Guess who's back?

Greetings all.  Wow it has been a long time.  I cannot believe that I have been gone for 4 years!  A lot has happened to me since my last entry.  Most notably I am on my 3rd job.  I became an Uncle (twice!) which I am super excited about.  I moved in with my girlfriend and we have this amazing apartment.  This apartment has a great deck off the back where I will be spending a lot of time this summer.  And after the long harsh winter of 2014-15, I cannot think of a better place to be.


One of the Jobs I had was a short stint back in the cigar industry at Habana Premium Cigar Shoppe.  My time there gave me plenty of opportunities to smoke some of the greatest cigars. I have to say that I am very pleased with some of the trends over the years. My favorite being the massive influx of amazing cigars coming out of Nicaragua.  Factories like the My Father, Drew Estate, and AJ Fernandez are pumping out great cigars every year.  These cigars have strength, but don't skimp on flavor or complexity.  Cigars like the New World from AJ Fernandez, Nica Rustica from Drew Estate, and La Antiguedad from My Father are all perfect examples of having medium full/full cigars that don't lack flavor at all.  Also these cigars a very reasonably priced, which is another trend that I like.  For a while in New York it was almost impossible to find a high quality cigars under $10/stick. Thanks to the geniuses in our state government that thought they would make so much money by raising the taxes to 75% on the wholesale.  But now the taxes have been lowered and the companies are coming out with cigars under that $10 mark.  Its been a great trend. 


There are some other trends that I absolutely do not like or understand.  First of all, I don't understand the obsession with large ring gauge cigars. 60+ ring gauges a are so popular that even companies like Davidoff felt the pressure and made a 60 ring gauge cigar. I understand that people feel that bigger I better.  That they are getting their money's worth.  With  cigars the most expensive leaf is the wrapper.  The wrapper gives most of the flavor.  The binder and filler is usually the less expensive tobacco.  So In order to have more flavor, use less filler and binder.  And what happens when you use less binder and filler?  You get smaller ring gauges! Every time I smoke a 60 or larger, I feel like I am smoking air.  They are just not for me.  Yet they are extremely popular.  Brands like Asylum have become some of the best selling cigars because they make cigars up to 80 ring gauge.  Now they don't only make large cigars.  Their Asylum 13 robusto (5x50) is amazing.


So needless to say I still have a passion for cigars.  I have been thinking about this blog and what direction I want to take with it.  One of the other things that I have gotten into over the past few beers has been expanding my tastes in beer.  I have grown to love stouts and porters.  Still don't really like IPAs yet.  I'm trying.  I used to think they  tasted like tree bark, but a good friend of mine said the  hoppyness reminded him of grapefruit.  Since he said that, its now what I tase and I can tolerate some of the milder IPAs.  So I believe that I will be pairing a beer with each of the cigars I smoke on my deck.  I'm very excited about this and I hope that I have the ability to bring some sort of entertainment to you.  I mean who doesn't get excited about cigars and beers?


As always, let me know what you  think.  Leave me a comment of a pairing that you want me to try.


Smoke a good one!


Andy aka agctribefan