Cigar of the Month - October: Litto Gomez Chisel Puro

The cigar of the month feature will appear every month here at the Cigar Kennel. It's not necessarily the best cigar I’ve smoked in the last four weeks, it’s just one that I’ve smoked recently and think is worth smoking.



This month it’s the Litto Gomez Chisel Puro. With the exception of the Tatauajes, this is the best smoke I’ve had lately! This cigar's shape is what attracts me to it to start. The head is shaped like a chisel (hence the name) and the wipe taper fits perfectly in your jaw line. This smoke is also made from all-Dominican tobaccos, which is why it sports the “puro” name. It has what you’d expect in a Dominican puro: that cinnamony-raisiny-spicey-goodness that you find in an Opus X, La Aurora 100 Anos, or a Davidoff 2007 Limited Dominican Puro. This baby is strong right off the bat. It’s got more firepower than the Pacman Jones' posse at a strip club! I once described this cigar to Litto himself as “an Opus with Balls”. He seemed to approve of the description. They’re not cheap, but these babies are chalked full of flavor and spice. They’re pretty smooth, too – not at all harsh and they don’t have a rough finish. Try one

In other news: I’m getting sick of the sports going down in the New England area. The Chowds are bad enough as it is, and now it looks as though we’re only hours away from the BoSox taking home they’re 2nd World Series in 4 years. Hell, for that matter, we’re probably only 3 months away from the Patriots winning their 4th Super Bowl (although I pray Peyton & Co. will take those bastards down both next week and in the post season)! And then to top it all off, we have to watch Boston College pull out a lucky win against an over-ranked VaTech team and remain No. 2 in the polls. I don’t see them dropping too far even if they do loose – with Notre Dame doing a worse job than a Doctor operating on Charlie Wies every Catholic sportswriter in America is gonna be tossing Jesuit love to B.C.!

At least it looks as though KU and MU are headed to a showdown for the North in K.C. As much as I wanted to see KU loose to A&M, as long as Mizzou keeps winning, I have no problem with KU winning as well. There will be no better feeling than sending KU off that field at Arrowhead as losers, going home to watch MU square off in a rematch with Oklahoma the following week.



Well, Kiddos, that’s all for now. Remember to grab a LG Chisel Puro – and save it as a victory cigar for a month from now when the Black and Gold are crowned Big 12 North Champions! Oh - and if you want to see New England in a good light, I suggest seeing "Dan in Real Life". It was a really good flick! Ciao Turds…

Spend Some Time with Some Tatuajes...

Well, seeing as how Beckett & Co. are well on their way to making the Chowd Nation even more arrogant and irritating (like Bridget Moynahan’s baby daddy needs more help doing that lately), I’ve chosen to sit down and write rather than watch the TV.

Let me start by saying that the Tatujae (Tah-too-ah-hey; Spanish for Tatoo) Cojonu (Co-ho-new… although I like pronouncing it Co-joo-no-joo) 2003 is perhaps the best cigar I’ve smoked since the Avo LE05. A bold statement, I know. But truly, this cigar is a gem. This cigar is the best Nicaraguan smoke I’ve ever had.

So let me walk you through it...a window into what you can expect! The cigar looks gorgeous: its dark brown wrapper is flawless and has a nice oily sheen to it. Upon putting it to your lips you get a nice, spicy taste write away, even before it’s lit. Once lit, it has a pleasant taste right off the bat. It really opens up (as most cigars do) about a ½ inch or so into it. The smoke pulls easy into your moth, with an initial spice, and once it gets into the back of your moth it seems to expand, unleashing a much more complex flavor. The spice, although not overpowering, is the dominate taste through the first part of the cigar. It seems to be that kind of peppery taste that hits you in the top of your nose, like horseradish does. The pulls keep coming: rich, smooth, thick, almost-malleable smoke with every puff. About halfway through the cigar, I noticed that the spice seemed to settle down, not die out, but graciously give way to an even smoother, richer taste. And I should also mention that the entire grand flavor one expects of a Nicaraguan puro is to be found in this cigar. Some customers have told me (and I’ve experienced it on some myself) that the cigar was a little too “wet” and the burn seemed to be affected by this: not running horribly, but not staying lit as well as you’d like. This didn’t bother me too much. I’ll take a mediocre burn every time if it gave me flavor like this. Many Opus X’s have this same quality. Upon further investigation, I found that even Pete Johnson (the tatted man behind this beauty of a smoke) shared my philosophy (http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/Free/Video). Truly, this is a smoke everyone should try. If I had to pick one thing that perhaps keeps it from attaining “Best cigar…EVER” status (although I don’t know if any cigar can ever be intrinsically that) it would be that I’ve noticed some of them have a slightly bitter finish. Not all, but some. This could be attributed to the stronger tobaccos, but it also could be because some of them I’ve puffed down until they were singing my fingers. Not to mention, they’re so good I think I unknowingly smoke them quicker than I do a normal cigar. But that is a minor point. This cigar is like a tangible version of what I think a cigar should be. When I picture a great cigar in my mind, I picture one of these.

Alrighty – now let’s move on to the Cojonu 2006. After I started gushing about the ’03, my co-worker Mikey-Mob Zeeno informed me that I really need to give the ’06 a try. The ’06 is a little smaller, but it’s the same price – which was the reason I had yet to smoke one. But two nights ago I grabbed one and fired it up like I was Stephen Jackson outside a strip club! What an awesome cigar! Mob Zeeno was right. It was not totally different than the ’03, but I did notice some things that made it unique. It did not have that dominant peppery flavor off the bat. It almost seemed to start with the richer, fuller complexities that I found about halfway through the ’03. Also, I found that the smoke didn’t have that “get-to-the-back-of-the-mouth, then-boom!” quality that the ’03 had. However, the finish was very nice: not at all too harsh. I only have smoked the one, but as I smoke more, I’d like to see how they hold up in this regard.

Also, I mustn’t forget to tell you about the Tatuaje Reserva J21 Robusto. This cigar was slightly milder than either Cojonu or the regular Tatuaje Cabinets, but it had a butter-like smoothness that you don’t find in too many cigars. This smoke is a treat as well. Geez, with all this Tatuaje praise, you’d think Pete Johnson’s trying to muscle in on “suck-off Litto hour”! Damn! With this kind of man love going on I might have to change the sign at the front of my sub-division to read: “Armor Hills”. Well, now it looks as though the BoSox are putting the finishing touches on an October beat down…so off to go bye some earplugs I go. Man, those Chowds are annoying! Ciao turds…

2nd Annual Fellas' Fall Classic Presents: Manly Meat Madness II

Well, this past weekend I was able to somehow cram all the activities mentioned in the above header (drinking, eating BBQ, smoking, and sports) into one fine day! This marked the 2nd year in a row I was able to summon most of my friends and family to join in on one big, bad, BBQ!

I got up around 8:00 AM to start prepping both the food and my house. Two of my friends soon joined me to help get ready and make a final trip to the store. By the time noon rolled around the fridge was stocked with booze, the humidor was stocked with cigars, the 2 grills and the smoker were stocked with food, and my house was quickly becoming stocked with friends and family. Safe to say, that after 6:30 that night, most of all them were empty or damn close. While we waited patiently on the smoker (filled with 2 slabs of ribs, 40 hot wings, and a batch of lil’ smokies to boot) and on the grill with the 9 lb pork shoulder, we were able to use the 3rd grill to get some food going immediately. Such bounties as brats, peppers, onions, habaneros, and bacon wrapped scallops filled our plates along with homemade BBQ beans and salsa. By the time the Chiefs game started, the smoker unveiled its beautiful contents: chicken so moist it was falling apart and ribs that were dripping with sauce, fat, and flavor! And let’s not forget about the pulled pork sandwiches that replenished us at halftime.



Now obviously there was some time to smoke while waiting on the hickory and heat to do their magic. I smoked a La Flor Dominicana Ligero Cabinet L-300. This is an absolutely great cigar (I’ve thought this since their inception; the other day just re-affirmed it)! The ligero filler has a fantastic taste. It’s a thick, hearty smoke that’s peppery and strong. The standard Ligeros I’ve found to be a bit on the harsh side. Not so with the cabinets. The Ecuadorian Oscuro wrapper provides such a great contrast to the filler tobaccos. It has a creamy sweetness that takes that green, harsh taste from the standard Ligeros away and replaces it with a butter-smooth draw. And at $6.50 a pop, this is a cigar that you can enjoy in a crowd while other things may demand some of your attention (something you may not want to be doing when dropping 10 plus bucks on a smoke). A recommend grabbing one next time you’re at you local tobacconist.



Oh, and the Ciefs played! This was the first game of the year where LJ actually looked decent. And it was nice to see Priest back on the field, if only in a limited role. What a great comeback story. And what a great addition to a disgruntled, overpaid, ball-spiking, penalty-inducing backfield! It was an ugly win, but great plays by the defense (Page’s game ending interception and Jared Allen’s continuing run for AFC defensive player of the year award) were the difference. Now, somehow, the Chiefs are heading into the bye with a winning record and at 1st place in their division! This is something very few expected at the start of the season. Who knows, 8 – 8 could win this crappy division!



So, all-in-all it was a pretty good day: damn good cigars, plenty of booze, and even enough food to fill Mangino for lunch…maybe. What’s the moral of this story? I don’t know…eat, drink, smoke, and don’t overwork your brain trying to figure out Herm’s game-managing philosophy. Ciao turds…

Back (and barking) Again!!!

To those of you whom it may concern (which are at best, a very small few), it is I, Beefcake...the artist formally known as Bobo. Although my real name is Sam, the pen-name of Bobo no longer seemed to fit. I have since my last post, acquired an actual bulldog who I named Beefcake so I will now post under his name. Besides, Bobo sounds like something my Grandma would say when referring to the male genitals.

Well, as you all know from my last post (www.bobothecigarsmokingbulldogg.blogspot.com) I had left the world of tobacco for that of a higher paying job. MISTAKE! You can't buy happiness, but you can smoke it! So back to Diebel's in south central Leawood I arrived! It's good to be home. Much is the same at the shop...which is fine by me. And now I find myself working side-by-side with Tu Jaque La Flor, a treat indeed. Stephen Jett, Esquire is still on the prowl (down around Missy B's I can only assume) and John's, well... his same old self: a moody Kraut whom I derive much joy from!

So, this little entry was just to say hello. More posts on stogies, swill, steaks, and sports to come. But to keep you tied over until my next post, you need to smoke a San Cristobel and a Tatuaje Cojonu 2003. Trust me! Ciao Turds...