RIOT 55

I'm sure you've seen the post by now about my closing of the blog. Well, I was contacted by the lovely Sheryl over at StogieBoys and asked I would be willing to review their newest exclusive release. Who am I to say no to Sheryl and the fine folks at StogieBoys? So here we go without further ado, the short story behind the RIOT cigar line. The RIOT is a brand that will be exclusive to StogieBoys and is blended by none other than Master Blender Jose Dominguez himself. If you are unfamiliar with Jose, I'm almost willing to bet you have smoked a cigar at some point in time that he blended or had a hand in blending. Without listing all of his blending accomplishments, let's just say the man knows his tobacco. The RIOT is available in 3 sizes: the 45(figurado), the 55(robusto), and the 65(toro). Each of the size offerings are mad of the same Dominican tobaccos wrapped in a dark chocolate brown maduro wrapper. What makes the RIOT so unique is the chisel tip at the foot. This allows the cap to opened with just a squeeze and eliminates the need for a cutter to enjoy the cigar. The band has RIOT across the front in red letters but the i has been replaced with a Molotov cocktail. The words at the bottom are somewhat inspirational. The band reads "The successes of a man is his riot against mediocrity".  Now to the nitty gritty, let's see how it smokes. I have to admit I have smoked more than one, so I already know how this is going to end muahahaha. 

Before lighting I addressed the cigar and found a rather rustic chocolate brown wrapper with visible but smooth veins. The body of the cigar was pretty firm but with some give, I would say it falls right in between spongy and rock-solid. With that said, I'm anticipating a quicker burn than some cigars but it shouldn't burn hot or have a wild burn line. The body of the cigar offered notes of sweet field grass and the foot offered notes of cocoa with a mild sweetness. I squeezed the chisel cap and it opened perfectly, allowing me to test the cold draw. I found the cold draw to be a bit on the tight side and offering notes of cocoa with a hint of molasses. I used my handy Bugatti torch to get things toasted up and smoking with no problems. 

The initial third opens with a ton of flavor, the most notable being toasted nuts. The finish is long and nutty and there is a nice amount of spice on the retrohale but note nought to be unpleasant. Around 1/2 of an inch into the burn the spice has calmed some and the flavors are that starting to define themselves. The toasted but flavors are gaining some depth as they are joined by a oaken woodiness. The finish has found a peppery tingle that lingers on the palate that wasn't present at the time of lighting. 

As I enter the second third the toasted nut flavors are still going strong as the woody notes are moving into the background. There are some coffee notes beginning to emerge and a very faint hint of dark chocolate that pops in every now and then. The sweetness of the maduro wrapper is also starting to make itself known. So far the burn has only required now small correction and body has been consistently medium-full. There has not been any harshness, in fact it's really mellowing out for the finish.

The final third didn't see any new flavors. The complexity of this stick comes from the depth and presentation of the flavors and not so much from the amount of flavor transition throughout the burn. I don't mind a cigar being one dimensional as long as it's a good dimension. One of my favorite lighter cigars, the perdomo champagne, is fairly one dimensions but is an excellent smoke. I would put the construction and flavors on par with some cigars I have had that are double and even triple the price point of the RIOT cigar. I can only imagine what some aging would do for this already good cigar. I may just have to grab a box and age the for a bit just to see. Final verdict is that RIOT cigars are a hit and a great value smoke. StogieBoys has these for around 4 bucks per stick and I would say they are well worth that and more. Thanks to StogieBoys and Sheryl for sending these samples for review, they are quite tasty.

It's a hard decision...

Well to those who have stuck around and read my blog, I'm afraid I have some bad news. With the birth of my daughter last august I have found very little time for cigars. I have thought about it long and hard and tried to figure out how to get more than 24 hours out of a day. The answer is, you simply cannot. I will not be taking the cigar blog down but will, most likely, not be adding new content. I simply cannot find 1.5+ hours to devote to a cigar and give fair judgement of it's flavors and performance. I extend a hearty thank you to those who have supported me on my blogging journey. I will be starting a vaping blog soon since I can vape indoors and I'm not dedicated to it until the tank is empty. 

Vapes Gone Wild

The vaping revolution has made a believer out of me, I have found it very enjoyable to be honest. I have tried a variety of e-juices and been in numerous vape shops and have finally found perfection. If you vape or you're interested in vaping you should check out vapesgonewild.com or even better stop by if you're in Newnan or Lagrange Georgia. I have loved every juice I have tried from them and their prices and staff are second to none. The knowledgable staff will answer any questions you may have and offer suggestions on flavors or gear if you need help making a decision. Below are the juices I have tried so far and a brief description of each. I will be adding to the list as I get more of their juice. They are superb and mixed when you order so you won't get a premixed juice that has been sitting on a shelf for God only knows how long. Because of this fact some of the juices will need to rest, similar to receiving your favorite cigars right off the truck. I should note for those who don't know, throat hit is created by the percentage of pg and the nicotine level. I vape 70%PG 30%VG and have stepped down recently to 16mg of nicotine. So if the throat hit makes you choke, you can always adjust your PG/VG percentage to include more VG. 

RY4 is my favorite "tobacco" flavored juice and vapes gone wild has the best I have tried to date. It offers notes of caramel and vanilla tobacco with a smooth mild sweetness. On ocassion notes of brown sugar pop onto the palate. It has just enough throat hit to keep it interesting but is ultra smooth and flavorful.

Zombie Brains is my favorite of the fruit flavors. Not only does it have a wicked sweet name but it has a wicked good flavor as well. The best I can describe it is as a tart fruit punch. It isn't really sour, just a touch tart but with a sweetness to help round it out. If this is really what zombie brains taste like, I can't wait for the zombie apocalypse. It has a mild throat hit but would provide enough to prevent going back to analogs for the throat hit feeling.

Dragon spit is another hit for me. It is a mildly sweet dragon fruit flavored e-juice with a mild throat hit and tone of good dragon flavor. It's easy to see why dragons are not easy to find, they are hoarded by those who have them for their delicious spit to make this stuff.

Dewey is a Mountain Dew flavored juice and it tastes EXACTLY like Mt. Dew. I grabbed this as the flavor of the week so it was half priced, that's right the flavor of the week is half price on any size bottle. I just tasted it and went online to order another bottle. 

Vapes gone wild is an hour and half drive for me to visit from the area I live in but it is well worth the drive. I have drove up for all my juices from them so far and this was my first mail order. The atmosphere makes the hour and a half drive well worth it to me, when I have time to make the drive. So if you're in their neck of the woods, stop by and give them a shout. If the drive is just too much, their online ordering is super simple and easy to use. Check them out at www.vapesgonewild.com or stop by one of their retail locations in Georgia. 

KangerTech evod started kit

 

I'm finally getting a chance to sit down and write a review on some of the vape gear, or e-cigs, I have been using. If you heard about the tornados that ripped through Alabama, the EF3 was less than 10 miles from my house. With that said, I have a decent excuse for being off the radar for awhile. I have been using the KangerTech evod kit for over a month now and I'm pretty proud to report that I have not touched smokeless tobacco since then. This is a pretty basic starter kit but is perfect for getting started into the world of vaping. The kit consists of 2 650 mah batteries, 2 evod clearomizers, a USB charger with plug, and 5 spare coil heads. There is a coil head already installed to each clearomizer bringing the coil head total to 7. I have been cleaning my coil heads in scalding hot water from my keurig machine after every couple of tanks, this seems to extend the life of the coil and wick a good bit. I have taught myself how to rebuild the coils so I can keep my costs down.

I ordered my kit from a great vendor, the vape bros. I placed my order late in the afternoon and it still  made it to my house 2 days later. They carry a decent selection at a great price. I picked my kit up for right around 36 bucks. I brought my total to 55 with the addition of a clearomizer upgrade. I was offered a free bottle of juice for participating in the "product review" section of their website. I selected the almond amaretto and my nicotine level. It was also shipped super fast and packaged very well. 

The e-liquid had a warm mouth feel and I could distinctly taste the rosted almonds laced with hints of mildly sweet amaretto. I vaped the entire bottle in a matter of a few days but it was too good not to vape it into oblivion. I plan to try the rest of their juice offerings in the near future and report back on them as well.

The batteries included with the kit are made for the evod setup but have 510 and ego threading so it will allow for the use of a wide variety of clearomizers and tanks. It is nice to have 2 batteries so you can use one while the other charges. I usually get about 8-9 hours of use on a single charge with decently heavy vaping. The included batteries are not variable voltage so not all resistance coil heads will work well. I found that if I rebuild the coil heads with a 1.8 ohm coil I get a superb vape from the factory battery and clearomizer. 

The naysayers can say nay all they want to but I can vouch for e-cig devices working to reduce or eliminate unwanted tobacco use. I began this journey with every intention of quitting my dip habit but not my cigar habit. I enjoy premium cigars a bit too much to give them up, plus I don't see them as nearly detrimental to my health compared to smokeless tobacco or cigarettes. I have been smokeless tobacco free for nearly 2 months and have not used it at all in this time. This was a huge accomplishment and even my wife is impressed. She is also glad I have no dip bottles floating around the house or in the car and I'm not tied to something to spit into while enjoying my nicotine.