Oliva Cain "F" Straight Ligero

This cigar was very acid, so acid at first that I thought I would not like it at all. However, the contrast with the smooth center made me realize the genius of the tobacconist in using the acid beginning to accentuate the excellence of the rest of the cigar. I found it a high quality, well made smoke that burned evenly, was easy to draw, had a flawless wrapper and lightly oily smoke. It was slightly darker than other Habano's I have had. While not destined to be my favorite cigar I would smoke another and enjoy it!
~C.R.

Marques de Casa Concha 2005 Merlot

I splurged a little over the holiday season on this excellent Merlot. At $23 this Chilean red deserved its 90 rating and was a great wine for my wife and I. It was sweet enough for her and dry enough for me and at five years old it had mellowed out to an exquisite smoothness. This wine was a pleasure from the sophisticated label and complex bouquet to the way it clung to the glass and slid smoothly across the palate, all as a quality wine should! I wish I had a cellar full, enough said!

Cusano Habano LXI Sun grown

I found this a less than spectacular smoke. I would not have rated it at 91 had it been up to me. I found it a little bitter. Mine had slight issues with loose wrapper from the middle down and burned unevenly from the end to the middle even going out three times. It required active smoking throughout to keep it burning. I also found it difficult to draw. All in all it was hard to enjoy the experience of smoking this cigar, it was too much work and not relaxing. Perhaps I will try another one day to make certain that these problems are no fluke.

Alec Bradley Trilogy Exotic Maduro.

      

 Wow! I really liked this high quality smoke! I keep coming back to the Alec Bradley's. They are so hard to beat. This is my first trilogy and I would put it second only to the Special Cabinet Reserve, though I have yet to try all of them. Rated at 88 it still fit my tastes very well. The heavy, oily smoke coated my mouth very nicely and the nutty flavor was divine, smoothing to butter toward the end and even the aftertaste was pleasant, a rare feat in my opinion. Technical information can of course be found elsewhere online. I am only writing of my own taste here.

Elegance, Class and Style.

            Elegance is sadly lacking in our world today. Class merely a way to divide between rich and poor. Style set by some clueless Hollywood types.

            I think rather that elegance is available to all no matter our economic strata, and class a way of behaving rather than an accident of birth. Style set by confident people everywhere with no need for pushing outlandish boundaries, but which instead never goes out of fashion. Everywhere we look we are constantly slapped in the face with tastelessness. Rudeness and crudeness abound all out of place.