Smoking in Southern California

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 6:48 am

I smoke cloves imported from Indonesia...picked up that nasty habit while studying music in Bali. My gender wayang teacher, Ketut Madri from the village of Pengosekan, smokes 'em non-stop. He'd show me a part, and we'd play it over and over until he was sure I'd gotten it, whereupon it was time to light up another one. After about a week of eight-hour-a-day sessions I was, how you say in English, "hooked".

So I've been smoking Gudang Garam's, the preferred brand of Balinese gamelan players, ever since. A couple of months ago, I was purchasing a pack ($5 each) at my local "Smoker Friendly" store, and the guy behind the counter told me that he had heard that Phillip Morris or Reynolds (one of them damn companies) had just bought Sampoerna, a competing Indo brand, and they were currently lobbying Congress to get all other brands of cloves banned from importation. Isn't that just lovely? And I happen not to like Sampoernas...

Thanks a lot, 'Free Marketeers'...

alison2112 · Post by **alison2112** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 8:44 am

Padron Anniversario 64 is my cigar of choice so far.....or when I don't have enough money for that a Macanudo will do...I have yet to try the Montecristos. I don't think I had come out of my shell yet or surely I would've helped myself to a cigar and a seat at the table with you guys!

For the next time though I shall join in.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:42 am

Howard was most generous with the smokes and I must say it was the smoothest, most satisfying cigar I have smoked and I am very choosy. The spicy finish built up as you smoked down to a very nice finish, with no tobacco mouth afterwards. Most excellent.

Alison - try a CAO Anniversaries Cameroon or their Corillo. Probably up your alley with what you listed.

eric_b · Post by **eric_b** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:51 am

There's a fabulous cigar shop near my house called Red Cloud..Good stuff indeed,but they always throw me out when I ask if they have Swisher Sweets..Go figure.

86kubicki · Post by **86kubicki** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:07 am

I enjoy a good Popeye cigarette now and then...

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 11:42 am

Don't get me wrong.
An extremely good Domincan Republic cigar is always a very good choice.

BUT, a genuine Cuban cigar is just impossible to beat! Makes every other cigar on the planet taste like cardboad in comparison.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 12:54 pm

I wouldn't say cardboard, but there is a difference, no doubt. Both Cuban cigars I've had have been exceptional and better than any we can get here.

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 3:38 pm

In fine wine speak we would say "gout de terroir" or "taste of the soil" if I were describing to you a good to great French Bordeaux, French Burgundy or French Champagne.

This critical "third dimension" clearly lacks in almost all California wines, even the most carefully made and highest acclaimed.

It greatly has to do with a combination of soil/slope conditions compositions and different
unique micro climates.

This translates also into the goods to make fine cigars.

The Dominican Republic and in fact ANYWHERE else in the world except a very specific growing area in Cuba lack these exact critical elements.

This this reason why Cuban cigars have such a unique taste. The extra dimension that makes them unique and so ultra sublime is "the taste of the soil."

These exact unique soil and micro-climate conditions are unreplicable anywhere else on the globe. This is the extra edge that makes Cuban cigars so special.

ben_hall · Post by **ben_hall** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 4:54 pm

H. Upmanns for me!

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 5:30 pm

Ben, have you ever had a Cuban H. Upman petite corona?
This is what dead U.S. Pres. JFK routinely smoked.

One amazing observation/thing about Cuban cigars.
*ring size (critical to the taste on all non-Cubans in my opinion) seems to have little to no adverse consequences to that uncomparable Cuban taste.

8mileshigh · Post by **8mileshigh** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 12:27 pm

Hey Alison, if you come to London, there's a great Cuban cigar/ coffee bar we could go to.

ben_hall · Post by **ben_hall** » Sat Sep 02, 2006 7:47 pm

Cuban H. Upman petite corona? I'll have to find one of those...

I smoked a pretty damn good Dominican cigar tonight that a friend brought back from Santo Domingo for me.

davclr · Post by **davclr** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 9:01 am

Ben

The genuine Cuban version of these aren't bad at all.
The small ring size would totally work against it if it were a Dominican Republic cigar (it would taste way too hot and flavorless), but as a genuine Cuban cigar it works extremely well.

As I posted before, this was JFK's preferred smoke. I think he liked it mainly because it made for a relatively "fast smoke" and he could smoke one (or several if time allowed) on Air Force One and carry on with the nation's business.

geddeeee · Post by **geddeeee** » Sun Sep 03, 2006 2:45 pm

The Anti-Smoking lobby is also getting a grip over here in the UK. A lot of people I know who smoke are also quite selfish when it comes to indulging in their habit. I'm also a smoker, but I respect other people's right NOT to smoke. Maybe I just have a bit more willpower than other people? If I have to wait to get home to smoke, then so be it!!

lowendbob · Post by **lowendbob** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 7:45 am

In Pa. cigarettes are $42 a carton. Drive an hour south to northern Virginia, and they are $15.

I enjoy a good Bob Marley cigarette every now and then.