Report From RTDA Day One

Just arrived and while the show does not officially begin until tomorrow, I spent some time snooping around the show. Lots of new stuff from Gurkha including the "Beaty" which is to be the counterpart to the "Beast" that debuted last year. I have a sample and will report on the taste soon. It is supposedly medium bodied with an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper. Also exciting is the old blend and wrapper they used for the Pre Embargo which was an old time favorite. They are reblending the cigar to match the taste without any preembargo tobacco. It has a 10 year old Dominican Sun Gorwn wrapper and looks good enough to eat.

That is the extent of my visits. Nothing new from Graycliff except for a few secret blends. EO brands (makers of REO and VIBE) have a new cigar made by Pepin Garcia (maker of Tatuaje and one of my favorite factories at the moment). This cigar has a ton of buzz and I intend on grabbing a sample first thing in the morning and reporting on it asap.

Tonight General cigar is hosting the release party for the Partagas 160 at Rain at the Palms. Each attendee is getting a sample of the new 160. While it has not been officially announced, I was told that the 160 actually has some of the tobacco that they used in the 150 ten years ago. This should be exciting. Day two update to follow tomorrow.

You may want to check on their ability to order the 150. The cigar has not been made or sold at wholesale in 10 years so anything you find now usually comes from private collectors but I have heard of a few loose boxes floating around. I have smoked the 150 and can honestly say that I dont think it is that special. I am going to smoke the 160 in about an hour and let you know what I think. Since the 160 is made with some of the 150 tobacco, I would say if you are going to buy one or the other, I would go with the 160 since it will be more reasonable. But my gut tells me that neither are probably worth the money.

On a side note, the ESG wont be released for another two weeks and the first nationwide shipment is less than 200 boxes. I was at the davidoff shop here in town and they got three advance boxes. They were 39.00 each and I had to pass thinking I could wait until the release.