[Da Klugs]

It's been a while since I've smoked a NC. Sam decided to "make me" smoke one of his cigars yesterday at lunch. One of us chooses the cigar, the other chooses the lunch location (distance is the issue) to fit the cigar to the drive. Perfection is 1/2 each way. Otherwise we end up looking like stalkers driving aimlessly around neighborhoods to finish the cigars on the way back.

I forgot how good these are. It's easy to get snobbish when you hit the Cuban slide. The Pita's have always been my favorite of this line. The wrapper has a great flavor to the unlit taste and during the smoke.

A 6 1/8 x 50 beautifully constructed cigar. If you read up on these they are the only cigar that has to use all of the words.. Ecuadorian, Sumatra, Corojo, Dominican, Piloto, Cubano, Honduran, Nicaraguan and Connecticut to describe it's construction.

Did one of those rare perfect lights. I don't know about everyone else, but for me the light dictates how well the cigar is going to burn. Almost every time I get a great one the burn is perfect.

Mellow, rich and flavorful. Maybe I've gone brain dead thinking that only Cubans are worthy. This cigar had nuances and smoothness that were wonderful to behold. Burn was perfect. Draw was perfect. Pace was spot on 1/2 when we got to Bearden’s. Bearden’s is a old time local restaurant featuring the "Bearden Burger" one of the precursors to the Big Mac only it has 2 3 oz patties and no center bun. Cool place, has a ledge up by the ceiling that a train runs around the restaurant. Cool!

Year to year these seem to vary a bit in intensity. These were 04 versions that had mellowed just enough.

After lunch and a judicious relight we did a cruise along the lake back towards the office. These are nice cigars was my smoking thought. Richened up in the last 1/3 like most NC's do. Not sure why that is, for me at least seems to be a more predominant phenomena in NC than Cubans.

These have a nice nutty smooth flavor that is unique to them. A cigar that should be in everyone’s humi. Know I have a box of these buried in the Dom cab somewhere. Going to dig to find them, these are worthy of including in a regular smoking rotation.