Vegas de Santiago Cigar Contest Winner – July 7, 2010

My apologies for dragging my feet on this.  Apparently the cat union shut down this week citing excessive heat.  I just couldn’t get any of the cats to cooperate.  I should have made the contest to guess how many hours a day they sleep or something.  In the mean time, as I was trying to get some reaction out of the cats, I managed to enjoy a couple cigars.

Monday evening I smoked a Perdomo Tierra del Sol Corona.  This is a nice looking square pressed (actually, it’s more tongue depressor shaped)  long corona measuring 6 ½” x 42.  My 20 year old son bought a bundle of these to take to a graduation party and managed to select these on his own.  I had never had one so I was concerned that they may not have been a good choice.  He got lucky and found a very nice cigar for a very reasonable price.  These are a nice, smooth cigar, quite suitable for the occasional smoker or newbie.  I found the one he gifted me to be tasty and well behaved, certainly suitable for a more experienced smoker as well.  My son liked them too, which is good since he now has a bunch of them in his humidor.

I know, you’re waiting for me to announce the winner….

Tuesday evening the mercury was approaching 100 (the display on my scooter read 97), so my wife and I took a walk down to get her a frosty water ice.  The Rita’s Water Ice outlets are fairly common on the east coast of the US (and Texas, go figure)  and are quite the hot spots (so to speak) on a hot summer day.  She got a Green Apple water ice and I enjoyed another Partagas Petit Coronas Especiale.  I picked this one out of sheer laziness, I’ll admit.  I had my eye on a Camacho Maduro, but I didn’t feel like taking a picture of it.  I also didn’t want to have to think about it too hard.  While I’m thinking of it, here’s a little confession:  I never take notes on cigars, I pretty much write about them after the fact from memory.  This is why I say I’m a crappy cigar reviewer. In all honesty, I smoke cigar to relax, and I’m afraid that If I put too much effort into trying to write a review, it will become more like a job and won’t be as enjoyable.  That’s why this blog will try to concentrate on my experiences more than any kind of serious reviews.  I am a little envious of folks who can describe a cigar in such a way that I can almost taste it.  I’ll stick with a simple “I would smoke this again” or “Smoke this dog rocket at your own risk” rating scale.

Here’s an neat article I came across at Huffington Post about Cigar Vacations: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-johansmeyer/cigar-travel-the-latest-i_b_634668.html

OK, here’s a little video of the winner selection this time.  I just threw it together, so to speak.  I won’t try this method again…really, I feel the need to apologize for wasting two minutes of your time.  Here it is:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4zhVNLuJCc

Anyway, I have Joel’s address around here someplace, I’ll hunt it down and get your prize pack of Vegas de Santiago cigars out to you this week! The music in the video is “Northern Lights” by Cliff Hillis from his album “The Long Now”.  Thanks to the fine folks at Vegas de Santiago for sending some great cigars!

Thanks to all who participated!  Until the next time,

CigarCraig