Got a call to go down to LA tomorrow for a few days.  Back home Thursday… I’m always up for a trip to California since its a lot warmer than Vancouver right now but more than that, I’m very excited to visit a few tobacco shops to see if I can get my hands on a few cigars.

Canada has some of the highest sin tax in the world and Canadians end up paying twenty five dollars or more for a cigar that Americans pay six dollars for.. I know, I know, it sounds crazy, but its true.  I’ll be going to Santa Monica and from what I’ve read, there are a few cigar stores that have a nice selection of Dominicans, Hondurans and others that aren’t even available in Canada.

One that I’ll be looking for is the Arturo Fuente Opus X.  Wow, what a great cigar, and from what I read, it is a cigar that isn’t available at all times of year so I guess ya gotta be there at the right time and the right place.

Last point I want to make is…… Will I be taking any Cohibas with me???? Nope, no way!!!!

A few post ago I revealed that I had a neighbor who had lost her husband and was getting rid of his cigar collection.  I did very well and obtained, not only some beautiful aged cigars, but a quality humidor as part of the package.  She revealed that she had more cigars so I thought I’d pay her a visit this morning and see if she needed any yard work done.  Thats an understatement since her lawn is quite overgrown and full of weeds.  We are approaching the winter season in Vancouver so the grass will slow down, as far as it’s growth is concerned, so I’m feeling that a single cut will be all that will be needed.

After finishing my own lawn this morning after a slight drizzle, I pushed my lawn mower over a few doors down and started in on her front lawn.  She waved to me from her living room window and all I needed was about 20 minutes to blast away at her grass and weeds.  After a small amount of raking and adding a few leaves to her compost bin, I knocked on her door to say a quick hello.  Although I’m getting on in years, she is considerably older than I am and was glad to have some company as I sat down in front of a steaming cup of coffee.  I remembered her saying that she loved the smell of cigar smoke so I felt comfortable in pulling out a Romeo y Julieta No 3 I had in my shirt pocket.  Before I had the chance to light the little coronitas she asked if I would like to smoke one of her late husband’s cigars instead…. Was I about to be rude and refuse her offer??

After disappearing into another room, she returned with a dark and rich Piramides with, once again, that oh so recognizable gold and yellow band.. My God, this was the Cohiba Piramides from 2001.. I have some of the 2006 releases but have only smoked one or two of the first edition from ’01.. What I remember about the experience was that it was a cigar that was nicely balanced and brimming with rich flavors but for some reason I never smoked that many.

Now this is a 10 year old cigar that I’m having with a coffee after a bit of yard work.. Seems a bit over the top for such a casual moment, this is more of a grand occasion cigar, so I pulled out my torch and lit the foot.  There are times when it is easy to describe flavors that a cigar will give you but this torpedo left me speechless.  I told her that I felt that she grossly overpaid me for something that a friendly neighbor would gladly do free of charge, and with that she disappeared again and came back with 4 more from the same amazing vintage……….

She told me that she was planning on having a yard sale the next sunny day and needed some help cleaning out a shed that is full of tools…. I think I’ll offer my services……

Hey Tommy, thanks for leaving a comment on the Cohiba 1966 entry, I like your site and I think it provides great reading…..

There is no doubt that the cost of these humidors will be through the roof, not unlike a special vintage limited release wine from some of the finest regions in France.  One thing for sure is that when almost ANY cigar from Cuba has aged the right amount of time you can almost say that it’s time has come and the flavors can be extraordinary.  We are very lucky to live in Canada and to be able to buy Cubans whenever we want.  Our SIN tax is through the roof and Cuban cigars cost more than almost any others on the market today but once you get a taste for them there’s no going back.

When The Cohiba Behike became available many Canadian smokers had a bit of difficulty getting their hands on them because there were only so many boxes available to smoke shops around the country.  People were on a waiting list and it became a first come first serve situation that left a lot of smokers wondering what happened and why did it happen so quickly.  A lot of hard core cigar smokers in Canada have DEEEEP pockets and had no problem snatching the first VERY few boxes of these wonderful creations with the medio Tiempo leaf and the rest of us wandered the streets in search of the odd cigar here and there that were still available.

I was very lucky to get my hands on one of each of these Behikes and so far I’ve smoked the 52 and the 54.  I’ll let the 56 sit in my humidor until Christmas, I hope that it will probably be as fantastic as the other two.  Getting back to the 1966, I’m not sure I’ll ever get my hands on one but if I elevate myself to a different class of schmoozing cigar smoker, I just may find myself in someone’s private smoking rec room and with enough good fortune I may be able to sample one of them..

Thanks for leaving the comment!

I was just perusing one of my favorite cigar sites www.vancouvercigar.com and was delighted to see that they have the new Cohiba Behike cigars already. Here is what they have to say:

• Cohiba Behike, the most exclusive line of Habanos, arrives in Canada with three new formats: BHK 52, BHK 54 and BHK 56.

• Its extremely limited production incorporates for the first time a specific tobacco leaf called “medio tiempo”, which grants exceptional character and flavor.

• Each Cohiba Behike Habanos has a band with two holograms for security identification.

• Also denominated Fortaleza 4, the Medio Tiempo is a very scarce leaf coming from the two upper leaves of the sun-grown tobacco plant. However, not all these plants produce both. Availability of Medio Tiempo will depend on the dedication, care and attention paid to each tobacco plant, considering the changing climatic conditions as well. Due to the foliar position in the plant, the flavor is concentrated with greater intensity in the leaves of “Medio Tiempo”.

•The three vitolas of the new Línea Cohiba Behike are:

- BHK 52 52 x 4 3/4 Factory name: Laguito No 4

- BHK 54 54 x 5 5/8 Factory name: Laguito No 5

- BHK 56 56 x 6 1/2 Factory name: Laguito No 6

The Vancouver Cigar Company has produced a straight forward (and more importantly free) e-book called Cohiba 101 (Cohiba 101 Download).  I downloaded it tonight and gave it a bit of a look over and was surprised about two things: #1) It was relatively pitch free (just good information) #2) I learned a couple of things about the Cohiba.  Also it seems that they actually used some of my reviews that I sent them (Bonus!).

This 101 e-book thing would have been great when I first started smoking cigars.

Cohiba Cigar Blog Entry By Shane

I attended a cigar club reception recently hosted by the Vancouver Cigar Company.  They had a few of these in stock and I have ordered them online from elsewhere but these were fresh out of the humidor.  The Piramide also referred to as a torpedo  is something new to Cohiba (last 3 years)

This is another great addition to the Cohiba family.  This was a complex smoke.  Rich and spicy, and noticeably consistent right until the end.  These are a classic smoke, and meet up to the Cohiba brand.  Like the Maduro 5 they are also great value per dollar overall.

I like an easy draw so that would have to be the only thing that I didn’t find totally satisfying about this one.