Cohiba minis are perhaps one of the most underrated cigars I know about.  Are they in the same category as the glamorous Esplendido or the mighty Robusto??  In a word no.  Very simply put they are a high quality cigar that comes in a length of 3.22 inches and a ring gauge of 7.6.  They are a very small cigar but don’t let that throw you off.

This little fellow is made with the finest tobacco that Cuba has to offer and the smoothness will be very surprising upon tasting it for the first time.  I have to admit that I always felt that the bigger the ring gauge, the smoother the smoke.  WRONG!  These are elegant and very tasty but one thing you may want to keep in mind is that you won’t be getting the complexity that the bigger brothers from this brand has to offer.  It simply can’t work that way because of the blend that the bigger cigars have.

There is just so much you can put in a cigar of this size and I felt that this fact would result in a harsh smoke but try a box and keep an open mind.  Better yet, approach the smoking experience with unusually low expectations and be prepared for the surprise of your life!!!

So the scene of the crime was in Kamloops, a few miles down the road from Merritt, same kind of golf course but maybe the Cohiba Robusto I brought along gave me the mojo I needed.  Shot an 88 instead of the terrible round I had the week-end before and it sure feels like victory.  Now let’s not get too excited, I’m not a great golfer and an 88 is still not a great score by many golfers standard, but for me it’s reason to celebrate.

We ran into punched greens and we all felt that if the balls wouldn’t have been bouncing around on their way towards the cup, our scores would probably have been lower by at least 5 strokes or more.

We had a sunny day and the wind was almost nonexistent.  That’s where the Robusto performed like a thoroughbred.  Wow, talk about an even burn and the incredible Cohiba taste I’ve come to know from that cigar.  I actuallhy brought 2 along and passed one off to one of the lads that played that day.  He is a guy that smokes almost as many cigars as I do and he really did “get it’…. you know what its like some times, you give a quality Cuban to someone who doesn’t see the difference between a Cohiba or a Guantanamera?  This guy was feeling the same bliss as I was experiencing and it made me feel great to see him having that much fun.

Sort of like the adult version of “show and tell”.

So what does a person do when either he or she gets beat up by a golf course?? Well that’s obvious, you drive back out there and try it again, which is exactly what I plan on doing once again tomorrow.

As soon as I got home from Kamloops B.C. the phone rang the next day and I was invited to go out again to that bone dry part of our province to play another round of golf.  What’s wrong with me?? Can’t I simply accept defeat and move on with my life?? I guess not.

This time we’ll be seeing another course called “Eagle Point” which is 20 minutes outside of Kamloops and another kick at the cat.  I think this time it might be time to load up the travel humidor with a few Cohiba Robustos. Those are awfully nice cigars but, from what I see on the weather network, there’ll be very little wind and that always means a great cigar smoking experience on the links..

Wish me luck!

I spent the weekend in Merritt, British Columbia and checked out their new golf course, “Sagebrush”.  Wow, what a great course for many many reasons.  This was an undertaking designed by Richard Zokol, Rod Whitman and Armen Suny and their approach was to design a minimalist playing experience all taking place on the side of a hill.  Well, there were many hills if you want to know the truth

The day started out with our group listening to one of the course managers explain the tournament to us and how we should approach our golf day.  He warned us about the incredibly treacherous greens, which were very very large, closely trimmed and undulating.  I had never golfed on larger greens in my life but at the same time I don’t believe I have ever putted on more dangerous surfaces.

I took along my usual Cohiba Siglo I’s and there were a few holes where the wind wasn’t too bad so the cigar smoking in the golf cart was just fine.  The highlight of the day was on the back nine where there was a brief stop where I walked down some wooden stairs to a dock on a stocked trout pond where 5 or 6 fly rods were sitting in holders for anyone who wanted to take a cast or two and try their luck.  At the end of our round we all went back to the pond where a barbeque was going on.  I went back out on to the dock and chose the rod loaded with a sink-tip and proceeded to land 2 small rainbows.

Remember the word “Sagebrush” if you are ever going to spend some time golfing in the Merritt area of B.C. I don’t think you can find better golf in Canada!