BlankMindBlog

The latter part of April I visited my local ABC Fine Wine & Spirits store and picked up an intriguingly named cigar called a Diablo Picante. I thought to myself this sounds like a little hot tamale. It has since been resting in my humidor for the right time to smoke it. Now is that […]

It’s been a couple of weeks since I was out to see mom and dad plus my brother’s wireless router started slowing down again. This time he wanted to install a different brand, one from NetGear, in hopes it would perform better.
My oldest son, Ryan, needed my truck to pick up a new couch […]

I stopped by Aroma’s Cigar Bar last week on Thursday morning after some bank business to quickly pick up a couple more Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 Robustos to review. Since I had reviewed them last month before the move and lost the review notes I thought it only fair to smoke a couple of more! […]

In January I placed a hold on the book “Travels with Charley in Search of America” by John Steinbeck with my local library. It had been so long that I had forgotten about it and forgotten the reason that drew me to wanting to read it. However, over the weekend the library left a message […]

Our new home has a wonderful view of the pool and a two acre lake both within 20 feet of our patio door. Today was the first time in a month that I felt comfortable enough to sit and smoke and review a new cigar I picked up a few weeks ago at Tobacco Cove.
There […]

This is an IMO “One Off” Cigar Review, basically this is a first impression light up only, and I will try to review this cigar as a normal IMO Cigar Review at a later date.
Sorry to report that this weekend yielded no new fish stories, I guess I could tell one but it would really […]

Last week (Sunday) I needed to take a trip down to Daytona Beach, Florida, some family business needed attention so I decided to take a C.A.O L‘Anniversaire 1968-1998 Cameroon Toro with me to smoke on the way back. My brother, Robert, went along for the ride even though he had just returned from Atlanta.
Daytona Beach […]

I had the pleasure of smoking this cigar on my parents back porch last weekend. The Savinelli 2004 Special Selection Toro is one of three sizes, the other sizes are a robusto and torpedo, all of them have a torpedo style head.
The Savinelli 2004 Special Selection Toro has the dimensions that I find myself smoking […]

Friday afternoon Tyler called and said he was through with all his tests and could come home early if someone would pick him up. After I picked him up from school we headed down to the Pope Duval Fish Management Area to try out some artificial bait. As we walked along the banks we noticed […]

I brought along a Rocky Patel Vintage 1992 Robusto to smoke while I visited my dad and to pick up a stray video game rental that Tyler had since his last weekend with me.
The weather yesterday was Florida’s best, the last day of February and the high was 74º, slight breeze, no humidity, and glorious […]

I spent the better part of the weekend reworking the website by switching from the Relaxation theme to the new Squible theme. I thought it would be quite simple but oh no, not for me. Now don’t get the impression that it was because of the themes themselves, that was not the case, it’s just […]

This is an IMO “One Off” Cigar Review, basically this is a first impression light up only, and I will try to review this cigar as a normal IMO Cigar Review at a later date.
After smoking and reviewing the Quo Vadimus Reserve Robusto almost two weeks ago I was really looking forward to the Quo […]

Sunday evening before I took the kids home, I tossed an El Rey del Mundo Robusto Larga Oscuro in the truck for something to smoke on the way back but I decided to go out to mom and dad’s and wait on their return from a short trip from down state. I let myself into […]

Saturday was a beautiful day, the morning temperature was in the high 60’s and the sky was a deep blue with a few puffy white clouds. We left the house about 9:15am for breakfast at the nearest Huddle House.
We ordered breakfast and as I looked around the diner, I made a startling discovery, I began […]

This is a re-review of the Onyx Reserve Toro. I reviewed this cigar on 12/19/2005 and rated it a 4.0. Because of this low score I stated that I would re-review this stick at a later date.
Some time has passed since I last reviewed this cigar so I thought I would give it another chance […]

This is an IMO “One Off” Cigar Review, basically this is a first impression light up only, and I will try to review this cigar as a normal IMO Cigar Review at a later date.
This weekend I decided to smoke a Quo Vadimus Reserve Robusto cigar after a trip to see my son Zack. It […]

This is an IMO “One Off” Cigar Review, basically this is a first impression light up only, and I will try to review this cigar as a normal IMO Cigar Review at a later date.
Patrice and I went over to mom and dad’s for the Super Bowl game on Sunday night. We brought some Buffalo […]

Last Monday I was rummaging through my humidor looking for a cigar to burn on the patio and decided that I would torch the last C.A.O. Gold Corona that I had left from a recent purchase from ABC Fine Wines & Spirits.
The C.A.O. Gold Corona is a well constructed stick, the wrapper is a light […]

A quite night on the patio with Patrice and a Cohiba Extra Vigoroso XV 645 was what was needed after a turbulent day.
An excerpt from the Cohiba Extra Vigoroso XV 645 website gives a hint to the quality of this fine stick:
In response to the rising demand for fuller-flavored cigars, cigar master Daniel Nuñez set […]

This is an IMO “One Off” Cigar Review, basically this is a first impression light up only, and I will try to review this cigar as a normal IMO Cigar Review at a later date.
Another quick on the draw email reply snagged a cigar sampler offered from Puros de Armando Ramos, Ltd, on the Cigar […]

This is an IMO “One Off” Cigar Review, basically this is a first impression light up only, and I will try to review this cigar as a normal IMO Cigar Review at a later date.
In December I received an email from the CigarEnvy email discussion list from the Perseo Cigar Company offering to send cigar […]

My quest for good/great cigars for under $3.00 continues and has turned up not only an affordable stick but one that is truly in a class by itself due to its appearance. The Mantequilla Tapa Negra No. 52 has by far the grandest appearance yet in a cigar I have had the pleasure to smoke.

I […]

Jacksonville has been lucky in the sense that we have several good cigar/tobacco retailers in the area. These are the mom and pop stores, not the mall tobacco stores, which every cigar and pipe smoker hopes to have locally. Years ago when I was first testing the waters, moving from pipe smoking to cigar smoking, […]

This is an IMO “One Off” Cigar Review, basically this is a first impression light up only, and I will try to review this cigar as a normal IMO Cigar Review at a later date, preferably within this month.
Today I had several errands to run, to the store, the library and the bank, so I […]

Before the kids returned to school we took another chance at changing our fishing luck at the Pope Duval Fish Management Area on the west side of Jacksonville. A quick stop at Subway for lunch to go and a 2 liter drink, we were soon headed down to the middle lake for some catching instead […]

I am back after a New Years long weekend celebration from Inglis, Florida. Patrice and I went down with Carolyn to ring in the New Year with John and Peggy. It never fails when you’re in Inglis all your cares wash and drain away, your body relaxing with each hour that passes while you are […]

Last week I had the kids a few days before Christmas and since Tyler is still infected by the fishing bug and Rachel had a new bike we decided to check out the Pope Duval Fish Management area again. We were there on December 19th and I reviewed and rated the Onyx Reserve Toro a […]

Over the holidays I have had a number of occasions to smoke a few sticks and review a couple of them for the blog. I picked the Occidental Reserve Robusto up at Tobacco Cove a few weeks before Christmas and after some shopping on the day before Christmas Eve I sat down to relax on […]

[richard was listening to: The Cigar Song - Brad Paisley - while writing this post]
I am planning on introducing an additional cigar review here on BlankMindBlog which I will call an IMO “One Off” Cigar Review.
I have been pondering if I should start an IMO“One Off” Cigar Review, mainly because […]

[richard is listening to: Strange How I Miss You - Jimmy Johnson - Blues Guitar Heaven]
Rainy day Mondays always get me down, sounds like a song I used to sing, but that is the way I would describe yesterday. Cold, damp, and untypical for our North Florida winter weather but that is what greeted me […]

Last Sunday Tyler wanted to try out his newly acquired bait casting rod at the Three Lakes or Pope Duval Fish Management Area on the west side of Jacksonville. This area is a beautiful, safe place for you and your family to enjoy. Several of the lakes are stocked with channel catfish, bass and panfish. […]

I have never been a fan of flavored cigars. The last “flavored” cigar I smoked was two decades ago in the Swisher Sweets product line. So this will probably be the first and last time you see an IMO Cigar Review on a flavored cigar from this site.
Late last year Patrice and I were in […]

During one of my weekend outings with the kids I decided to smoke and review the Padron 3000 Maduro. You can read about the outing on the post titled Weekend After Thanksgiving.
The weather was overcast and chilly by North Florida standards. While Rachel explored the man-made island in the middle of Lake Oneida with a […]

The last few days in Jacksonville have been miserable, cold rain and heavy clouds. One day we have a high of 80o and then the next day we see a high of 50o. Typical Florida weather, not sure why I’m complaining, been here all my life and know beyond a doubt that this is the […]

It’s about time for another cigar review and I have a couple of them down on paper but need to make time to get them into electronic form. So here goes…
I decided to smoke the Camacho Corojo Toro while visiting my mom and dad’s a few weekends ago. I purchased several of these sticks from […]

I had high expectations for the Carlos Torano Casa Torano Toro after looking over the construction, the wrapper was a beautiful light brown, tannish color with very few veins. A wonderful silky smooth texture and a slight cedar scent made me think this third smoke was to be a notable one.
Late evening with cloudy skies, […]

I made sure the apartment door was locked, and began down the steps, heading for my truck that would take all of us, Patrice, Rachel and Tyler, to Lake Oneida on the UNF campus. The trail around Lake Oneida is wide, well-marked and for the most part is a wooden boardwalk around the lake. The […]

My oldest son, Ryan, faced a situation I could not help him with last week, the outcome was totally out of my hands. Decisions were to be made that I could not influence or change. The details are not important but the setting of how this review developed makes his involvement relevant.
Not sure who came […]

I have always been a fan of the La Gloria Cubana Wavells. You will usually find a mix of these and the Baccarat Luchadores in the bottom tray of my humidor. So I was familiar with the quality of the La Gloria Cubana cigar line. I was hoping that the Serie R line would provide […]

I bought the Punch Champion from the ABC Fine Wine & Spirits store because the shape was so odd. In addition there was a hand written note advising potential buyers that “Cigar Aficionado” had rated this stick a 91. Actually odd is a misnomer for this beautifully shaped cigar. The ring gauge begins at a […]

As promised I was able to fire up the Don Tomas Cameroon Collection Perfecto No. 2 Saturday afternoon. Just a word about this weekend in Jacksonville, Florida. This is the weekend for the Florida Gators vs. Georgia Bulldogs football game, aka World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party. Woe is me, if you do not have a […]

Ok. The weekend is over. My kids have gone home. Her kid returned to college. The two week old invitation for dinner to my parents and brother for my world famous spaghetti dinner is over. All’s quiet. Been feeling like dirt crap shit for a few days. So bad I haven’t wanted to smoke, that’s […]

Today I put the torch to a H. Upmann 2000 No. 7 Habano cigar I purchased at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits for $3.99 a stick.
Here is an except from the distributors, Altadis, U.S.A., Inc. about the H. Upmann 2000 brand:
“H. Upmann 2000 cigars feature Habana 2000 wrappers, a smooth, reddish-brown leaf created by […]