A Contest a Day!

I have a section on my blog called "A Contest a Day, keeps the Retailer away". It's a list of the most reputable cigar contest's on the web. I enter them everyday and some every month. I have won three different contest's this year. The most recent win was in June for the Smoke Magazine reviewers contest. So I get an email from the editor stating that I won and will receive up to eight different un-banded cigar brands, three of each, for a total of 24 cigars. I had about sixteen days to smoke,review and send the results back to them by the deadline. Well, for me to review cigars is no big deal, however, I didn't find but two brands to be even worthy of a bad bundle. The two brands that I did enjoy were at best an overall 89 rating. Why were the other brands so bad, I just don't know, but what the couple of weeks of reviewing these cigars did do, was improve and elevate my reviewing skills. Yes, to review only great and even fantastic cigars would have been ideal, but to review mainly nasty cigars did give me a much needed appreciation for fine quality cigars. I only purchase premium cigars and now believe that somehow, somewhere down the road I had taken the fine art of cigar crafting for granted. I will continue to review good, bad or indifferent cigars, because the industry needs qualified cigar smokers to inform them on how well or bad their product is before it hits the market. If you entertain a good challenge now and then, enter "Smoke Magazine's Review Contest" on my blog.

I just received the much anticipated 92 rated, Quintero Cigars by/from Altadis USA. More on that in next weeks post.

Smoke well today, for there is only one today and tomorrow comes fast.

Vinvango