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If you do go to check on your place don't open up the humidor -- you will just let the moisture (humidity) out, allowing your cigars to dry out even more.

Just leave everything as is until the power has been back on long enough for the temps to come back to normal.

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Thank you!

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what is the best whiskey to drink with a Monte Cristo? I would like to know, tnx

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I have never had a Monte Cristo, had some lovely pies made with Crisco and some with lard, again it's all preference.

To answer your question, which ever you prefer? I am sure you will get some excellent recommendations here, but I have always followed the simple rule of smoke what you enjoy and enjoy what you smoke, the same goes for drinking. Heck you don't wanna know from me, I'm not even from this part of town, I'm from the west side of Chicago.

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I agree 110%!

However, personally, as well as a few of my close friends, prefer Dark Aged Rums.

My personal favorites are Goslings Old Rum and/or Goslings Black Seal Rum. A second, less expensive favorite is The Kraken Black Spiced Rum.

http://www.goslingsrum.com/microsites/oldrum.php

http://www.goslingsrum.com/microsites/blackseal.php

http://www.bevmo.com/Shop/ProductDet...um-750ml/32547

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Drink Jameson 12 year, or drink nothing at all.

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How long do you recommend letting a cigar sit in your humidor after first getting it? I've heard about people letting them season in their humidor for a little while. Also what is the benefit of letting a cigar age for a year or two?

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3+ months for me. Though, some don't make it after the first week. Age lets the flavors mellow out, and also causes smoother taste/less harshness.

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Some are 2+ years, some are lucky to make it through the front door at all

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I let them acclimate to my humidor for 2-3 weeks.
:2
YMMV

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About a month for me. Most of the shops here keep the sticks a little more wet than what I prefer. Sometimes though, they don't survive the night.

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What's your guys' opinion of punch cutters? I've never used one or really cared to and I haven't seen much conversation here about them. Are they as bad as I would assume they are or what?

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I enjoy my punch, nice clean hole, no shrapnel.....they have there place, I don't like punching small rg cigars as they seem to get tarry.

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I am fairly new into cigars myself and always used a straight cutter, even had a lighter with the little punch on it and never used it, that being said about 2 months ago I started going with a punch 90% of the time and I love it.

Never had that happen, thankfully, unless they are too small for your punch then you cut, but I've punched most of them that can be and *knock on wood* no tarry mess.

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A punch can come in handy for certain vitolas. A great example would be the Berger Argenti Fatso line. It's a box pressed/wafe shape that would get split if cut with a snip without a careful hand.

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I also tend to use a punch on short filler cigars. It helps from getting small pieces of tobacco in your mouth.

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Newb question:

Sorry if this has been asked before, I haven't read all of this thread yet.

I have been using my pipe lighter (Xikar Resource) to light my cigars. Is it better to use a torch lighter for cigars?

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Soft flame or torch don't really matter outside of personal taste. The fuel matters though. A soft flame bic butane lighter works well. A zippo for instance that uses naptha which doesn't burn completely clean may taint the taste of a cigar. Potential adulterant of the cigar at lighting is also why you should wait until the sulfur end of a match burns off before lighting with a match.

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Thank you. I use the same care in lighting practices with my pipe tobacco.

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Thanks guys next cigar I think I will give a punch cutter a try.

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Have you tried a v cut yet? Sort of a hybrid between the punch and full cut. I like them.

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Always an option is to find someone into firearms and sharpen a piece of spent brass to use as a punch. Options would be .223, .243, .270, or .308/30-06. Anyone who shoots should have something laying around.

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I hunt with a 243 so I have plenty of those laying around but it would probably be a mess to try and sharpen it. I have a punch on the end of one of my lighters that should come in handy. If i get board over the summer or something though I may give sharpening a casing a try.

:tu

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No I don't have one so I haven't gotten the opportunity to try one. What is the benefit from a v cut that is different from the punch or full? :sh

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Very easy to sharpen. Just wrap a tapered punch or something like that in sandpaper and spin it around the inside of the neck a few times. If you have a reamer, it works even better, with just a few spins inside.

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The cutter takes a nice wedge out of the cap of the cigar. The opening created is larger than the hole of a punch but still much smaller than a full cut. I like to use them on large ring cigars and those with notoriously loose draws. But really, they work well on any cigar that's not too small or pointed. I also like the fact that it keeps the rounded shape on the cap intact which, to me anyway, is a nice mouth feel. I can send you a few if you'd like. PM me if interested.

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So what is the big deal with the Fuente Opus X? I have seen them referenced on here a few times and I checked them out on a few sites and they are super expensive. What is it that makes them so expensive and are they really that good?

:confused::sh

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They are somewhat rare, certain stores get them more frequently then others. Some on here will say they are over rated and not worth the coin. I am lucky enough to live in an area where I see them all the time and Holt's has them and Anejo sharks at Fuente Mania for a VERY decent price point (a lot of places jack the prices up). I love Opus it is one of the few non-Cubans I smoke, their smaller ring gauge smokes being my favorites especially their Petite Coronas! But that is my personal opinion and everyone is entitled theirs, if you find one for $15 or less I say buy it and try it for yourself, otherwise regardless of the size you are overpaying!! (Oh and they get better and better with age)

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/\ all the info you need right there

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Well, close. :sh Send and email to tampqasweethearts.com, they are the Factory store for Fuente. They will email you a list of HTF Fuentes including Anejo's and OpusX. You have to call or email them for the list as it changes daily. :2

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+1

Patience with an Opus X is rewarded. If you can, buy one and let it rest for a few years.

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Thanks guys i will keep that in mind. Im not sure if i am ready for that kind of commitment just yet but maybe in the future. So far the most expensive cigars i have gotten are the Macanudo Vintage 2006. I got a fiver from the devil site for 25. I plan to smoke them at the end of the school year to celebrate with some friends before Vicarage (it is a one year internship so we will be apart for a year before we come back for our final year of seminary).

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So, are you going to be a priest?

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I'm lutheran so we are called pastors. Roman Catholics are the only ones who call their ministers priests. I can explain why that is if you would like but it would probably be best to just PM you.

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Gotcha, just didn't know which religion :tu

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haha yeah fair enough. We get confused for priests a lot since we still wear clerical collars, but since we are Lutheran we can get married which confuses people when I am with my fiancé wearing one.

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I am gonna feel bad about :sl a man of the cloth, but I will get over it :lr

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haha well thats ok if you repent ;s I will forgive you :). Btw your grenade should arrive later today (its saturday already Eastern Time).

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Mike you PM'ed me by accident, Michael seems like Mike is interested, or he just wanted to ask me about the Lutheran faith...and I doubt that. :)

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:r thanks Adam I'll PM him. I didn't wanna post too much religious stuff here cause I don't want to break the rules :rlz not intentionally trying to convert people just explaining what I am doing with my life.

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So I know that different cigars have different levels of nicotine but how can you tell which have more and which have less?

Sorry for all the questions but I figure I'm new and that's what this thread is for.

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Mostly just by experience. Try them out and see, or talk to friends who have smoked them. Just remember each cigar and it's NIC will affect each smoker differently.

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Same here....too funny. :)

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Used a punch on three cigars over the weekend and it worked great. Smoked a Rocky Patel Decade and a RP vintage 99 on Friday and a RyJ Reserva Real on Saturday. Sunday is the day of rest :tu

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Bromance!!

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....and? :lr

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So last week Steve (Dude Here) offered to send me a Vcut cutter since I was asking about different cutters. Being a nube I didn't think much about it until I got the package today. When I opened my mailbox a hand reached out of it and smacked me. The guys at the mail room were shocked. Then the hand gave me this.

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Thanks a lot Steve you really know how to smack a guy into the fold. :sl

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This should get posted in the bombs section :tu

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That's all :r