Days are getting busier, by the minute, hour and day as we approach orientation week. Stresses are felt, tensions are frayed, Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...Human sacrifice,dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
Ahhhh nothing like a Bill Murray quote to get a post started. 
But yeah, things are crazy right now, so now, more important then ever to take a beat when the window presents itself to sit down with friends and fellow enthusiasts, OH YEAH, I should say fellow B.O.T.L and S.O.T.L ( Brothers/Sisters of the leaf) ( learned that this week) (always wondered what that hashtag meant) ( sorry for all the brackets) ( Ill stop now).
So yeah, two occasions this week to have a herf.
The first was at a work/beach BBQ with our staff and student leadership team. It is something we do every year, just before the rest of the students come back, training week and frosh week ensues and then we are in it for the year!
The two gentlemen featured in the middle photo, friends of the show, Chad ( left); and Nick ( right);  have both smoked with me before at different times. Chad was smoking an R&J no.3 that he picked up in Cuba on vacation, he comes from a very healthy humidor at home, so this was not a beach gar. I picked up a  Punch cigar for Nick. I had a CAO Italia, I have smoke the Brazilia a lot, i mean A LOT, and wanted to see the difference between the two.
It boasts a 4 country blend of tobacco from Italy, Nicaragua, Puru and Honduras. It def had an earthiness about it, I found it to land just the other side of medium in regards to flavour. I was driving so I didnt pair it with anything other then Dr. Pepper. But it was nice to watch the water roll into shore, and the afternoon drift into dusk with the hardest working group of people in the SU biz. None of them will read this so totally safe with that one haha.
A few days later the notice came in from the Cigar Noise app that there was going to be a live herf and interview with Cesar Reyes from Camino cigars. It was such a cool experience to listen to him explain his story and how he started Camino. My wifi was pretty shotty so it cut in and out alot, but it was also cool to talk some shit with some of the other cigar noise peeps and but some faces, and accents to names. Being the lone Canadian on the call, it was fun for me to represent the North haha.
Looking forward to getting through the next couple of weeks so I can do another virtual session.
For the herf, I was smoking a CAO 660 Flathead. There is something about these cigars I love. It is the perfect ring gauge, flavour and smoking time for me. I paired it with an EH Taylor Bourbon from the US, and the combo was really awesome. I always get a molasses vibe from them, and with the soft vanilla notes of the bourbon it is really a great partnership. I have another so def going to pair them together again.
The coolest thing tho is my new handmade by moi cigar holder. Friend of the show and master carpenter Rob did give me a pretty big assist in fine tuning, but so pumped I was able to take a block of walnut and turn it into something. I dont think it will be my last one, and I already have plans for vertical number. I think somewhere my dad is smiling watching me make things from hand tools. I wish I would have paid closer attention when I was a kid, but better late then never. it is pictured above with the 660. I even got to stamp Big Boy Running into it, that was a bit of gong show, but really happy with the result.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

So my cigars from the US still havent shipped. So frustrating. I really want to cancel the whole fucking thing, but I really want to smoke a couple of those cigars. I did get someone from there via email, there were many apologies, and a renewed effort to try and get these cigars to me, the reality is if they actually do get them in the mail, I am still probably 20 days out before I see them. GAH! 
This week I have 2 pairings that I am going to profile, the first is a CAO Flathead 554 Camshaft, paired with Fortress Rum.
The second is a Dominion Cigars Black Lotus with a Barking Squirrel Lager from Hop City Brewery.
So lets go with the Friday night selection of the Fortress Rum and the CAO Flathead 554. I have tried two other cigars from this series the 660 Carb and the 770 Big Block. I really enjoyed the 660, the 770 was a monster, I wasnt sure if I was actually going to be able to smoke it all in one night. 
The Fortress rum is something I have seen around, not being a huge rum drinker anymore, rum is not something I really ever look for when picking something to pair cigars with, but when I saw this bottle in a liquor store in the valley a couple of weeks back it called to me.
Something about the dark caramel brown colour and the wax seal, I knew I was going to have to give this a shot. A quick chat with the clerk about the aging process and I was in.
The 554 lit really well and had an excellent draw. It has a great dark wrapper, you would almost think its a lindt dark chocolate bar. I would say the ash held until about a third of the way in and then the wind took it off. The 554 like its fellow cigars, is really well rolled, I would say its smoking time for me was about 60 minutes. I am usually a faster smoker so to get about 60 minutes out of it was great. Its flavour palette, I would come to find, was a fantastic match for the rum. To the point it had me questioning if I have been missing the boat on rum when pairing. 
The spice and coffee notes were enhanced with the easy drinking, smooth carmel and vanilla hits from the rum. Its one of the first time's I have just had rum on the rocks and kept topping my glass off as I was going. 
I was really blown away by how exceptional this rum was, and it is local to Nova Scotia which is an added bonus. 
Luckily I have found a shop not too far away that stocks the 660, 554 and the 642 piston. So I have the chance to pair up these two again in the not to distant future.
The second pairing, I guess I should start off with, will I never learn. There is something about pairing hoppy ales and cigars that I cant seem to get on board with. Dark ales, porters, creams, bocks, I can totally understand, not sure if I will ever bother again with anything IPAish. Nothing wrong with the beer on its own, but that citrus and the flavour from the Black Lotus were really fighting each other to the point I stopped drinking the beer.
So for the rest of this write up, Ill focus on the cigar.
It was very nice! I am starting to get the sense that maduro cigars are my happy place as I seem to focus alot of my attention on those dark beauties. 
It lit well and had a very easy draw. I was worried that it was going to smoke fast as it looked like it was going to burn through the middle, but after some love, it started to settle down and burn correctly. I did seem to smoke the first third rather quickly though. It held its ash fine, but a misplacement on the Fastest Man Alive, ended up knocking off the ash. Once I stopped trying to make the beer work and focused on the cigar, it def slowed up a lot. I think I clocked in around the 50 minute mark for this cigar, I let it burn to the knuckles, as I tend to do and the last third stayed true and didnt get chemically to the taste. I dont do a lot of research aside from checking out the factory notes when I pick cigars. I am really looking for something new each time, or within my price range.
I have started looking into how cigars are taxed across Canada and its really awful. I get it, its not a great habit, it causes bad things to happen, but for someone that doesnt smoke many ( trust me after seeing how many cigars others put back in a week, I am total light weight) having to pay a 79% per cigar cigar tax is pretty shocking. I can understand why there is not a market for cigars in Canada, and specifically Nova Scotia. If the government is trying to discourage people, way to go!! Not me, but maybe other people haha.
So I feel like I am the Morgan Freeman character in Shawshank Redemption in regards to my US cigar order:
I find I'm so excited that I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a mail call can give. A mail call at a start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope my mail call can make it across the border. I hope to see my mail call and smoke those cigars. I hope the Comacho flight is as colourful as it has been in my dreams. I hope.
 Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan

So I guess you can say I have enjoyed the last number of weeks judging by the pictures and the regular rules for #cigarSunday were suspended. Instead of reviewing them all I think I will list out a few of the top pairings and maybe a couple that didnt quite hit the mark! Also, these are not the only pairings that happened, but I started to get a little 'holy crap I smoked alot feeling' as I was adding pictures, but this covers the bulk of what I smoked.
So the first thing I will say is nothing is better then a great coffee to start the day, while we were away in Grand Pre for the week, every morning my brother or I would pop down the road to Just Us! Cafe to pick up a couple of large Americano coffees. I am addicted to these. When the weather was good ( it was pretty much each day) I would add a cigar to the mix. I did this 3 times, once with a Romeo and Julieta no.2; a Hoyo de Monterrey and a CAO Brazillia. I cant recall if one cigar was better then the others with the Americano but the pairing of coffee and cigars is something I am going to spend some more time with. What awesome pairing potential. I dont know why I am so in awe, because on most descriptions you read on cigars 'notes of coffee' are usually one of the top things written. So for me the best part of waking up was some Americano in my cup and a cigar on the side.  
In regards to other pairings, top three as pictured above were:
Montecristo Platinum and Secret Barrel Rum ( made into a mojito)
Cohiba Dominican Republic and Four Roses Bourbon
Flor de les Antilles and Highland Park 12 year
Honorable mentions for cigars:
Undercrown by Drew Estates
A. Fuente Grand Reserve
( the paring in both of these cases did not work out, but the cigars were fantastic)
A couple of fails that I was really disappointed in cigar wise were the My Fathers Collection Bijou 1922 and the R&J Churchill.
Both of them were difficult to light and keep lit ( 2 relights for the Bijou and 5 for the R&J); the Bijou burned fast through the middle and the R&J got a large split in the wrapper about mid way through. I bought both of these cigars in mid June, they were kept in the same fashion as my other cigars so it was a bit perplexing on why they had those issues. 
I have been seeing the Bijou on Cigar Noise for quite some time and have enjoyed the other products from My Fathers Collection so Pretty bummed to have had such a crappy experience.
After the many family and friend herfs over the week my cigar supplies took a pretty big hit. I hit up a store in Halifax, but was shocked at the pricing. I have done a bit of a look around and really am blown away by how crappy the cigar prices are in Eastern Canada, so much so that I decided to purchase some online from a store in the states. This has not gone as planned. There have been many issues with this particular company, and I have now been waiting almost 2 months since my original order was placed. Today was the final straw in that I got an email from their international department wishing to know if I still wanted my order.
My reply was not as Canadian as one would hope as I expressed some frustration with their system, with the fact that I had to call numerous times to confirm my credit card info, that I was told they were already sent, paid extra for better shipping and still had not received anything in the mail. Now I know customs may prolong the delivery, but the fact that no one seems to know if my items actually shipped or not is a little concerning.
So I am left wondering if this systematic of ordering through the US or just this company, but dont want to pull the trigger if I end up in the same situation. 
As I look at online stores in Canada, it really just makes me sad haha. The prices and selection are far inferior to what is available in the US and when I did the math on the cost of my ordered products, the shipping and possible duty, ITS STILL CHEAPER then ordering or purchasing in Canada.
So frustrating.
I realize cost and taxes prevent there being much of a cigar market here in the East Coast, but it kills me in my Irish/Scottish heart to pay over $20 for a cigar I know I have purchased in the US for 10$ including the exchange! Kills me!!! GAH!!!
So I guess I have to think of the vacation cigarathon as something rare and wonderful and most likely will not happen again for a while. AND IT WAS SPLENDID!!!
Some friends of the show finally got to get their chance to be involved in a #cigarSunday - Marjie, Uncle Scott, my Bro from Japan, and even my mom got a puff in!! That alone makes the money meaningless.
I hope I can report back soon that my cigars get here and I am renewed in my online shopping adventures, until then, #cigarSunday rules are back in effect.
​Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan