Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
I think I had the best first day of BOTL that anyone could hope for. If anyone has a story that rivals this for a first day, Id love to hear it.
My day started like most, but then I had the incredible wisdom and good fortune of joining BOTL, I wrote my intro, found a picture I liked and watched as the warm and kind hearted replies came back. Perhaps on this day I had cigars on the brain and that is why I joined BOTL, but Ive been crazed over cigars and picking through posts on BOTL for years, so maybe it was just the wild hair that grew that day that got me to register. But, it was my brothers barrage of greetings that set me in the mood to leave work and stop by Florida Cigar Co. to clean them out of the last seven of their La Aurora 100 Anos Belicosos on the way home.
I walked into an empty store except for a gal at the register and another in the back room tending bar. I wandered through looking for anything notable that may have come in since my last tour and just as I was about to settle on the La Auroras and go, in walked Armando to set up for a Carlos Torano event that night. I had met Armando at a Torano event a few months earlier and knew I liked his company. It was only about 5:30 and as we chatted I mentioned that I had come to the last event just to try out the Exodus 1959 and was disappointed in its bitterness. After I confessed that I had smoked it outside with some breeze he explained about the wrapper and told me that is was an inside cigar with an artful fatherly poise. He put an Exodus 1959 in my hand, I lit up and we chatted about the differences in tobaccos, regions and the smokes we enjoy. He was absolutely correct, except for the initial rapid puffs when I lit the cigar, it was nothing like what I remembered. I should have known better than to write off a well received cigar from one smoke and was reminded of how very differently a cigar tastes depending on how quickly you draw from it, and how often. Thank you Armando for the lesson and not making me feel stupid as you pointed out the obvious.
While my taste buds were savoring the bountiful creamy rich spice of my cigar, Armando got a call from The Old Man Himself It seemed that Carlos Torano, head of the famous brand for more than 30 years, and a head roller were on the way unannounced and Id meet them shortly. I could tell from Armandos excitement that this was something special. We smoked, he set up and a bit before 6:00 in came Carlos with roller to the store, still empty except for me. Armando introduced me to The Old Man Himself and I immediately knew I liked this man. He was down to earth, sincere, joyous and my cigar suddenly tasted so much better as my appreciation for this brand and this man grew. He has the spirit of that great old Grandpa full of fascinating stores, but not full of himself and so dam happy with his life that his joy spills out on everyone around him like sun on your face.
Great part is that I sat one on one with Carlos for more than an hour before any other customer or even the store owner or manager showed up. I picked his brain, listened to his stores over Scotch and water and later a sweeter and milder Camroon 1916. Im going to put down some of the most memorable things that I got from it below, but before I do I just have to stress one more time, what a great guy!
To start with, I was overly pleased that he doesnt hype himself, his cigars or the business at all. He puts it as everyone is trying to make a great cigar, everyone knows each other, everyone gets along and is happy to see each other prospering.
The Tobacco crop is smaller this year, but there is enough to go around, the threat though is with food prices shooting up, it is more profitable for farmers to move away from the delicate tobacco crop.
Panama is expanding the canal, so labor is leaving the $5 dollars per day wages in Honduras to make $40 per day there. The resource that restricts his production of great cigars is quality rollers more than anything else. The premium and super premiums do not have super rare secret tobaccos in them. For the most part every major Cigar company buys from the same farms and regions and even sells back and forth amongst themselves.
Although there are only about seven different tobacco plants, because of the various regions, different parts of the plant and different ways to cure tobacco when they go to create a mix, there are hundreds of different tastes that can be combined in different ways.
He rolls every single cigar line CAO has except for one OK first person who knows this will get a bomb too. (sneaky the way I slide it in down here) Carlos and Armando were kind to me with freebies so the karma flows on. Carlos also makes for Gurkha, not sure if all or many, but at least many.
The stark contrast between CAO, Gurkha and Carlos Torano lines got me to thinking and talking about marketing and ratings. Im convinced that if Carlos was as good at marketing as he is at making cigars he would still be maxed out on his capacity to make cigars, but they would all be his own brands.
A conversation about CA ratings came up and Carlos told a great story of how one year they were rolling the same basic cigar under three different bands for three different companies. One scored 84, one 87 and another 91. My personal experience is that about the only thing CA and I can agree upon is if a cigar is utterly horrible!
The last jewel of knowledge Ill share is that they are doing a tribute cigar to come out August of this year that will be like their tribute from 2004 which was a very fine full maduro cigar.
When Tom the shop owner, some of the regulars and a few faces that came in for the freebies and deals started to roll in about 7:30 I decided to make my selections and head out. Carlos signed the top of a box of Noventa their 90th anniversary stick for me, the roller whos name Ive sadly forgotten filled my shirt pocket with cigars hed rolled that night and Armando hooked me up with an ash tray plus bonus premiums for buying a box and I made my exit.
The moral of the story is quite obvious. Join BOTL and your life will get better.
Mitch
My day started like most, but then I had the incredible wisdom and good fortune of joining BOTL, I wrote my intro, found a picture I liked and watched as the warm and kind hearted replies came back. Perhaps on this day I had cigars on the brain and that is why I joined BOTL, but Ive been crazed over cigars and picking through posts on BOTL for years, so maybe it was just the wild hair that grew that day that got me to register. But, it was my brothers barrage of greetings that set me in the mood to leave work and stop by Florida Cigar Co. to clean them out of the last seven of their La Aurora 100 Anos Belicosos on the way home.
I walked into an empty store except for a gal at the register and another in the back room tending bar. I wandered through looking for anything notable that may have come in since my last tour and just as I was about to settle on the La Auroras and go, in walked Armando to set up for a Carlos Torano event that night. I had met Armando at a Torano event a few months earlier and knew I liked his company. It was only about 5:30 and as we chatted I mentioned that I had come to the last event just to try out the Exodus 1959 and was disappointed in its bitterness. After I confessed that I had smoked it outside with some breeze he explained about the wrapper and told me that is was an inside cigar with an artful fatherly poise. He put an Exodus 1959 in my hand, I lit up and we chatted about the differences in tobaccos, regions and the smokes we enjoy. He was absolutely correct, except for the initial rapid puffs when I lit the cigar, it was nothing like what I remembered. I should have known better than to write off a well received cigar from one smoke and was reminded of how very differently a cigar tastes depending on how quickly you draw from it, and how often. Thank you Armando for the lesson and not making me feel stupid as you pointed out the obvious.
While my taste buds were savoring the bountiful creamy rich spice of my cigar, Armando got a call from The Old Man Himself It seemed that Carlos Torano, head of the famous brand for more than 30 years, and a head roller were on the way unannounced and Id meet them shortly. I could tell from Armandos excitement that this was something special. We smoked, he set up and a bit before 6:00 in came Carlos with roller to the store, still empty except for me. Armando introduced me to The Old Man Himself and I immediately knew I liked this man. He was down to earth, sincere, joyous and my cigar suddenly tasted so much better as my appreciation for this brand and this man grew. He has the spirit of that great old Grandpa full of fascinating stores, but not full of himself and so dam happy with his life that his joy spills out on everyone around him like sun on your face.
Great part is that I sat one on one with Carlos for more than an hour before any other customer or even the store owner or manager showed up. I picked his brain, listened to his stores over Scotch and water and later a sweeter and milder Camroon 1916. Im going to put down some of the most memorable things that I got from it below, but before I do I just have to stress one more time, what a great guy!
To start with, I was overly pleased that he doesnt hype himself, his cigars or the business at all. He puts it as everyone is trying to make a great cigar, everyone knows each other, everyone gets along and is happy to see each other prospering.
The Tobacco crop is smaller this year, but there is enough to go around, the threat though is with food prices shooting up, it is more profitable for farmers to move away from the delicate tobacco crop.
Panama is expanding the canal, so labor is leaving the $5 dollars per day wages in Honduras to make $40 per day there. The resource that restricts his production of great cigars is quality rollers more than anything else. The premium and super premiums do not have super rare secret tobaccos in them. For the most part every major Cigar company buys from the same farms and regions and even sells back and forth amongst themselves.
Although there are only about seven different tobacco plants, because of the various regions, different parts of the plant and different ways to cure tobacco when they go to create a mix, there are hundreds of different tastes that can be combined in different ways.
He rolls every single cigar line CAO has except for one OK first person who knows this will get a bomb too. (sneaky the way I slide it in down here) Carlos and Armando were kind to me with freebies so the karma flows on. Carlos also makes for Gurkha, not sure if all or many, but at least many.
The stark contrast between CAO, Gurkha and Carlos Torano lines got me to thinking and talking about marketing and ratings. Im convinced that if Carlos was as good at marketing as he is at making cigars he would still be maxed out on his capacity to make cigars, but they would all be his own brands.
A conversation about CA ratings came up and Carlos told a great story of how one year they were rolling the same basic cigar under three different bands for three different companies. One scored 84, one 87 and another 91. My personal experience is that about the only thing CA and I can agree upon is if a cigar is utterly horrible!
The last jewel of knowledge Ill share is that they are doing a tribute cigar to come out August of this year that will be like their tribute from 2004 which was a very fine full maduro cigar.
When Tom the shop owner, some of the regulars and a few faces that came in for the freebies and deals started to roll in about 7:30 I decided to make my selections and head out. Carlos signed the top of a box of Noventa their 90th anniversary stick for me, the roller whos name Ive sadly forgotten filled my shirt pocket with cigars hed rolled that night and Armando hooked me up with an ash tray plus bonus premiums for buying a box and I made my exit.
The moral of the story is quite obvious. Join BOTL and your life will get better.
Mitch
