5 Vegas Miami

I smoked this bad boy today while I was rating music on the porch balcony. For those of you in the know, this area is also known as "The Twilight Lounge." It was actually a little before noon, so no sun was blasting me directly in the face as I toked on the long stogie. By the time I finally put it to bed, though, the humidity was telling me it was about time to rate inside the air-conditioned refuge 3 feet away.

I enjoyed the Cinco Vegas Miami with an Initech mug full of eggnog-flavored coffee. [It's actually much milder than it sounds, and complemented the smoke beautifully.] The cigar was fairly long with a modest ring gauge (it only looked thin due to the lengthy of the stick.)

The stogie is, I believe, a Don Pepin collaboration under the 5 Vegas brand. Awesome work. Here are my scores.

• Appearance - 4 \ This specimen had the worst wrap-job I've ever seen -- man-made wrinkled ridges. Thinnish for the length. Decent blue and gold band redeemed the appearance, though it was still nothing to look at.
  
• Burn - 7 \ No real problems here, and it was self correcting when smoked slowly.
  
• Draw - 8 \ Just fine.
  
• Plummage - 8 \ Voluminous smoke in places, with a very bold aroma.
  
• Flavor - 9 \ Tasty from the beginning, which is especially impressive on such a long cigar.
  
• Overall - 9.5 \If you smoke it nice and slow like I did (and it's gotten some long humidification) I'd say this one has been one of my favorite smokes. I believe the value on it was decent, if not an extremely good deal.
  

As you can see, I didn't ding it on appearance anyway. But I sure enjoyed my work with this baby helping me pass the time.

Taboo Special Forces, Maduro

OK, this'll be rough, but here goes. A triple review from a few weeks ago, on 7/7/2008... Three Reids took on the Taboo Special Forces in Dillon, Colorado, and here's how it fared.

[All three of us smoked the same maduro beast that we estimated to be about 6' long with about a 54 ring gauge. We smoked it with a 15-year-aged Dalwhinnie Scotch.]

Young Master Ryan

• Appearance - 6 \ Nice wrapper. No fraying. Nice dark color.
  
• Burn - 6 \
  
• Draw - 9 \
  
• Plummage - 9 \ Great smoke. Loved the smell.
  
• Flavor - 9 \
  
• Overall - 9.5 \
  

Rico Suave

• Appearance - 8 \ Very cool look. But lame label goes a bit too far with its retro splash. Looks like they should adorn some skater high tops.
  
• Burn - 7 \ Good. Self correcting. Handicap: low fuel so we used matches in some wind.
  
• Draw - 7 \ Excellent for its heft, width and length.
  
• Plummage - 8 \ Fully good. Superb spicy smell.
  
• Flavor - 9 \ Very light first half, powerful spicy boldness at the end.
  
• Overall - 9.5 \Company, environment, stogie's appearance and big finish.
  

RT

• Appearance - 7 \ Nothing that special but good.
  
• Burn - 6 \
  
• Draw - 9.5 \ Perfect.
  
• Plummage - 9 \ Great smoke -- loved the smell just as much as the taste.
  
• Flavor - 8 \
  
• Overall - 9.5 \

So with 3 Overall ratings of 9.5, you know it was a goodie. Unfortunately I understand the pricing can be a little pricey. Worth it, especially since I smoked for free!

Of course, you also couldn't beat the view of the mountains rising up to a starry night sky as we smoked from the deck.