Mike and not-Shawn (Ed) reviews Victor Sinclair

[Cigar Mike]

Well, Ed's stepping in for Shawn again tonight. (Come on back home, Shawn, all is forgiven!)

Tonight Ed pulled a pair of "Victor Sinclair" 7" sticks out of Scott's Grab-Bag-of-Goodness that I have here. They look like a little smaller than 50-gauge, and I'm hoping that we're taking a step up in the world after yesterday's adventures in tastelessness.

This has a pretty light wrapper, but solid, consistent construction. These two sticks seem to have weathered the ups and downs of travel to the Middle East and questionable storage here at my place just fine, I hope, anyways.

Before lighting, they've got a little bit of a spicy smell to them, and I'm guessing they will turn out to be a little more flavorful than they look.

Hello again and thanks for having me over Mike. Here is what it is looking like from my chair:

Weather: clear, 77deg, 47%hum, wind@ 12mph

Drink: Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye (Delicious!)

The Victor Sinclair has a light colored wrap with no soft spots. I really like the smell of this one. Picking up a little hay. My beginner's expectations are a mild to medium flavor with a lot of smoke.

[Cigar Mike]

So, about 15 or 20 mins into this one, and already that bland, listless stick from yesterday is barely even a memory. This one's got 10x the flavor of yesterday's fiasco. A little spicy, a little nutty, and probably rock-solid in the center of that grey area called "Medium Bodied."

I did experience one casualty so far....got a little split down near where I cut it, and that's been causing minor problems on the draw, but nothing that can't be overcome with a carefully placed finger....

Light-up@ 2030

It was a great start for me. The cigar began with a really peppery finish, but settled down after the first few minutes. That may have been my dinner lingering around. Now there is a very nice, creamy smokiness which I am really liking. The ash is a very light gray with a sharp burn. It fell into my lap at the inch mark. This beer is really complementing the smoke.

[Cigar Mike]

Mine is burning significantly faster than Ed's and there's a marked difference in the ash. His is nice and clean light grey, mine's a darker, messier incoherent mass.

Right at the 50% mark I had a few minutes where the cigar turned a little "earthy." Then that got worse, and took a turn for the "dirty." Yup, I thought I was smoking a rolled up chunk of Bahraini sand for a minute, but that didn't last too long, thankfully. Can't explain what happened. Overall, this cigar's holding up pretty well, actually....

Now about to head down into the bottom half of this one...hope it holds true, because I'm kind of diggin' this one!

Originally Posted by Cigar Mike

Yup, I thought I was smoking a rolled up chunk of Bahraini sand for a minute

LMAO!

My experience has been a little bit different. Moving into the second third and the great burn continues. The flavor is great with a medium body. The taste is starting to change and I am damning my unrefined palette for being unable to pick out the specifics. This cigar is on the fast track to being labeled as my favorite.

[shilala]

Did you get back to base, Mike? You should have mail. Good mail.

[Cigar Mike]

Well, I just had to put mine down for good...I got it pretty much all the way to the nub, and enjoyed it overall. That little split that I had early on from my cut turned into a major structural failure towards the end and it pretty much disintegrated in the last few minutes of it's life, but it still managed to lead a good, fulfilling life, and has honored the cigar gods with it's service, I'm sure.

Honestly, I didn't expect this one to be as good as it was. Even though it was a lighter flavor than I usually aim for, it had some good spicy tones and a little bit of a bite that I enjoyed. Ed's had a less mechanical problems than mine; perhaps I abused mine too much or just had a bad cut that turned things sideways towards the end, and I won't hold that against the brand.

Over all? If you're looking for a sharp, spicy (almost tangy?) smoke with decent but not overwhelming body, then this is probably going to be a good choice for you.

Whatcha think, Ed?

[Cigar Mike]

Originally Posted by shilala

Did you get back to base, Mike? You should have mail. Good mail.

And how! Did I ever! Check out my post in the "Troops" forum...I still need to post some pictures (technical difficulties, yadda yadda)....

Super stoked! Thanks so much again!!

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Cigar Mike

And how! Did I ever! Check out my post in the "Troops" forum...I still need to post some pictures (technical difficulties, yadda yadda)....

Super stoked! Thanks so much again!!

I'll go check it out to see if we're talking about the same thing...

[shilala]

Yup, that's it. You'll fit tons of cigars in there once you empty it of the non-essentials like the butane and stuff.
I wanted to get you and Shawn something you can drag along when you leave (I sent the identical setup to Shawn). Those things are waterproof and will take a severe beating. Perfect for on the boat. It's just like what I use back here.
I'm working on setting up one for Phil on the Monomy that's full of pipe smoking stuff for those guys. Do you know Phil?

This cigar finished as nicely as it started. I tasted the Earth and I liked it! The ash darkened a bit from the start and has firmed up greatly. This burn is still razor-sharp. The smoke stayed very cool all they way through and I am going to finish it up soon as it has just started to heat up. The Victor Sinclair is going to the top of my list and I will definitely be smoking these again.

Thank you as always Mike for hooking me up!

[shilala]

Victor Sinclair makes a whole bunch of variations on that cigar, Ed. They're all pretty good. Make sure you tackle Mike and cherry pick his stuff when it shows up nest week. I just mailed a couple boxes to him yesterday.

[Cigar Mike]

Originally Posted by shilala

I'm working on setting up one for Phil on the Monomy that's full of pipe smoking stuff for those guys. Do you know Phil?

Yeah! Phil's a good guy...we spent a few months together training at a contractor's facility in North Carolina before coming out here, and I had the pleasure of sailing with him and the crew of his boat for about a month. We had some good adventures, one of which made the news back home (a rescue of six Iranian fishermen) - that was an event that happened on our watch, actually. He's got intentions of joining the forum here eventually, but his time on land is pretty limited so that might not happen for quite some time, unfortunately.

Right now his cutter's got a package from me that I put together out of one of those clear, round, food-style containers that Shawn gave me from one of your earlier packages. Last I saw it was filled up with about 15 or so random sticks I grabbed out of Shawn's cooler before he left. That container works decently, but has a habit of rolling around on the boat in unexpected directions, so the pelican case will be a welcome improvement for the ship!

Awesome! I will be working pretty close to the mail room for the next couple of weeks..... Thank you for the outstanding support Shilala. It is really appreciated.

[Cigar Mike]

Originally Posted by ECJ

Thank you as always Mike for hooking me up!

Cheers, Ed! Of course, the real thanks goes out to Shilala, Hotreds, and a large group of others here that have pitched in for the supplies and good smokes we get out here. Couldn't do it without them, and I really am at a loss to find ways to express the thanks from all the guys I run into that get to partake of the generosity of this forum. Everyone that hears the story of the cigars that Shawn and I share are always amazed and so grateful.....

[Cigar Mike]

Originally Posted by ECJ

Awesome! I will be working pretty close to the mail room for the next couple of weeks.....

Ah HA! So, if the boxes never make it all the way out to the warehouse, I'll know who intercepted them!!

[Cigar Mike]

Originally Posted by shilala

I'm working on setting up one for Phil on the Monomy that's full of pipe smoking stuff for those guys. Do you know Phil?

By the way, did I get you the direct mailing address for Phil? If I forgot to do so, let me know and I can PM that to you tomorrow.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Cigar Mike

Yeah! Phil's a good guy...we spent a few months together training at a contractor's facility in North Carolina before coming out here, and I had the pleasure of sailing with him and the crew of his boat for about a month. We had some good adventures, one of which made the news back home (a rescue of six Iranian fishermen) - that was an event that happened on our watch, actually. He's got intentions of joining the forum here eventually, but his time on land is pretty limited so that might not happen for quite some time, unfortunately.

Right now his cutter's got a package from me that I put together out of one of those clear, round, food-style containers that Shawn gave me from one of your earlier packages. Last I saw it was filled up with about 15 or so random sticks I grabbed out of Shawn's cooler before he left. That container works decently, but has a habit of rolling around on the boat in unexpected directions, so the pelican case will be a welcome improvement for the ship!

That's awesome. I'll make sure I fix him up with one for cigars as well as pipe tobacco. He'll be sh1ttin in tall cotton.

Originally Posted by Cigar Mike

Ah HA! So, if the boxes never make it all the way out to the warehouse, I'll know who intercepted them!!

You sure will..... Those fellows at the gate.