fusionbear wrote:I enjoy a Fuentes Hemingway every now and then, but I prefer smoking pipes. I like English and Balkan blends most, but also enjoy a great Virginia blend like Marlin Flake.
I did a whole bunch of reviews at tobbaccoreviews.com
My handle there is: RCUSElder
Wow, you basically posted my initial response to this thread verbatim
My "problem" with cigars, is once I experienced better and better sticks, I can no longer be satisfied with the routine players. Few years back I found a reliable local source for my favorite Cuban (Montecristo #2), and my all time best experience was a Diplomaticos torpedo. It was so good I had to cease all activity and recline on the living room (fancy) sofa, and tune out the entire world for 45 minutes just to savory the sweet, creamy, thick coffee and leather flavor with wisps of aged hay and barnyard overtones.
Got too expensive, and now I've learned to really love pipe smoking. I'll load a pipe or two just about every evening, once when I get home and throwing Frisbee for the dog or after dinner, a nice VA flake; then usually an hour or so before bed when I'm just winding down and reading, usually a thick Balkan (Samuel Gawith Balkan Flake is awesome).
Back to cigars, maybe somebody who's been more obsessive than I have can answer this question: Almost every good Cuban cigar I've had contained a faintly sweet, musky creamlike overtone. That's the best I can describe it. A fellow cigar enthusiast said it smells similar to leather saddle conditioner. I've only experienced this in three non-Cuban cigars: one of Pete Johnson's s El Triunfador, Feliipe Gregorio Pelo De Oro, and a small brand from Miami that's now defunct (can't remember the name, began with a C)