JC's Cigar Travels

December 2004

Dec.29 Wednesday After Work Herf in Havana Dee's Cigar Lounge
Located inside of Del Frisco's Steakhouse, I was quite impressed. Pricey & Luxurious! Lots of oversized leather chairs & sofa's. The Las Vegas Cigar Posse was in full force. Brian was passing out an article titled "The Etiquette of the Cigar" and most of the stuff I agree with, but not all because it's for the Cigar Gentleman!  We were entertained by the singing piano player.  Someone (I won't mention any names) tried to use his tip bowl as an ashtray.  And we got a good picture of Irene "The Smoke Ring Machine" in action.  This has to be one of the top upscale cigar lounges in Las Vegas.

Dec.22 Wednesday After Work Herf at PT's Gold
1661 E. Sunset Rd., just west of Eastern across from McCarran Airport. Nice place, along with the bar, restaurant and gaming there's a room with a fireplace and flat screen TV's.  A fine room to enjoy a cigar.  They have an outdoor patio where you can watch the planes on the runway. It was just a little too cold for us that night. Also, you can hear stuff from the traffic tower.
Our waitress was a little uptight (maybe from all the smoke) and we had a problem with her putting everybody's drinks on one tab. But we got it fixed.
In summary, I think it's one of the better places that we've been to.

Dec.15 Wednesday After Work Herf at McCormick & Schmick's
335 Hughes Center Drive off of E. Flamingo near Paradise. Great place for Seafood and their cigar-friendly lounge features a happy hour menu every afternoon. We had about a dozen people show up. Joseph took advantage of the $11.99 Lobster special (see the picture gallery).

Dec. 8 Wednesday After Work Herf at the Drop Bar at Green Valley Ranch Casino Located in the middle of the casino at Green Valley Ranch Resort. A pretty classy place. A circular bar with many Plasma Screens on the walls. Drink prices were a bit high. $8 for a mixed drink. Waitress was pleasant and no complaints about our cigar smoke. We even had an Elvis sighting in the casino and he was smoking a large maduro churchill.

• Oct. 29 - Diablo Cigar Tasting at Tinder Box.
  
  The Diablo was a flavorful cigar some would even say spicy. I just don't think it's worth paying $7 for. We enjoyed the Diablo in the smoking lounge in the rear of the store. Nice comfortable chairs and TV.
  Tinder Box has a great selection of cigars and they have a grab bag special, 5 for $10. I purchased one to check it out and to my surprise, there was a Diamond Crown, CAO Anniversario, RD Gomez, Cream (never heard of) and a Don Matteo. All the grab bags are different but I think I did pretty good. Some of the grab bags will occasionally have an Opus X in them.
  
  Oct. 27 - Wednesay After Work Herf at the Pullman Grille.
  
  This one was a dud. When we got there it was closed. We were informed that they were having electrical problems with the railcar causing the lights to go out. So we decided to move over into the Brew Pub at Main Street Station. We had to wait for about 30 minutes because the place was packed even though they had an empty bar that was closed. We hung around there for another 30 minutes watching the final game of the World Series before we were able to get a table. The food & beer was good. Another big thanks to Dice for handing out some choice cigars.
• 
  Oct. 20 - Wednesay After Work Herf at Chicago Brewing Co.
  
  Nice turnout as we watched the Boston Red Sox make the greatest comeback in Major League Baseball playoff history. Their annoying smoke alarm went off and they had to open outside patio door. Perhaps the establishment wasn't ready for the Las Vegas cigar posse. Many thanks to Stinky for setting this up and bringing his ashtrays. Also, thanks to Dice for providing the cigars for the drawings.
  
  Finally had the opportunity to visit the Tinder Box in the shopping center at Fort Apache and West Sahara. I'd have to say they have the biggest selection of cigars to choose from in Las Vegas. Single cigar prices are the going retail rate, but if you buy a box, they'll give you a 25% discount. (Not sure if it's a special limited time sale or something ongoing.) I was able to see some of the new cigars that were introduced at the RTDA show in July. I purchased the new CAO Italia and Brazilia Anaconda.
  
  Oct. 13 - Wednesay After Work Herf at the Silverton
  
  We gathered at The Shady Grove Lounge in the Silverton. Limited space but adequate, comfortable chairs and Happy Hour prices. Service was good, our waitress, Melissa, was friendly. After going to PT's every week, most of us were surprised to see our bar tab much lower than we pay at PT's. The downside of traveling to the Silverton is the consistent traffic congestion in that area. Most of us had a 15-20 minute wait in the gridlock at Industrial & Blue Diamond Rd.
  
  2nd Annual Toast Across America sponsored by Arturo Fuente & Diamond Crown Cigars was held in Las Vegas at Cigar Box on Thursday, October 8th.
  It was quite the event with refreshments including fresh Cuban Sandwiches) & libations supplied with the Coyote Ugly girls serving up the mojitos.
  For a $50 donation we received limited edition (7x48) Opus X Diamond Crown Maximus cigar, both Figurados. While I haven't been a fan of Diamond Crown, I must say both cigars were excellent but I did prefer the Maximus over the Opus X.
  I had a nice conversation with the Fuente rep about what helps bring back the taste buds when you smoked too many heavy bodied cigars. I've always went for a Sweet Flavoured Cigar to bring the palate back to normal. He added that Champagne or Mineral Water will do the trick, but stay away from sweet stuff like Cola or Dr. Pepper as they won't help.
  
  September 2004

• RTDA has come and gone in Las Vegas.

  See the picutres on my RTDA 2004 Gallery.
  
  

  Recent cigars that have tripped my trigger:
  

  • Lone Wolf Lobo Fuerte - Up until now, I've never cared for Lone Wolf Cigars, but I was quite impressed with this one. Seems the company has made some changes and have made some great improvements to their cigars.
  • LG Lito Gomez Puros - I got to sample this new line of cigars from La Flor Dominicana. They won't start arriving in cigar shops until October. Great cigar, all Dominican and very similar to the Opus X.
  • Saint Luis Rey Reserva Especial Maduro - Wow powerful smoke, tasty and full bodied, may be a bit too strong for some and I would not start my day with one, but makes a great finishing cigar.
  • Royal Chieftan (Freyboy blend) - Nice mild to medium bodied cigar made for Cigar Box by Lito Gomez at La Flor Dominicana.
  • Genuine Pre Embargo Counterfiet Cubans - These are some nice tasty medium bodied Nicaraguan cigars that I've been enjoying. Please don't confuse these with the regular counterfeit cubans, make sure they say (pre embargo) they cost a little more but are worth it. Also, I noticed the wrapper is delicate and they don't travel well in a pocket case. Wrapper cracks easy but I can deal with it because it's such a wonderful cigar.
  • Carlos Torano - They're making a lot of noise in the cigar business and could become the next Fuente. I've smoked so many different ones, I'm still undecided on which is my favorite, but I can tell you my least favorite is the Brick.