I posted this in our little pipe group at Cigar Family and thought I'd share here. Primarily to give a shout out to the Apex, NC Cigar and PIpe Lounge. A little background to fill in some gaps, I don't care much for and rarely smoke aromatics.
Left Thursday morning from home in Indiana with my oldest Granddaughter in tow along with their dog Lucky. Turned a 7 1/2 hour trip into 10 hours but since I won't see her until Christmas, I was fine with that.
Friday meeting with the team in the Birmingham/Trussville office. Friday afternoon smoking at Cigars & More in Mountain Brook on 280. Not much to offer in pipe tobacco but I did purchase a handful of high end cigars. Smoked the latest Tat TAA. Pretty good but that Mexican wrapper adds spice and dominates the flavor a bit more than I care for. I've heard other people love it.
Friday evening Christmas Dinner with the team, my Son and Lana attended as well at The Fish Market. Really enjoyable, food and service were superb. Took off driving for Raleigh after dinner on the way to the next stop, our Raleigh office. Pulled into Spartanburg, SC about 2:30 AM.
Went to the Cigar Lounge in Apex, NC for the first time. Very pleasant surprise. Very nice lounge with approximately 15 to 20 nice leather chairs and 4 big screens. Well stocked humidor. Not a huge amount or selection of pipe tobacco but what they had was well chosen. Just to name a few, Astley's No 44 and 109, Escudo, Pembroke and Margate, 25 of the more popular GLP and C&D blends, some Wessex and a few others. I bought some cigars, a Padron Exclusivo and the same size in the 1926. Honestly, I think I like the Exclusivo better, had a bit more spice. 1926 was so smooth it was a bit boring.
Also bought, to try, C&D Corn Cob Pipe, Autumn Evening and Seersucker. I see Andy smokes Seersucker rather often so I figured I would likely hate it. LOL Autumn Evening and Corn Cob Pipe are aros. I rather enjoyed both of them. I still tasted tobacco with CCP and liked the flavors of the topping. The toppings dominated Autumn Evening but I liked the flavors and it is a mild, easy smoke. I think I'd like it better if they left out the rum. Maple is the dominant flavor which I enjoy.
Surprise, surprise! I liked Seersucker. That is a rather masterful blend. Rich, complex and very cool and smooth smoking. I didn't detect a huge nic hit but rather full bodied and relatively strong flavor. Must have been a blind squirrel thing with Andy.
Anyway, watched the football games and hung out Saturday afternoon and evening.
More hanging out at the Cigar Lounge Sunday early afternoon. The local Raleigh pipe club came in shortly before I left. I bought a tin of Rattray's Old Gowrie and Hal O' The Wynd that were over 10 years old from a guy. Met high end pipe carver David Huber, a local. Very nice young man. As one would expect, a bunch of friendly good guys. I left them with a generous samples of Ascanian and an ounce or two of Off The Rails to share among the group.
Met a new hire for a couple of hours to set up their laptop and mobile devices with company software. Then off to our Raleigh Christmas Dinner at Sullivans. I've never been dissatisfied with Sullivans but often not blown away either. The meal and service last night were phenomenal and memorable. I had Wagyu Strip that was off the charts. It was a proper celebration for what has been a fantastic year for the Raleigh Team.
Took off for Indiana with the goal of making it to Charleston, WV (half way point). Almost no traffic, made great time. Smoked a nice Davidoff Nic immediately upon leaving dinner. Listened to an Audible Book Shining City by Tom Rosenstiel which started a bit slow and confusing but evolved into a fantastic book. Was puffing pipe, really enjoying the book and eating up miles. I decided my new objective was Maysville, KY which would leave less than a 3 hour drive today.
Pulled into the first hotel I saw in Maysville, a Quality Inn around 2:00 AM. I was exhausted. I think Ric Webster's 3rd cousin who was the third generation of brother-sister, father-daughter couplings was working the front desk. After 20 minutes of watching her fumbling with the computer (no joke, no exaggeration) I finally got a key but she said I'd have to bring my card into pay in the morning as she couldn't get it to work.
Got to the room, unpacked, brushed my teeth, undressed and was ready to collapse into bed when the phone rang. Front Desk Barbie now wanted me to give her my credit card info over the phone. NO Okay, you need to come to the front desk. NO. I explained if I got dressed again, I was packing and leaving. I ended up doing that. Pulled across the street to a Speedway, loaded up a X Large Coffee and hit the road. More pipe, I believe it was a bowl of Capstan Blue.
I am a bit proud of myself for never losing my temper or using profanity during all the fumbling and screw ups. 20 years ago, I would have been tempted to end that tainted and phukked up DNA pool.
Pulled into home at 6:10 AM this morning. Grabbed suitcase and backpack from the car, brushed teeth and collapsed into the bed until 11:30 AM. I found boxes from David's Tea, Watch City and Peretti's as well as the Rad Davis I bought on eBay for $100. Definitely one of Rad's earlier efforts, however, the briar is quite nice and much nicer than it appeared in the photo. Stem is badly oxidized but shouldn't be too difficult to clean up. I feel blessed that I had such a great trip and drove close to 2,000 miles without incident. Happy to be home!
Left Thursday morning from home in Indiana with my oldest Granddaughter in tow along with their dog Lucky. Turned a 7 1/2 hour trip into 10 hours but since I won't see her until Christmas, I was fine with that.
Friday meeting with the team in the Birmingham/Trussville office. Friday afternoon smoking at Cigars & More in Mountain Brook on 280. Not much to offer in pipe tobacco but I did purchase a handful of high end cigars. Smoked the latest Tat TAA. Pretty good but that Mexican wrapper adds spice and dominates the flavor a bit more than I care for. I've heard other people love it.
Friday evening Christmas Dinner with the team, my Son and Lana attended as well at The Fish Market. Really enjoyable, food and service were superb. Took off driving for Raleigh after dinner on the way to the next stop, our Raleigh office. Pulled into Spartanburg, SC about 2:30 AM.
Went to the Cigar Lounge in Apex, NC for the first time. Very pleasant surprise. Very nice lounge with approximately 15 to 20 nice leather chairs and 4 big screens. Well stocked humidor. Not a huge amount or selection of pipe tobacco but what they had was well chosen. Just to name a few, Astley's No 44 and 109, Escudo, Pembroke and Margate, 25 of the more popular GLP and C&D blends, some Wessex and a few others. I bought some cigars, a Padron Exclusivo and the same size in the 1926. Honestly, I think I like the Exclusivo better, had a bit more spice. 1926 was so smooth it was a bit boring.
Also bought, to try, C&D Corn Cob Pipe, Autumn Evening and Seersucker. I see Andy smokes Seersucker rather often so I figured I would likely hate it. LOL Autumn Evening and Corn Cob Pipe are aros. I rather enjoyed both of them. I still tasted tobacco with CCP and liked the flavors of the topping. The toppings dominated Autumn Evening but I liked the flavors and it is a mild, easy smoke. I think I'd like it better if they left out the rum. Maple is the dominant flavor which I enjoy.
Surprise, surprise! I liked Seersucker. That is a rather masterful blend. Rich, complex and very cool and smooth smoking. I didn't detect a huge nic hit but rather full bodied and relatively strong flavor. Must have been a blind squirrel thing with Andy.
More hanging out at the Cigar Lounge Sunday early afternoon. The local Raleigh pipe club came in shortly before I left. I bought a tin of Rattray's Old Gowrie and Hal O' The Wynd that were over 10 years old from a guy. Met high end pipe carver David Huber, a local. Very nice young man. As one would expect, a bunch of friendly good guys. I left them with a generous samples of Ascanian and an ounce or two of Off The Rails to share among the group.
Met a new hire for a couple of hours to set up their laptop and mobile devices with company software. Then off to our Raleigh Christmas Dinner at Sullivans. I've never been dissatisfied with Sullivans but often not blown away either. The meal and service last night were phenomenal and memorable. I had Wagyu Strip that was off the charts. It was a proper celebration for what has been a fantastic year for the Raleigh Team.
Took off for Indiana with the goal of making it to Charleston, WV (half way point). Almost no traffic, made great time. Smoked a nice Davidoff Nic immediately upon leaving dinner. Listened to an Audible Book Shining City by Tom Rosenstiel which started a bit slow and confusing but evolved into a fantastic book. Was puffing pipe, really enjoying the book and eating up miles. I decided my new objective was Maysville, KY which would leave less than a 3 hour drive today.
Pulled into the first hotel I saw in Maysville, a Quality Inn around 2:00 AM. I was exhausted. I think Ric Webster's 3rd cousin who was the third generation of brother-sister, father-daughter couplings was working the front desk. After 20 minutes of watching her fumbling with the computer (no joke, no exaggeration) I finally got a key but she said I'd have to bring my card into pay in the morning as she couldn't get it to work.
Got to the room, unpacked, brushed my teeth, undressed and was ready to collapse into bed when the phone rang. Front Desk Barbie now wanted me to give her my credit card info over the phone. NO Okay, you need to come to the front desk. NO. I explained if I got dressed again, I was packing and leaving. I ended up doing that. Pulled across the street to a Speedway, loaded up a X Large Coffee and hit the road. More pipe, I believe it was a bowl of Capstan Blue.
I am a bit proud of myself for never losing my temper or using profanity during all the fumbling and screw ups. 20 years ago, I would have been tempted to end that tainted and phukked up DNA pool.
Pulled into home at 6:10 AM this morning. Grabbed suitcase and backpack from the car, brushed teeth and collapsed into the bed until 11:30 AM. I found boxes from David's Tea, Watch City and Peretti's as well as the Rad Davis I bought on eBay for $100. Definitely one of Rad's earlier efforts, however, the briar is quite nice and much nicer than it appeared in the photo. Stem is badly oxidized but shouldn't be too difficult to clean up. I feel blessed that I had such a great trip and drove close to 2,000 miles without incident. Happy to be home!
