Uncategorized

Romeo y Julieta House of Capulet

IMG_6714Most times when looking through the shop I tend to skip by Romeo y Julieta sticks. Nothing personal they just never grabbed my attention. Usually they have fairly unassuming bands and nothing flashy to really catch the eye. However I got a chance to try their House of Capulet made and available only through Famous Cigar shop. While this is a lighter cigar than I normally smoke I decided I’d have a couple and see if I liked it.

When I got the cigar the first thing noticed was that while the band was the same there was a new flashier exterior wrapper printed in silver ink on a nice translucent paper to show off the House of Capulet name. The band at the foot and the wrapper come off easily leaving the top band in place. The wrapper leaf is lovely golden Connecticut with very slight veining. The construction was solid but, to the touch the tobacco is soft . Although the tobacco was very yielding to the touch there were no dead spots to be found on any of the ones I tried.

Thee body of the cigar had your usual smells of leather and cedar but also and added smell of fresh mowed grass and a bit of sweetness. From the foot the smells were the same but stronger and a hint of dries apricot in the background.

I was able to cut the cigar without a problem and the construction held together with no problems for the duration of the smoke. It light easily and evenly using just one match and needed no relighting at any point. The draw was smooth and easy. The first third of the cigar was light and reminded me of fresh bread and butter with just a hint of nuttiness. The smoke was also light on the tongue but plentiful and rewarding.

The second third was similar to the first only now a bit of pepper was starting to work its way into flavor. Usually around this time most Connecticut’s start to get a little on the warm side however this one remained the same temperature as when I started.

In the last third most of the bread and butter flavor had dissolved into a fuller more pronounced pepper taste along with a more earthy/nutty tone. It was great to have a Connecticut with as much complexity as this one did.

Over all it was a great smoke and quite enjoyable, solid from the beginning to the end. This cigar could go well as your morning stick or while sitting back watching a movie (which is what I did). I’m a pretty fast smoker and I got well over an hour with each stick so make sure you’re ready to relax when you light one of these guys up.

 

Strength: Medium

Shape: Toro

Size: 6 x 52

Country: Honduras

Wrapper Color: Natural

Wrapper Origin: Ecuadorian

Wrapper Leaf: Connecticut

Website: Famous-Smoke.com

Price: $23.00 – $29.00 a five pack

Rating: 4.7 pints out of 5

Cohiba Black Supremo

IMG_6156Recently I was asked by to try out the Cohiba Black Supremo from General Cigars and see what I thought about them. I’ve never tried their Cohiba line so I was intrigued. I have other sticks from them before like Partagas Macanudo and Punch, which I had enjoyed so I thought, why not.

Cohiba Black cigars are wrapped in a hearty U.S. Connecticut Broadleaf aged on the plant to produce an exceptionally rich, dark tobacco taste. The filler is Dominican and Mexican with a sun-grown Dominican Piloto Cubano leaf, all of which are aged in palm tercios for three years.

Since it was my first time smoking them I decided to smoke a few of them before writing this article to see if everything stayed consistent or if there was variation between each ones. I am happy to say that construction and flavor are steady through several different times smoking.

From visual inspection the wrapper is mostly smooth with light veining and a good tight seal. The color was a rich dark chocolate that you would expect from a full matured leaf. Giving light pressure to the cigar showed that the tobacco was firm but gave to the light pressure with no cracking or breaking in the wrapper.

The odor from the body is reminiscent of barn yard hay, apricot and of course the typical cedar and leathery notes. From the foot the wet hay smell was more pronounced and then smell of just good rich unflavored tobacco.

The cap cut easily and the construction held well with no cracking and no signs of the wrapper beginning to unroll. The lighting was easy and even. The first few draws tasted light and a bit on the dry powdery side and my heart sank. I took a deep breath and had a few gulps of my water and tried another couple of drags, like magic the dry bland powdery flavor was gone and the flavor set in (this was the same with all the sticks the first few drags just didn’t do it for me but after that the stick is great)IMG_6158

The first third of the cigar was fairly medium in flavor with some notes of semi-sweet chocolate and coffee. The smoke was light on the tongue but provided plenty of it. The burn was even and consistent on each draw.

The second third was very similar to the first with nothing very noticeably different until
right past the halfway point and that’s when things really start to change. The somewhat light and sweet flavor is replaced by a fuller, darker, more peppery taste. This rich flavor remains through the rest of the cigar, as well as, the even and consistent burn.

This cigar was thoroughly enjoyable from right after the start to the finish and lasted well over an hour. It could easily be smoked with either a cup of coffee in the morning or with a glass of bourbon or couple of beers in the evening. As a very versatile cigar I recommend that you give it a try and see what you think.

Thank you Famous Smoke Shop for the opportunity to try these out.

 

Strength: Medium

Shape: Toro

Size: 6 x 54

Country: Dominican Republic

Wrapper Color: Maduro

Wrapper Origin: Connecticut

Wrapper Leaf: Broadleaf

Website: Famous-Smoke.com

Price: $17-$18 per stick or $57 per 5 pack

Rating: 4.6 pints out of 5

Beard 101

You want to grow your beard and/or you’ve started. Well congratul-fucking-ations and welcome to the club. I am a 28 year old man whose had a beard for the better part of 7 years and been growing a good thick one for the past 2 years. To you beard newbies I say welcome to the club, and to you beard veterans I say cheers. On my beard campaign I’ve tried to amass a good amount of information for you beard growers, new and old alike.

IT’S GENETICS AND AGE
Nothing else. How old you are and what hair growing genetics are bred into you will determine your beard growing capability. Let no one ever fucking tell you otherwise. The older you get, the more likely you are to grow a nice thick beard, but if you couldn’t when you were in your mid 20’s, chances are you won’t ever have an epic thick beard. I couldn’t grow a decent beard until I was about 21, so for you late blooming teens, there is still hope.

KEEP GROWING IT
A lot of questions get asked, like does this look good? What do you think? Should I keep it going? FUCK YES. Keep growing it. At least for 6 months. See how she grows and see what kind of personality your beard will take. It will be the best thing you can do for both of you. Everyone’s beard is different. And everyone’s will grow in different shapes and sizes.

BEARD PRODUCTS ARE YOUR FRIEND
No, it’s not a trend. Even the Vikings traveled the seas and conquered everything with beard oil, and you, as a male in 2015, NEED to take care of your shit and make sure it’s presentable. Beard oil is honestly like crack for your beard and she will thank you for it. Don’t look too much into brands or even what goes into it, most of them have worked well enough for me. I use oil and balm. I put balm in before I go to sleep for deep conditioning and oil in the morning. This may seem backwards to most, but it’s what works for me and you need to figure out what works for you.

DON’T WASH YOUR FUCKING BEARD
I mean you can, but avoid it. Maybe if you get clam chowder in it or something and you don’t want to smell like Red Lobster. Shampoo will dry that shit out, and make it frizzy. If you shampoo, use conditioner as well to help.

THE DAVID BECKHAM EFFECT
My wife is a hair stylist. She has to deal with 100 dudes bringing in pictures of David Beckham, male perfection, and demanding their hair too look like his. Well, tough shit Jr, you don’t have the same hair type as Mr. Beckham. You can’t make your hair type change to EXACTLY match what he has. The same will happen with your beard. You will see 1000 pictures of a ‘sick beard’ when you type that shit into google but it won’t be what yours will look like. Which leads me to…

FIND YOUR BEARD SHAPE
EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE has a different beard. Find your shape. This is something that even as a beard veteran you will have a hard time coming to terms with. I rarely have beard envy and when I do, it’s usually over someone who has a comp
letely different type of grow/hair type as me. I have a curly, coarse, thick, red beard. So when I see joblo with a slick, straight, shaped beard, of course I get envious. But this was the card I was dealt and I have to deal with them.

DO NOT BE AFRAID TO TRIM
Should you trim? Yes. After a good amount of time some of your hairs will be like FUCK THIS FACE, I’M OUT and leave the rest of your beautiful beard high and dry. Well, say peace out those hairs and cut. them. Once you think you found a shape you like, don’t be afraid to trim that beast. Get the fly-always and split ends, both of which are going to be impossible to avoid. Finding a good beard shape and length will help your beard fill in on spots you may have thought weren’t going to originally. I always used scissors and never use my clippers, I’ve always felt it was a safer route than facing a potential fuck up for being a huge spaz.image1-2

 

Hope some of these tips help you newbies out and cheers my bearded brothers!

Review by Distinguished Ruffian member @Whiskeyfe