Gordon Mott
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My Greatest Cigars
Posted: 11:41 AM ET, July 27, 2007
My recent vacation in the Canadian Rockies reminded me of another of the greatest cigars I have ever smoked.
It was in 2000, and I was at Lake O'Hara for the first time. My wife and I stayed in the main lodge building, which has about a dozen rooms and communal baths on a second floor that looks out on the main floor where there is a fireplace, a sitting area and the dining room. On the outside of the building there are a couple of porches, one of them right at the entrance.
I had traveled there with a 1492, one of the greatest cigars ever produced in Cuba to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the island's discovery by Christopher Columbus. It was a small corona sized cigar, and it was only sold in humidors that contained 50 cigars. My boss, Marvin R. Shanken, had given me one from one of the humidors that he purchased.
The weather wasn't great that year with a lot of cold weather, and there were thick patches of snow still on the hiking trails and covering the surrounding mountains. Finally, near the end of the five days of hiking, I bundled up in my fleece and a windbreaker and, after dinner, moved out to the porch. I lit up the 1492 and was immediately struck by what a powerful, yet well balanced smoke I had in my hands. It was filled with the pungent, earthy flavors that used to always mark a great Cuban cigar. That's about all I remember about the cigar. I smoked more than half of it, but then the chill began to win out, and I went back inside the lodge building to sit by the fire.
But I will always remember that 1492.
Does anyone else have memories of their greatest cigars?
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User Name: scott zegans, Dix Hills, NY Posted: 09:27 AM ET, July 29, 2007
Here's a tale of a great cigar. I have a cigar lounge set up in my garage called The Ligero Lounge & am called ScottyOpusX. Every monday night two of my friends Jim & John come over and we smoke cigars (my wife included who is also a true aficionado). My father in-law passed away last year he too was an avid fan of cigars,when he first became ill he gave me his stash (2002). I got him into OpusX when they were first released in the early 90's, in his collection was an Opusx A from the first release of A's (around 98) I brought the cigar back to life, it was'nt properly humidified he thought the coffin was humidified so he left it in a dark cabinet with the cello. Once put in my humidor the cigar went through several cycles of blume over the past 4 years. When he passed I had a memorial smoke for him, so on the first anniversary of his dealth I had another smoke in his memory, I took out the OpusX A. My friends & wife were smoking A's from 2004. I dry boxed the cigars for a week before smoking. My cigar was absolutely perfect, what a cigar. I have smoked hundreds of OpusX over the years but this one was up at the top of the list. It was smooth, complex & extremely rich. The age took the bite out of the cigars and rounded out the flavor. My cigar was far better than the others but all of them were steller. You have'nt really experieneced Opusx fully if you hav'nt had an aged one, they age wonderfully. Thats my tale, hope u all have a chance to smoke something so memorable