JFR Lunatic Loco Review

 Hey all! Back again with another stellar review!

I have to warn you..... Today's review is a real ass kicker! No, I mean that totally. It's not a joke. With that being said, I bring you the JFR Lunatic Loco :

Now, Meatloaf calls me up and says he has a new cigar for me to try. He says he got a great deal on a box of 10 from Cigar Monster for around $70. 

Imagine my surprise when he hands me over this log of a cigar! 

Weighing in at a size of  5 1/2 x 80, yes I said 80,  that's an inch and a quarter diameter. Believe me, this cigar has some heft to it! 

Cigars International describes this cigar as such:

A Nicaraguan puro containing nothing but the best leaves from Aganorsa’s own farms, the Loco wears a special shade-grown Jalapa Corojo wrapper dripping with oils and as dark as a good cup o’ Joe. You can definitely expect this beauty to greet you with full-bodied, spicy flavors, and keep you interested with smooth earth, pepper, dark fruit, cedar, and leather notes. 

First thing you notice, obviously, is it's huge size. At an 80 ring gauge you really feel the heft in your hand. This large perfecto has a dark oily wrapper with slight veins. 

Sitting in the early evening air on Meatloaf's deck we cut the heads and take a cold draw. There is little resistance and surprisingly no taste to the draw. That's new. Neither of us have ever had that happen before. Puzzling..... 

It's about 6:25,  After a quick light, we get a subtle taste of pepper on the draw. 

Meatloaf notices that there is a cap at both ends, with the foot having been cut.  Another first for us. After about 10 minutes he says he is feeling a buzz already..... Is this a sign? 

At a half hour in, this cigar has barely burned down. Definitely a slow burner. It's burn is uneven for both of us. The ash is silvery white, indicating that there was alot of nitrogen in the soil. 

Spice is still present and I am getting leather taste. Meatloaf admits he has never recognized leather in any cigar, but is getting the dryness in his mouth that is typical with the leather. Everyone is different where it comes to palate. Meatloaf says that he is learning to recognize the leather tastes from the dryness. There is a taste there he doesn't recognize but surmises that is what leather is to his palate. 

Everyone's palate evolves as we smoke more and more, trying different cigars. So if you don't get the tastes described about a cigar, don't fret, it will eventually come to you as you continue to smoke cigars. 

An hour has passed and I am getting a little wood flavor. Still slow burning not even close to the halfway point. I look at my watch and it's about 7:30. Meatloaf harasses me about having to be home by a certain curfew as my wife likes me home by a certain time....happy wife happy life I say..... LOL 

We noticed that you can't get a good volume of smoke with just one puff. It takes a good 3 to 4 to make a good cloud. We attribute that to the gargantuan ring gauge. 

8:00 o'clock comes and I am feeling a bit of a buzz. I'm getting a sweetness to the smoke now. Meatloaf is starting to get the wood flavor. At an hour and a half this cigar has finally reached its halfway point. 

8:15  Meatloaf gets a nicotine overload. He starts to sweat and he feels woozy. He says his forearms even get clammy. I myself am feeling the euphoric ride of the nicotine wave. I'm thinking to myself how am I going to finish this cigar? 

8:25 Meatloaf says that the sweats have passed. 

8:30 I have to throw in the towel. At over halfway through the cigar I am really not feeling so good. Too much nicotine. I resolve to finish my cigar the next day. Meatloaf says he's fine, with his chest all puffed out, he's going to finish his tonight! 

We say our goodbyes and I head home. I get home and relate my experience with Mrs CigarMoose. She says I'm crazy and why would I smoke such a big cigar? For the same reason people climb Everest, because it's there..... LOL 

I'm sitting on my deck for some fresh air. After over 15 minutes after leaving Meatloaf's house I am still buzzing except at a more comfortable level. My cell phone dings indicating that I have received a message. It's Meatloaf.... He had to throw in the towel too. The sweats came back! LOL 

Round 2

So the next day I sit on the deck. The rest of the Lunatic is calling my name from my Stinky Ashtray. 

I stare at it in my hand and let out a breath of reservation, thinking of what it did to me the night before. 

So I decide to attack this in a different way. I stick it in the end of my corncob pipe! 

I could barely fit the head into the opening but surprisingly it made a good seal. It didn't take long to relight. Right off the bat I was right where I left off the night before. A blast of very full flavor with pepper, leather, and wood. 

10 minutes goes by and I start buzzing already! My God! What the hell do they put in this bastard? 

A half hour later and it doesn't even look like it has burned down hardly! 

A full hour from start and I am done. It's just too full flavored, too full in strength. I messaged Meatloaf and he says that he isn't even going to try to finish his. 

Look at it! It didn't really burn down that much! 

Well, what can we say? 

From start to finish this was a good 3 hour cigar. So plan accordingly. 

Buzz rating :  10 out of 10

This really was an ass kicker! We both agree that it was just too much. Even at a second sitting I could not finish it. To be fair, most people would not smoke it down as far as me in a pipe but on the other hand, there was enough left that it would probably be equal to what you would normally smoke it. 

Overall rating : 3 out of 5

This one was just too strong for both of us! And we are seasoned smokers! It had good flavor. It never unwrapped. You definitely want to set aside a good 3 hours for this cigar. If it had been a bit weaker it could have been a solid 4 to 4.5.

I would not Probably buy these for my humidor, but will happily help Meatloaf smoke the other 8!

Well they can't be that bad if you want to smoke them again!, you might say. 

And you're right. But be warned.... You have to smoke these under the right conditions. Full stomach, keep drinking, take your time, 3 plus hours..... That's my advice..... It's not for the rookie smoker and even seasoned smokers will have a time with it. 

You have been warned!!! 

Till next post....... Peace! 

Unbranded Nicaraguan Cigar Review Lake Placid NY

 Hey All!  Here we are with a new cigar review!

Mrs. CigarMoose and I decided to take a day trip to one of our favorite places we hadn't been to in awhile, because of this whole Covid  thing running rampant through our world. That Place would be Lake Placid New York home of the Winter Olympic Training Grounds.

Main Street is where all the action is with bars, restaurants, stores, and gift shops you would expect from a "Resort Town".

In that picture, it's just around that bend and on the right you will find the Alpine Mall.

It is here you will find a store called Stouts and Stogies. If you look back in my reviews I showcased this store when I reviewed the Room 101 The Big Payback cigar. The store has stood the test of time despite the dwindling economy, due to a virus that has swept our world. 

Entering this day I was greeted by the patrons wife welcoming us to the store. She also apologized for the lack of inventory in the humidor due to being unable to get proper stock from their suppliers. Despite her warning, I didn't feel the choices were that underwhelming. There were ample choices, in my opinion, with the average price being around $15 per cigar. Now don't let that alarm you. All the cigars present were super premium cigars and remember that these are resort town prices. I was able to find an unbranded Nicaraguan maduro cigar for $8.50 per stick, so that's where this review is coming from. 

Now I'll be honest......I was not expecting much for this unbranded cigar, Was I ever fooled! I Will say that this was one of the best unbranded cigars I have had in a very long time, and I have had quite a few. Because I have literally no information about this cigar other than its Nicaraguan we have to go in all blind into this one. By "We" I mean me and my trustworthy compadre Meatloaf!

Lets start of by talking about appearance. Defiantly dark maduro wrapper which has little slight veins, It has to be a a shade wrapper. You can barely see the seams where it is wrapped, simply flawlessly wrapped. So whoever produces this cigar has some very experienced torcedors. 

The wrapper has a very nice sheen to it exuding with oil. I can even feel the the silkiness of the oils on my finger tips where I have touched wrapper. What a nicely aged wrapper is all I can say.

The body smells like sweet straw. the foot smells of rich sweet tobaccos that you would expect from a maduro..

We cut the head and take a cold draw. Great airflow, not like a straw, but in the middle ground between a straw and medium airflow.

After a quick toasting of the foot, we light up. Immediately we are blasted with peppery spice. very intense. this should have been a foreboding for me.........Meatloaf is also pleasantly surprised at this show of strength right of the starting line.

But with a few puffs the spice disappears just as fast as it came and the cigar mellow right out with a Hazel nut taste and slight woody undertones.

Conversation ensues as it always does while partaking in cigars. Some of the most deep and meaningful conversations I've had have been with someone over a cigar. Isn't it funny somehow a cigar can level the playing field in opinions during discussions? Somehow you can hold your opinion yet listen to others and see their point of view and vise versa. It's no wonder it has been a long tradition for our leaders to share a cigar during negotiations throughout the world. With Meatloaf and I its usually about old times, the tv shows we have been binging, cigars we are considering, and the current opinions of the worlds affairs. Its all good.......

My cigar is burning slightly uneven. Soon it is time to make our first tap of the ash. No cone . The ash is quite dense and silvery in color.

 Meatloaf has noticed a small tunnel in his cigar but says it's not affecting the draw.

More conversation ensues while we listen to Big Hair bands on satellite radio. It's a hot muggy evening, but we started late and the sun has set bringing on the night. The drinks continue to flow (for Meatloaf anyway) and it has cooled just slightly making the outdoors all that more manageable.

Getting into the last third of the cigar Meatloaf shows me the tunnel has run the the whole length of the cigar. But again and luckily it hasn't affected the draw at all.

So I take a look at mine and low and behold there is a tunnel in mine too! If I hadn't looked I would never have known as it is smoking fine.

At this point I stick the cigar in my Corn Cob Pipe, "The McArthur", from Missouri Meerschaum Company. Why you may ask? Because cigars are expensive now and I'm going to smoke them till they are almost nothing dammit! Not that I am defending myself or anything.... LOL

Everything was going fine up to this point. Then the strength started coming back.......

I take my last couple of puffs and things take a big turn. Suddenly my stomach starts to not feel so good....... I start to get dizzy and hot. Droplets of sweat start beading on my head. I relay this to Meatloaf. He says that I am looking a little pale.....

Now I can count on one hand how many times this has ever happened to me in the 15 years I have been smoking cigars. And most of them have been early on in my cigar smoking life I chock up to just not having the tolerance for the nicotine in strong cigars at that point in my life. But this cigar.... Has me by the balls.....

Meatloaf looks at me and says "Well you haven't drank anything since we started. You got to keep something in your stomach."  I have to concede he's right. So I amble my way to the fridge, grab a Green Tea, and make my way back to my chair. Half a bottle later the sweating has stopped and stomach feels much better. All I am left with is a euphoric buzz which comes in waves like the ocean. This cigar almost had me...... All the while that damn Meatloaf just snickers and smiles at my almost demise! He feels just fine, but does concede it did get stronger on the end.

So here is where the chips lay:

Buzz Rating: 7 out of 10 

Both of us agree. A nice comfortable numb...... After it's strength subsided in me. 

Overall: 4 stars out of 5

We both thought that it was a good tasting strong cigar. Full flavored with a couple of surprises in spice. Nice medium in between the the 2 spice blasts. This was a very good and eventful cigar that ranks right up there with some of the brand name big dogs we have experienced in our opinion. We would have given it a 4.25 overall but the tunnels we had detracted that quarter star. Definitely will grab a couple every time I am up there and you should too. For $8.50 it's a premium cigar at a good price by today's standards. I wish I could find more about this cigar so I could track down where I could get them online.

I might have to do a little investigating........

Till next post......... PEACE! 

Cigar Moose Back from the Dead!

 Hey all! CigarMoose is back from the dead! 

It's been 10 years since I started this blog. And I truly apologize that it's been 5 years since I have posted anything. Life happens and things fall to the wayside and are forgotten. So with my new logo in hand I am starting up again.

Let's face it...... These are trying times, hard financial times. If anything, we cigar smokers are in a tight squeeze trying to find affordable smokes with cigar prices soaring through the roof, as if there is a tobacco shortage like in the 90's. 

Have you seen the prices at your local shops rising? Have you seen online retailers slowly raising their prices for the last 5 years steadily? I've seen cigars like CI Legends Copper Label go from a starting price of $50 a box (and we thought that was expensive at the time!) go up in price to $100 a box! Outrageous! Now I am not oblivious to the fact that the FDA has imposed some strict rules on the tobaccos industry. But even then does that justify the doubling in price in cigars by retailers? I don't feel it is.

So now, more than ever, is a time that I feel the need to get back on track and search out for decent priced sticks (by today's standards), that I can find and pass on to you with a review. Now that doesn't mean I won't be reviewing more expensive sticks. Let's face it, we all are willing to pay the price for something we haven't had yet, within reason. 

But for the most part, I am always on the lookout for bargain priced good smokes.  Let's be honest, before the big rise in prices, I always tried and often found good name brand cigars for under  $6 a stick. At $7 a stick I was pushing out of my comfort zone. Today though we are all being forced to pay above that as the norm for singles more and more.

So in the next week I'll be getting together with Meatloaf to review a couple of cigars to get us started.

I am hoping in the future to try and add video reviews. Also I would like to update you all on how the Cigar Lounge came along. 

Stay tuned!

Till next post........ Peace! 

Bahia Icon Cigar Review

Hey all!!!! Back again with another cigar review of a stick that I liked very much!

Spring is in the air! Cigar weather is beginning for us Frozen Brains in Northern Most NY State!

After losing my cell phone, I was forced to upgrade my wireless plan to get another phone. I must say I am very happy with the new phone as it takes some of the best pictures with ease than my other phone. Its an LG G4 and I would recommend it to anyone!

Luckily for me, (or should I say my wife) we found the old phone in a snowbank after the thaw! Thank God it was in a Lifeproof Case! A product I would also recommend to anyone who values their phones. So It was passed on tho Mrs. Cigar Moose to her very delight!

So today's cigar is the Bahia Icon!

The Icon is a small batch cigar made in Nicaragua with a Habano wrapper. So if you see them buy some as they may be short in supply.  Its long-filler is a mix of tobaccos from all over Nicaragua. It is described by WWW.pipesandcigars.com as "An amazing cigar which has full flavor with notes of cofee, cocoa, wood, toasted nuts, and a touch of pepper."

You can purchase singles from them for $7-$8 for singles, $26.50-$30 for  a 5-pack, or $90-$100 a box of 20.

Its funny because when compared to my smoking notes, the description is almost exact to what I found!

First, looking at the wrapper, it's dark brown and oily with lots of veins. Simply flawless with a very generous cap. I am finding more and more that cigar manufacturers today are employing a generous cap. 

The body of the cigar smells of sweet grass while the foot smells of chocolate and sweet raisins.

The band comes off easy with no damage to the wrapper.

Prelight draw is medium and and tastes of raisins and sweet tobacco.

Upon light, all I can say is WOW! Big taste of roasted hazelnuts! Creamy notes are coming through.

After about an inch in, I get woody notes coming through with a pinch of sea salt. 

It has a pretty even burn with a nice dense ash.

At the 2 inch mark I tap the ash off and am pleased with a decent cone!

As the cigar progresses I still have the woody tastes with salt coming through and a touch of pepper on the back of the tongue. There is also a slight sweetness to the smoke when I roll it around my mouth to hit all the taste buds. 

Mild to medium in strength, it produces a decent volume of smoke.

Earth tones come through at about the halfway point. Cedar is becoming more and more pronounced as well as the pepper building up.

An odd thing, as I blow the smoke through the nose , I get a very nice floral bouquet! 

I'm really liking this cigar! Very eventful and full of surprises!

By the time I hit the end it has become a full flavored cigar. It's strength has cranked up to medium. 

On the finish there are lingering tastes of chocolate. Very nice!

Buzz Rating on this one is a 4 out of 10.

 Not a big buzz, barely felt, but it's the flavors that make this one shine!

Overall I give this one a 4 out of 5

I enjoyed this one alot! The changing tastes were amazing and balance perfectly with the building strength. I would recommend anyone to try it! Very eventful and excellent burn.

So that's it for today! Hope you all have a great Easter Holiday! I't supposed to be nice weather here with temps almost reaching 60! Will definitely be enjoying a cigar with Mrs. Cigar Moose!

Till next post....................Peace! 

Welcome to the Cigar Moose Lounge!

Hey all ! 

Back again with a special blog that I hope will inspire you!

Everywhere  we turn we hear about Man Caves. A place  where  you  can  go  to  relax, by yourself  or with  your  buddies .  A place you can  put  your  own  personal  stamp on. 

If you are  like  me  and  live  in  a seasonal climate ,  when the cold weather of old man winter arrives, you can be hard pressed  to  find a warm place to enjoy  a  cigar, unless you  smoke in your  home , which we don't . 

After  years  of sparsely  smoking  during  the  winter ,  I  decided  it was  time we needed a space  just for that.

We had purchased  a storage  shed  some  years  ago  that  I  had made  it into  a  woodworking  shop. I installed electricity  and  lights , and had used a kerosene  heater to warm it up in the winter. It was not  insulated  but kept  at a comfortable  temperature  to work  in . 

Late spring  the wheels  began turning  in my  head  to create our personal Man Cave/Cigar Lounge .  Looking  to  the shed, I began thinking  that  I  didn't  need  all that room for a shop, as it started collecting  non shop items like a catch all room. We all have all been there .  Oh look, lawn chairs, an outdoor heater, an old  trunk, lawn ornaments ,  and what is this bag of clothes doing here?

So as summer  began  to  start, I got on my laptop  and started  using  Google  Sketch. A wonderful free program I   might add.  After a few physical  measurements  I began to plan my creation in 3D. I had to make sure I had enough room in the woodworking portion to work and for my tools and equipment . 

We had an old  leather  couch in a spare room  of the house  that became  the  focal  point  of  the  design . It's important  to  use leather or similar material ,and not fabric covered furniture,  because fabric will absorb smoke and your room will end up smelling like an ashtray!

 I designed the room  to be just  wide  enough  to  fit the couch .  The small room was 8 foot by 12 foot, a good size to entertain  a few friends,    (3 or 4) at a  time ,  and be easy to  heat quickly  and  efficiently.

After cleaning  out the space, I started with putting  up stud walls to separate  the  shop from the  lounge .  I left  a good  opening  to  the  shop so I could  get  large stuff  in or out if needed .

Next, using my basic knowledge  of  installing  electric ,  I   put in outlets  and switches. If you don't  have  any electrical knowledge you can find plenty of info on the internet or just have someone  who knows  what  they are  doing  take  care  of  it , if you're  not  comfortable  doing  it .  It was at this time I figured in a switch  for some kind of vent fan, to be able to  expel any smoke accumulating. This is important  to  do as you don't want to be in a small enclosed   area with tons of smoke.

If you look close you can see the outlets and wiring in the wall.

After installing  some extra ceiling  braces I installed  the  vent fan. I   vented it via inexpensive  duct work out to the back  of  the  building  as that side doesn't get hit with the  wind, and I wouldn't  have  to  worry  about  back draft .  When choosing  a  vent fan be sure to get one that is designed for the  size of your room usually measured in Cubic Feet Per Minute (cfm). This is a good website to help you calculate it.

http://www.todayshomeowner.com/bathroom-vent-fan-cfm-calculator/

My room ended up being 117 cfm so I bought a fan rated for 120 cfm which works perfectly removing the smoke quickly.

Next came insulation. I  used  R13 insulation  . I went  over the ceiling  too as to hold heat as best I could,  so it would heat fast and evenly,  so I wasn't  wasting  fuel. 

Here is the insulation around the vent fan.

I used OSB (chip board) for  the  walls mostly because it was more economical. The fact it was going to be used inside dispelled any worries of moisture damaging it, especially when I was going to paint it.

I gave it 3 coats of paint. It sure suckered up the first couple  coats!

 Cutting  the  holes for the outlets and switches was not fun or perfect. But luckily  a friend  of  mine  told  me  how  to  use Lauan to fix a too large opening . 

 I trimmed  out the window  with  pine  then stained it.

To give it a more rustic Adirondack  look I used tongue  and  groove  pine for the ceiling  and gable  ends. I finished them  off with a satin Spar Urethane  to protect the wood from smoke discoloration. Spar urethane  also would  expand  and  contract  with the wood, during  the  different seasons  and temperature  changes. I strongly  recommend  that  you put  the urethane  on before you put the tongue  and  groove  up. I didn't  and what  a pain  in  the  ass to do over your  head ! I tried using a special  flat  pad to put it on but found not only was it messy but the pads gummed up and became  useless. I had urethane  all over myself  for a week! I ended up putting  in the extra effort  and used a brush for 2 coats.

Using left  over  tongue  and  groove  pine  I built a set of double doors going to the  woodworking  shop . They aren't  perfect but serve their  purpose .  I added a couple cabinet  door  handles  I had laying  around  then urethaned them.

Finishing  off  with  flooring,  I invested in some  linoleum . First I made a template of the floor using sheets  of  paper ,  then I put it on the sheet of linoleum  and cut around it.  It was fairly easy to put in and would be easy to clean . I finished around everything  with stained molding  to give a bit  of  contrast in color . 

I added a shelf for an old  surround sound  system  and  TV with built-in  DVD player . Throw in the couch, heater, and some  personal  decor,  and there you have it, the Cigar Moose Lounge!  

The Cigar Neons I picked up from a Tobacco shop for a good price as they no longer used them.

I air nailed cigar boxes to the wall for decoration that I had collected over the years.

Take a look at the lowest cigar box on the wall.

I even made a fold out drink stand from  the  wall as space  was limited . You can get creative  as you want to be.

And I recently added an old ashtray stand I picked up at a local auction. A little sanding and some textured spray paint later, Tadaaaaaaaaa!

It took me late summer and into November  to finish, as the money would allow, but now we have a nice cigar sanctuary  to retreat to anytime of  the  year. We can  throw  an air conditioner  in the window  during  the  summer  if it gets too hot! 

Don't  forget  to  get  yourself  one of those smokers  candles  to get rid of odors . There are many on the market today in different  scents to please anyone's  preference and in my experience  inexpensive  for around $10. If budget isn't  an  issue , you could invest in an air purifier . 

If your going  to  keep  temperature  comfortable  all the time, even  when  you  are  not  there, I would suggest keeping  a humidor and smoking  accessories  like lighters, cutters, and punches in the room. You can even add a mini fridge ! The possibilities  are  endless ! 

Well there you have it !  Maybe  you  will  get the itch and make your own  Cigar Lounge / Man Cave .  Hopefully  I  have inspired  you. Even if it's just to turn that old spare room in the garage or cellar  into a place to get away from it all, with a lawn chair  and an old 12 inch black  and  white  TV. 

Every man deserves a Cave to call home . 

Till next post..............PEACE ! 

The Walking Dead

Hey all,
The Walking Dead.......Need I say more?

Last episode we find a very troubled and confused about life Abraham, out doing some "Shopping", while his counterpart Sasha is "Watching the Pet". Not only does he come across some bad ass weapons, but also a half box of cigars! It is only after he starts smoking one that things start to get better and he finally gets some "Clarity" about what he wants and which direction he should take. Like in real life, a cigar can cause you to pause and relax, get some clarity and even inspire you to new ideas. Many great men in power, throughout history, have settled disputes or come to agreements behind closed doors while partaking in cigars. There is just something about it that makes all parties involved become more friendly, agreeable, and open to new ideas. The Native Americans of this country knew it with their Peace Pipes, when the settlers arrived. Tobacco founded this country, a history we have forgot due to today's standards. Lets keep its Legacy alive my Brothers of the Leaf.

So here is to a long history of great men who created new ideas and peace over a good cigar. And to the Walking Dead for throwing that subtle innuendo on TV for the world to see........

 

Till next post................Peace!