Stick Men: Episode Sixteen + Bonus Content "Do cigar reviews REALLY matter"

SM:16

Fridays are for Stick Men. Sorry.

Tony: Pier 28 Maduro
Kap: House of Chalicegod 13th (black)

What a fucking show!

• Barbara Bush, dead
• Dear Abby, fixed
• Starbucks, racist
• Cigar n00b advice
• To nub or not to nub?
• Vigilantism
• Big Foot's dick

Email us questions/comments/concerns: StickMen@post.com

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BONUS CONTENT
"Do cigar reviews REALLY matter"

I wrote the below in form of a comment in the Kaplowitz Media Group on Facebook. Said comment was in response to a link therein placed by the author of a blog post. This blog post: Do cigar reviews REALLY matter? Go give it a read and then come back to peruse my reply, which again, below. [unedited]

If this entry is to be filed under your blog's subtitle of "essays," it's a miss. You danced around pitching in yer $0.02. Instead, you copied & pasted the incomplete thoughts of folks not paid to think... or at least not knowing they were supposed to punch in before commenting.

Also, from what I read, it strikes me a lot like no one owning up to shopping at Walmart but their parking lot's always busy whenever I go. I know readers when I sees 'em. I'm not claiming them, mind you, it's just you know they're familiar with reviews via their jargon. What'd Yogi say, "No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded." Fucking imbecile.

All that said, I write a different type of review than what typically gets hammered in these think tanks. There are a great many of my fellow reviewers who crack me up with their tasting notes. I in turn crack myself up when I poke fun of them in my own write-ups... So everyone go now to www.Kaplowitz.xyz

& Paul Schuett, what do you think? Are publishers really that off the mark?

A thought on reviews. What is mandatory info? My bid is Flavor/Body/Strength. Combustion/Construction. Notes kept to primary tastes, avoiding food stuffs. I am forced to include food stuffs, however. Why? Readers demand it. End of the day, smoke what you like and keep trying different things until you know what that is.

But also, read me daily and support all my kind sponsors.

Are reviews necessary, tho? Info is never a bad thing unless it's bad info. Find a reviewer you trust, one who has a similar palate to your own, then contribute to their PayPal. www.paypal.me/Kaplowitz thx.

Pier 28 Maduro by Espinosa Cigars - Cigar Review by Kaplowitz

"Why not Kaplowitz?"

Pier 28 Maduro

WRAPPER: Mexican San Andres
BINDER: Nicaraguan
FILLER: Nicaraguan

STRENGTH: Medium (billed as M/F)
FORMAT: ("Super") Toro 656
ORIGIN: La Zona Factory, Nicaragua

Dark but not somber overtones of a roasted bittersweet varietal. Pepper-spice is a rather simplistic bit which cycles up&down hither&thither throughout the profile. Not much by way of sour entrants and lesser in terms of savoriness, which is led along by a toasted salted note. Not too terribly balanced and rather lacking in complexities. Very straight-forward. Nuance is lacking as well, in a failure to "stick to the ribs" manner and entrench itself in the palate. Medium. 

• Chocolate, semi-sweet
• Pepper, black
• Maple Syrup (slight char)
• Coffee
• Sugar, brown
• Fruit, red/purple juice
• Compost

Softly fluid delivery to the ol' smoke-hole but not spitty. Cool temp'd. Falls short of the richness it seems to attempt. Medium bodied. Strength is a mild-medium. 

Combustion combusts perfectly -- for all intents and purposes. A slightest of maybe not even bugaboo is a tick of blistering at char-line in the 2/3. Excellent pacing. Great smoke out-put both passive and active. Ash builds solidly, easily to an inch+ before I roll it off. Construction is constructed nigh equally as well as combustion combusts. No hard/soft spots. Shoulder stays firm and cool gate-to-wire. The draw is an even medium tension throughout. Really one of the finer-rolled Espinosa offerings I recall.

PRESS:
"Pier 28 Cigars is the brand owned by Espinosa West Coast Sales Manager Tim Wong. Last year at the Trade Show, he launched his first cigar, the Pier 28 Habano. This year, he returned with his second line, the Pier 28 Maduro.

Pier 28 Cigars are produced at Erik Espinosa’s La Zona factory in Estelí, Nicaragua. It is sold primarily in Wong’s territory and is also available at Espinosa Cigar lounges." - Cigar Coop

"As you might recall from last year’s show, Tim Wong debuted his Pier 28 line of cigars. Shortly after the show as part of the pre-FDA release deadline rush, he announced several extensions to the line that would be available in limited quantities. This year, he showed off the second line, the Pier 28 Maduro, as it is ready for widespread release." - Halfwheel

"Until recently, Pier 28 was only sold in the western territories of Tim Wong, an independent sales rep. Pier 28 launched nationally after IPCPR 2017 and is now available in both an[sic] Habano and Maduro." - Small Batch Cigar

FINAL GRADE: B
A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

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