As I mentioned in my previous post, the 4th of July was my 25th wedding anniversary, so special cigars were in order. I have a humidor that my wife had custom made for me for our 10th anniversary in which I keep a selection of “special cigars”, some Opus X and Ashton VSG, a couple of specially rolled cigars that I can’t see ev
er smoking, and a handful of Havanas collected over the years. It’s my custom to select from this humidor on my anniversary. I selected an old favorite, a Bolivar Belicosos Finos for my first celebratory smoke. I know what you’re thinking, this is usually a breakfast cigar! OK, that’s an old joke most won’t get
. The Belicosos Finos, or BBF, or Boli Beli, has a reputation as a strong cigar. The Havana Bolivar line has long been a favorite of mine, but more for the interesting flavors than the strength. I once had a Coronas Gigantes that tasted line cinnamon, the first and only time I remember tasting that in a cigar. Anyway, thi
s Boli Beli was enjoyed after a dinner out with my wife for our anniversary. It had been in my humidor over a year, and I have no idea how old it was when it came into my possession, but I suspect that it would have been ready to go. I can see that this cigar would have been fine if I had waited several more years to smoke it, but it hit the spot
. I will say that every Cuban cigar I have smoked over the last few years really proves the point that cigars from the rest of the cigar producing countries have caught up and in many ways surpassed Cuba. There still remains a flavor, a “twang”, if you will, that sets Havana cigars apart from the rest. An awesome cigar to celebrate a wonderful day.
We can watch our town’s fireworks from our front porch, which is preferable to battling the crowds in my opinion. Sure, there are some trees obscuring the view of some of the lower altitude fireworks, but it’s still nice to be at home for the show. I went back to the anniversary humidor and selected a little Ashton Virgin Sungrown Tres Mystique for the show. This cigar has been in that humidor for well over 5 years, I honestly can’t remember where it came from, certainly in a trade or something like that. It’s a 4 3/8 x 44 petit corona with a beautiful dark brown wrapper that glistens with oil. I have to describe the smoke as lush and meaty, like a great steak. I wish it had been a little longer, as I had to put it down before the show ended. That’s OK, it was a stellar cigar, worthy of the moment. I forgot to snap a photo of it before I lit it up, so the photo here is from Ashton’s website (which will explain it’s superior quality!).
Thursday, after a delicious sausage, peppers and pasta dinner made by my wife, and a relaxing swim in the pool, I came home and dug out an Oliva Serie G Belicoso and took the dog for a walk. The last natural version of this cigar let me down a little, but this one had Camerooniness all over the place! It burned well and tasted great. I don’t think I would have wanted to smoke this in the pool, the wrapper is a little too delicate for that, but it was perfect for relaxing after. Nice ciga
r and quite reasonably priced.
Friday evening I had La Gloria Cubaba Serie N on my mind, and dug out the last one from over a year ago, a 5½” x 54 JSB. I love the dark, oily wrapper on these, and I’ll never forget getting to see the “N” being painstakingly applied in the factory when I visited. They have
a punch, like a paper punch, that punches the “N”s out of light colored
leaves. The “N”s are all over the benches and the poor ladies have to carefully apply them just right on the cigar. It’s a neat touch that sets this cigar apart from the rest. Another thing that sets it apart are the rich and dark flavors. This cigar is darned tasty! It’s dark maduro Ecuador Sumatra wrapper is delicious, but mine didn’t want to stay light as well as I’d like. Still, a nice smoke, I’d buy a box in a heartbeat (and the box is way cool too).
Contest!
Once again, it’s contest time! I have another two (2) three-packs of Hoyo de Monterrey Reposados en Cedros cigars for one reader who leaves a comment on this post. I got a timely response from last week’s winner, Allen, and his cigars will be heading out to his duty station where ever that may be next week. So, leave a comment, tell yo
ur friends, win some cigars courtesy of our friends at General Cigars. If you haven’t already, head over to HoyodeMonterreycigar.com and enter to win a box of these. They are giving a box away every day through the end of the month! (note: There is still the CAO Last Stick Standing contest going on at lss.caocigars.com too!) Please note, the prize is the two 3-packs. The photo here has a display representing of the special “Inmersion” process used to age these cigars, not part of the prize.
That’s all I have for now! Until the next time,
CigarCraig
Friday was the end of a long week, and, more importantly, the beginning of a long weekend! What better way to start it off than with a favorite, the 
