So another week of workouts in, equals another #cigarSunday! Since my first shipment of cigars from cigar of the month club I have been looking forward to smoking the Sancho Panza Triple Anejo. Its dark wrapper and chocolate coffee smell was so seductive like comic nerd in a New Mutants issue #98 factory.
(My comic nerd peeps will get that reference)
So with the weather over for the moment in Nova Scotia, the sun peeking out like a timid child from behind its parents legs, it was time to give Sancho a whirl.
I decided not to pair with a beverage this week, part of me was just not feeling it as it was after dinner, and to be honest a nice mug of hot tea heading out to the deck, while sunny, with a chilly wind was way more appealing in the moment. Shocking I know.
So the notes on this cigar from COTMC are as follows:

Sancho Panza cigars originated in Havana, Cuba in 1852 and are still made there today with an amazingly mild taste for traditional Cuban cigars. In 2001 they were finally available to the United States market when General Cigars starting making them in Honduras. Brand new to the Sancho Panza line up, the Triple Añejo Gordo is a full-bodied powerhouse that features a blend US Broadleaf and Brazilian Arapiraca long-fillers underneath a savory Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and all wrapped up in a stunning golden brown high-priming Nicaraguan Jalapa Sun Grown wrapper. Together, this lip smacking stogie delivers powerful flavors of hearty spice right from the start with notes of pepper, earth, leather, and coffee with a subtly-sweet undercurrent dotting the finish. Pair it with an after dinner scotch.

I would agree with all of these notes in regards to notes, how your lips just start to tingle when you begin lighting this cigar, and the nose and taste are really nice. But then the problems started. Now I know that not all cigars, especially hand rolled, are not always going to be a 100/100 the same, even if the conditions, techniques and product is the same. I started to notice that while i was giving a good pull, very little smoke was coming from it. So, maybe it went out, not sure how, but stranger things have happened, so i relit. Again good initial pull but then not much of anything.

So I tried to relight again. Same thing, for about 5 times. Couple good pulls then not much. So then i noticed that the cigar was very hot to the touch near the wrap with very little actual new ash at end. I removed the wrap to find a burn hole underneath where the wrap is glued together. So the cigar burned through its middle leaf waaaay faster then it did on its outer leaf and wrapper. 

You can almost see it heading that way from the picture above. Now I am not a quitter so i rolled the cigar some to loosen up the outer leaf and once i did that it did start to smoke better. But I have to say I was a little disappointed initially that this cigar burned through the center that fast. Maybe these cigars are not used to be smoked in cold weather climates. I feel ya Pancho haha.

Despite this minor setback it was still a lovely spring? evening on the deck, with a cigar and a fantastic mug of tea, with the best company a fella could have.  

One last cigar from the Feb shipment from COTMC then we get to start cracking into the next batch, there looks to be 5/5 beauties in that group also!!

Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

I have always appreciated the buy local movement that is sweeping towns and cities across Canada. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt at the local farmers market, and generally prefer giving my dollars to friends and neighbours for services and products then a corporation. Jesus that sounded really hippyish. But supporting the community you live in, to me, is way more important then paying a lower price for convenience. 
But in the last two weeks, I have been turned onto locally made whisky. Last week with the Caldera from River John NS, and this week Glynnevan from Guysbourgh NS. The Glynnevan honestly came on my radar through Instagram. I kept seeing post after post from them at different NSLC locations across Nova Scotia and at various festivals, and felt strongly that Glynnevan would be my next new to me whisky for #cigarSunday.
So with all the workouts needed in the books last week, I picked up a bottle of Glynnevan and one of my Cigar of the Month cigars, a Romeo and Julieta Vintage 7.5.
For any regular readers I am quite a fan of Romeo and Julieta cigars and this Vintage 7.5 looked like a beauty. The blurb on this cigar from COTMC is as follows:
 
Introduced in 1993, the Vintage series from Romeo y Julieta is a small-batch luxury cigar, mild with a very round flavor. It's made with a wrapper that is hand-picked for its natural, oily sheen and light silky appearance. The binder is aged Mexican leaf and the filler is exquisitely blended Cuban-seed, long-leaf Dominican tobaccos aged two to three years prior to production. With its classic red Romeo y Julieta band and flawless construction, this is truly a cigar to show off. The head is nice and long and there are no unraveling issues. We found the stogie smokes as good as it looks. Once toasted it draws well and burns perfectly the whole way through. As one panelist said, “I immediately knew this cigar would be a ‘finger-burner,’” meaning he wouldn't put it down even when it became too hot to handle. The flavor is creamy and cappuccino-like with wonderful hints of cocoa that are just delicious. Mild cigars tend to burn a little hot, but with its cool, easy draw this one's an exception. With its flawless, even burn and steady ash this cigar is a joy to smoke. Enjoy it with a white rum.

So with that in mind I felt pairing the Glynnevan with this mild creamy cigar would be a fantastic match. I am really happy I put these two together!

The cigar lived up to its notes. It lit well, the pull was very easy and it was indeed a "finger-burner". I did not want to put this cigar down. The mild creamy flavor was a perfect match for the Glynnevan. 

Glynnevan notes from their website are:
GLYNNEVAN® opens with layers of aroma starting with sweet rye spices and honey, followed by toasted oak, vanilla, cinnamon and a hint of tropical fruit. The well-balanced taste is sweet and creamy offering vanilla, spice, hazelnut, butter, toffee and caramel sensations.  A mahogany-coloured whisky, at 43% alc./vol., it has a powerful, yet smooth mouth feel, with a finish that is long and warm. We invite you to enjoy GLYNNEVAN® neat, on the rocks, or mixed in your favourite whisky-based cocktail.

I can honestly say the spice and sweet with this whisky are very well balanced, you get that initial hit of spice and then a fantastic vanilla and toffee finish. It was such a great pairing, throw in some NS spring sunshine on the deck and it was probably one of the best #cigarSundays in the last month or so.

Now I know people can get really picky around scotch and whiskey's around age, price, brand etc. but let me tell you for the price point you really owe it to yourself to try some of the small batch local options in your neck of the woods. I know for myself, it has been a great couple of weeks sampling some of the products my area has to offer and I will be looking for more over the next while!

​Sean"BigBoyRunning" Ryan

YAS!
Another week with a #cigarSunday! The week before last week, didnt really work out, not did the weather cooperate so it wouldnt have mattered anyway. But last week, oh last week...you, YOU! I got all my workouts in, and this week ( knock on wood) is also shaping up pretty, pretty nice.
So the day was not shaping up great, again, Nova Scotia has been absolutely brutal lately with the not letting go of winter thing, we are destined to get hit again tomorrow *sigh*.
i moped through most of the day thinking it was going to end a carry over #cigarSunday, but then the miraculous happened, the freaking sun came out in the afternoon.
Like a 6 year old on Christmas, I was filled with glee! GLEE i tell ya!
I whipped through my dinner prep chores, booked it to the liquor store for a new to me beverage.
I had it my head to select something new. I have been seeing alot of various ads on Instagram for some local distilleries and was thinking that I might try something local. I mean I dont have a 'Buy Local' sticker on my office door for nothing. I mean a sticker on your office door is pretty binding. 
Upon arrival at the liquor store, I was greeted by a sample stand. Normally i bypass these things because they require fained interest and a willingness to try something new. But on this day it was for a whiskey. Hmm. Well im shopping for a whiskey, lets give this a go.
So after some quick questions about the product, and 1/8th of a shot of this amber colored sample of goodness. I was very impressed. I also liked the fact that it was made semi-locally and close to my home town of Pictou in River John.
Caldera Hurricane 5 is a handcrafted blended whisky, traditionally made from the season’s homegrown and regional grains. The spiciness of the rye is balanced out on the finish to produce a nice sharp start and a mellow end. 
I agree 100% with the tasting notes, it has a nice warm the cockles of your heart initial hit with a very smooth and easy drinking finish.
To accompany this whiskey blend I selected one of my new friends from my Cigar of the Month club subscription the Room 101 Connecticut 213.
The notes on this from COTMC are:
Fairly new to the boutique cigar scene, Room 101 cigars may have a peculiar name but the cigars are legit. If you’re still not convinced on the quality of these handmades, they are made by one of the best boutique manufacturers on the market today, Camacho. Actually, Room 101 Cigars was started by a chance meeting at an after party in Las Vegas by Room 101 lifestyle founder Matt Booth and Camacho’s Christian Eiroa, and the duo have been working on this project ever since. Handmade under the watchful eye of Christian Eiroa at the Camacho Factory in Honduras, this mild to medium stogie is not your typical Connecticut. The Room 101 Connecticut is chocked full with long-fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, hugged by an Honduran Corojo binder, and is then finished with a top-grade Ecuadoran Connecticut wrapper. Once lit, it’ll lend notes of cream, cedar, pepper, and coffee with loads of thick smoke. Mild enough for an everyday smoke, enjoy it with a black coffee.
Okay so I did not enjoy it with a black coffee, I enjoyed it with the Caldera but its notes of cream, cedar and coffee were def on point. it was a great match with this smooth blend canadian whiskey. I was happy to note that the notes on this cigar were very close to my experience as the last one, although awesome and enjoyable, was a little shy of the write up provided.
I still have a couple cigars left from my last month shipment, but looking ahead there are some beauties coming down the pipe this month. Guess I am going to really keep my work outs up so i can keep trying these little delights.
​The next beverages I have on my try list are: Glynnevan; Glenlivet Founders reserve and the 15yr old. I may splurge on some Lagavulen. But we will see if the old scotch fund will support that pricey lil number. Donations always welcome hehe.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

So two weeks ago now i got the required workouts in to achieve a #cigarSunday. It was fantastic! As you can see from the pics above it was a beautiful, brisk maritime spring day. Blue sky, a dappling of snow still covering the forest ground, birds starting to sing out their spring songs, and a crisp fresh breeze swirling around occasionally, dancing with the cigar smoke of my cigar. Ahhhhh. Delightful.
Now, not that I got enough work outs in anyway, but the following weekend we were plunged back into winters deadly maw. Thick white devil snow falling to earth like the ash from a distant volcano with all the skill and grace of a seventeen year old losing their virginity. What a mess of things this storm was. 
#cigarSundays are seriously one of the only things that helps me get through winter, but when winter wont just get up and fuck off, it starts to get to a fella.
Okay enough of my complaining. Lets rewind to the good #cigarSunday.
So after receiving my Cigar of the Month club package I had a tough choice between the 5 cigars that were available to me. Thankfully the COTM people send along a companion booklet with a little write up on each cigar. The cigar i picked for this week was the Bahia Trinidad. Here is the write up from COTM:
The Bahia brand has been around since the cigar boom in the mid 1990’s and has been holding strong ever since. The Bahia Trinidad is a Nicaraguan puro crafted with a dark and oily Nicaraguan Criollo wrapper that’s been optimally fermented—tucked away for a cedar-nap for two years. The wrapper cloaks a blend of four-year-old Nicaraguan long-leaf Cuban seed tobaccos grown in the prime growing regions of Esteli and Condega. The end result is an aromatic, medium-bodied smoke with sweet tobacco flavors spiked with notes of cinnamon, cocoa and cedar. Look for a good draw and an even burn that produces a flaky snow white ash. After a great meal, enjoy this one for a good hour and a half with a full tawny port or a white rum.
Now while i did not go with their advice for a port or white rum, I selected friend of the show Highland Park 12 as my companion beverage, for many of the same reasons that they selected a port or rum. For me Highland Park 12 is a great balance between a smoky/spicy scotch and sweet/fruity scotch. It would be one that could be a helper to milder cigar and not over power it, or match the flavor of a stronger cigar.
While i agree with the flavor notes provided, it def did not last an hour, maybe I smoke faster, not sure, but it was at best 35-40minutes. Extremely enjoyable but I would also say more of a mild/medium flavor then down the center medium. Again crazy enjoyable, but I was expecting something different based on the notes provided.
The pairing worked great, and the weather, tunes, and chats with the departed made it a fantastic #cigarSunday.
As previously stated no #cigarSunday last week, but things are looking up in regards to work outs for this week, lets hope the winter fucks off enough to make it happen.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan