grand time that we all decided to light up another bowl to end such a glorious evening. I ended the the evening smoking a bowl of Cornell and Deihl's Gentleman Caller which has a Deer Tongue Perique as one of the blends.

As the evening wore on club members Dan and Alan treated us to some impromptu live music with Alan playing his flute and Dan playing his bongo drums. They played a number of songs including, one of my favorites, their rendition of Dizzy Gillespie's A Night In Tunisia.

I sampled the Straight Virginia blend but was underwhelmed and decided to take a sample to smoke at a later date. As I am writing this review I have tried the Straight Virginia again and enjoyed it enough that I will vote for it as one of the Official Pipe Club Blends.

I will try to post pictures from the picnic for all my readers to see and for those members who were unable to attend the picnic.

Well I will close this post now only to say that I will be attending the September meeting of the New York Pipe Club which will be held on Tuesday September 14th, 2010 at Florio's in Little Italy. Hopefully we'll get the Club meerschaum which we ordered back at the June 2010 meeting.

I have heard through the cigar and pipe ash that Barclay Rex is planning, for the end of September, a cigar event featuring Rocky Patel cigars. They have contacted Rocky Patel to see if he can fit it into his schedule to appear at this event. No word on whether he's accepted the invitation but one can only hope.

Until next time I bid you happy smoking.

Review: NY Pipe Club August Meeting

2010-08-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

The author at the March meeting smoking a Peterson Sitter

Hi all, just got a free moment to bring you some wonderful news from the NY Pipe Club's August meeting. We met at Florio's in Little Italy for a wonderful Italian meal and another fun night of pipe smoking. This night was unlike any other night that I've had the pleasure to attend. We had a special guest. Russ Ouellette from Habana Premium Pipe and Cigar Shop, in Albany New York, was our special guest for the evening. He brought six different pipe tobacco blends three of which will become the official NY Pipe Club blends.

I had the pleasure of trying two of the blend, being the Virginia / Oriental / Perique blend and the Burley #1 blend. These two blends were interesting blends that smoked very well in the two pipes I loaded them into. The Burley blend is one that I would recommend to any pipe smoker who wants a blend that they can smoke all day without getting tired of them.

This coming Saturday we'll be attending the second annual club picnic where we'll be able to try all the blends. Also those members that were unable to attend the monthly meeting will be able to try the blends as well. I will be trying the aromatics as well as the the Straight Virginia blend plus the other burley blend.

Once we've all had our chance to try these six blends we will, as a club, decide on the three blends that will go into official production as the NY Pipe Club blends. The chosen blends will be tinned by Cornell and Dehil and will be available for sale to the general public which a portion of each sale going to the NY Pipe Club.

Looking forward to the picnic as this is my first one and will report back from the picnic with pictures and a detailed review of the blends that we're reviewing to become the Club blends.

The cigar ash has told me that Barclay Rex, Broad Street Store in NYC, will be hosting a Drew Estates cigar event on the 25th of August. I will try to attend the event as I haven't smoke a Drew Estate cigar and will be looking forward to sampling this cigar and report back to my readers.

Review: La Flor Dominicana DL-700 Maduro

2010-08-04T06:30:00.000-07:00

La Flor DL700 Maduro before smoking

Hi all, at long last on a nice and balmy NYC August evening I had the time to really enjoy the DL700 Maduro and with a clear head which allowed me to compose, finally, my review of this wonderful cigar. The cigar comprises of a Dominican binder and filler with an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper.

PRE-BURN

Upon inspecting the cigar I found it to be well constructed. The wrapper was dark in appearance, thanks to the Sun Grown Ecuadorian wrapper, with noticeable veins present. In feeling the cigar it was firm to the touch with no soft sport present. In putting the cigar to the nose I detected a hint of sweetness(cocoa) with an earthiness (hay and leather) as well. Cutting the cigar with my trusty V-cutter and tasting it before lighting it gave me the aforementioned flavors plus a hint of chili pepper. I was excited to see what flavors would emerge once I put flame to the cigar,

BURN

Upon putting flame to the cigar and taking the first puff I was greeted by a smoothness and the sweetness noted on the pre-burn was present as well. This lasted thru approx an inch or so when the spiciness reasserted itself and hung on till I got to the second third.

The second third allowed the sweetness and the earthiness to shine thru while the spiciness disappeared. The smoke produced was voluminous and hung around the face till the breeze blew it away. The ash hung on for a good inch until gravity, a cigar smokers worst enemy, took over and it fell to the ground. The cigar required frequent touch ups but that did not detract from the cigar in anyway.

The final third had the reappearance of the spiciness which was noticeable but not as pronounced as the Oscuro line. Also the full body flavor of this smoke came thru on the final third which, for this reviewer, was welcomed. As I smoked this down to the nub and beyond the hint of spiciness was welcomed and has become a hallmark of Lito's stronger smoke.

My hat's off to Lito and his wonderful team for creating yet another wonderful cigar which is a welcomed addition to the line of fine cigars. Overall this is one smoke along with the non Maduro DL700 will become staples in my smoking arsenal.

One caveat: THIS is not a cigar for the novice or those who do not like a strong smoke. Experienced smokers will enjoy the complex flavors this cigar has to offer. A word of warning: This is a smoke, like the Patel Bros cigar reviewed earlier, that one should not smoke on an empty stomach as you may be overwhelmed and not be able to properly enjoy this smoke.

Until the next pipe club meeting which is just a week away, I bid you all good safe smoking. As always I have my ear to the Cigar Ash to see if events, besides the ones that have surfaced, come to the surface.

Review: Rocky Patel's Patel Bros Toro Cello

2010-07-31T10:08:00.000-07:00

Patel Bros Toro Cello

Hi again folks, I know I said in my last Tweet I said I'd be reviewing the La Flor Dominicana DL700 Maduro. Well that review is in the works and will appear at a later date.

Today I'll be reviewing the Patel Bros Toro Cello cigar. This is the second one I smoked and have been impressed with this cigar line. This cigar is a Toro shaped cigar measuring 6 inches by a 52 ring gauge. It is manufactured in Nicaragua comprising of Nicaraguan filler and binder with a Pennsylvania wrapper giving it a maduro color.

PRE-BURN

The cigar is a nicely constructed toro which provided ample flavors on the initial nose. I has a woodsy flavor with a hint of sweetness. Also it has a strong peppery flavor that I'd compare to snuff (not having done the stuff tho) which made me sneeze twice (imho a good thing).

BURN

Upon lighting the cigar I was presented with the sweetness plus the spiciness was present though the first two thirds. It produced voluminous amounts of smoke and a nice grayish-black ash that hung on for a good inch, before succumbing to the effects of gravity before falling off. The spiciness disappeared for the last third, but reappeared once I hit the nub section providing a great finish.

Overall this is a well blended and constructed smoke and imho another good smoke from the Patel line. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a full bodied smoke and has some time to savor the complex flavors it presents.

Well the Cigar Ash has been very active and has presented three events upcoming for the month of August. On August 10th I'll be attending the NY Pipe Club meeting where, hopefully, we'll be getting the club meerschaum we ordered back at the July meeting. Also on Saturday August 14th we be attending the second annual Pipe Club picnic being held at member Todd Platek's NJ home. Hopefully we'll have great weather for the event where we'll be smoking corn cob pipes with, as always, some wonderful aromatics. Also Barclay Rex will be hosting a Joya De Nicaragua event towards the end of the month.

Will report back from all events as time permits. Looks to be a fun month for us pipe and cigar lovers. Will Report back soon.

Indian Tabac Super Fuerte Maduro Cigar Review

2010-07-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

Cigar before smoking

Hey all, standing in Times Square after a less than productive Saturday night, I figured it was time to relax and review the Indian Tabac Super Fuerte Maduro Toro Cigar. Super Fuerte translates to Super Strong.

The cigar is comprised of a mix of Honduran, Nicaraguan and Costa Rican tobaccos with a maduro wrapper. It is produced in Honduras and is also box pressed.

This cigar is made by legendary cigar maker Rocky Patel. It's a nicely constructed cigar with an oily wrapper. It comes in at 6" with a 52 ring gauge which is right in this reviewer's neighborhood.

PRE-BURN

Putting the cigar to my nose revealed a nice strong tobacco flavor hinting of things to come. Construction of this cigar is solid, with no soft spots. Cutting the head with my mahogany V cutter again spoke to the cigar's construction. A taste before putting flame to the cigar again hinted at what's in store.

BURN

After lighting the cigar and taking the first puff I was in cigar heaven. I haven't smoked one of these in a few years and it brought back memories of meeting Rocky at the big smoke in 2008. But I digress, back to the review.

The cigar produced volumes of smoke and a nice woodsy flavor that's pleasing on the pallet. It also produced a nice grayish-black ash that hung on for about an inch before falling off due to gravity. The burn was a tad uneven but easily fixed and didn't affect the cigar in any way.

Cigar at the first third showing the lovely grayish-black ash

The first third was uneventful in flavor but it did produce mouthfuls of wonderful smoke throughout.

Cigar in the final third

The second and third thirds is where this cigar began to show itself. It produced a wonderful spiciness coupled with a hint of sweetness (cocoa) underneath that last right through the second and third portions. This was enjoyable right down to the nub.

Overall this cigar delivered what it promised, even though it wasn't as Super Strong as labeled. However I enjoyed it thoroughly and I will gladly smoke this one again in the future. I would recommend this cigar to anyone who enjoys a medium to full bodied smoke.

One caveat to keep in mind, this cigar is not one that you can quickly smoke as you won't enjoy the complex flavors that occur. This cigar, depending on how quickly you smoke requires a minimum of one hour from start to finish.

I will definitely be adding this one to my repertoire as I enjoyed almost every inch of this cigar.

Until either the cigar ash gets wind of another tasting event or I get another fabulous cigar to rave about, I will be trying to stay cool during this New York heatwave.

July Pipe Club Meeting

2010-07-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

Some of the New York Pipe Club Members

Hey all, it looks to be a warm and miserable day here in NYC perfect time while still in my air conditioned room to write my latest post on the July New York Pipe Club meeting.

As always the meeting took place at Florio's Italian Restaurant, 192 Grand Street NYC. At this meeting we tried four blends from the L.J. Peretti Company located in Boston MA. Here is the description from their website:

TASHKENT: Named for "The most beautiful city in Central Asia", this spicy, full flavored blend is made from Izmir Turkish and Latakia

PARK SQUARE: Red Virginia, Matured Virginia, and Stoved Virginia are delicately spiced with just the right amount of Perique to create a rich and complex blend whose character evolves and emerges throughout the bowl.

ROYAL BLEND: A blend of the choicest matured Virginian and the finest Oriental tobaccos. It contains a high percentage of the finest Yenidje (Turkish) leaf.

BLEND No. 333: A splendid blend for those who like a fairly heavy tobacco that is not aromatic, but is full of flavor. Very slow burning and cool.

We also placed orders for the club meerschaum which is going to be a fluted dublin with a silver band and an earth-toned mottled stem. According to Peter Guss we should see these pipes by the August meeting. If not we'll definitely have them by the September meeting.

A good time was had by all and we, those who ordered the club pipe, are looking forward to receive the club pipe.

Well this is the end for now, will keep my ear to the cigar / pipe ash to see if any events transpire.

3rd Brebbia Pipe Review

2010-07-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

Hey again, I figured today was a good day to start writing my review of my latest pipe acquisition. It is a rather steamy day here in NYC with the temperatures slated to hit 101F

A while back, as reported in an earlier post, at the Monjour Pipe Trunk Show I fell in love with, now my fourth straight pipe in my collection. It is a Canadian style pipe with the same cut pattern as my previous Brebbia squashed tomato pipe.

I've had a few opportunities to smoke this pipe and it smokes as well as my other Brebbias. This pipe has a nice 9mm bowl which allows me to pack it with a good amount of tobacco. I have smoked both aromatic and non-aromatic tobaccos in this pipe with no noticeable tongue bite.

According to the Cigar Ash there will be a cigar event at Barclay Rex (75 Broad Street NYC) this coming Friday July 9th. I will try to attend this event and report back to you with the details

Also will be attending the July New York Pipe Club meeting this coming Tuesday the 13th where we'll be sampling, yet again, new and unusual tobaccos. Also we'll be placing our orders for the New York Pipe Club's meerschaum pipe. I will try to get some photographs of the sample pipe so I can post it here for you to see.

Until we meet again, hopefully it won't be as steamy then. CIAO.

MONJOUR PIPE SHOW

2010-06-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hi all, just getting a few minutes to put digital pen to paper to write about the Monjour Pipe Show. The show took place on Friday June 11th, 2010 from 11am - 6pm at Barclay Rex, 75 Broad Street NYC. As always Steve Monjour, the representative for Brebia, Rinaldo and Ardor, was on hand to answer any questions about any of the pipes.

There were, as always, some rather unique pipes including two with bowls so large that they could be used as a weapon. There were a few that I saw that I really liked, but they were out of my price range. I did find one, within my price range, that I purchased. It has the same pattern as my squashed tomato bowl but this one is a straight pipe in what is called a Canadian style as the bowl has a canter that tilts the bowl away from the stem. Will have pictures and a review once I get a chance to enjoy a few bowls in this wonderful pipe.

Here are pictures from the pipe show so can see the wonderful pipes. See images here: Monjour Pipe Show.

Well that's all she wrote, whatever that means, from the Monjour Pipe Show. I will see what the cigar ash has in store for us in the coming days. If nothing occurs I'll report back with my review of my 3rd Brebia Pipe in the coming days.

June Pipe Club Meeting

2010-06-11T10:32:00.001-07:00

Hi all, it's been a while since I posted anything to the blog. I've had an interesting couple of months off, heading back to Jamaica, the island not Jamaica NY, to celebrate my grandmother's 98th birthday (who'd believe that) and just lazing around smoking my pipes and the occasional cigar. I thought this would be a good time to get back into the swing of blogging once again.

Tuesday June 8th, 2010 was the 6th meeting for the calendar year and an important milestone. We had the passing of the ceremonial smoking fez from our past president Vernon Vig to our newly elected president Lou Carbone. We all raised our pipes in honor of Lou officially taking the reigns as president.

In addition to the usual smoking and eating we had a few special things at this meeting. First we had a raffle where the prizes offered were: an NY Pipe Club hat, 3 pipes used in the slow smoke contest at the major shows, a few t-shirts from various pipe organizations, a hand drawn chart showing the different types of Dunhill Pipes and a leather tobacco and pipe pouch.

Our new president secured 4 different varieties of Uhle pipe tobacco. I secured two of them to try at my leisure to see how they smoke. One was called Bishop's Move and the other is called Perfect Plug. Will smoke them and post a review here on the blog.

Peter Guss presented the club's 2010 pipe that'll be made for those interested. This year's pipe will be a meerschaum, not too ornate, with a tam and white stem. Price is set at $75, but Peter will send out an email with a link so those not in attendance can see the pipe and decide by the July meeting if they'd be interested in purchasing one. This reviewer has expressed an interest in purchasing one to add to my collection. Here's the link to the New York Pipe Club's Site NY Pipe Club so you check out the site in general as well as see the 2010 Meerschaum that will be produced for the Pipe Club.

We ended the meeting with a discussion as to the dates for the summer picnic. I suggested that a couple of dates be sent out to the group and see which garners the most votes.

Well that's all for now until the next event, which happens to be the Brebia, Ardor and Rinaldi pipe trunk show at Barclay Rex, 75 Broad Street NYC, from 11am - 6pm June 11th. I will try to attend and take pictures of the pipes available. Who knows I may wind up buying a pipe, if I see an eye catching one, and post a review of it on this blog.

For those who won't be in cyberspace enjoy the summer holidays and I'll keep the blog updated pending your return.

CAIN CIGAR REVIEW

2010-03-10T19:53:00.001-08:00

Hi all, taking time to recover from the March meeting of the NY Pipe club and figured it was time to update this blog.

The Cain cigar comes to us from the Oliva stable which produced the wonderful Nub cigar line. The Cain cigar is a Ligero filler and binder from the farms in Nicaragua with either a Maduro or a Habano wrapper.

The one I chose for this review is the one with the Habano wrapper.

PRE-BURN

The Cain Habano is comprised of Ligero tobacco from different regions with either a Maduro or Habano wrapper. The initial nose of the cigar produced a wonderful sweetness with hints of leather. Upon. Cutting the cigar, with an exquisite V cutter, I proceeded to give it a pre-light taste. The hints of leather was evident as was the sweetness.

BURN
Upon lighting the cigar and taking the initial draw showed just how well made this cigar is. The hints of sweetness and leather were joined with a black pepper spiciness that wasn't overpowering. The black pepper flavor was there for the first third then replaced by a wonderful bitter sweet chocolate flavor that endured through the second third.

Nub of Cain Cigar with wonderful ash

All the while, the wonderful grayish ash hung on well into the final third in the final third, see picture above, the spiciness reappared but this tome it was more of a red pepper spiciness. Not overpowering enough to hide the sweetness that was present throughout.

Overall this is yet another cigar in the oliva line that I would regard as a sleeper. For those who enjoy a full bodied smoke will enjoy the cain cigar line as much as I have.

The cigar ash has informed me that this coming friday, March 12th, barclay rex will be hosting an event featuring the zino cigar line from Davidoff. Looks to be a great event. Hope to see you there.

LA FLOR DOMINICANA AIRBENDER REVIEW

2010-03-04T07:27:00.000-08:00

Hi all, just got some time to sit down and write my review of La Flor Dominicana's newest cigar called the Airbender. This is a wonderful cigar features tobacco grown at the company's own tobacco farm in the Dominican republic for the filler and binder. A spicy Ecuadorian Habano wrapper completes the package to create a wonderful cigar.

PRE-BURN
Upon inspection this is a finely constructed cigar with a nice oily sheen to the wrapper. The nose of cigar revealed hints of sweetness and leather. Clipping the cigar, with a nice mahogany V cutter, the pre-light draw revealed more of the sweetness, the leather and a touch of spiciness.

BURN
Once lit the first third exuded the spiciness and that was present on the pre-burn draw. The hint of leather was also present. There was loads of smoke present and the ash was a grayish-black and hung on for a full 2 inches.

The spiciness disappeared on the second third and I was left with the hints of sweetness and leather throughout the second third. The burn was a bit uneven and needed a slight touch up but that didn't affect the overall quality of the cigar.

The final third ushered in the spiciness that appeared in the first third and the sweetness was still present. The ash during the final third hung on for a good 2 inches.

Overall this is a great smoke and I would highly recommend it to anyone who's familiar with the brand or likes a full bodied smoke.

The next event is the March Pipe Club meeting, Tuesday March 9th, 2010, where we'll be smoking, yet again, some unusual pipe tobaccos.

LA FLOR DOMINICANA CIGAR EVENT

2010-02-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

A snowy shout out to all the readers of my blog site. I am writing this post from the smoking lounge at Barclay Rex, 75 Broad Street NYC. They are hosting the La Flor Dominicana cigar event. It was from 12- 5pm. John, the La Flor rep, braved the elements and was at the event.

The event was a buy three get one free. The free cigars were either the new Airbender or the DL-600 maduro. I purchased three of the Oscuro size Ligero cigars and chose the new Airbender cigar. This new cigar features a Dominican filler and binder with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. This cigar comes in 4 different sizes from a 5 x 50 up to a 6 1/4 x 60. This is a medium bodied cigar. I will post a review of the Airbender cigar as well as the DL-600 maduro at a later date.

Well that's it from the La Flor Dominicana Cigar Event. As always will keep my ear to the cigar ash in case anything develops.

INTERNATIONAL PIPE SMOKING DAY

2010-02-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

Hi again, just getting a chance to write about the NY Pipe Club's International Pipe Smoking Day event. We met at De La Concha Cigar Shop at 56th Street and Sixth Avenue at 4pm where we began smoking our pipes. The folks at De La Concha was nice enough to provide the members with a discount on pipe tobacco and any pipes in the store. Most of the members stocked up on the pipe tobaccos.

Afterward a group of us decided to go over to Merchant's where we were able to continue to smoke our pipes and also drink and enjoy some great food. We stayed at Merchant's till about 11pm when everybody was basically smoked out and we ended an enjoyable evening.

Here is a link Pictures from De La Concha to the pictures from the beginning part of the evening.

The next event takes place this Friday @ Barclay Rex, 75 Broad Street NYC, from 12 - 5pm. The event will feature a new cigar from La Flor Dominicana in a buy three get one free. Hope it'll be a great turn out.

UNUSUALLY SHAPED CIGAR

2010-02-19T00:53:00.000-08:00

Hi again folks, had an opportunity to try a most unique cigar made. This is made by Arturo Fuente and is called the Reserva No 77 Pyramid. This rare cigar is also know as the Shark due to its unusual shape and is made in very limited quantities. It starts off as a pyramid shape at the head and becomes, what someone would call Box Pressed, square in shape at the foot. It is a 5.8 x 54 cigar with a 5 year old Maduro wrapper aged in a cognac barrel. The filler and binder are reported to be from the same tobacco that goes into the Fuente Fuente OPUS X. It is a full bodied smoke and, as this reviewer can attest, should be smoked on a full stomach. Whoa to those who smoke this without having consumed a decent meal. I have smoked a couple of them but haven't had the time to dissect this cigar to write a review. Hopefully I'll be able to smoke one and provide my loyal followers with a detailed review.

See you at De La Concha this Saturday as we celebrate the International Pipe Smoking Day.

UPCOMING EVENTS

2010-02-16T17:41:00.001-08:00

Howdy all, just got back from Barclay Rex, 75 Broad Street, and have a few updates from the cigar ash. First Barclay Rex us celebrating their 100th anniversary, can you believe it they've been in business 100 years, and in honor of their centennial they are doing an interesting promotion. Come in to any of their locations on your birthday and you'll get a free cigar (same as the one purchased). Also on Friday February 26th,2010 from, 12:00 - 5pm, they will be hosting an event with La Flor Dominicana which is a buy 3 get one free. Since I am a long time fan of this brand, it's the first one I smoked, I will make sure to be in attendance. Hopefully the La Flor representative will be on hand so I can have pictures to show all.

Also on Saturday February 20th the NY Pipe Club will be hosting an event at De La Concha cigar lounge to celebrate the International Pipe Smoking Day. Looking forward to attending this event and will also have pictures to commemorate the event. Should be a fun time for all.

Until next time or if the cigar ash brings us another exciting event.

NY Pipe Club meeting / Miami Cigar Event

2010-02-15T19:37:00.001-08:00

Hello again, it's been a while since I've posted anything. A lot has happened since the last posting. I went to the February meeting of the NY Pipe Club and also attended the Miami Cigar event at Barclay Rex in NYC.

Had the pleasure of attending the meeting of the NY Pipe Club this past Tuesday February 9th. As always it was held at Florio's / Three Little Indians on Grand Street in Little Italy. We started out with a nice Italian meal, followed by a night of pipe smoking. We had a fabulous turnout with quite a few first timers joining us. Peter, our resident treasurer and webmaster, brought in a few odd named pipe tobacco. One was called Beck's Ol' Limey Bastard and the other was called Frenchy's Sonza Bitches.

I was able to smoke the Ol' Limey Bastard, which is heavy on the Latakia. I thoroughly enjoyed this tobacco and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys smoking the non-aromatic blends. We had a wonderful time at the pipe club meeting and I look forward to report on the March meeting.

Thursday and Friday February 11th and 12th from 12 noon - 5pm Barclay Rex, 75 Broad Street, hosted the Miami Cigar event. This featured, among others, the Aurora cigar, the Leon Jimenez, the Murcielago cigar among others that Miami Cigar handles. Unfortunately the Miami Cigar representative got snowed in and was unable to attend the event. They had a buy 2 get 1 free deal with the free cigar being two new sizes in the Leon Jimenez line. I bought one of the Murcielago, one of the Leon Jimenez and an additional Leon Jimenez in the new sizes. Smoked the two Leon Jimenez, which smoked wonderful. Haven't smoked the Murcielago yet but this is the retail size to the one I reviewed in an earlier posting on my Blog site. Hopefully it'll smoke as well as the one I smoked for the 50 Best event.

Well I could go on forever but I'll leave you while I go load my pipe with Black Dawg pipe tobacco and my iPod with Led Zeppelin's Black Dog.

Till the Cigar Ash gives us details on the next event, I look forward to reporting from the annals of the pipe and cigar world. In the meantime I hope to hear from my followers on new cigars or pipe tobaccos that would be worth trying.

Pipe Club Meeting and Other Musings

2010-02-03T18:53:00.001-08:00

Hello folks, it's been a while since I last posted to this Blog. Lot has happened since my last post. Went to the first pipe club meeting of 2010 where we smoked some great pipe tobaccos. A fun time was had by all.

The next pipe club meeting will be taking place on Tuesday February 9th, 2010 at, as always, Florio's Italian restaurant in Little Italy starting at 6pm. As we did last month we'll be smoking some unique blends as well as our regular pipe tobacco.

The cigar ash has revealed some great news. Barclay Rex in conjunction with Miami Cigar will be holding an event on Friday February 12th, 2010 from 12 noon - 5pm. Will be attending the event and will be reviewing the event and cigars(s) and will have associated pictures as well.

Not sure what the next event will be but as always will keep an ear to the cigar ash to see what, if any, will be happening in the immediate future.

FIRST MEERSCHAUM PIPE

2010-01-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

Meerschaum Pipe in case

Another image of Meerschaum Pipe showing beginnings of coloration

Happy New Year to all. Hope the New Year will bring health and prosperity to all. I started the New Year with yet another pipe purchase. As seen from the above images I have entered the world of Meerschaum pipes. This is a wonderfully carved pipe which features the front section of a Pegasus with the wings folded back.

Picked up some new aromatics which I am smoking in this pipe. One is a Barclay Rex blend they call Alkazar and the other one is a blend by Solani called Scotch Whiskey. I also smoked an aromatic roll cake tobacco in this pipe as well. So far this pipe smoke wonderful and I have to remember to keep my hands off the bowl while smoking it so I don't get any oils from my hands on the bowl and ruin the coloration process.

That's all for now. Will be going to the first Pipe Club meeting tomorrow evening and hope to smoke some new tobaccos from McClelland. Will try them and hopefully write a review of it.

Will keep my ear to the cigar / pipe and will report back if anything comes out of the cigar / pipe ash.

MY 10 BEST CIGARS OF 2009

2009-12-29T01:18:00.000-08:00

Print ad from 1945 showing

Santa Claus smoking a cigar

Merry belated Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, a belated happy Hanukkah and just plain ol' Happy Holidays to all the followers of this blog site. Figured since everyone is doing a top ten list of some sort, I might as well follow suit.

I am going to give you my ten best cigars that I smoked in 2009 and found worth mentioning. They run the gambit of sizes, prices and countries of origin. Without further beating around the bush here's my TOP 10 CIGARS OF 2009.

10 - LegendArio Camacho Legendario Bertha. A great full bodied cigar at a moderate price. Well worth a try in these hard economic times.

9 - Nestor Miranda Murcielago short robusto. A newly released short robusto cigar (4 x 40) with a gorgeous maduro wrapper. See the Murcielago review for more details on this wonderful smoke.

8 - Davidoff Millennium Blend Robusto. Smoked this cigar at a Barclay Rex event and finally saw what the Davidoff smokers rave about. It's a great smoke, a bit pricey, but it's worth a try.

7 - CAO Maduro (Torpedo). A great smoke, hadn't smoked one in a while and revisited this brand and was pleasantly surprised. See the CAO Maduro review for more details on this wonderful cigar.

6 - NUB (the entire line). This is a small, 4 x 60, cigar but don't let the size fool you. This cigar packs a full bodied flavor and requires 45 minutes to enjoy the flavors in this wonderful Oliva creation.

5 - OLIVA Series G and Series V. Another great smoke that comes in all sizes and shapes. My favorite is the figurado shape. A wonderful smoke that comes at a price that won't break the bank.

4 - San Cristobal. A great new line from the folks that brought you the Ashton cigar line. Yet another wonderful smoke that shows the care that Don Pepin Garcia puts into creating this wonderful Honduran cigar. Worth a trip to your local cigar merchant to give this a try. If you like the Ashton cigars you won't be disappointed with the San Cristobal.

3 - Camacho Room 101. A great new cigar which was a collaborative effort with legendary jewelry designer Matt Booth. This cigar comes in 6 sizes and is named with a number, which translates to an area code for different parts of the country. I have smoked the torpedo shape which is a wonderful medium bodied smoke. I'd highly recommend this to those medium and full body smokers.

2- La Flor Dominica Double Ligero. My favorites are the DL-700, a 6 1/2 x 60, and the Chisel Maduro. Both are very full bodied smokes, as a big fan of this line, I'd highly recommend that one smokes these cigars after having a meal otherwise you'll be in for a big head rush. Worth the price and if you're a full bodied smoker as I am you'll fall in love with these cigars.

Finally we get to my #1 smoke of 2009 which is the LG Diez Chisel Puro. This cigar like the Fuente OPUS OPUS X is a rare breed. This cigar is comprised of Dominican grown tobacco which gives it a wonder flavor. It's an unusual figurado shaped cigar where the head of the cigar comes to a chisel shape hence the name. Lito tells a wonderful story as to how the Chisel shape came into being. As he states it came about from him chomping on a cigar during the day until the end became flattened like the point of a carpenter's chisel. It's a wonderful smoke, if you can find them, and as a fan I'd highly recommend this cigar if you can procure one. You won't be disappointed.

There you go folks, my top 10 best cigars that I had the pleasure to smoke in 2009. Hope you'll give one or all of them a try and see if they become one of your top 10 smokes. Hope your New Year is the best it can be, whatever you do. Enjoy your booze and cigars responsibly. I will continue adding to this blog in 2010 so keep your eyes open for the next event in 2010.

DECEMBER PIPE CLUB MEETING

2009-12-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

Hi all, since there's no events at Barclay Rex upcoming I figured I should give you a peek into the NY Pipe Club's monthly meeting. The meeting is held the second Tuesday of every month at Florio's Restaurant, in Little Italy, 192 Grand Street, NYC. The members generally get together around 6pm and have dinner at the restaurant then go upstairs, thanks to the NYC No Smoking Law, and relax and smoke their pipes. This month's, December 8th, 2009, meeting was a special one. Over the last couple of months the pipe industry has lost two very well know gentlemen. One was a pipe maker who worked for Ashton pipes and the other gentleman worked for Dunhill. At this meeting we were going to be enjoying some rare Dunhill tobaccos that have been seen in the US. Also some of the members brought their special Dunhill pipes to smoke this wonderful tobacco.

The evening started with dinner at the restaurant, consisting of great Italian food and drink. People were filtering in to the restaurant starting at 6pm and the majority of the crowd was done with dinner by 7:15pm. At this time we all ascend the stairs and go up to Three Little Indians cigar lounge to begin smoking our pipes, Dunhills if we have them, and some wonderful Dunhill tobacco. This tobacco used to be seen in the US years ago but due to licensing agreement conflicts they stopped exporting the tobacco to the US. The only country that still sells Dunhill tobacco is Germany and if you wanted to purchase it over the Internet it would cost you $20 US.

Peter, the website manager, produced a leaflet with information about the Dunhill tobacco maker who passed away and handed it to those who wanted to learn more about this person. He said that he had a Dunhill catalog from 1928 that he'd be raffling off to those who attended this month's Pipe Club meeting. Some of the Dunhill tobacco we smoked were the Durbar blend, which contains a high proportion of Oriental, Virginia and Latakia in the mixture. People also smoked the 965, which has small Latakia, Macedonia Bright and Brown Cavendish. I had the opportunity to try the Durbar blend and, as stated in reviews I have seen, it is a tobacco that takes a good while to smoke. This is not for those who don't like smoking a non-aromatic.

Pictures were taken by Peter and myself. Peter's pictures will be posted on the NY Pipe Club website while anyone wishing to see my pictures can get them at the following link: New York Pipe Club

Our thanks to Larry owner of Florio's and Three Little Indians Cigar Lounge for allowing the New York Pipe Club to hold their monthly meetings at this wonderful establishment. Still no word on any new events at Barclay Rex. Will keep my ear to the cigar in case any news surfaces in the cigar ash.

NESTOR MIRANDA CIGARS

2009-12-10T02:05:00.000-08:00

Bands from the Nestor Miranda Cigars

Hey folks, finally got the time to review the two Nestor Miranda cigars that were handed out at last week's Fifty Best Scotch tasting event. As I said in my review of the event the two cigars that we smoked were the Special Selection and the newly released Murcielago cigars. Both cigars are a short robusto measuring in at 4" x 40 ring gauge. I had a chance to smoke both at the event and was able to snag another Murcielago so I could enjoy it outside the event so I could give it a proper smoke.

PRE-BURN

The Murcielago is made in Nicaragua. It consists of a Nicaraguan and Mexican filler, Nicaraguan binder and a Mexican Maduro wrapper. This cigar is medium to full bodied in strength. The nose of the cigar reveals creamy notes and hints at the luscious flavor yet to come. Upon cutting the cigar and giving it a pre-smoke draw reveals more of the creaminess.

The Special Selection is also a short robusto measuring 4" x 40 ring gauge. Could not find any information on the tobacco makeup of this cigar, but will update this review once the information has been obtained. The nose of the cigar does reveal a bit of creaminess but not as much as the Murcielago since this cigar had a lighter colored wrapper. Upon cutting the cigar and giving it a pre-smoke draw revealed the hint of creaminess that was present in the nose.

BURN

Upon lighting this cigar, the Murcielago, I could tell I was in for a treat, if the pre-burn was correct. The burn was even and the ash hung on for a good inch given this was a rather short cigar. The creaminess that was present in the pre-burn draw was present throughout the entire cigar. The Maduro wrapper enhanced the creaminess and give the cigar the nice medium to full bodied flavor that I like in a good cigar. This cigar burned consistently from initial lighting to the very end and was worth every minute. This cigar has not yet hit the cigar shops as it was only released three weeks ago. I highly recommend this cigar to anyone looking for a medium to full bodied smoke that doesn't require a long time to smoke it.

Upon lighting the Special Selection I could tell that this was a good smoke and could taste the hints of creaminess. The burn was even and the ash, a nice grayish black color, hung on for a good inch even though this was a short cigar. The only problem, that I and others who smoked this cigar, was that the cigar needed to be relighted a number of times. Not sure what the issue was related to and will have to smoke another one to see if was isolated to the batch that we smoked at the Fifty Best Scotch tasting event. Other wise this was a good cigar and again I would recommend this cigar to someone who's looking for a short smoke and doesn't want to smoke a full bodied smoke.

From talking to folks a Barclay Rex in NYC I don't think there'll be any events between now and the end of the year. If anything does come up I will be sure to inform the readers.

BREBIA PIPE REVIEW

2009-12-07T06:47:00.000-08:00

Author's Brebia Pipe

As promised in my review of the Monjure Pipe show here's my review of my second Brebia Pipe. As I stated I purchased a gray lacquered pipe, with a tomato shaped bowl (9mm) with a black lucite stem.

This past Saturday, it was a snowy / rainy but not so cold day, here in NYC I decided it was time for me to roam the city with all the tourists and locals alike to smoke this pipe to contemplate the notes that I'd be putting into this review.

As with my other Brebia Pipe, an all black rusticated pipe with a black lucite stem, this new addition smoked wonderful from the first smoke. My initial smoke with this pipe occurred at the Barclay Rex Cigar Lounge, 75 Broad Street NYC, smoking an English Latakia blend. For this review I was smoking an Aromatic Flake from Samuel Gwaith called Samuel Gwaith's Best Brown Flake from England.

The pipe has an unusually large stem which takes a bit of time to find the sweet spot to comfortably hold the pope in your mouth without the fear that you may drop and damage the pipe. By the time I was contemplating this review I had found the 'sweet spot' on this pipe and I am able to hold this pipe in my mouth without the risk of damaging to this pipe.

The draw on this pipe is as good as my other Brebia, a testament to the wonderful workmanship of Brebia pipes. For a pipe of this size the bowl is very deceptive holding more tobacco than you would think on initial inspection.

The pipe, when smoked, shows the detail that the pipe maker puts into all of the pipes that are created. The pipe is easy to maintain with most of the pipe cleaners. I prefer to use the ones that are bristled, similar to the shape of a bottle brush, that way I am able to get the stem and the area the stem slips into clean with minimal effort.

All in all the pipe is a dream to smoke and is also a great conversation piece. The pipe is one design I hadn't seen done before. The pipe maker incorporates a unique X pattern in the bowl after the bowl was lacquered.

Well I could go on forever, but all things have to end. My next posting will be my review of the two Nestor Miranda cigars I got at The Fifty Best Scotch tasting event. Heard rumors that Barclay Rex maybe planning an event for December 21st but as stated that is only a rumor at this stage. More to come on any future events.

The Fifty Best Scotch Tasting featuring Nestor Miranda Cigars

2009-12-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

Event Flyer

Hello folks, we are coming to you from the Fifty Best Scotch tasting event which also featured two cigars from famed cigar maker Nestor Miranda. The two cigars featured were the Special Selection and the newly released Murcielago cigars. (Review of these to follow in a separate post). The event was held at Barclay Rex Cigars, 75 Broad Street NYC from 7pm - 9pm on Thursday December 3rd, 2009. On hand were Vincent Nastri, owner of Barclay Rex, Joe Guzman, Director of Marketing Barclay Rex, Patrick Grant, blogger and technical consultant to Joe Guzman, Mike from The Fifty Best and a representative from Scott's Selection. Vincent and Mike were the co-hosts of this wonderful event.

Joe Guzman and Vincent Nastri

Mike from The Fifty Best and his wife

Representative from Scott's Selection

Author Patrick Grant

The event featured tastings of some great Single Malts and one Blended Scotch (comprised of two Single Malts blended). There were nine Single Malts, from all regions (Highlands (Speyside), Lowlands and Islay) and the sole Blended Scotch was from the Speyside region.

Cover of Scott's Selection brochure

Box from King's Crest 25yr Blended Scotch

The tasting began promptly at 7pm and we were tasting all the Scotches in order of proof, from the ones that were at 86.4 proof up to ones that were 110 proof or higher. Scott's Selection provided the scotches for this event and the ones we tasted are known, in the industry, as Natural Cask Strength. This provides the taster with Single Malts that are bottled with the greatest of care to ensure the malts are kept as close as possible to the natural state in the cask. Every barrel of Scott's Selection is bottled at cask strength, undiluted by water. The bottles are also non-chillfiltered, that is the scotches are not chilled during the filtering process prior to bottling. Chill filtering is a process where the whisky is separated from the fats and oils rendering a clearer Scotch.

The Scotches that we tasted were the following:

Auchentoshan 1983 Lowland 104.8 proof
Bunnahabhain 1988 Islay 107.6 proof
Caol Ila 1984 Islay 109.4 proof
Glenlivet 1977 Highlands (Speyside) 106.2 proof
Glen Elgin 1980 Highlands (Speyside) 88.2 proof
Glen Rothes 1980 Highlands (Speyside) 111.6 proof
Highland Park 1986 Highlands (Orkney Island) 108.2 proof (This was the most northern Scotch present in the tasting)
Longmorn-Glenlivet 1971 Highlands (Speyside) 107 proof
Macallan 1989 Highlands (Speyside) 105.4 proof
Kings Crest blended Scotch whisky aged 25 years Highlands (Speyside)

We were instructed to taste the Scotches first as poured from each bottle to get the initial flavor profile. Then the representative then added a few drops of water, which was to open up the flavor profile. We tasted the Scotches with the water added which opened up the flavor profile. The only Scotch, the King's Crest, did not need the water as it was a blended scotch.

Bands from the Nestor Miranda Cigars

The two cigars featured were two from the line of Nestor Miranda. The first one was the Special Selection and the newly released Murcielago. Both of these cigars are a short robusto measuring 4" x 40 ring gauge. (Review of these cigars to follow). Each attendee was given one of each to enjoy along with the fine spread of delicious Italian cold cuts, prosciutto, capicola ham, mini mozzarella cheese balls,mortadella, black italian olives and great slices of semolina bread.

Once all attendees had completed the Scotch tasting they were then able to go back and get an additional tasting of the Scotchrs that they found to their liking. A good time was had by this reviewer and all the attendees.

No events are scheduled at Barclay Rex for the immediate future but, as always, this reviewer will keep you up to date when events are schedule. The reviewer will be attending the last, for 2009, monthly meeting of the NY Pipe Club and at this event we will be enjoying pipe tobacco blends that are produced by Dunhill of London and also some blends from Dunhill of London that are no longer produced. This event will be held at Florio's Italian Restaurant located at 75 Grand Street NYC on Tuesday December 8th, 2009.

That is it, I could go on forever, from The Fifty Best event. Anyone wishing to see additional picture can, as always, click on the following link FiftyBest to see what you missed.

MONJURE PIPE SHOW

2009-12-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

Author's Gray Lacquer Brebia Pipe w/Tomato Shaped Bowl

Hello folks, your friendly cigar and pipe blogger coming to you live and in person from the Monjure Pipe show. This show featured pipes from Brebia, Rinadlo and Ardour. Steve, the Monjure representative, was on hand to answer any questions that the customers may have had concerning the pipes. The event took place at Barclay Rex Cigar and Pipe Shop located at 75 Broad Street, NYC. The event was from 11am - 6pm. I saw many intricate pipes from the three pipe manufacturers with prices ranging from $85 - over $300. The event also featured a handmade pipe, from Rinaldo, that was to be raffled off at the end of the show. Pipes featured were of varying sizes and styles w/lucite stems in standard black to yellow and one in blue. The bowl shapes were varied from tomato shaped bowls in clear lacquer and varying colors to the rusticated bowls. Also featured were the rarely seen flat bottom bowls and a few featuring a mix of clear lacquer sections mixed with the rusticated look.

Ardor Rusticated Pipe w/Bamboo

The most unusual pipe on display was one that (see picture above), a first for this reviewer, incorporated bamboo in the stem section. That was an unusual pipe and hope that more pipe makers include such interesting details. Seen again was a few pipes that had a metal ring on the top of the bowl which appears to be a detail that pipe manufacturers are incorporating in their designs.

As seen in the picture at the opening of this posting I purchased yet another pipe (#7 to be exact) which is a /clear lacquered pipe in a nice gray color with a tomato shaped bowl which is, as listed on the tag, a 9mm. This pipe featured a black lucite stem. This pipe retailed for $95 less 20% which is a show special and came with a 50g tin of pipe tobacco. I chose an English blend which was composed mainly of Latakia tobacco. (Review of the pipe to follow). Here are pictures of the Pipes on display at the Monjure Pipe Show. Well that's it from the Monjure Pipe show.

The next event to be reviewed is the Fifty Best Cigar and Scotch event taking place on Thursday December 3rd, 2009 from 7pm - 9pm at Barclay Rex located at 75 Broad Street NYC. This event will feature 6 great Single Malt Scotches, the oldest one dates back to 1967. The event will also feature cigars from Nestor Miranda cigars including the new Murcielago brand cigar that will be unveiled at this event. Hope to see some of the followers of this blog at, which will be, an event that will be talked about for days to come.

Barclay Rex is also hosting the Monjure Pipe event at their 42nd Street store on Thurday December 3rd from 11am - 6pm.

CAO l'anniversaire MADURO

2009-11-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

Band from the CAO l'anniversaire MADURO

The planned Larry Holmes / Gerry Cooney event that was scheduled for Tuesday November 24th, 2009 was postponed due to the untimely illness of Larry Holmes. No date has been scheduled for this event and I will keep you updated with any news if and when the event is re-scheduled. In the meantime this reviewer was able to smoke the CAO 30th Anniversary Maduro cigar. I haven't smoked CAO cigars in quite a while so I figured I give this one a try.

From my research this cigar has been hailed as one of the best maduros made, the CAO l'anniversaire Maduro is a box pressed cigar with a rich full-flavored aroma . The CAO l'anniversaire series is world famous for being one of the first box pressed cigars ever made. More than a pioneer in appearance and construction, this cigar was also one of the first extremely high rated maduros. Several sizes in this line have earned ratings of 90 or better by Cigar Aficionado and Cigar Insider, a rare accomplishment for any cigar blend. This cigar is rolled at CAO's factory in Nicaragua with uncompromising detail.

PRE-SMOKE

The maduro I smoked was the Torpedo size. A wonderful maduro wrapper greeted me and the nose provided me with an earthiness with a hint of leather. The initial draw, once cut, provided more of the earthiness and leather that was present on the nose.

THE BURN

Once lit the cigar presented, in addition to the earthiness and hints of leather, a mild spiciness that was present through all thirds of the cigar. The ash was a nice grayish-black and hung on for a full inch and the burn was even. The spiciness became prominent on the last third and was a welcome enjoyment over the last cigar I smoked.

Overall the cigar didn't disappoint from the initial draw till I was down to the nub. I was wishing that the cigar could go on forever, which is a testament to CAO's attention to the quality that goes into their cigars. This is one full bodied cigar I would recommend to anyone who has at least one hour to devote to enjoying this wonderful cigar that surprisingly comes at an affordable price.

Well I could go on about this cigar but I will let those reading this try the CAO l'anniversaire Maduro and see what I have been raving about. The next event upcoming is the Monjure pipe event which takes place on Tuesday December 2nd, 2009 from 11am - 6pm at Barclay Rex 75 Broad Street, New York.

GRAYCLIFF 1666

2009-11-21T11:48:00.000-08:00

Band from the Graycliff 1666 Cigar

Had an opportunity to smoke the Graycliff 1666 maduro cigar. Since this is the first Graycliff ever smoked by this reviewer I thought I'd share my insight into this boutique cigar. This cigar is the first cigar from Graycliff to be manufactured outside of the Bahamas. The Graycliff 1666 cigar line was made in honor of the first buildings built on the site that the restaurant and resort now inhabit, a church that was one of Nassau's first buildings.

PRE-SMOKE

The 1666 features a dark, toothy Jaltepec maduro wrapper was carefully selected, combined with an extensively aged recipe of Peruvian, Columbian, Brazilian, and Mexican long fillers, a multi-country mixture secured by an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder. The nose of the cigar reveals an earthiness.

THE BURN

Once lit the 1666 for the first third the cigar had the same earthiness that was present in the nose also with a hint of spiciness. The ash was a grayish-black and held on for a full inch and the burn was fairly even. I expected the spiciness to last through the entire cigar but was disappointed when the middle third turned rather mild and almost flavorless. There was a 'hint' of spiciness in the middle third and you really had to work hard to notice the spiciness. The final third came back with a flourish presenting me with the spiciness that was lacking in the middle third.

Overall the cigar is a medium body smoke that didn't develop the fullness expected for the price. This reviewer wouldn't recommend this cigar to anyone who's looking for a full bodied smoke.

LA AURORA 1495 CIGAR EVENT

2009-11-19T22:39:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday November 18th, 2009 from 12pm - 5pm Barclay Rex hosted a cigar event featuring the La Aurora 1495 cigar distributed by Miami Cigar. On hand was the cigar make Jose Blanco creator of the 1495 cigar. La Aurora is one of the oldest cigar companies in the Dominican Republic. Founded in 1903 the company makes cigarettes, beer (such as Presidente), and, naturally, hand made cigars. I was able to smoke both the 1495 and the Escogido. The event featured the La Aurora Escogido and the 1495 cigar. The Esgido cigar is not sold in any cigar shop but is given out at cigar events and when people take a tour of the La Aurora factory in the Dominican Republic.

PRE-SMOKE

The Escogido cigar measures in at 5" with a 50 ring gauge, and is comprised of Dominican filler, Dominican binder tobacco and wrapped in a Cameroon wrapper. The cigar when held under the nose eluded a pleasant sweetness with a hint of chocolate.

The 1495 series cigar is comprised of tobacco from five different countries to create this classic size five inch 50 ring gauge. The tobacco comes from Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic (which is the source for the binder and one of the filler tobaccos). This blend is what makes the 1495 cigar a complex yet well balanced smoke and shows the skill that goes into the blending process. The cigar when held under the nose eluded a hint of chocolate.

THE BURN

Once lit the Escogido cigar had a hint of dark chocolate and a nice spiciness on the tongue. It had a nice even burn and maintained a nice grey ash that hung on for approximately an inch and a half. The cigar maintained the spiciness all the way through.

Smoked the 1495 and like the Escogido also had a hint of chocolate and a nice spiciness on the tongue. It too has a nice even burn throughout and also maintained a nice grey ash. The spiciness was present throughout.

Overall I would recommend the 1495 cigar for the experienced smoker that's looking for a change from their regular smoke. It is a good value for the price.

The next upcoming event is the Larry Homes, Gerry Cooney meet and greet event on Tuesday November 24th, 2009 from 7pm - 9pm taking place at Barclay Rex located at 75 Broad Street, New York.

PETERSON PIPE SHOW

2009-11-18T12:12:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, welcome to my pipe and cigar musings blog. Today I am going review the Peterson Pipe show that took place recently at Barclay Rex Cigar Shop at 75 Broad Street in New York City. The pipes are handcrafted and made in their facilities in Dublin Ireland, The show was held on Thursday November 12th, 2009 and Friday November 13th, 2009 from 12pm - 5pm. The store ran a promotion, in conjunction with the pipe show, that every pipe bought came with a 50g tin, smoker's choice, of Peterson's pipe tobacco and the buyer received an additional 20% discount.

The show featured pipes of all sizes, price ranges, different bowl shapes and a multitude of colors and textures. The pipes I saw ranged from pipes with a rusticated texture to smooth briars. The majority of the pipes came in the standard reddish-brown, brown, black and there were a couple in a wonderful forest green color. The stems are made either of lucite or acrylic and came in a variety of colors ranging from black for the lucite to multiple colors (gold and a reddish-brown). One of the unique features of the show was a pipe duo. One of the pipes was a rarely seen Peterson meerschaum, with a black lucite stem, paired with a briar pipe, with a straight lucite stem, done in all black. It was a wonderful combination but a bit out of this reviewer's price range. There was a pipe with a metal band around the top edge of the bowl, a rarely seen feature on pipes. The only other one I saw was at the last meeting of the New York Pipe Club, held on Tuesday November 10th, 2009. Peterson also displayed a pipe where the bowl was of a shape typically associated with corn cob pipes.

This reviewer purchased a clear flat bottom pipe with a black lucite stem which, standard for Peterson, does not come with the inside of the bowl pre-charred. Flat bottom pipes are a rarity. I had an opportunity to smoke the pipe and smoked wonderful from the beginning to the very end of the first bowl. This is the second Peterson pipe that this reviewer own which speaks to the quality and craftsmanship that goes into these wonderful pipes. Another pipe aficionado bought a Peterson pipe, and like this reviewer, enjoyed the first smoke in this pipe. They also found this pipe to be a great value for the money and had the same enjoyment in smoking the first bowl of tobacco in the pipe.

Well that's it from the Peterson Pipe Show. Anyone wishing to see pictures from the show can click on the follow: Pipe Pictures.

The next event that will be reviewed will be the Aurora Cigar event on Wednesday November 18th, 2009 from 12pm - 5pm also taking place at Barclay Rex Cigar located at 75 Broad Street.