The Aspiring Gentleman

Cigars in History — 1970-1989

Luke — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:30:37 +0000

Continuing along our Cigars in History series (via images from the Life Archive), we now cover 1970-1989, the years of Life Archive’s reduction from a weekly to a monthly magazine. If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them here:

Whisky in History — Circa 1900
Whisky in History — 1901-1919
Whisky in History — 1920-1929
Whisky in History — 1930-1939
Whisky in History — 1940-1944
Whisky in History — 1945-1949
Whisky in History — 1950-1959
Whisky in History — 1960 onwards

Cigars in History — Circa 1900
Cigars in History — 1901-1919
Cigars in History — 1920-1929
Cigars in History — 1930-1939
Cigars in History — 1940-1944
Cigars in History — 1945-1949
Cigars in History — 1950-1959
Cigars in History — 1960-1969

Don Pepin Garcia JJ Maduro, for JJ

James — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:48:33 +0000

To Celebrate the life of little “JJ”, who passed away suddenly almost 3 years ago, I joined many others who follow Stogie Review and lit up a Don Pepin Garcia JJ yesterday. I had picked up the Maduro Sublime, which is a Toro at a full 6 inches and 54 ring guage. This cigar is wonderful to look at, touch and smell before smoking. The wrapper is shiny, dark and smells quite sweet and rich. The cigar feels perfectly constructed all the way down it’s length, without any noticeable lumps or veins.

Origin: Nicaragua

Build: Nicaraguan binder and filler with Maduro Corojo

Format: Toro

Size: 6″ x 54

Price: $9

This Toro pulled pretty loose, but resisted burning too fast, giving sweet mellow flavours of brown sugar and coffee. It gave off less smoke volume than I was expecting, but the smoke had a wonderful smell to it. Sometimes when I walk in a public place and catch the faint sweet whiff of a cigar, that is how I would describe the smell. As the cigar progressed past the half way mark there was a little area of slow burning, but after that the cigar started developing some wonderful richness and spice, becoming more chewy in flavour and reminding me of eating fresh baking. I started getting a little head rush just into the final 3rd and I finally put the nub to rest after just over an hour of great smoking.

Having entered the phase in my life where it seems most of my close friends and family are now married, and having children, I had lots to reflect upon while getting through this smoke. We’re thinking of you, Don, on this difficult day. Here’s to the small pleasures, and sorrows, that we share with those we love.

Cigar Ads by Key Concept

Luke — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:28:16 +0000

As we recently posted, Cigars in Review magazine has recently premiered, for which The Aspiring Gentleman’s ad was created by Katie of Key Concept Designs. We were super happy with the results, as were the other clients for whom she designed ads. She sent along these ads (or proofs thereof) for my thoughts, and I’m posting them here for your enjoyment. If you run a cigar company or website, and want some quality ads or other materials designed, I highly recommend Key Concept for your design work.

Smoke a JJ for JJ

Luke — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:49:28 +0000

If you follow the cigar blogging world, you’re probably aware that this Thursday, July 22nd, is the 3rd annual “Smoke a JJ for JJ” day. Join Jerry Cruz (of StogieReview.com) in lighting up a Don Pepin Garcia JJ series in memory of Jerry’s son JJ, who passed away from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome 3 years ago.

I made a trip down to my local B&M last week to grab a DPG JJ (pictured), which I’ll be smoking on Thursday. Also, Barry at acigarsmoker.com is generously donating $20 to the American SIDS Institute for every person who emails him (barry at acigarsmoker.com) a photo of themselves smoking a JJ (up to $500). Don’t forget to pull out the camera in support of this great cause.

Cigars in History — 1960-1969

Luke — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:13:36 +0000

Continuing along our Cigars in History series (via images from the Life Archive), we now cover 1960-1969, including JFK. If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them here:

Whisky in History — 1960 onwards

Luke — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 13:24:47 +0000

Continuing along our Whisky in History series (via images from the Life Archive), we now cover 1960 onwards. In 1972, Life become a monthly rather than a weekly publication, hence the reduced number of images. If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them here:

PIO Resurrection Toro

Luke — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:35:16 +0000

PIO Cigars (previously PIO VI Cigars), a small boutique brand based out of Miami, has recently released the Resurrection — purportedly limited to 500 boxes in 100 brick and mortar stores. Made in little Havana, Miami, the cigars feature Equadorian, Dominican, and Nicaraguan fillers, Ecuador binder, and a Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper. Thanks to Jarrod from Tex Cigars for sending me this stick.

At first glance, the cigar had a rugged, splotchy matte appearance, with veins featuring prominently and the foot a little bit abused. That said, the cigar felt nice and firm, with no lumps or soft spots, and the prelight aroma was very floral. The cigar lit easily, and burned consistently and smoothly throughout its duration.

Between draws the cigar continues to smoke considerably, filling the air with a peppery and earthy aromatic smoke. I would call the cigar medium-bodied, with no noticeable nicotine buzz. The smoke is chalky with bitter overtones, leaving the mouth considerably dry.

The cigar stood out as having a strong, white ash, with a dry bitter flavor profile. All in all, for $8 a stick, I would probably buy a couple more if given the chance. PIO was off the market between 2002 and 2007 due to a legal battle, so now that they’re back, don’t hesitate to try them out. They may be hard to find in your local store, so try online for your best luck.

Bluebeards Revenge Contest Giveaway

Luke — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:36:15 +0000

We at The Aspiring Gentleman are proud to feature another wet-shaving giveaway contest. Bluebeards Revenge, the latest product from the guys at The Shaving Shack (who are generously supporting this contest), is a unique shaving cream designed for men with tough stubble as it contains a novel topical compound called Decelerine™, which inhibits actively growing hair follicles, decreasing the length and density of unwanted hair.

We’re actually giving away 3 tubs of Bluebeards Revenge in three separate mini-contests. We’ll be randomly selecting one winner from the entrants of each mini-contest. Enter one or all three, it’s up to you. Contest open to all locations and ages. One entry per mini-contest. Here they are:

Mini-contest 1: Comment on this post.

Mini-contest 2: Follow us on Facebook. Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/AspiringGentleman.

Mini-contest 3: Retweet the tweet “New Post: Bluebeards Revenge Contest Giveaway http://goo.gl/fb/EjqfN”. Our twitter id is @AspiringGent.

Good luck everyone! Contest ends July 31. Bluebeards Revenge is only available through The Shaving Shack, so if you’re not one of the lucky contest winners, head over there to grab yourself a tub.

Cigars in History — 1950-1959

Luke — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:31:34 +0000

Continuing along our Cigars in History series (via images from the Life Archive), we now cover 1950-1959 — the Cuban Revolution. If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them here:

Cigars in History — Circa 1900
Cigars in History — 1901-1919
Cigars in History — 1920-1929
Cigars in History — 1930-1939
Cigars in History — 1940-1944
Cigars in History — 1945-1949

Whisky in History — 1950-1959

Luke — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 13:28:43 +0000

Continuing along our Whisky in History series (via images from the Life Archive), we now cover 1950-1959. If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them here:

Whisky in History — Circa 1900
Whisky in History — 1901-1919
Whisky in History — 1920-1929
Whisky in History — 1930-1939
Whisky in History — 1940-1944
Whisky in History — 1945-1949

Cigars in History — Circa 1900
Cigars in History — 1901-1919
Cigars in History — 1920-1929
Cigars in History — 1930-1939
Cigars in History — 1940-1944
Cigars in History — 1945-1949