Smoke & Powder Crawl Update

[Architeuthis]

For those who missed it, here's PART ONE taken directly from ASC...

Newsgroups: alt.smokers.cigars
Subject: Houston Smoke&Powder Crawl XI
From: AGCIAS

We started off with only minor versions of the traditional boggles,
slight emergencies and pAUL Puntney in the back seat. pAUL had come
down the night before for a GLORIOUS dinner prepared, in different
sections, by the equally glorious DJ and pAUL. And entirely too much
wine and assorted adult beverages. But, despite everything, we were
up bright and early and on the road by eight o'clock to our rendezvous
with the other Crawlers at ASC. Sadly, we left without the cigars
from Moore & Bode. Moore & Bode had gone to spectacular efforts this
year to give us something really special for the Crawl. We were to be
a test group for a new line of smokes they are introducing, the
Kahve. Sharon and Robert are making a couple versions of these new
smokes and had hoped to get our opinions on them. While talking to
Sharon, I had mentioned that, while they made among the best cigars
available, they needed an introductory priced smoke. Imagine my
surprise to find that they were working on just that, two machine-made
medium cut filler lanceros (4 1/8 X 34 and 4 1/8 X 41) - one size
will eventually be selected for production - in the M&B style. Sharon
suggested that they would appreciate it if the Crawlers gave their
opinion on the sizes and styles. But when it came time to produce the
cigars for the Crawl, they found that the Cameroon wrappers slated for
the cigars were not available in time for the Crawl. However they
have offered, for any Crawler who are willing to send me their
addresses and share their opinions with Sharon and Robert, to send
samples of these smokes for review by our "sophisticated" palates.

However, everyone had come through with great selections of smokes.
Camacho had, in addition to five-packs of robustos, sent tee-shirts
and zip-lock bags for the anticipated haul that the Crawlers would
soon be hording. FinestCubanCigars.com provided, along with a box of
Montecristo #5s, excellent double guillotine cutters (I still
regularly carry mine from last year) and a number of boxes of cigar
matches and Cigars of Habanos sent five five-packs of Monte #5s (125
by my count) as an auction item to support Waller County Teen Court.
Wal Baranow of Australia sent a box of Monte #4s and Perdomo gave us a
box of their Limited Golf Edition cigars in the DC sized Double Eagle.

DJ decided to try a new route to ASC which afforded us a lengthy and
low-speed - and very up-close and personal - view of a truck's rear
end for many, many miles along the one lane road with no provisions
for passing. As well as a chance to view, again at very low speeds,
the beautiful passing countryside ... and trailers ... and bike riders ...
and rollerbladers, who were apparently participating in some sort of
sporting event.

"It's quicker, it's easier, it's smoother," screamed DJ of the route
she had planned. "The other route makes me frantic," her voice
reverberated from the car's windows nearly deafening us. "Aach," she
shrieked, shaking her fist at the car in front of us. "This route I
stay much calmer!" pAUL and I cowered as far away from her as we
could and agreed. "Such a quiet road," DJ commented as pAUL and I
covered our ears to shut out the high-pitched squeal of the tires on
the road surface of I 10; the "Snake-bit Highway." Oh, even with the
assorted unpleasantness, we arrived spot on time thanks to Donna's
shortcut.

Well, in the tradition of minor disasters at Crawls, we arrived at
American Shooting Center to find that the steel plates had been torn
completely down for much-needed repairs. The problem was that,
despite knowing that we were planning to shoot on the plates, no one
had bothered to tell me this. Nevertheless, we moved on down to the
pistol range to greet Matt from Baboon Pirates and began putting up
our targets.

Aside from shirts and baggies, Camacho had provided a five-pack of, as
I said, robustos from among their more recently released lines - the
Camacho Corojo (brown label), Camacho Coyolar (black label), Camacho
Havana (yellow label), Camacho SLR Maduro (red label), and Camacho
Select. This proved extremely popular and, along with Finest Cuban
Cigars' Monte #5, was the first thing Crawlers tore into. But I
chose, for my first cigar of the Crawl, the Monte #4 from Wal Baranow.

I also started with my S&W 422 to get my eye in. This worked at first
but as I smoked the #5, my aim progressively worsened - imagine that.
The year-old Monte was a bit underhumidified; a little light at the
start but a very pleasant morning smoke (TYCofH). pAUL pulled out a
Dan Wesson .357 firing .38 Specials and began touching it off. The
thing is almost as loud with .38 Specials as with the .357s. And he
was frighteningly accurate, at least enough to douse any hopes I might
have had of picking up a few cigars from the Shoot-out to bolster my
dwindling stash. We were soon joined by Doug with his Glock 19 9mm
and some type of snub-nose -- shooting tight little groups on each
target with the accuracy that has put him in the money for the last
several years. About this time DJ, who had been called away on
business, rejoined us.
Continued tomorrow...

[canney]

I was wondering about how the crawl went. I was surprised no one made a post till now. I intended to make it, but had other duties. I will make the next one.

[Architeuthis]

As far as I know, NOBODY from CigarLive attended... It was a bit embarrassing to me after going to a bit of effort to attempt to get two disparate groups of cigar smokers to spend a day together...

[Architeuthis]

Yet another update from AGCIAS...


Newsgroups: alt.smokers.cigars
Subject: Re: Houston Smoke&Powder Crawl XI
From: AGCIAS

... continued from yesterday.
First, a correction from the last post. My first cigar had been the
Monte #5 from the great folks at Finest Cuban Cigars, not the #4. The
#5 was not a year old but rather six months. It was still, however,
very Cubanesque and a perfect morning smoke. Another thing I forgot
to mention was that the Moore & Bode cigars are intended to be small
cigars gloriously packed in packages of 5 to address the needs of the
modern cigar smoker who is limited in time too smoke but still wants
quality and flavor. All I can say about my errors is that, in the
future, I won't have quite as much champagne before writing the
review.

My second cigar of the Crawl was one of the Camacho entrants, the
Camacho Corojo (brown label). This was a short robusto with a good
maduro, toothy, wrapper and small veins. The cigar has a good, firm
feel in the hand and punched easily, showing good construction at the
foot and head. The draw was very nice and from the first the smoke
gave good tobacco with some sweetness and a little leather. The burn
was moderately straight, evening itself when it varied, leaving a
pleasant colored grey ash showing obvious signs of the tooth.

Donna, having set up a target, pulled out her Walther .22 and, getting
me to act as her spotter while she pelted me with brass, fired
decidedly better than I had.

The cigar's flavors also included walnut and what DJ helped me to
identify as walnut husk; which carried over strongly into the
aftertaste. It also had a very distinct spice. The cigar mellowed as
smoked, leaving adding black mottling.

At popular request, we started the Shoot-out at 11 o'clock. Matt
donated the "Shoot-n-see" targets that allowed us to easily identify
point of impact. I was up second with my S&W 422. pAUL followed with
his S&W, shooting what looked to be a respectable score, then Doug and
the Glock 19. Doug proceeded to embarrass all of us by putting one in
the absolute center of the target with the others clustered around
it. Next was Gary Falkner with a Ruger Mk II. Lastly, Jeremy and
Jill showed up and, despite the impressive scores, Jeremy wanted in on
the Game. After getting his eye in and taking a few shots in earnest
at the target, Jeremy good-naturedly conceded.

While we were waiting to score the Shoot-out, David, a newbie, came
over and asked to be included in the Crawl mailer next year. As well
as one of the range attendants, Vlad. Both were happy to walk away
with a nice selection of "gimme" cigars. After scoring, the winners,
counting the lowest numeric score as the winner, were: pAUL (17), Doug
(21) and Gary (27).

Aside from first choice of buy-in cigars, the winner got a five-pack
of 1+ year-old Padilla Hybrid Robustos. Second place had a
Philadelphia Eagles beer mug -- an accidental donation to the Crawl by
Decorators Warehouse.com which they sent me instead of my actual order
and didn't want back. (g) Doug didn't especially want it either, I
think, but possibly has friends who are fans... He also walked off with
something nice from the buy-in pot and Gary had to settle for the fist-
full of smokes, some still very nice, left over.

Again by popular demand we broke a little early for Paul's Seafood
Boat and a much needed lunch. But again in keeping with the tradition
of disasters at the Crawl, once there we found that no one had
mentioned that Paul's had been subsumed by the City of Houston in the
last year. Despite several calls and my mentioning that we would like
to eat upstairs, as we had in years past, we found that we were to be
seated on the outdoor patio. Luckily, the weather was clement and the
area, with fans going, perfectly pleasant.

There we had special guests, uninvited but welcome none-the-less.
Looking out from the screened patio where the weather allowed us to
dine, two vultures were perched on the enclosed trash bins. Aside
from that, a chameleon watched from the eaves, displaying his throat.
"At least he didn't try to sell us insurance," Gary quipped, referring
to the Geico gecko. As always, while awaiting our repast, the
conversation ranged from the unusual to the eclectic. Topics included
a discussion of the Americans With Disabilities Act and different
cities' compliance level (Matt, who works for the City of Houston, was
something of an expert in this area), not to mention pearls and
cultured pearls ... and geese.

I'll step aside from the narration here for a minute since I wanted to
add reviews of some of the cigars I didn't have time to smoke on the
Crawl. If anyone has reviews of Crawl cigars they'd like to share,
especially ones not covered by my reviews, I'd invite them to send
them to me for inclusion.

Camacho SLR Maduro
This smoke was given to me on the condition that I review it for the
giver ... so here it is. The cigar came from JJ's in College Station.
The chocolate-brown maduro wrapper covered a cigar redolent of Havana
horse-*ish with moderate veins, a slightly rough feel and very good
visible and tactile construction. Punched, the draw was light and pre-
light the cigar gave leather and fermented tobacco and the foot took
fire with the greatest of ease. This cigar was brawny enough from the
second inch to give me pause, producing a flavor of slightly sour
tobacco (reminiscent of sugar-cured wrappers) and full-bodied
qualities of spice (with a Cubanesque bite on the back of your
throat), and warm, rich flavors of leather, tobacco and a light, leafy
earth. As well as an indefinable buttery aspect. The aftertaste was
meaty ... almost chocolate in the mouth-feel.

This was not a panty-waist cigar. It reminded me, in power, of a
Bolivar Belicoso I had a few years back. It threw off a powerful
aroma that made me feel that I was in a well-stocked tobacconist's -
layers of aged, opulent tobacco and old cedar. The burn was very
straight and left an even, grey ash with little staying power (about
half and inch). This cigar was a powerhouse, full of rich, chocolaty
flavors that literally staggered me. Smoked to the first burning of
the fingers!
Continued tomorrow...

[tx_tuff]

Hey Tim there was no way I could make it, I had my kids that weekend. But I know how you feel. Despite all the people that signed up for the Houston Montly Herfs and all the time I put into it the turn out seems smalling than it should. But the ones that so up are freaking awesome. The part I don't get is even though I send out PMs about the events I have only gotten a small % of the people not coming PM me to say so!

[Architeuthis]

Originally Posted by tx_tuff

Hey Tim there was no way I could make it, I had my kids that weekend. But I know how you feel. Despite all the people that signed up for the Houston Montly Herfs and all the time I put into it the turn out seems smalling than it should. But the ones that so up are freaking awesome. The part I don't get is even though I send out PMs about the events I have only gotten a small % of the people not coming PM me to say so!

I understand the frustration... Hell, I created an entire section for use during RTDA and was willing to arrange rides, maps and whatever else was necessary, and ended up a bit disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm. Bottom line is that if as few as TWO people take you up on an offer to herf, it's a success. <G>

[Architeuthis]

And here's PART 3...


… continued from yesterday.
Fired at Paul's Seafood Boat, the third cigar of the Crawl was the Monte #4 donated by Wal Baranow (Baranow.com). The Monte #5s had been only a few months old but these were from October of '06 and the difference was obvious. It was a dark natural with a silky wrapper and small veins. It lit easily and left the traditional Cuban black-grey mottled ash behind a straight burn. On the milder side for a #4, it had light spice and an extreme mellowness.

We also took this opportunity to questions Jeremy (our resident expert) on the effect of the smoking ban on Houston eateries and learned that while, although people continue to eat out although smoking is no longer allowed, they do not linger and socialize, spending additional money on drinks and coffee. This might make up as much as 20 percent of the income of the higher-end restaurants. Since smokers seem to be more sociable, people are going home for coffee, postprandial drinks and a cigar.

Another aside here. A cigar not smoked at the Crawl but since then was the Camacho Select provided for the Crawl by the good folks at Camacho. This was a robusto sporting moderate veins on a dark natural wrapper and with a dusty feel in the hand. Unlit it was full of aromas of spice and rich, fermented tobacco. There were a few mold marks on the one in my package and the construction seemed a little loose with a couple of soft spots. The foot took fire easily and the cigar showed a very light draw. The burn was average with an even grey ash and giving off huge volumes of smoke. The cigar burned fast but not hot. Flavors included earth, mushroom and pecan shell. The last showed up strongly in the aftertaste along with some bitterness. The cigar was, in my consideration, moderately strong. Again, thank you to all the folks at Camacho.

Eventually driven to near-distraction, Jeremy was persuaded to tear down the wind-chime beside our tables, giving us much deserved peace after the firefight earlier. Aside from sating ourselves with oysters, the popular menu item seemed to be the fried softshell crab which accounted for the delay in our meals.

“They had to go catch it,” DJ quipped to the general amusement.

But is was worth waiting for. I. OTOH, satisfied myself with one of the justly famous Paul's po-boys. Silence reigned supreme which, Donna pointed out, with this group said volumes of the quality of the fare.

The Monte #4 built in flavor and power until by the end of the first third it had picked up the traditional Cubanesque bite on the back of the throat. This was a distinctly strong though mellow smoke.

A little after two the waitress came with our checks, indicating strongly that, although they enjoy having us around, a little bit of Crawlers go a long way and they now wanted to get rid of us. We paid up and broke for Richmond Avenue Cigars.
Continued tomorrow…

[tx_tuff]

Originally Posted by architeuthis

I understand the frustration... Hell, I created an entire section for use during RTDA and was willing to arrange rides, maps and whatever else was necessary, and ended up a bit disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm. Bottom line is that if as few as TWO people take you up on an offer to herf, it's a success. <G>

We did have one herf at a downtown pub that I set up thanks to your RTDA section. It was the sat before the RTDA started. We ebded up have smokers from three different fourms show up. I would have been at more stuff during the RTDA if I could have! I think you do a great job here Tim, Thank you!

[boomerd35]

Originally Posted by tx_tuff

I think you do a great job here Tim, Thank you!

Both of you guys do a great job here! Especially with information. Even though we embarrassed Squid with our turnout, he's still posting updates here. I had something come up where I couldn't attend, but I did email and let them know I couldn't make it.

[Architeuthis]

Originally Posted by boomerd35

Both of you guys do a great job here! Especially with information. Even though we embarrassed Squid with our turnout, he's still posting updates here. I had something come up where I couldn't attend, but I did email and let them know I couldn't make it.

Hey... I got over it... <G> And naturally I'm still posting the updates. Perhaps version 12 of this event next year will have a serious CigarLive contingent; and we can show those ASCers what we're all about. <G>

[Architeuthis]

Another Update by AGCIAS. These are quite good actually, if you want to know what happened.


… continued from yesterday.
Sorry for the deal but my week and weekend has been incredible. One small part was having a tire start to go out 400 miles into a 500 mile trip to the in-law's. But to get on with the story…

So, did the Crawlers miss the part where I said “Any Crawler who is willing to send comments on the size, shape and style of the cigar, and send me their addresses, you will get the samples from Moore & Bode that were not here for the Crawl.”? Or do the Crawlers just not read this #$%^, since they were there?

Lord, the things I put up with. Read my lips! IF YOU WENT TO THE CRAWL OR WERE PREVENTED FROM ATTENDING BY UNAVOIDABLE CIRCUMSTANCES (and so would certainly have told me about it) AND ARE WILLING TO COMMENT ON THE SIZE, SHAPE AND STYLE FOR M&B, SEND ME YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS AND I WILL HAVE M&B SEND YOU FREE CIGARS!

The selection at Richmond Avenue was, as always, impressive with literally hundreds of brands covering a thousand or more types of cigars. Al displayed in the huge, walk-in humidor. pAUL pointed out the Fuentes Double Châteaux Fuentes as the smoke that had gotten him into cigars and from there the conversation ranged though our evolving tastes. One thing that really caught my eye was a burl-finished Trinidad 100th Anniversary Free-standing humidor. The Trin was a cigar that I had tried when it came out, without being impressed, but had recently been reintroduced to (TYpP) and since then the Fundadore (7 1/2 x 40) has been a regular “go-to” smoke. RA also had the new Camacho Triple Maduros in an evil-looking black wrapper. As well as the Tatuaje RC 83s and 233s -- the 233 measuring what I estimated as nine inches and both more striking by being half-wrapped in silver foil paper.

As the fourth cigar of the Crawl, I selected the Camacho Havana (yellow label). At the time I had no clue what it was although Jerry, the de facto manager of Richmond for the day, identified it as the Havana, a cigars introduced at the recent RTDA. Lit, the draw was a light at the start but firmed a little as smoked. The ash was rough and dark grey behind an acceptably straight burn. The dark natural wrapper had moderate veins showing oil and a silky feel. About this time, less than an inch into the smoke, the flavors, previously unimpressive, changed, becoming stronger and adding a great deal of earth, spiciness, black pepper, vegetal qualities and coffee, the last of which carried over strongly into the long-lasting aftertaste.

Continuing in the tradition of eclectic conversations, we speculated on whether Bush would veto the new cigar tax, if the veto could be overridden and the fact that alcohol has recently been found to break down nicotine so we should all drink while we smoke. I broke away from this scintillating repartee to browse and ended up getting a half-dozen great little plastic pipe stands to help display my father's collection. As well as freestanding torch for DJ that will grace her desk when it is not in the kitchen caramelizing crème brûlée. It was a little late when we broke away from Richmond; the atmosphere is so conducive to sitting, chatting and smoking cigars and more than a few of us had wandered over to Collector's Firearms, several breaking down and making purchases. So we were somewhat late getting to Absolute Tobacco.
Continued tomorrow…

[Architeuthis]

Part 5


… continued from yesterday.
At Absolute, we were greeted by Dark William, who had been smoozing there for a while before we arrived. A number of the Crawlers quickly took advantage of Absolute's offer on pipe tobacco and we got to “Ooohh” and “Aaahhh” over a “travel pipe,” a small pipe whose stem folds in to form an almost perfect circle. Concentrating heavily on briar, Absolute has a gorgeous selection of pipes including some beautiful churchwardens. Entering into the humidor, they had a great selection of Auroras with the largest assortment of Preferidos that I have seen. Of course I helped myself to a couple that I have not been able to find in other shops around town. As well as a huge collection of Cuba Aliados, once my favorite smoke and still difficult, at least for me, to find in broad selection locally. And I grabbed a Punch Rothschild in passing. We also had the opportunity to do a good deed since the humidifier; attempting, as I later learned, to compensate to the volume of earlier visitors to the humidor; was threatening to treat the cigars to a monsoon. Luckily the situation was quickly rectified.

The great people there had put out trays of crudités, fruit, cheeses and a vast assortment of cookies. I should mention that I additionally grabbed a Cuba Aliados Limited Edition toro and, at Bill's strong recommendation, a Gurka Estate Selection Rothschild which was actually more of a toro in size. DJ had been smoking a punch Black Prince and one of the many things I love about Donna is that LOOONG before I would finish with a cigar, she quits and passes the remains to me!

So I inherited the Black Prince and spent the next half-hour killing it. The wrapper was immaculate, with a touch of oil even after quite a few years (MAR 01). The Punch BP was, as advertised, milder than the Punch Punch. It had strong leathery qualities with hints of the Island spice so pleasing to the nose. It fired perfectly from just a touch of the lighter and gave forth tons of richly aromaed smoke. The draw was letter perfect, just enough to let you know that it was there ... if you looked for it. The burn was razor-straight and the ash a beautiful black-gray, firm enough to hold to an inch or more every time.

The flavors were wonderful, mellow but full, with hints of Cubanesque bite through the well-blended mix. It had strong leathery qualities with some Cuban spice and was very clean in taste thought the strongest flavors didn't kick in until the very end. There was also a nutty creaminess that I can't describe more fully. The aroma was pleasing, with spice and more of that creamy nut, but not as good as the flavors.

Thank you, DJ. You are my light and I would love you more than I can say even if you didn't give me cigars.

Once again, time to leave rolled around before we were ready and we rolled out to Robustos a bit later than anticipated. On the way, pAUL posed the question of how Dark William had come by his sobriquet. No one had ever previously been … er, brave … enough to ask but I knew the answer and, since it is fit for the vaguely mixed company found here, I promised to pass the request on and to publish it with DW's permission.

Everybody else, DJ included, had to run off elsewhere to take care of business of freshen up, so pAUL and I made it to Robusto's well ahead of the crowd and settled into two of a collection of overstuffed chairs at one end of the bar. I started by ordering one of the dreaded chocolate martinis before discovering that it was not of the same ilk as the only other of these concoctions I had had the chance to taste. This one was composed of three olives, Kahlua, chocolate, Godiva White and cream. Yes, it is a sissy drink. No, I don't care. It was good. The drink arrive, shaken not stirred, full of infinitesimal ice crystals and covered with a fist-full of chocolate shavings.

And I perused the humidor and have to admit, Acid got me again. I picked up an Acid “Waif.” I've had many … unusual … experiences with cigars from Jonathan Drew. This included the Drew Estates “Egg,” a cigar that looked like a snake that had eaten a rat and, DW once commented, tasted like it; and after that one I had vowed never to fall victim to their spell again. But this cigar was, once again, of an absolutely entrancing shape. Viewed from one edge, it looked like a 48+ ring, but from the other edge it was flattened to something like an 18 ring. It looked like it had been run over by a train, while maintaining its wrapper perfectly. In hindsight, I wish I had just kept it for the shape. It lived up to its name -- it was a wafer of a cigar and I vowed to smoke and review it immediately.
Continued tomorrow…

[Architeuthis]

Part 6

… continued from yesterday.
At Robustos' pAUL picked up what he described as a fair margarita, made interesting by being served in a tall, thin, straight-sided glass rather like a Mint Julep. He also discovered what looked to be an interesting glossy-covered magazine called “Cigar Press,” which he proceeded to Bogart. Not to be easily outdone, I picked up a small book -- “The Wild and Whimsical World of Cigars” by Bryan McConnachie of Saturday Night Live fame. Inside, I was treated to such humor as “closet cigar smokers we'd like to see:” a picture of the Surgeon General of the United States' door with wisps of cigar smoke fuming out around the edges.

Doug arrived about now and promptly fortified himself with a Maker's Mark Manhattan served in a martini glass. While we sat here, Doug regaled us with the tale of how he has come to drink Marker's Mark. It seems he had, decades previously, been bell-captain in an unnamed hotel in upstate New York and, in return for unspecified services to the owner of the bar, he received for the summer a never-ending bottle of Wild Turkey. Some time after that in California, while meeting with bankers, he was convinced to try instead a Manhattan. This became his drink of choice. Years later, in Louisville, at the Maker's Mark Bar, he was introduced to the Maker's Mark Manhattan and since then has been a true aficionado.

While perusing “Cigar Press,” pAUL came across and article on Tatuaje. pAUL had not run into this smoke before and, as we were discussing it, my beautiful Donna and a couple of lesser lights arrived. It was at this juncture that I clipped and fired the Waif (Gagging noises from around the table.) “This smells like the '06's,” Doug commented, and Bill, not to be outdone, told me “I know I've burned that incense. If you finish the first draw and go 'Duuuuuuuddddddee….'” The “incense” was clove and the group passed it around like some insanely flattened spiff. Comments ranged from “Tastes like it smells,” and “I think this was stuck into my Christmas ham last year” to “Wretched.” It was also described as being reminiscent of a third world sweat-shop though I doubt that that Crawler has spent much time in third world sweat-shops. The predominant flavor was certainly cloves, rather like the horrid clove cigarettes a neighbor smoked when I was in college -- until we convinced him that they rotten your lungs (his fumes certainly rotted ours). The cigar was literally nothing but cloves and tobacco. The only positive aspect to the smoke was a little spice and a shockingly, given the circumstances, Cubanesque bite on the back on my throat. After three puffs Bill pointed out that it burned like a fuse (he would know) and Doug added that this really must be a five-minute smoke. I was having a hard time getting the band off fast enough to keep it away from the ember. Seriously, this thing lost about a quarter inch to every puff. Blessedly that meant that there were few puffs. Because of the shape the cigar was somewhat difficult to manipulate but putting it out, far enough away that the aroma was lost to us, was still doable.

Oh, wait. pAUL did point out the other good thing about this cigar. It smoked fast.

Doug, DJ and I decided, for dinner, on the New York Pizzeria across the plaza from us; DJ and I choose to split a fried calamari appetizer large enough for three people and a large Manhattan-style pizza. Doug selected a Neapolitan Pizano pizza. Bill and pAUL, preferring being lost to being followers, decided on Vietnamese sandwiches which I will not attempt to describe beyond Bill's “A bowl of phô between two slices of heavily buttered bread.” They soon returned with two hero sandwiches, a collection of spring rolls and a plastic bag filled with lettuce, pickled carrots and assorted vegetables. Bill, though almost always the ultimate carnivore, wrapped his fried spring roll in lettuce and pickled carrots and bit into it with a ferocity that made me snatch my hand away.

Well, the calamari passed the Donna test (DJ has the highest standards imaginable when it comes to fried squid), the Manhattan-style pizza was the best I've had … I think this year and, based on the descriptions given by DW and pAUL, we will be trying the phô sandwiches as soon as we can get back here with empty stomachs.

The two man jazz band came in, set up and began to fill the air with smooth and liquid melodies; a pleasure to the ear. A word here about Robusto's. Robusto's is a generally rectangular room with a bar filling nearly half of one wall, the rest of that wall and the shorter wall at the end of the room lined with two humidors full of upper-end but comparably priced smokes. It alternates among dark red walls, wood, brick and a parquet painted concrete floor.
Continued tomorrow…

[Architeuthis]

The seventh and last installment...

Many thanks to AGCIAS for the opportunity and the interesting posts about the Crawl...


After the pizza, I gave up on trying to smoke all of the Crawl cigars and pulled out a La Gloria Cubana Wavell. This was from a recent box purchase with moderate to fine veins, a silky feel to the touch and a dark natural wrapper. The draw was just on the stiff side of perfect. And the cigar produced huge volumes of smoke full of gallons of coffee and milk, young leather, burnt pecan shells and ripe tobacco ... as well as a full-bodied spice and Cubanesque bite at the back of the throat. The burn was straight with a grey ash with a bit of black mottling.

While not creamy, the flavors were mellow and complex, and the cigar's strength would have forced me to sit had I not been already half-sunk into a plush leather chair. All ashes lasted to 1 1/2 to 2 inches before falling into the conveniently placed ashtray with the merest brush of a finger. An opulent cigars and fitting smoke for the occasion.

As I started the auction, pAUL fired a TTT Trinidad Fundadore; a cigar, which had entered my regular rotation since pAUL, introduced me to it a few months back. This inspired me to pass one of mine to Bill; a way of thanking pAUL and evening the karma.

“And it's GREAT,” DW mumbled through clenched teeth and cigar smoke.

We started the auction of 5 Five-packs of Montecristo #5s donated by the great folks at Cigars of Habanos with my measly bid. I was rapidly outstripped and Doug was able to walk away with the prize at a great price. All of which went to support Teen Court in Waller County.

Always a gentleman (stop laughing … I see you hiding your smile behind your hand!), I made my way to the band and passed on a bit of cash and DJ's customary request for “My Funny Valentine.” A word here about the band. There were two black gentlemen, twins, producing jazz from various instruments including a neon rimmed, electronic sax! Listening to the music that was picked up by my tape recorder as I dictated Crawl notes takes me back to that night and, as soon as the fates allow, I will take DJ back for dinner and an evening of their jazz.

A little before 10 Doug had to bow out and Bill and DJ escaped for a few minutes to run a family errand for Bill.

Sadly, soon after they returned pAUL ponied up the courage to ask the question we had all been dreading -- where Dark William got his nickname. And with his permission, I share it here. Years ago, in the dim, distant past; when insurance salesmen and George Burns were still in the process of crawling out of the primordial seas; when you competed training in bondages you were given a nom de … fouet, I guess. His mistress granted Bill the name “Dark William”.

In keeping with my vow to give up on smoking Crawl cigars, I pulled out a Montecristo #3, my all-time favorite “go to” smoke, punched and fired it. The wrapper had the traditional glorious spice and the first puff, while still excellent, was not quite up to standards. This did NOT last. The ash was the regular exceptional black/gray, the draw as close to perfect as I could imagine. And after the first few puffs the flavors KICKED in. The traditional Havana Horse-ish aroma was there and the cigar showed a mellow creaminess with rich cedar that occasionally powered up to almost indescribable levels and a sonorous cafe au lait (not plain coffee and cream). There were wonderful rounded notes and a mellow aftertaste of wood and rich coffee. This was a classic Cuban. It had volumes of smoke and a cool, even. placid burn with all of the honeyed tones Gerard Pere praises in the line.

I love the entire line of Montecristos, but the #3 has always been my favorite for balancing size and flavor.

BTW, anyone who has smoked and would review any of the Crawl cigars, please write to my so I can pass the comments on.

Feeling the need for a higher alcohol/blood ratio, I attempted to describe to the bartender how to make a Swig's Bombay Sapphire martini, from the famous San Antonio bar of the same name with mixed results. After DJ had had a sip and I had killed half of it, Dark William, whose tastes runs to straight gin far more than mine, was kind enough to finish it for me. I didn't think it was in the same ballpark or juniper berry field as the Swig's Martini Bar version, nor of The Twisted Path in College Station's standards. Bill, however, proclaimed it an EXCELLENT martini.

The conversation flowed, fueled by our perfectly balanced alcohol and nicotine buzzes, organically from absinthe to Donna's Hemingway's La Fey Vert cucumber soup to Bill's offer to make us his Chinese Cucumber and Pork soup to DJ's vow to make herself at least passingly familiar with my copy of the ultimate in Chinese cookbooks, Miller's “The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook” then to why DW owns a leather baseball cap and whether the button on it reads “SM' (for … well, SM) or WS (for water sports).

By midnight, despite the beautiful jazz, we were all beginning to zone out or pass away from near-terminal nicotine poisoning, so we called it a night and headed for home. By this time we were down to pAUL, DW, DJ and myself, oddly all of whom had been transported to Robusto's in our car -- which lead to a game of musical storage spaces to allow four people and the remnants of the Crawl materiel to fit in one PT Cruiser. But we safely dropped Bill off and bundled pAUL away to bed before collapsing ourselves. I hope all of you who were there had as good a time of it as I did and those who couldn't make it; I hope to see you next year

AGCIAS
"They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just
give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for
over 200 years and we're not using it anymore."

[Ceedee]

Great stuff Squiddy! I am really sad that I live too far away to share that fun and excitement first-hand. Still, your excellent recounting of the details was fun as hell to read! Perhaps sometime in the future when I have a viable job and the time to do it, I will herf with all y'all down in TX!

CD