What a bummer. The New York Knicks have failed to match Houston’s bid for their senior player Jeremy Lin. Houston made the star a 25 million dollar offer for a three-year contract.
He probably grew up thinking he needed a degree from Harvard to make that kind of money!
Anyway, this has Knick’s fans up in arms and is being hailed as owner Dolan’s crowning failure in a not-so-hot career of team strategery.
A few months back we released this question for debate from our readers. So far, it looks like the general consensus is that Cuban cigars are indeed overrated. But the margin on the votes is not incredibly large. Cast your vote and tell us why you do or don’t think Cubans are overrated.
This summer while searching for a good haircut, I ended up in the most unusual place for such a thing, Cigar Inn! For a limited time, a fashionable master barber named Oscar Maya offered a not-to-be-missed summer deal: haircut, neck shave, and massage for $30. The barbershop chairs serve a dual purpose, extra chairs on busy Cigar Inn evenings and chairs for a shave and hair cut a la Oscar Maya. Oscar, who says he has been barbering for most of his life, adds additional “style” to Cigar Inn. Gentlemen now have no reason to leave the plush lounge of Cigar Inn to be styled. Rather, bring a bottle and enjoy a cigar all in the same place.
I felt confident and assured with Oscar once I sat down in the soft brown leather chair. He asked me how I wanted to style my hair and he gave me the classic tapered haircut allowing me to style it different ways. From then on, he did his art and conversed, and it was a treat.
While Maya began cutting my hair with large barber scissors, he changed to shorter scissors for styling. He styled my hair quickly and precisely. While he was cutting my hair, I noticed there was an ashtray, to enjoy a cigar, while having a haircut. Oscar trimmed my hair, we conversed about life, and he initiated small talk that is a necessary skill. Maya passed this part with high marks.
Next, he proceeded to shave my neck with a razor. Maya used all the angles of the straight razor for a closer shave. He shaved my neck at a nice pace then applied a little shaving cream to get a closer neck shave with the straight razor. I could feel him using all the parts of the blade on my neck for a clean shave.
After the neck shave, Maya gave me a neck and face massage. He put an electronic massage tool on his left hand and his right hand followed the movement. This was amazing; the massage relaxed my facial and neck muscles easing the tension from the past months.
I was now done with the summer deal I had purchased and I was very pleased with the result. Maya is enjoyable to talk with, a fine conversationalist, snazzy dresser, and a fantastic barber. I highly recommend Oscar Maya the next time you need a haircut. Schedule at Maya’s website hairdoneright.com and check out this video for an idea of his work, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVMEs89MULg&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1.
Oscar Maya recently began working at a hair salon located on 123 5th Avenue between 19th and 20th Street. You can still expect a great haircut but now instead of cigars, there are “pretty blonds and brunettes” in the store. I encourage you the next time you need a hair cut stop by Capelli D’oro, http://www.capellidoro.com/, to let Oscar style your hair and you can call Maya at (646) 789-2528.
Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight I enjoy a CAO MX2 while bathing under the
street lights. After much time this stick is given a frolic welcoming. Right away,
I must confess this is my favorite of the CAO “Trifecta” the other two of which have been
previously reviewed here(CX2 and LX2). In continuation with the "X2" theme, this particular
stick was named after the double maduro leaf found in the wrapper as well as the binder.
Blend Specifics:
Vitola: Toro (6 x 54)
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro,
Binder:Brazilian Maduro
Filler:long-fillers from Nicaragua, Honduras, Peru, and the
Dominican Republic
Appearance and Construction
This cigar has a blatant dark wrapper that feels very toothy to
the touch, with two very noticeable veins running the full length of the
cigar which I found personally obtrusive. The color on this stick was
somewhat spotty and appeared dirty. Although, the pre-light smell was
pleasant the cigar is not very appealing to the eye and a little further
gaze revealed the cigar to be somewhat crooked.The Band looks very different
than that of the LX2 but some what resembles the CX2 without the curves. With
clean lines and its sophisticated look it has a subtle elegance and maturity
that I think is perfectly understated however, it does somewhat resemble the
iconic cat burglar mask. Accordingly, I chuckled and proceeded to cut and
light.
Taste & Smoking Characteristics
Delicately holding with one hand and a quick snip with the other....
easy straight cut. Test the pre-light draw(perfect). Pulled out my Xikar
EX lighter and began toasting while rotating the cigar to achieve that
perfect red ring. A sequence that has been practiced often and perfected
over the years. First taste profile that comes to mind is expresso coffee
just like mama makes the old fashion way with the strainer. Shortly after
the spice starts to linger in the background and remains there. As I
continued to puff away the short spice and woody finish continued and I
tasted what I though was very much like toffee like someone was playing
with an off/on switch.
Visually, the ash revealed to be a beautiful light grey and tight.
The burn in general was flawless. I should mention that this stick has been
in my humidor for over 7 months.
By the end of the first third I had a sudden craving for a dark
stout beer so, I picked up a Guinness (all I could find). The pairing
really brought out the coffee in the stout and I thought paired pretty well.
Something I picked up on about the beginning of the second third was
a faint taste of mesquite, BBQ or perhaps Beef Jerky. It was so weak it could
have been provoked by anything. As I continued the flavors was white pepper and
wood, spice and BBQ became more pronounced in the finish. The ash finally lost
its grip and fell about halfway through the second.
By the last third the excitement went away and the stick became pretty
dull. I even got a little unpleasant taste which I can almost bet it was the
Dominican tobacco stopping by to say hello. By that time, I was ready to say
goodbye and chucked it in my good ole coffee can that William J. Dawson would
call “My Bin of Mortality”.
Conclusion
In general, I was hoping the first third wouldn’t end. That being said,
this stick is fairly popular and I recommend picking one up to try even if for
only the first third or if you like a full body full flavor stick. Cheers!
Final Grade; B
Hey everyone – looks like I’ll be a contributor to FineTobaccoNYC. Glad to be involved! Glad to find some new friends, some new smokes, and read about what’s happening with tobacco in NYC.
I’m from the New York area, (grew up in New Jersey) and currently live in the East Village.
I’m an actor and a writer. You can check me out at www.GuyOlivieri.com for more details.
As for cigars! I’m a geek, so I like to keep a record of every cigar I try. I have a little book that I tape the bands into and make notes. Something like “June 13 – a Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Toro on my deck. B+ Really well made. Medium flavor, lots of smoke, great draw.”
Well, you can see I don’t know all the terms for flavors and whatnot, but I’m learning.
My go-to cigar is the Partagas La Familia Rosada. I can’t get enough of these. The flavor is medium, but with a peppery taste. Great cigar for after dinner.
I have a group of friends who meet monthly to smoke and catch up, which is my favorite appointment on my calendar. I can often be found smoking in Union Square or Stuyvesant Park on nice evenings.
Tonight I held the my summer’s first poker & cigar night, and it rocked. Friends brought cigars, drinks, other fine tobaccos, and of course, a poker set. The night was a tad chilly for a summer evening hang-out, but it worked perfectly.
On hand were a few cost-effective Mr. B cigars that I’ve seen highly recommended online for budget smoking. I smoked a JR Cigar brand alternative (Churchill) that was wonderful and complemented the night perfectly. As the night progressed, we pulled out our pipes and traded tobaccos and recommendations – I stuck with De La Concha’s “Sir Henry Morgan”, a wonderfully thick, bold English blend, and the Nat Sherman blend #314.
Another friend brought some well aged Scotch which accompanied the tobacco well and helped make the night the perfect event that it was.
Without a doubt, poker & cigar night will be a reoccuring theme of my summer as I am away from New York City. I miss the city’s lounges and excellent tobacco selection, but a summer night spent on the back patio in the company of friends just can’t be beat.
The past week has found me inundated with work from both of my jobs. The first of the two every day is a morning job managing a free lunch program at a local park, and the other is an internship at Cascade Policy Institute where I research limited government solutions to many problems that Americans face every day.
All that to say, I’ve been busy.
However, I have been working on getting the website, twitter profile, and Flickr page online and updated. I’ve also begun looking for contributors to the site. So far, I’ve heard back from a few cigar lovers in New York City, and all of them sound qualified to write for the site and help cigar lovers get connected.
For the next week or so, the main finetobacconyc updates are going to be through the twitter site (announcing new deals on cigars in the city) and new pictures uploaded to the Flickr account.
I don’t want to sound like it’s all work for me though: the 4th is coming up, and I’ve got a Romeo e Julietta Cuban waiting for me.
FineTobaccoNYC is now on Twitter! Follow us at http://twitter.com/finetobacconyc and keep an eye open for real time updates on cigar/pipe deals and events in the city!
We are also now on LinkedIn as well, though under a different name.
Fine Tobacco NYC exists as a resource to anyone unlucky enough to love fine tobacco and live in New York City. This blog will focus on providing tips and pointers to anyone interesting in enjoying cigars and other fine tobacco in New York City.
This is also a collaborative project. If you stumble onto this page and have anything that should be added to help make the experience of other afficianados living in the city better, then post a comment!
What a bummer. The New York Knicks have failed to match Houston’s bid for their senior player Jeremy Lin. Houston made the star a 25 million dollar offer for a three-year contract.
This summer while searching for a good haircut, I ended up in the most unusual place for such a thing, Cigar Inn! For a limited time, a fashionable master barber named Oscar Maya offered a not-to-be-missed summer deal: haircut, neck shave, and massage for $30. The barbershop chairs serve a dual purpose, extra chairs on busy Cigar Inn evenings and chairs for a shave and hair cut a la Oscar Maya. Oscar, who says he has been barbering for most of his life, adds additional “style” to Cigar Inn. Gentlemen now have no reason to leave the plush lounge of Cigar Inn to be styled. Rather, bring a bottle and enjoy a cigar all in the same place.
