More Golf!

While I'm killing time waiting for my Belgian Tripel to finish primary fermentation, I went out and played some golf this weekend. This is kind of a mixed review, in which I'll cover 2 golf courses and a few cigars.

Friday:

Played Woodmont in Canton, GA. The layout is always nice here, and the conditions were top-notch for us. I played poorly (shooting a 95 from the White tees), but it was a fun day. It's too bad the cost of admission was $70, though. That's a little steep, and if I hadn't been with a group, I would have found somewheres else to play! The course was nice, though, and it was a great day for golf.
During the round, I smoked a few different cigars.

Bad: Onyx Reserve Toro
I don't know why I keep buying these cigars. I had one of these, ONE! that was good. The rest have all been OK, but with bad draws and uneven burns. I end up burning my tongue just trying to keep this thing lit. I threw it out when I was about halfway done. Waste of $5.

Good: Padron Maduro 3000 Series
This is a good stand-by cigar. I think of them as my cheap-top-shelf cigars. They rarely disappoint. I like the flavor, the draw is always good and the burn is usually so, too. This is normally a quick cigar, despite its size. Great flavor with cool smoke. Yummy!

Disappointment: Padron 1926 Series Maduro Robusto
This cigar is usually such a treat. I mean, I'm normally drooling just waiting to smoke it, and it NEVER disappoints. Well, until Friday. These cigars are normally perfect; perfect smell, perfect draw, perfect burn, perfect EVERYTHING. This was true of this cigar for the first half, but the second half just didn't burn right. It went out twice! WTF? I won't quit smoking these cigars, but for $10 (for such a small stick), I was disappointed to only get to smoke half of it. Oh, well, what are you gonna do?

Surprisingly Good: Rocky Patel Maduro "The Edge" Robusto
I bought a bunch of these in a sample pack from Thompson Cigar last September or so. If I remember correctly, I got 2 12 packs (3 each of 4 styles) of Rocky Patel maduro cigars for about $39 / 12 pack. I smoked a few and wasn't impressed, so they've spent several months maturing in my humidor. Every once in a while, I'll pull one out as a "filler" cigar. I never expect much. Well, I got a lot from this cigar on Friday! The smell was great, the draw was excellent and the burn was even and long-lasting. It produced a ton of cool, nice-tasting smoke and was thoroughly enjoyable. I was shocked, so when I got home I picked out another one (different style) to try, and it was great, too! I'm guessing that maybe the disappointment back in the Fall was due to the cigars being packaged and shipped in shrink-wrapped plastic. Apparenntly, one they got a chance to age for several months, they opened up and blossomed into great cigars!

Saturday:

Played Stonebridge in Rome, GA. What a course! I liked this one much better than Woodmont and it cost $37 to play! The course was fun, the layout was challenging and best of all, I played well! Shot 86 from the Blue tees. As a huge perk, Nan, the cart "girl" was the best, hands down, I've ever had. She was friendly and fun! I'd go back just for her! The downside to this course (for me) is that it's and hour and a half from my house. Ouch. I'll be back, though.
Again, I smoked a few stogies during my round.

Good: Padron Maduro 3000 Series
I couldn't resist going back to the well here, and I wasn't disappointed. Another good, solid smoke.

Great: Perdomo Lot 23 Churchill Maduro
I normally don't buy big cigars. I like variety and I rarely have enough time at home to smoke a 6 or 7 inch cigar. This one, though, was so cheap and only $0.50 more than the smaller version I thought I'd give it a whirl. Plus, the middle of a round of golf is a good time to smoke a big cigar.
It didn't disappoint. I've had the robusto size in this cigar a few times, and it is always a nice, enjoyable smoke. This cigar was the same, though it gets a little more pungeant and strong toward the end. I actually got the shakes a little at the very end, but it was a very enjoyable smoke. The only down size to this cigar, which is the same for all Lot 23 sticks, is the label. It's huge, it's stiff, and it's hard to get off. (Wow, that sounds dirty!) Really, though, I've damaged a couple of these cigars just trying to get the label off. Plus, it's so long that you can't smoke the cigar without taking it off. I wish it had more of a tab to grab, was made from slightly less stiff paper, or had some way by which it was easier to remove the label. Other than that, though, this is a great smoke at $10, but a steal at $6.

That's all for now. More later. Still waiting on that Tripel..... yeah, primary fermentation is still going strong. At least it will be a strong beer...