Poker, Padrón, and Cuban EL's

[moki]

Played some poker tonight with the boys, and smoked a bunch of nice cigars, mostly Cubans. Quick takes, in order of smoking:

Partagas Serie D No.3 EL (2001) -- this was an okay smoke; it had a nice flavor on the exhale, but was a bit rough and unrefined. Didn't do a whole lot for me, it isn't a cigar I'd go out of my way to smoke again

Padrón 1926 Serie No.1 (2002) -- quite a nice smoke as always -- nice deep coffee/cocoa flavor, but still smooth and semi-sweet. Always an excellent cigar, if on the robust side -- but never harsh.

Cohiba Piramide EL (2003) -- despite being a relatively young Cuban, this was just a great smoke. The rich maduro wrapper played off of the semi-sweet tobacco in wonderful ways. These are some great sticks.

Romeo y Julieta EL Robusto (2001) -- ahhh, now this is more like it. After the let-down of the Partagas EL, this Romeo was excellent. Nice ceder and citrus flavors, with a sharp but smooth Cubano twang on the exhale. A very enjoyable smoke.

So three thumbs up, and a mediocre but okay smoke from the Partagas Serie D No.3 EL. Won a bit in poker too, it was a nice night.

My order of preference is as follows:

Padrón 1926 Serie No.1
Cohiba Piramide EL (2003)
Romeo y Julieta EL Robusto (2001)
Partagas Serie D No.3 EL (2001)

...but honestly, I think it depends on your mood. Sometimes you want a lighter cigar, sometimes you want a deeper, richer one. I could easily see wanting the RyJ EL more than the Padrón/Cohiba EL, depending on my mood.