My Weekend Cigar: Kinky Friedman "Kinkycristo"

Yesterday I stopped by the Famous Smoke Shop cigar store to have a smoke and watch the first of the two NFL division championship football games. Before I head for the store, I go through this ridiculous process of choosing "what would be a good cigar for today?" I must inspect at least a dozen or more cigars from each of my three humidors until I've found the right one. Sometimes too much choice can be a problem.

Let's see: A big game. I'll need a fat, long-smoking cigar; something with a lot of flavor, but I'm not in the mood for a full-bodied cigar. Whoa! I forgot I had this gorgeous Kinky Friedman Kinkycristo, a 6 ¼" x 54 Torpedo modeled after the famous Montecristo No.2 cigars. The blend consists of a very delicate Honduran Habano wrapper rolled around Honduran and Nicaraguan longfiller tobaccos with a Costa Rican binder.

Unfortunately, the wrapper had a few little tears, probably from being moved around too much. Otherwise, the cigar seemed fine, so I plucked it out and off I went.

Once I got settled-in, the draw was effortless with a sweet, earthy, herbal pre-light flavor and the cigar lit-up well. I paired it with a bottle of Calypso Mango lemonade (my first bottle - and not bad, either).

The cigar produced plenty of thick, creamy smoke. The flavors were evident from the start: notes of nutmeg, almond, cocoa and coffee with an equally redolent aroma, like a big chewy candy bar.

I had some burn problems due to the tears in the wrapper, but I can't fault the cigar. Even so, each puff was delicious and smooth right down the the nub. Having come in just before the end of the first half of the Jets-Colts game, the cigar lasted the entire second half.

I've been a big fan of the Kinky Friedman cigars ever since they washed-up on our Famous Smoke Shop shores last year, and I can't recommend them highly enough. OK, they're a little pricey. But for a rich-tasting, complex, and quality-made smoke they're hard to beat, and well worth a try.

Although the Jets let me down, my Kinkycristo didn't.

~ G.K.