What are you smoking right now?

[Ozwald]

First of all, this is intended for cigars especially if you're pairing them.

I'm not pairing this particular one, but I'm having an Avo Domaine this afternoon. Not quite as good as the other one I bought with it last week, but it's pretty tasty. Very mild but the flavor is definitely there. And nice. The other one I smoked 4 days ago & it was the Antano Dark Corojo by Joya de Nicaragua paired with Dalwhinney Single Malt Scotch. That one blew my mind. Rich, flavorful but not overwhelming. Both are/were incredibly balanced. Depending on your prefrences, you really can't go wrong with either. I still prefer the Antano however.

[PorkSlapper]

There is a smoke shop downtown with a decent cigar selection so I have been told. I need to get a few lessons on the good stuff. I nice dram of scotch and a cigar sounds like a hell of an evening.

[Ozwald]

My palate knows a lot more than my head when it comes to choosing cigars. I was talking with a guy I trust down at the shop & after talking about what I was looking for those were the two we came up with. I don't know shape/ring size off the top of my head but they were both very good size sticks & cost me ~$20 for both. The Antano smoked for a good 90 minutes, maybe 2 hours. The Avo was maybe half that. Very similar size, just much looser fill & draw. They're at opposite ends of the spectrum on the palate. I would highly recommend picking up 1 of each & seeing which you enjoy more. You'll probably like them both, but have a prefrence of one over the other. Going into a smoke shop & saying 'I had this one & I really liked it, this other one was good, but it wasn't my smoke as much' will likely get you some excellent recommendations. I've never had much luck just saying I want a cigar. Having a recognizable brand you can spit out seems to help them give you a better recommendation. Other tasting words, like strong, earthy, whatever just mean different things to different people. My mild might be rather strong to you. I'm not a huge cigar person, but chilling out, pairing one with a good quality beverage every once in a while is very nice. Those two got me thinking about building a small humidor that I can age a half dozen or so, instead of going down there, buying 2, having them within a week & then not having any for several months.

[spiderwrangler]

I'll admit when I first clicked on this thread, I thought it was about BBQ.

[snowcapt]

I'll admit when I first clicked on this thread, I thought it was about BBQ.

Heh
I thought it was about the blue dream I'm about to smoke.

[PorkSlapper]

I'll admit when I first clicked on this thread, I thought it was about BBQ.

Ive got a 18lb pork butt, im going to smoke with hickory and some apple here in the next couple weeks.

[spiderwrangler]

18lb is bigger than I prefer, I like em in the 6-8 range, more surface area for the smoke, and heat works through and liquifies the connective tissue in the center better. In my experience with my setup, too big leaves the center tough and porkchop like rather than pullable. Good luck though!

[Ozwald]

Sorry for the lack of replies (as if anyone noticed ) I've had some other shit I needed to deal with these past 2 days.

Definitely wasn't about BBQ. If you can smoke some meat & I find it palatable at all, you'd be a god. Hell, if you could convince me to even try it you'd be up there. I've had smoked stuff by award winning pitmasters. That shit is disgusting. Direct heat & actually cook it, I can do a touch of smoke, but stuff that's smoked from start to finish? Putrid. I love some of Pax's stuff, but the brine & the smoke can take a long walk of a short pier.