I've said this before - but this is just a reminder. I'll be breaking BOTL over time in order to get it into a far better place. Just be patient if you can't reach us! We'll be back
I really enjoy a firm head so I can hold it in my teeth. Some commercial sticks are much better at that than others. I have the same "soft head" problem with my home-rolls.
I'll make another suggestion. If you get a Boveda pack then I would calibrate your hygrometer with that rather than the salt test. While the salt test does work, it can be problematic. A hygrometer in a small ziplock bag with a Boveda is a much better way.
While patience is the key to...
Yeah, the band position is a sign of fakes. With these cigars there are many signs such as glass top, missing holograms, miss-aligned squares on bands, inconsistent color and many more I'm sure. It's a good idea to educate yourself on fake CC's since there are so many around. Some are very...
I would think that the purchasing of large numbers of cigars and the concept of aging them only came about when humidors became well controlled. Before the hygrometer was commonly used I think cigars were made, purchased and smoked. Long-term storage was not a consideration.
The Reposado 96 Salomon seems to have good reviews for a cheap cigar (and I mean CHEAP!). I picked one up to try because I'm always looking for cheap but good cigars that I can give my mooch friends. I ended up with the Reposado 96 Maduro instead of the Salomon. It was OK but it was short...
I've smoked a lot of Cuabas. Mainly because they are reasonably priced, especially for a figurado. I agree with Nacho Daddy, they are mild and a bit one dimensional, but I enjoy them.
If they smoke OK then they must be fakes from Cuba. The Cuban fakes I have had have always been pretty damn good cigars. Fakes from DR, Mexico or anywhere else are scary.
There's often lots of talk of chevetas. I want to make sure people who want to try this don't think they need to invest in one. I use a pizza cutter. It works great!
Here is the reply from the distributor for those who may be interested.
Thank you very much for your inquiry. Indeed I am the creator of the Batey brand of cigars, distributed nationally by Spike Marks/Casa Cubana.
The Batey brand has three major lines:
Batey Nicaragua (Red and gold bands)...
Thanks for the info. I checked the website. They seem to be a distributor based in Montreal. They probably import the cigars and have them branded with their name, but why they would choose such a crappy name I don't know. I'll email them and I'll post anything that I fine out.
So, I just checked on my post and I've had 21 views and no replies. I guess Batey cigars are not too well known. Still looking for someone who can tell me about them.
I was out of town and I bought this cigar. It is a "Batey" and it was cheap. I did an internet search and could't find the company that makes them. I did find a bunch of different information about them. One post said they were machine made in Mexico. I don't think this was machine made due...
Actually, some of it was quite good and I had no problem using it for wrapper. There wasn't enough wrapper quality for the quantity of cigars I could roll so I ended up buying some wrapper leaf from LO. It was good that I did because it added another type of leaf to the blend. I grew two...
I fermented my leaf for 6 weeks using my very unscientific method. After I rolled cigars I found that 12 months of aging greatly improved the final product.
I should mention that before I did the fermenting I air-dried the leaves by hanging them indoors. The air in the house was very dry at that time of year so I had to spray the leaves every few day to keep them from drying too fast.
I took a few leaves and dried them in the oven so that I could...