Cruising down I-10 toward New Orleans. BMW sunroof popped for smokers the way it was designed to. Smoke rings blowing toward the dash board.
Men of the cigar are all romantics in their own way. I behoove ye cigar smoking manly men, to allow yourself a road smoke before your last cigar. It's a unique and wonderful experience best enjoyed not while driving, but while cruising.
I smoked a Cuba Aliados. At first glance the cigar comes off as a little cheap looking. It doesn't have the characteristic look of big factory name brand cigars. But then again, I never wanted it to.
The CA has that typical honduran tobacco flavor I've become well acquainted with over the years. The honduran flavor sits at the core of this cigar, and tastes what I can best describe as unrefined. It lacks the purity of taste one would get from another Honduran Cigar like my favorite the Gran Habano Cabinet Select. In this case, the cigar flavor matches the appearance of the cigar. Raw unprocessed tobacco.
The cigar did have nuance and complexity to it. Memorably towards the final third when I felt I had the cigar figured out, it hit me with some unexpected spice. This amount of complexity kept the Cuba Aliados interesting enough to boost its CS score to a 3.5.
The Oil Baron
Terrific Piece! I too was not terribly impressed with this stick the first time I tried it many years ago, but "something there was about it," and I kept coming back to it time and time again, liking it more each time. Now I really look forward to my time with the CA. Plus, at $5/stick retail you can't go wrong. It's not up there with the San Lotano Connecticut, Padilla Hybrid, or Man O' War Virtue, but it beats the heck out of the plugged crap coming out of Cuba these days--and at a fraction of the price!---Mamey
ReplyDeleteCS Score--3.5
I have smoked a few Cuban Cohibas and they were awesome!!!!!! But I did have one that was awful because of the drag.
DeleteDiamond E
Great post by TOB, for 2 reasons: (1) I loved the description of Cuba Aliados as "raw" -- makes me want to try one. Picture myself smoking one like in the old western days; (2) the description of smokin' while cruisin' down the highway makes me want to do it. Also, makes me think of interesting places where I may have enjoyed a cigar. For example: treating myself to a cigar atop Emory's Peak in the Big Bend as a reward for an early morning climb. Would like to hear other Salooner recollections of memorable situational smokes.
ReplyDeleteEl Alcalde
Really, we are going touchy feely...that is what men do at a saloon????
DeleteIs this your favorite song chorus?
"Summer breeze
makes me feel fine
blowing through the jasmine in my mind"
Diamond E
Wow, looky here, a cigar review that is actually a review and with some ambience. Sounds interesting. Nice job, Oil Barron! How was the drag?
ReplyDeleteDiamond E
To paraphrase James Michener, I have long believed that any person who is interested in the mystical or romantic aspects of life must sooner or later define their attitude toward stogies. --Miss Kitty
ReplyDeleteOoooooweeeee.... someone done spiked ol' Diamond E's sarsaparilla's drink. Or maybe Big Joe Biden pulled some identity theft and hacked Diamond's computer.
ReplyDeleteThat's how Festus sees things