For those who missed me:)

[DonVon]

This thread will have cover a couple different topics so I figured this forum was the best location to put it. With one week of school left, I decided to take a mini vacation to Palm Springs for Memorial Day. We got an awesome condo for a great price about a couple miles from the strip. My humi was gifted with a few gems sent by a few generous BOTLs, so as I opened the box I could barely make up my mind as to what I wanted to smoke. My first choice was a CAO I believe it was a cameroon, but it said anniverserie on it. I didn't care what it was after seeing how awesome the cigar looked. I snipped & sparked it and began pulling out smoke. To make the long story short, it wasn't as great as I thought it would be from it's looks but it was a pretty good smoke. The construction & burn were awesome, and I got descent smoke but the flavor didn't tingle my pallate. The reason for this might have something to do with the cigar I smoked next. Those that read my thread a while back know that I got a box of PSD4s and that I smoked one while it was a baby. The experience was amazing ( http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10725 ) It has been a couple months now and they have been resting in a 65% humidity environment. All I can say is WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!! This cigar has developed into something unbelievable in my humidor. I can't believe it is the same cigar. I still thought it was too early to spark one, and the immature burn and ash confirmed this feeling, but the flavor has taken on a life of its own. I'm terrified to see what I am going to be smoking in a few more months. The construction like before was perfect, the smell was unique and exciting, the light was perfect, the drag and fire were perfect, the only complaint I have was that it burned a bit uneven, and though realllllly good the ash wasn't perfect. This will correct itself with a little more time, and I'm positive the flavor will be even more complex with the work of father time. This is definetly my current favorite smoke, and it has spoiled my tastes. I gave a few drags to my buddy that came along (not a cigar smoker), and he was instantly hooked. I saw a hugeeee walk-in humidor on Palm Canyon Dr. and decided to go in to meet the owner. Here my buddy bought his first cigar, cutter, and lighter. He is taking my advice and checking out websites for his first humidor (another victim of the hill). The owner Mel was an awesome guy. He also runs www.cheapercigars.com . His humidor is the biggest I have ever seen! He has about five boxes of everything He had a couple box sets with two Opus Forbidden X cigars, which I would have loved to buy but my wallet couldn't bare it. He had heard about clubstogie, and after talking to him a little bit I came to find out he was friends with the owner of Drew Estates. I walked into his humi with my girlfriend, and looked around. Since I like to expand my cigar horizons, I will often ask my girlfriend to pick something out for me (she knows nothing about cigars, but she seems to always find something I love). She picked out an Olivia Master Blend out of the crowd. After asking Mel's opinion I bought the stick. It wasn't really expensive (roughly $11-12), but what an amazing smoke it was (she knows how to pick a winner, hey she picked me right? ). Construction/Burn/Ash were flawless. The taste was comparable to a 64 annie Padron, but instead of chocolaty/coffee it was more earthy/woody. I had a good time smoking it, and even pulled out a toothpick to smoke the nub since it was good to the very end. What impressed me the most was the branding I saw on the wrapper. Along with a very beautiful band, it had the company's symbol branded on the wrapper. As I wondered (outloud) as to how they got it on the wrapper, Mel said a laser is used to brand the cigar. I also noticed a collection of empty cigar boxes. Mel said he sells a lottt of them (mostly to people that make cigar box purses LOL). In the stack I noticed a couple Monte #2 boxes, and some other Habanos. When I said "Mel you don't sell any of these right?" he laughed and said "Of course not." I'm guessing he had the habanos in the locked up lockers that lined the back of his humi, but I wasn't there to purchase any habanos so I didn't pursue any further. All in all it was a good trip, except for a little drama caused by some idiots that came along. I happily added another notch to my stogie belt. I will be posting more as soon as my schedule clears up, so I don't have to type up these novels for everyone. Thanx for reading, and I definetly missed everyone here.

[RumblePen]

I ordered from cheapercigars a couple of months ago and I talked to Mel on the phone. He matched all my prices and shipped for free, even though I was under the $300 free shipping mark (one of the boxes I requested must have been out of stock). Was really happy with that order.

That's pretty bold of him having habano boxes in the store, empty or not. All it would take is one vindictive anti smokin-nazi to notice them and make some noise and he could be in trouble.

We sell empty boxes in the store I work at (we don't charge customers for them) and I never understood why anyone would want to use a cigar box for a purse. At first I assumed they covered them in leather, but nope, they just put a strap on it and it's clearly a cigar box. And I hear they can sell for $200. One dude picked up some boxes to make little guitars out of them.

Just one suggestion for your next novel, paragraphs!