Cigar Tasting Wheel

Found this on Cigar Jack's blog, sort of liked it. Put it there. Not as good as my new travel humidor, but still ok ;-)

Travel Humidor

Yeah it's my birthday ! Ok, I got older... but hey! I also got a travel humidor ! After carefully investigating the market, I discovered that the offer is :

a) non-branded travel humidor - distributed on the Internet - quality seems to be poor;

b) branded travel humidor - brands such as Dunhill do carry some of those - though oddly enough you can find the travel humidor in their store but not on their website (reason invoked : "we only display the current collection on the Internet, not the all-times classics" mmhmm, not so convinced about this weird marketing policy, I think that political correctness has also something to deal with this choice i.e. no smoker accessories on the website). Anyway, Dunhill travel humidor are sold in Europe for roughly 200 euros (small size - 6 to 10 medium cigars), up to 350 euros (bigger size - 15 medium cigars, 10 big). Davidoff also has a nice range of travel humidor, but the prices are rather high (you can easily reach 600-700 euros, notably because of the quality of the leather (crocodile skin, etc.);

c) my travel humidor : the best deal I could find in my quest for a good quality travel hunidor, with nice leather, good wood, good capacity (double corona must fit in ! cf. my last post on this format), was the S.T Dupont big travel humidor. I do hate their website though, you cannot shut the music, they give very few details on the products, and guess what ? The product I bought today is not on the website anyway... That having been said, I am quite happy with the quality of the product so far, and especially the quality of the leather : thick yet soft. It has the biggest capacity I could find on the market, same size as the biggest size from Davidoff, but for "only" 300 euros.

Now I can travel with my babies !

Ramon Allones : Gigantes (Doble Coronas)

I did buy a couple of those, during my Last trip to Geneva. I had to find the good occasion to light one of these babies... Definitely not the kind of cigars you light up for nothing ! You have to find the right timing (prepare yourself for more than 90 minutes of pleasure), the right location (you'd better open the window :), and the right company (avoid your new girlfriend).

Well I managed to secure a decent time slot which allowed me to enjoy my first Ramon Allones Gigantes.

Firstly, the box is absolutely beautiful, with a superb green mixed with shades of gold (I'll put a picture of my box, when I find time). I keep this box just because I love the design! Secondly, the cigar in itself looks imperial, with its wonderful light brown, and goldish ring. Finally, the taste. It is a great cigar, and not surprisingly for a cigar of this size, full of different, yet subtle, flavours : liquorice, flowers, chestnut, woody sometime, but never earthy.

You should try one of those !

Brand : Ramon Allones
Origin : Cuba
Format : Double Corona
Rating : AAA [please refer to my Cigar Rating Chart].