Xikar MTX Multi-Tool

I saw one of these on a fellow BOTL's Instagram feed for the first time several months back and thought it looked pretty sweet. I have been on the search for the perfect cigar scissor with very little luck. I have been using a pair of Visol scissors but they have some age on them and just don't make as good of a cut as they used to. It's not that the Visol scissors are getting dull because I have sharpened them, they are getting some play in the joint that I can't seem to eliminate. I marinated the idea of getting the MTX for awhile before actually ordering one. I couldn't decide on a color since they come in bead blast, chrome, black, and gold. I finally broke down and ordered the bead blast finish. I expected it to be a bit larger that it is but that's not a bad thing at all. The Xikar site says they can handle up to a 54 ring gauge cigar and I rarely go with anything larger than that unless it's a 60 by Sosa. I received them in the mail last week and have decapitated about half a dozen cigars with them so far with excellent results. It fold up for convenient pocket carry and upon registering it online (or by snail mail) Xikar will send you a leather pouch to store them in. I haven't received the pouch yet but I registered them last night so that it should ship out soon. They carry the Xikar lifetime warranty so you can have confidence that if it fails to function they will fix it. Of the cutters I own this was the sharpest out of the box and I don't see me needing to address sharpening for quite some time. They feature a small cigar poker, a cigar box opener, bottle opener, and a small screwdriver. I read on one review that the screwdriver didn't fit the adjustment screw on most torches, It has fit every torch I have with a little finesse. At .2 inches thick and weighing in at a mere ounce it is super convenient for pocket carry or to carry on a keychain with the provided keychain ring. My only regret about ordering the MTX was that I didn't do it sooner. If you are in the market for a cigar cutter and want a perfect cut in a super convenient size, don't delay in ordering one of these. This is probably the best cigar accessory purchase I've made this year. Now I want to get a double guillotine cutter and a torch to go with the MTX, so it's back to trying to decide on which ones. They have a rather impressive selection to choose from and all are backed by their lifetime warranty.

 

 

Whitetail Glasstop humidor

I ran across a deal I coudn't pass up on CigarsInternational.com. It was for a whitetail glasstop humidor and 10 sticks for the "no freakin way" price of 29.99. That is below the regular price of the humidor alone, so I jumped at it. I received it in the mail 3 or 4 days after ordering and immediately seasoned the humidor. I also grabbed a ziplock bag and calibrated the hygrometer using the salt method. I left it to do it's thing and after returning home from work the next day it was ready to go. I left a already calibrated hygrometer in the hole while seasoning to be sure of when the RH stabilized inside. I used a crystal jar humidifier and a shotglass of distilled water to season it overnight. Some might say that is overkill but if the box was thirsty I wanted it to be able to get plenty to drink. I stuffed 50 cigars in it and waited to see if the RH would hold. 9 days later I can report it's holding at 69-70%, when I can stay out of it. It came with a divider which is my only gripe about the box. I wanted to place the divider in the middle but due to the protruding hygrometer it has to be placed just to the left or right of the unit. I know that's no big deal but it bugs me just a tad. Other than that one thing, I have no complaints. I bought cigars and the box was pretty much a freebie. I now have one more humi to add to Mount Humidor and it does it's job of protecting my sticks. Even at full price this box is worth it, in my opinion. I should mention it came with the metal ring hygrometer and a floral foam type humidifier element, which I replaced with a CI bead type element and threw the foam one in a drawer. The bead type requires less babysitting and to me just works better. The normal retail price on this box is 39.99 from Cigars International and very much worth that. It looks good, holds humidity, and I can peek in on my smokes without messing without opening the box.