My Weekend Cigar: Lighting up for Labor Day

By Gary Korb

My Labor Day plans included spending the entire weekend with my wife and boys at my parent's house at the Jersey Shore, and concluded with a Labor Day Monday Bar-B-Q at my brother's house, much closer to home, which also helped beat the hellish New Jersey Labor Day traffic.

For the three day weekend, I came very prepared. Arriving late Friday night, I loaded my Csonka Valet with 12 cigars, and here's how things panned out.

Saturday morning I started out at the pool with a Los Blancos Criollo. This is their cigar with the green band. The smoke was smooth, creamy and flavorful with a rich, nutty taste. During the afternoon I had a Camacho Select Robusto. A great-tasting, full-flavored cigar with plenty of spice on the finish.

Saturday night I didn't get the chance to smoke a cigar. We went to a nightclub in Sea Bright, NJ called "ELEMENTS the lounge," but as you New Jerseyans already know, smoking indoors is a no-no. I also got to meet Elements' manager, Dimitri who happens to be an avid cigar smoker and looks like he belongs in the cast of Entourage. I just happened to have my travel case and a Famous Smoke Shop catalog in the car, so I brought them in. I asked Dimitri what he likes to smoke, and the first cigar he mentioned was Avo XO. Just his luck, I happened to have an Avo XO Intermezzo on me and gladly handed it to him along with the catalog. During our conversation, he told me he had never had a Rocky Patel cigar. I shot him a quick glance of amazement, but he was in luck again as I handed him a Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Toro. "If you've never had a Rocky Patel cigar, then this is probably the best cigar to start with," I said. Dimitri was very grateful and in turn, treated my wife and I to a couple of drinks. He's got a great place. If you're ever down the shore, stop in and check it out.

Sunday morning it was a Perdomo Reserve Champagne R. What a great cigar. Rich, earthy and creamy with a nice little kick to it. I spent the afternoon on the beach with a Famous Nicaraguan 3000 Torpedo. This cigar had been in my humidor quite a while. They were a bit too strong out of the bundle when I bought them, but the cigar had mellowed somewhat while maintaining that nice kick of dark spicy tobacco flavor with a quiet little note of sweetness on the finish. It held up really well under the windy beach conditions, too.

Sunday night I lit-up a Graycliff Espresso President out on the terrace. Man did that cigar live up to its rep. Spicy, spicy, spicy! I had it with a small glass of Lemoncello over ice. Talk about a heady experience. I think this cigar would have been better paired with an espresso, but I might not have gotten any sleep. It was very flavorful, but I think I'm more partial to the fairly milder Graycliff Professional series.

Finally, Monday at the Bar-B-Q, I kicked back with a Partagas Cifuentes Winter Blend Enero. I just love this chunky, creamy-smoking Dominican puro, which is now getting harder to find. The cigar is perfectly balanced with toasty, cedary flavors, naturally sweet, moderately spicy, and very aromatic. What a great way to wrap up a sunny and not-too-hot holiday weekend.