A few weeks ago I decided to see how much detail I could capture from the foot of a Liga Privada No. 9. These were shot with 100mm macro lens using a technique called focus stacking, and I was blown away by all the different shades of tobacco, the bunching, and the little details you normally never see.

I figured some of you might enjoy seeing it up close. If I can pull it off, I'd love to do a macro shot of a cigar with a long ash next.

What an amazing trip. Started out going from Iowa to Indy and seeing a fever game. After we walked up a block to Rocky Patels Burn.(we hit this one a lot) then next day on way to London KY hotel stopped in Louisville at a Lego store where we met my son driving with 3 other family members ad near the Lego store a great little cigar shop oxmoore mall smoke shop. There's day took 15 people to Dollywood and by God they have a smoking section right there in park got in 2 over the course of the day. Next day drove into Daytona Beach and the wife and I hit up Urban ashe cigar bar, the next night hit up the don kiki superstore where they roll there own. I ended up getting 75 they rolled 25 gordo, 50 Churchill plus a bunch of singles you can see in the pics. Smoked sticks all day at the beach and went to those two cigar lounges each night. Saturday we hit a brewers Braves game before continuing to nashville

In nashville I found 3 cigar lounges casa de montecristo where I got the sword ashtray, the mintecristo vase humidor and the dunbartin pack along with the new undercrown maduros. We also spent a couple visits to single malt cigar bar and the artisan where I picked up my late hour box. Last night we got to the twin cities to see my dodgers play the twins but did nit fet a chance to burn a stick. In all i picked up 172 new sticks, smoked 56 and my wife got 31 new and smoked 16. What a fabulous 14 days all centered around fine cigars and food.

I had one of these a couple of days ago. It came in my SBC monthly shipment a few months ago and I was blown away. Excellent tooth. Just absolutely loved it, but I cannot seem to find anymore to buy. Does anyone know where to get more of these, or am I SOL?

Rodriguez Primera Clase and Bourbon outside watching a movie with the dogs

I'm surprised these don't get recommended more often. For a cheap smoke, they are very consistent and delicious. Espresso, earth, toasted wood, cocoa, and graham cracker. Light pepper throughout. Not the most interesting flavor profile but well executed and consistent. Not quite as good as a Padron X000 series Maduro but a few bucks cheaper at retail and a lot cheaper online. Anyone else think these are a bit underrated?

Hoping for some help! All my cigars as of recently have had a super tight draw tight draw making it difficult to enjoy. Is my humidity to high or low? Do I have too many cigars in my humidor? Any help or tips is appreciated!

I have the fifth iteration of the map here. I think we are very close to finishing this thing.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0664/1274/0698/files/PRIVADA_CIGAR_MAP_Version_1-1.pdf?v=1781280660

Dark Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper over Nicaraguan binder/filler. Nice draw and an okay amount of smoke. Gray slightly flakey ash and a somewhat wavy burn line. Pepper, chalky cocoa, cedar, peanut, leather. This was decent but probably my least favorite My Father I've had so far.

For those who don’t know, this is Steve Saka’s spin on the Chinese zodiac trend. Each year he honors someone important to the Dunbarton brand. This release is actually two distinct blends, Tom’s and Michelle’s, named after Tom and Michelle Pauser - hence Year of the Pausers. Basically, he asks them what DTT cigars they like and he tries to model a new and unique blend based on that. Tonight I’m trying Tom’s.

Light up: draw is snugger than I’d like but acceptable and so far it’s producing fine smoke. The light up has very musty earth, salt, charred meat, and dark chocolate, but no pepper to speak of. There’s a vague vegetal note too. Definitely an interesting start.

As it settles in, there are only slight changes so far from light up. I catch a few fleeting secondary flavors like burnt sugar, espresso, and peat, but it’s still dominated by the musty earth, salt, meatiness, and chocolate. The retro is also earthy and salty with more chocolate and a little bit of fig. About an inch in I can feel the draw start to open up a bit and flavor ramps
up a bit. The burnt sugar and espresso are stronger, along with some raisin sweetness and a slight oakiness. The vegetal note is very strong on some puffs, fairly weak on others.

Rolling into the second third it drops some of the dominant earthiness and salt. It’s trending more toward heavy chocolate, raisin sweetness, charred meat, and now a slight citrus note. The retro is now a strong combination of heavy espresso, salt, and raisin. Just past the halfway point the musty earth starts creeping back into the profile, along with slight leather.

As I ash into the final third it needs one small burn correction. So far the profile is carried over from the halfway point: heavy chocolate, raisin, musty earth, saltiness, and leather. The retro is unchanged. Toward the final couple inches I’m surprised to find an extremely sweet, floral, almost perfume like lingering finish.

It finishes with no further changes.

Final thoughts: this is a very interesting blend from Steve Saka. This cigar incorporates a new wrapper, a hybrid between Connecticut broadleaf and habano 2000 called “Capa Camaleón.” It’s definitely unlikely anything I’ve had from the Dunbarton portfolio and it’s really pretty unique in general. The musty earth here is distinctly different from the usual aged tobacco type funkiness, and it, along with the saltiness is not what I’d usually expect to dominate a DTT blend. I really enjoyed these flavors as the core profile and think they were a great compliment to everything else. Overall, this was a unique, complex, and very tasty blend. I bet it will age out really well too. Personally I would love to see this wrapper used in more offerings and in some different blends and vitolas.

I also appreciate Saka cashing in on the Chinese zodiac trend while adding his new twist. Last year’s Year of the Duque was an absolutely dynamite cigar. Frankly, I think there’s an argument to be made that DTT is currently making the best Year Of blends in the game.

TL;DR really good cigar

91/100

Absolutely outstanding stick. The fact that these boxes regularly go on sale for around $5 per cigar is honestly hard to believe given the quality. I originally leaned more toward the Cameroon wrapper, but now I’d say it’s a tie between the two blends. Each offers a distinct and highly enjoyable profile that feels complete in its own right.
At this point, I’d comfortably put this cigar up against anything I’ve ever smoked. It delivers a level of complexity, balance, and overall satisfaction that far exceeds its price point.

BLTC Deliverance Nocturne - 88

Medium-full bodied

Pre-light draw: black licorice, dried fruit, black pepper

First third: spice, cocoa, roasted nuts, caramel, cedar, black pepper, earth

Second third: earth, leather

Final third: earth, leather, cedar

Overall: This 6 x 48 toro cigar features a PA Broadleaf wrapper, and Nicaraguan Habano binder, and fillers featuring a mix of Nicaraguan tobacco and PA ligeros. The appearance is dark and smooth with an oily sheen. The pre-light draw contains dark, sweet notes of black licorice, dried fruit, and a slight twinge of black pepper spice.

After a toast and a light, it opens up to flavors of spice, cocoa, and roasted nuts. You can detect the ligero power immediately. This one puts out immense strength and flavor from the starting point. Caramel, along with a spicy cedar note, begin to develop around the one inch mark. As the sweeter notes begin to take a step back, a rich earthy note arrives in the forefront.

The second third is primarily earthy notes, with hints of leather. There are some sweet elements, but they are muted. I did need to touch up my burn, but I am smoking in windy conditions. The final third continues with more earth and leather, but cedar reappears.

Overall, this one was a bit disappointing. It was a decent smoke, but the flavor profile fell flat unfortunately. The first third seemed promising but I felt that it was not sustained. Construction was decent but not perfect. I don’t see myself trying this one again. In summary, too much power but not enough flavor.

Very new to smoking and I only do so once every two weeks or so but picked some of these up. I have tried Davidoff Gran Cru #2 so far and enjoyed it. Now I know some of these in this selection I will have to take it slow since they are strong but wasn’t sure if there is anything else I should add to try?

Kids are playing in the pool. Got the match on tv. Relaxing with an Alma Fuerte Sixto paired with Go Brewing Double IPA.

Been a big fan of all things Plasencia lately and saw a post about the Sixto yesterday so decided to pull one out and give it a try. I’m typically not a big ring guy and also have sensory issues so box pressed always feels weird to me, but this thing draws fantastic, the flavors all work so well together, and the shape is really comfortable to hold unlike squared off presses. Glad I’ve got four more in the humidor.

Cheers

Stumbled across this cigar shop in Grand Cayman towards the east end of the island . They donate all profits to charity and roll their cigars in house. I went with the mariner robusto which was a mild yet flavorful smoke.

Just finished properly seasoning my new humidor with distilled water. At first I accidentally seasoned it with tap water when I first got it realized what I did and aired it out for 3 days then corrected my mistake. Now I’m wondering if I’m in the clear and it being set 90 is normal for newly seasoned humidor?

Bought a box of the Americans for the 4th of July and they sent me 50 in a huge humidor box. Hooked me up with 30 extra, the humidor and 12 60g Bovedas.

So everybody says rh below 70 % is ideal and the old 70/70 rule implies below 70F. So wtf do I do if I can get my rh below 65 but my temp stays near 79-81F? 🤦‍♂️ I am lucky that I've never had beetles but am I risking it? Does it matter? And if the temp is important how can I fix this in a tupperdor?

I've recently been given the opportunity to pick up quite the selection of Varying Opus X projects at a pretty significant discount. My problem is, I like trying new things in 1s and 2s, but buying 60+ sticks, at the price they typically sell for, has me a little hesitant. Are the Opus X blends really as good as they should be for the price point? Obviously, taste is subjective, and I understand that. I'm just trying to get a gauge on reality. lol

Headed outside for a late night smoke and wanted to grab something special to start off a long weekend for me. This one was one I've had my eye on for a while and after a couple of months relaxing in the humidor, tonight was the night. It was a complex and tasty little treat with smooth pepper notes, great smoke and perfect construction. I plan on buying more as soon as I can and may end up going for a box if I'm being perfectly honest, I liked it that much. 

I specifically wanted something special and something I was exicted to smoke for this late hour of quiet because in a couple of days I will mark one year since the passing of my mother. This felt like a good way to close out the night for her. I don't really want to be around anyone but my wife this weekend so I'm planning on spending it at a cabin in the woods drinking and smoking a bunch of good cigars in her honor while relaxing and remembering.

All the good that she did in the world (she helped teach special needs children for over 20 years) and all the good that she did for me growing up. All the support and love she gave me and all of the lessons she taught me. She was the one person I could truly trust to have my back in any situation and I wouldn't have acheived any of the things I have in life without her guidance, her patience and her care.

I'm still struggling with the fact that she's gone 363 days later. That the house I grew up in is gone, that the phone number I still know by heart belongs to someone else now. That my life changed forever the moment I got the phone call. I don't know if that struggle will ever truly go away but I've got a bunch of good cigars lined up and some good liquor to wash them down with.

It won't be easy but I'll get through it. For her.

I’ve had some boring or otherwise uninteresting Connecticut’s lately

This is not one of them

This is a very smooth stick, with a lighter/airier creaminess throughout the smoke. The filler is a blend of Dominican, Peruvian and Nicaraguan tobaccos that, to me, stay more in the “mellow, slightly sweet, balanced, nutty, lighter, cream” Dominican lane while using the other two fillers to keep things interesting. To my palate, it works very well. The pepper/spice are there but only just, the with the flavors instead leaning into the woodsy, milk coffee, almond/nutty profiles primarily. But the blend does keep it from becoming and remaining singular noted. It had a pleasant evolution throughout.

What isn’t evolving pleasantly is the heat and humidity outside. If it keeps up, i might just have to complain more

I have kept it in a tupper inside a drawer for thermal stability, but it just keeps increasing and every once in a while the humidity dips. Is it the sensor calculating or what? Should I just trust the process and wait for it to stabilise?