Cigars

[Phil xxkr]

12 minutes ago, Rabbers said:

Upon re-perusing this ever-expanding thread I noticed that the cigars shown at the foot of the cutter in the photo are specimens of the “toscani” described in my post(s) above.  It will be readily seen how, when the cigars are cut in two, each of the resulting halves taper to a form reminiscent of a classic pharmaceutical product.  To judge by their colour, and unless I am mistaken, the cigars are the “stravecchio” (i.e. extra-mature) version, which has the virtue of emitting a slightly less mephitic odour than the younger and more raw equivalent that I hoped would make me give up smoking.  I also note from the band on the single other cigar that the photo originates from the house of Savinelli, purveyors of smokers’ requisites to the international carriage trade, which I seriously doubt would allow a lesser variety of “toscano” than “stravecchio” anywhere close to its premises. 

Do you offer a similar in-depth analysis to the pic I posted earlier? 😂

[Rabbers]

53 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

Do you offer a similar in-depth analysis to the pic I posted earlier? 😂

Alas, Phil, time and tide have so seriously diminished any experience-based ability I once possessed to analyse the contents of your pic that I now find silence on such matters to be  my best policy. 

[runsgrateasanut]

 A half Corona Cigar at the reasonable price of £1 used to be marketed in a White Tube by a Company called J R Freeman.  Must be 20 years ago they ceased to trade?  Very nice Cigars from memory and rolled in this Country

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=j+r+freeman&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fauction.gorringes.co.uk%2FFull%2F912%2F10431912.jpg

[Phil xxkr]

11 hours ago, Rabbers said:

Alas, Phil, time and tide have so seriously diminished any experience-based ability I once possessed to analyse the contents of your pic that I now find silence on such matters to be  my best policy. 

Renato, your linguistic dexterity is wasted on this site 😉 apply for a post in HMG Westminster you would fit in perfectly 😂

[Rabbers]

19 minutes ago, Phil xxkr said:

Renato, your linguistic dexterity is wasted on this site 😉 apply for a post in HMG Westminster you would fit in perfectly 😂

If that was intended as a compliment I sincerely thank you.  I ask no more of the LOC than a space in which to keep my English from going rusty.  As regards HMG Westminster, to judge by what I occasionally see on TV before quickly switching channels, it has become the perfect place to unlearn the language. 

[Phil xxkr]

2 hours ago, Rabbers said:

If that was intended as a compliment I sincerely thank you.  I ask no more of the LOC than a space in which to keep my English from going rusty.  As regards HMG Westminster, to judge by what I occasionally see on TV before quickly switching channels, it has become the perfect place to unlearn the language. 

That's not HMG, that's there in place of adverts 🤣

[Malc]

10 hours ago, Rabbers said:

As regards HMG Westminster, to judge by what I occasionally see on TV before quickly switching channels, it has become the perfect place to unlearn the language. 

so it's not just me that has this inability to quite understand Civil Service Speak ...... I'm battling with wordage within ATOL documentation from the CAA  .........  HMG wordage at the moment ..... I'm sure it all makes perfect sense ....  well, I think I'm sure, surely it must do, it's from HMG sources 

Now I'm not an unintelligent sorta guy ( my thoughts anyway ) and with quite a good education and of some age and experience of Govt wordings, wordage and HMRC and stuff like that BUT, oh my, the gobbledegook with the CAA is amazing.............. any holidaymakers here ever tried to understand any of it  ?

OR indeed any Travel Agents too ?  ( that's me btw )

Cest Le Vie ............ I'll make another coffee then 

Malc

[dutchie01]

11 hours ago, Phil xxkr said:

Renato, your linguistic dexterity is wasted on this site 😉 apply for a post in HMG Westminster you would fit in perfectly 😂

I always more or less concluded that Renato was working for the UK embassy in Italy. Renato?

[Rabbers]

2 minutes ago, dutchie01 said:

I always more or less concluded that Renato was working for the UK embassy in Italy. Renato?

Sorry to disappoint but I’ve never set foot in a British Embassy in my life, not because I’ve not been allowed in, but because I’ve never had the need.

[LenT]

On 10/26/2021 at 9:00 PM, Mr Vlad said:

King Edward Imperial. Nowt wrong with a midlife crisis. This cigar is wonderful. Nit had one in ruddy years but I can still remember it's loveliness. 

Reading this thread makes me think of getting a pack out of just for the sake of it.

This prompted very pleasant memories of when I used to smoke cigars.  (I stopped some years ago when I acquired three heart stents after an encounter with a cardiologist. I thought it was the least I could do after he’d gone to such trouble!)

One of the great attractions of the King Edwards was that they were readily available at duty free shops.  In the days when we visited the Greek Islands, I would take 50 out with me.  Not only were they a pleasant daily smoke, but they also proved invaluable in establishing cordial relations with our preferred taverna owners, who reciprocated with copious quantities of Metaxa.

Another pleasant daily smoke, as I recall, was - and probably still is - the Swiss brand Villager.  Even better, but less widely available, was their half corona called Brannif.

In contrast, I had one client, Rothman’s, that used to market a cigar which, as I told the CE at one meeting, presented the challenge of trying to smoke it before it had completely unravelled.  Bizarrely, they would occasionally send me boxes of 25 half coronas that were really excellent but that they didn’t actually sell!  

Nowadays it’s not so much the cigar that I miss, but that I could use them to punctuate the day and mark some particularly satisfying moment.

[ALAW]

King Edwards theres a blast from the past. Worked for a company that did ship repairs whenever lads went to USA they always brought King eddys back apparently they only cost 5 cent. This was circa 70/80,s a lot more here but a nice smoke.

[Phil xxkr]

7 hours ago, ALAW said:

King Edwards theres a blast from the past. Worked for a company that did ship repairs whenever lads went to USA they always brought King eddys back apparently they only cost 5 cent. This was circa 70/80,s a lot more here but a nice smoke.

In those day they were were considered old stogies that poor people smoked. Yet here they were over a quid apeice if I recall. Unless of course you knew anyone at Mildenhall or Lakenheath in which case they were £2.50 for a box of 25 😎

[runsgrateasanut]

9 hours ago, LenT said:

Another pleasant daily smoke, as I recall, was - and probably still is - the Swiss brand Villager.  Even better, but less widely available, was their half corona called Brannif.

 

Oh! I forgot to mention a five pack of Villigers in the Box.  Needed a rectangular hole in the mouth for those!

[Phil xxkr]

15 minutes ago, runsgrateasanut said:

Oh! I forgot to mention a five pack of Villigers in the Box.  Needed a rectangular hole in the mouth for those!

Were they originally in a yellow tin? Or am I confusing it with another? 

[runsgrateasanut]

2 hours ago, Phil xxkr said:

Were they originally in a yellow tin? Or am I confusing it with another? 

Box made of Card the earlier "fives"  but maybe now more ornate. Google images.

[LenT]

Oh dear!

The perils of delving into the past.  For there does disappointment lie.

Having been prompted to reflect on great smokes of the past, I recalled another client, Dunhill.  Although I didn’t handle that side of the business, I did get staff discounts on cigars.  

So I looked them up to see what they offered these days.  Shock, horror!!

It turns out that BAT bought out the cigar side and, in 2018, decided to close it down.  So that’s over a century of fine cigar making consigned to the Great Ashtray in the Sky.

What a shame….

[Phil xxkr]

57 minutes ago, LenT said:

Oh dear!

The perils of delving into the past.  For there does disappointment lie.

Having been prompted to reflect on great smokes of the past, I recalled another client, Dunhill.  Although I didn’t handle that side of the business, I did get staff discounts on cigars.  

So I looked them up to see what they offered these days.  Shock, horror!!

It turns out that BAT bought out the cigar side and, in 2018, decided to close it down.  So that’s over a century of fine cigar making consigned to the Great Ashtray in the Sky.

What a shame….

I believe London 1666 was the best smoke ever 😂failing that my vote would be for, Sullivan Powell, straight cut Virginia Cigarettes, hand rolled in rice paper, 12/6 for a box of 25.😎

[runsgrateasanut]

On 10/30/2021 at 10:12 AM, Phil xxkr said:

Were they originally in a yellow tin? Or am I confusing it with another? 

Re-reading this thread I seem to recall they may have been Punch Cigars. Small things. Panatella's?  Can still find Punch marketed with history on the web.

[LenT]

 

2 hours ago, runsgrateasanut said:

Re-reading this thread I seem to recall they may have been Punch Cigars. Small things. Panatella's?  Can still find Punch marketed with history on the web.

These may have been the ones.  Hard to find in the UK then - and apparently now only sold in the US.  But Punch were excellent cigars - and no doubt still are.  Seriously expensive too!

I see Villager are still available, from the cut down Rio 6 version to the larger round and pressed offerings - that’s the one for people blessed with rectangular mouths, as you put it!

 

 

 

[runsgrateasanut]

and then again..............there were "Tom Thumb" titchy Cigars!  The memories keep coming back. As for Fags the only Advert that always springs to my mind is "you are never alone with a Strand" Private ***** in RainMac.  No others occupy a space in my reducing mind - thank goodness!

[LenT]

1 hour ago, runsgrateasanut said:

. As for Fags the only Advert that always springs to my mind is "you are never alone with a Strand" Private ***** in RainMac.  No others occupy a space in my reducing mind - thank goodness!

Fascinating that you should remember that.  It has gone down in Ad Biz folk lore as a hugely successful branding campaign that was a disaster in terms of sales!

This article outlines why.  If you get a Subscription Panel first, just click the cross in the top right corner to reveal the article.

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/history-advertising-18-strand-cigarettes/1074298

[runsgrateasanut]

Yes, I remember reading that it was a flop saleswise. As I was at an impressionable age -13 it seemed to be interesting and reminded me of my Grumpy old Uncle who used to wear a Mac and a Trilby and never smiled but complained in the presence of his Mother that he didn't want her Mutton and Soggy old Cabbage for lunch.  A bit of a scary character I used to think at the time. 

[superatticman]

I'd say there's definitely a link between cigars and GS/EX/LS ownership especially!! Or maybe I'm getting a bit confused with pipe and slippers?!

Do confess I occasionally smoke a big Cuban such as a Romeo and Juliet no 1. They aren't cheap but that's just as well really as they aren't exactly great for you. Especially enjoyable with a peaty whiskey. Only started this a couple of years ago and never smoked before.

 

[Malc]

On 5/13/2022 at 10:36 PM, superatticman said:

with a peaty whiskey

I've not had an Irish one but I did buy a Scottish whisky that was very peaty ........  when I visited their distillery a long time back .........  Talisker it was 

Much prefer the less peaty varieties to be sure

And i am a very rare cigar smoker .....  

Malc

[LenT]

5 hours ago, Malc said:

I've not had an Irish one but I did buy a Scottish whisky that was very peaty ........  when I visited their distillery a long time back .........  Talisker it was 

Much prefer the less peaty varieties to be sure

And i am a very rare cigar smoker .....  

Malc

That would have been a very memorable trip to Skye, I imagine. It’s a very fine whisky!

One of my clients was Johnnie Walker.  This too entailed the occasional quality control check to their various distilleries located in scenic parts of Scotland - and the blending plant in the somewhat less so area of Kilmarnock!