BlankMindBlog

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 that the book had come in and would be held for 7 days. I picked the book up and was home and on the patio ready to start reading in under a hour.

As I started to read I noticed a beautiful red bird perched on the main feeder, and I began to watch him eat. After a moment something caught his eye in the tree itself and he hopped, as most birds do, over to the limb to investigate.

With the speed, cunning and agility of a cat, the red bird lowered his head to the limb, pinned his wings and tail down flat and proceeded to chase his prey like a lion on the African plains. Up and down several limbs, into the canopy of the tree and all the way back down again. The poor lizard finally pulled a Houdini on the closing bird and did a quick flip under the branch and remained perfectly still as the bird tilted his head from left to right looking for the slightest movement. After a few seconds the bird returned to the feeder in search of a much easier meal. So ended the drama of life and near death in the backyard.

After all that excitement I turned my attention to the Nat Sherman Host Selection Hobart that was to be consumed as I read the new book. This cigar is a robusto size that is 5″ long with a ring gauge of 50. This is the size and shape I generally smoke and you will find here most often.

The wrapper is medium brown in color and has a very rough feel due to the high number of veins. Its pre-light aroma is sweet and cedary maybe due to the three weeks in my humidor. The construction was very good, there were no imperfections in the wrapper and the cigar was packed tightly.

Before the initial light up I noticed that the cap had a sweetness to it similar to the Baccarat Luchadores that are one of my favorite “go to” cigars. As I lit the cigar it provided a slight spiciness mixed with the sweetness that was quite pleasant. A couple of minutes passed and the spiciness left the Nat Sherman Host Selection Hobart leaving a mild tobacco flavor with undertones of sweetness.

The cigar did have a two problems, uneven burn and clumpy ashes. Soon after the initial lighting it began to burn unevenly but would correct itself. The ashes continued to be clumpy and flakey until I was past the halfway point where they began to tighten up and cling to the stick.

I enjoyed the Nat Sherman Host Selection Hobart even though it only produced a singularity of flavor, plus the problems with the uneven burn and loose ashes. At $3.90 a stick I would recommend this cigar as a yard smoke or maybe something to take on a fishing trip.