I know some of you enjoy cigars - share!

[sunbyrned]

That is a beauty! Wow! I was planning on smoking behind the windshield, so it would be protected some rather than full blown wind coming at it. I’ll probably give it a try to see how it goes. There’s a lot of pipe tobaccos related to the navy, yachts and the sea in general so thinking there had to have been a lot of pipe smoking on the ships back in the day. You’re right though earlier. There a lot of maintenance that goes with it so may not be worth it.

 

[Jimmers]

@Jimmers it looks like you have a few Short Story's in there, I really am a fan of those for a nice quick smoke. The other Fuente I like was a Rothschild, can't remember other than that, but you've got yourself a nice collection there

@sunbyrned yeah, it was tough trying to parse the connection as I was writing... It's simple to cut through the family ties, but once it makes it as far as me, it needs more explanation of the family ties.

The short version is that my brother-in-law's mother-in-law was the one to pass away, but the more extended family ties meant more... To me, it's like my mother-in-law 2.0

The family ties and through the years... It almost feels you need to verify the lineage so nobody is breaking the law LOL

Good eye! Yes I do, I also like the Fuente Best Seller, just slightly bigger that the Short Story. I haven’t warmed up to the Nub, single roast yet…. Had the opportunity to try a couple of Romeo Y Julieta, Petite Churchills, A wonderful little cigar!

 

[drewkaree]

Got this yesterday, and I'm picking up 2 10-packs. My lake house neighbor likes these, and I like to have something to offer him when they're over, in case he's not up for other offerings I have on hand at that time.

This is a screenshot of the email they send, I'll detail my process after

 

[drewkaree]

 

[drewkaree]

Look at the quantity IN the offer, and the quantity OF the offer.

IN is 10 sticks, and 250 total lots available. When the number available is over 150, it's a guarantee that you'll be able to snag at least one 10-pack, in this case, for close to the starting price, if not the exact price.

What I'll do for this, since I want 2, for a total of 20 sticks, is to set my minimum bid at the opening offer price, and set my max bid for $10 more than that. These sell locally for $8-10/each, and even at $10 over the initial offer, that's a great price.

The odds that I don't get either 10-pack... I have yet to have this method fail EXCEPT for a 5-pack of Drew Estate Java Reds that I was getting for my wife.

I've since observed that 5-packs make people bid them up, as it's a small spend to try something new, but the 10-pack seems to be a bit more of a commitment, and keeps the snipers at bay.

These Upmanns seem to be fairly popular, so this is why I'm going with $10 over the starting bid, as my usual max is $5 over.

Cigars International is backordered for this size, and they want $189 for a box of 20. I don't need the wood, I want the smokes that come inside! Their 5-pack price is $50, so this is a really good price, to me, for a box quantity.

If you've never ordered online smokes, I've got some other tips that have worked for me, but I'll save those for another post, it's almost my bedtime

 

[drewkaree]

Dusted off the soda can pipe, I thought it was a Big Ben, but I remember now, that those were hard to get at the time, and they were quite expensive, so I went the knockoff route and got this Mr Brog Lumberjack from Amazon.

Pear wood, and it needs to be babied a lot more than a briar so you don't burn through it or crack it, but a good cheap learning pipe would be a corncob. If you burn through a cob, you're out $10 vs the $60 for this one. Helped settle some concerns for me as well, before I plunked down $120 for my favorite Savinelli.

@sunbyrned there's a cheap Mr Brog with a windscreen on Amazon right now and the cap looks a lot nicer than the one I've got.

Anyway, here's my comical pipe, smokes nicely, and is about a 2-hour smoke with some tending. That's no optical illusion, it feels like a 12oz can in the hand

 

[sunbyrned]

Nice! Is that another one of your estate pipes? Two hours is incredible. I’ve gotten an hour at the most from my largest pipe. Just ordered the Mr. Brog. The green one. (Heading to Ireland next Thursday.) Thanks for the suggestion. I think it has potential.

 

[drewkaree]

Nice! Is that another one of your estate pipes? Two hours is incredible. I’ve gotten an hour at the most from my largest pipe. Just ordered the Mr. Brog. The green one. (Heading to Ireland next Thursday.) Thanks for the suggestion. I think it has potential.

No, that was one of my purchases after trying out the pipes. I'm not a fan of straight stems, but that one is nice around the fire with friends in that I don't have to refill it, and if it's filled correctly from the start, I rarely have to tend it. It also makes a very convenient hand warmer on those colder evenings.

I'll have to dust off the setup from the wife's grandfather. Almost all straights, and half seem to be Dr Grabow's, since those would have been available at any Walgreens or Woolworth around here at the time. I'm guessing the youngest one might be 35-40 years old, and maybe 60+ for the oldest

 

[sunbyrned]

View attachment 195131


This was my wife's grandpa's, I inherited his pipe cellar and all of his pipes, to add to my collection. This is the shield against the wind, and looking at it, the ash will definitely be pulled out through the vent holes, but the cover has a decent friction catch that shouldn't be blown open. Maybe see how yours does in the car as a test run holding it in the path of the wind

24 mph sustained winds today so thought it was a good chance to try out the Mr. Brog you suggested. It works great! Will be perfect for the boat. Thanks!!

 

[drewkaree]

24 mph sustained winds today so thought it was a good chance to try out the Mr. Brog you suggested. It works great! Will be perfect for the boat. Thanks!!

Is the cap easy to remove for tamping and ash removal while you're smoking? I know the one I have starts to open nicely, and feels just a bit tight before it's open, like I might someday spill everything out if it catches an edge or something. Good to hear info on that Mr Brog too, I like the looks of that pipe. The green looks to be a nice dark green in the pics, was it true to the color? For their smooth finishes, the only issue I've ever had is some blotching of the stain, but that really doesn't bother me at that price point. I HAVE cracked one, from the stem leading into the chamber on the underside, so I don't know if that's due to the carving and shaping, or the pear wood itself.

I haven't looked at buying any pipe tobacco from a brick and mortar in quite some time, and I was looking to replace a pouch of the white Captain Black. Come to find out, Walmart in my area no longer sells any tobacco, and when I went across the street to a Walgreens, they at least had it, but they were selling it for $20! My kid asked why I didn't buy it, so I did the math for him - that would equate to $200+ a pound! Skipped that, went online to cigarbid.com, and went on a spree. Snagged every Captain Black I haven't tried, 2 CAO's, Moontrance and Bella Vanilla - I've had both in cigar form and they're good, never tried the pipe tobacco. I didn't bid on any of the lots of Eileen's Dream they had, as I still have 2 tins, but if you haven't had that before, it is absolutely dynamite IMO, better as pipe tobacco than a cigar, but still good in either form. All in all, I got 8 different pouches & tins for $40. Captain Black Dark got a positive comment from the wife, and she's stingy with them, so I may be picking up a bit more of that.

 

[sunbyrned]

The cap is snug for sure, but I kind of like that. I don’t want it to coming lose. I like the color. It’s dark but you can still see the grain. I really don’t see any defects. It’s lite too, which is nice. The stem is different from my other pipes. It basically has a plug in it with an air hole. I like it. The smoke seems a little cooler and more dense actually. The wind was ridiculous. Tornado weather, yet the bowl stayed lit through out. I went through two bowls with no issues.

Regarding tobacco, I need to get back into the aromatics. My collection is really kind of heavy at the moment. Eileen’s Dream is on my list. If you like that, there’s a YouTuber who likes that and also lists Apricot and Cream from Cornell and Diehl and Arrowhead from Paul’s pipe shop in Flint Michigan. Apparently you have to order that by phone, but it must be something really good. I’m just passing the word along. I haven’t tried it yet but I will. I put the link below. I like the Captain Black white as you mentioned. (Yes, $20 is ridiculous.) We have a a few brick and mortar places here in Louisville. I usually just go through them. The prices are higher but there’s no shipping costs so it all evens out.

Paul's Pipe Shop

Home of the Cayuga Pipe. Featuring the largest and most varied selection of pipes and tobaccos anywhere!

www.paulspipeshop.com

 

[drewkaree]

The weather is turning, and the neighbors are inviting! This was last night, H Upmann. This was purchased at least a year ago, finally given to me sometime in August, and not a lick of good storage since the guy bought a box of them for his wedding. It's been sitting with some Boveda packs, and it felt smokeable, so I figured I don't have anything to lose. All was right in the world, and this was a nice finish to the day. Today I had a Nub Cain F, but forgot snaps of it, so it never happened. I've got 4 more chances at it though, so there's that

 

[drewkaree]

So I have a few things today, but I have to split them up into 2-3 posts, as the forum software or Android OS don't like it when I post pics AND text, as well as multiple pics in a post.

Up first, this came across my inbox, and this is a great price for these. Suggested method to win at least one lot are in previous posts in this thread, and with 250 lots, I wouldn't offer more than asking price, and you should win one. Max bid $5 more than asking, and it's almost a guaranteed lock to win one

 

[drewkaree]

Based on a recommendation from a blogger I find really interesting, I bbought a 5-pack of these, and liked them so much I snapped up 2 boxes when they showed up for auction 2-ish weeks ago. Different size and shape, but I was impressed enough with the torpedoes that I had no problems with giving these a shot.

 

[drewkaree]

I can report thus far that these are stellar smokes, voluminous clouds with each puff, awesome flavors similar to the torpedo, not nearly as much nicotine thus far, but a great "cheap" smoke at ~$6/each. It's not going to knock my favorites out, but I would say this would be a top 10 for me, and at this price, I'm glad I got 2 boxes, and will likely continue to keep at least half a box on hand as long as they're available.

 

[drewkaree]

Just an absolute flavor bomb, sweet, without being artificially sweetened. On first light, it was a pepper blast, and I was thinking "what have I done?!?", but it mellowed out within 5-6 hits, and there's a ton of raisins, chocolate, coffee, and more. This is pairing up very nicely with my coffee as well, and as long as it doesn't punch back with the nicotine, I could see this being a nice change of pace for a morning smoke.

DEFINITELY recommend trying one out, and if anyone makes it to my neck of the woods, I will have one in your hand for the asking.

I'm wondering if some aging would mellow out the pepper, and if I can remember to report back on it, I'll let you know.

 

[drewkaree]

So I accidentally found a solution for the pepper blast of the first few puffs of that Ramon Bueso. If you have a triple torch, back away from where you would normally be to toast the foot, and keep moving it until you have a sliver of ash on it.

Set it down, and let it sit until it goes out. Blow on it to keep it burning slowly if you want to ensure you don't get a pepper bomb (I have a fan right next to me, exhausting air out, that kept it lit longer than usual).

Once it's out, get a nice beverage and light it up. Adjust the initial burn time to your preference for pepper.

I got to talking to my neighbor when I first lit another one up today, and it went out on me. I didn't relight it until after she left, and that's when I discovered the "solution"

To report from yesterday's smoke, nicotine wasn't a problem until about 2 1/4" left, and I was woozy and had to set it down with an inch left. It was good enough to smoke to a nub, but I may have ended up on the floor

 

[anmut]

Coworker got me into puffing decent cigars and this seems to be much like boating, and instant addiction (or maybe it's the nicotine). Lucky for me, he's got a huge collection so for a $20 bill he brings me 5-6 cigars out of his collection for me to try. I try to keep the bands of cigars I really like for re-ordering.

Two favorites so-far this season:

1. Cohiba Red Dots
2. Cu-Avana Punishers (because of the habanero infused leaf!)

On order for next week (had to get more Punishers, those are amazing if you like spicy food AND cigars).

 

[anmut]

Current status

 

[drewkaree]

For any of you who enjoy Nubs, this is a stellar deal if you aren't hung up on mazos or unbanded smokes.

ALL NUDE FOR YOUR REVIEW…. you'll be Nubbin' this deal: no band = less buck

$1.99 Nub Nudes? Here's a sweet deal on a special allotment of Oliva's Nub series that strips pricing down to the, uh…. nub. How on earth did do we do it,

www.cigarpage.com

One of my very favorite smokes is the Nub Cameroon, but they don't play well with any of my humidors, so I usually pick one up at a B&M to smoke instantly. At that price, I ordered 2 bundles, and I'm going to be testing out a few different Boveda %'s to see if I can figure out if the right humidity will make a difference.

The Connecticuts are great breakfast or coffee smokes, and they go over well with newer smokers as well if we're hanging out and they want to try a cigar.