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That. Was. A. Week.
So last week was orientation week here at work. A week of events, information sessions, food, and little sleep for those of us dedicated to put on an amazing week for our first year students. This year, like most was very well executed, and the little bumps along the way were only noticed by those of us behind the scenes that would have known there was a bump, so high fives to all involved, none of which will most likely read this haha.
After a long week, no real work outs but many many steps according to my phone, almost 17,000 a day for 4 days in a row, it was time to sit back, start to let the dust settle and finally have a cigar........or two.
On a posting maybe a month or so ago, a high school chum Justin Beaton indicated a fondness for gin, to which I also exclaimed that I had a fondness for gin. There were various posts all subject of our gin enjoyment and discussion around the various local providers of the that spirit in our various geographical regions. He in New Brunswick and I in the Scotia.
We settled on a gin exchange to which I would send along a bottle from the Pictou County distillery, Nova Scotia Spirit Co. out of Trenton, and he would send me a bottle from NB ( pictured above on the right) Gin Thuya. Luckily for me this bottle found its way to me on the Saturday, so what better way to kick off the end of oweek then a shaken gin martini and a cigar.
The cigar was a CAO Flathead 642. Regular readers will note that I have tried 3 other CAO Flatheads over the course of this blog and have always enjoyed them. This one is similar in shape and design as the others that I have tried and boasts a high content of Nicaraguan leaf, which I also enjoy, but there was something about this cigar that I didnt really like. It lit well, but the draw was very poor. It was like smoking a cigar cigarette. Maybe its the lonsdale style I dont like to be fair it is one of the skinniest cigars I have ever had, but I couldnt help think back to when the gals at my high school in ontario would be out on a smoke break between classes smoking these extra long cigarettes. I am ashamed to say at the time we called them slut sticks, i know, i know, wildly inappropriate, but that is what we called those cigarettes.
The flavour was not really there either, it is a maduro so I guess I expected something more on the stronger side, but I really didnt get that good lip tingle you get from a nice peppery maduro. It also burned quite quickly. For what I paid for it in Canada, it really wasnt worth it, and I will probably stick to the other cigars in the flathead line as I do like those quite a bit. Hey cant win them all.
So the gin was the star of the show for this first round. It has a very smooth flavour and the botenicals that can sometimes overpower in a locally made gin, were in perfect harmony with the alcohol percentage. I hope JB enjoys the gin I sent his way, because the bottle he sent me was spot on, and perfect for a straight up martini.
After a quick supper break it was on to Round 2.
Featured in this round was another new to me beverage the Suntory Whisky Hibiki and a Don Thomas Maduro Presidente. I have had this cigar many times before and it pairs very well with whiskey so I thought I wanted to go with something tried and true with this new whisky.
The Hibiki Harmony is a blend of 3 different whisky's, the Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita. I have a bottle of the Yamazaki that my brother bought me a couple of years ago and really enjoy it. I have not yet tried the Hakushu or the Chita. This blend makes for an extremely smooth whisky. It has notes of orange peel and white chocolate, I am not sure if I got the chocolate hit, but I did get the orange. It is strange but it has a great calmness to it. It was a nice mellow whisky, wasnt all in your face with crazy flavors, harmony is a great word for it.
The Don Thomas cigar was as per usual full of all the spice, and leather that I expect when puffing on a maduro cigar. The presidente length is always a fun smoke when you dont have anywhere to be, and I didnt so it was perfect for round 2. The cello was nice and yellow so you know that flavour has had time to mature a bit and I was glad I let this sit for a while before smoking it.
Still not sure of the all the debate around aging cigars, i am way too much of a newb on the subject, but some of the #BOTL and #SOTL on Cigar Noise have some great thoughts on the subject from time to time. If you are a cigar smoker, you really should check out this app. It continues to help me in my search for cigar knowledge. Only drawback is the cigars posted on there will seriously make you consider moving to the states for the availability and pricing.
Any day you get to have a smoke and a drink, make some clouds and watch some clouds at the end of the a long hard week is a good thing.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan
So last week was orientation week here at work. A week of events, information sessions, food, and little sleep for those of us dedicated to put on an amazing week for our first year students. This year, like most was very well executed, and the little bumps along the way were only noticed by those of us behind the scenes that would have known there was a bump, so high fives to all involved, none of which will most likely read this haha.
After a long week, no real work outs but many many steps according to my phone, almost 17,000 a day for 4 days in a row, it was time to sit back, start to let the dust settle and finally have a cigar........or two.
On a posting maybe a month or so ago, a high school chum Justin Beaton indicated a fondness for gin, to which I also exclaimed that I had a fondness for gin. There were various posts all subject of our gin enjoyment and discussion around the various local providers of the that spirit in our various geographical regions. He in New Brunswick and I in the Scotia.
We settled on a gin exchange to which I would send along a bottle from the Pictou County distillery, Nova Scotia Spirit Co. out of Trenton, and he would send me a bottle from NB ( pictured above on the right) Gin Thuya. Luckily for me this bottle found its way to me on the Saturday, so what better way to kick off the end of oweek then a shaken gin martini and a cigar.
The cigar was a CAO Flathead 642. Regular readers will note that I have tried 3 other CAO Flatheads over the course of this blog and have always enjoyed them. This one is similar in shape and design as the others that I have tried and boasts a high content of Nicaraguan leaf, which I also enjoy, but there was something about this cigar that I didnt really like. It lit well, but the draw was very poor. It was like smoking a cigar cigarette. Maybe its the lonsdale style I dont like to be fair it is one of the skinniest cigars I have ever had, but I couldnt help think back to when the gals at my high school in ontario would be out on a smoke break between classes smoking these extra long cigarettes. I am ashamed to say at the time we called them slut sticks, i know, i know, wildly inappropriate, but that is what we called those cigarettes.
The flavour was not really there either, it is a maduro so I guess I expected something more on the stronger side, but I really didnt get that good lip tingle you get from a nice peppery maduro. It also burned quite quickly. For what I paid for it in Canada, it really wasnt worth it, and I will probably stick to the other cigars in the flathead line as I do like those quite a bit. Hey cant win them all.
So the gin was the star of the show for this first round. It has a very smooth flavour and the botenicals that can sometimes overpower in a locally made gin, were in perfect harmony with the alcohol percentage. I hope JB enjoys the gin I sent his way, because the bottle he sent me was spot on, and perfect for a straight up martini.
After a quick supper break it was on to Round 2.
Featured in this round was another new to me beverage the Suntory Whisky Hibiki and a Don Thomas Maduro Presidente. I have had this cigar many times before and it pairs very well with whiskey so I thought I wanted to go with something tried and true with this new whisky.
The Hibiki Harmony is a blend of 3 different whisky's, the Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita. I have a bottle of the Yamazaki that my brother bought me a couple of years ago and really enjoy it. I have not yet tried the Hakushu or the Chita. This blend makes for an extremely smooth whisky. It has notes of orange peel and white chocolate, I am not sure if I got the chocolate hit, but I did get the orange. It is strange but it has a great calmness to it. It was a nice mellow whisky, wasnt all in your face with crazy flavors, harmony is a great word for it.
The Don Thomas cigar was as per usual full of all the spice, and leather that I expect when puffing on a maduro cigar. The presidente length is always a fun smoke when you dont have anywhere to be, and I didnt so it was perfect for round 2. The cello was nice and yellow so you know that flavour has had time to mature a bit and I was glad I let this sit for a while before smoking it.
Still not sure of the all the debate around aging cigars, i am way too much of a newb on the subject, but some of the #BOTL and #SOTL on Cigar Noise have some great thoughts on the subject from time to time. If you are a cigar smoker, you really should check out this app. It continues to help me in my search for cigar knowledge. Only drawback is the cigars posted on there will seriously make you consider moving to the states for the availability and pricing.
Any day you get to have a smoke and a drink, make some clouds and watch some clouds at the end of the a long hard week is a good thing.
Sean "BigBoyRunning" Ryan
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