Very interesting and thoughtful gift from my manager today!

Well my office manager was visiting Honduras for the Thanksgiving holiday to be with her daughter who is teaching English at a school there.
She brings back little knick knacks for everyone then turns to me (the only male support staff in the office) and says, "I didn't figure you would like figurines so I got you a couple of cigars."

Turns out they were at this indoor market and there are locals there rolling cigars and selling them. They are dirt cheap so she grabbed a couple for me. They are very very rough looking and obviously hand rolled (by someone who may or may not know what they're doing). The caps look great though so maybe they are supposed to look rough, I dunno. They're a light pack and have a soft spongy give to them.

The smell is what I'm excited about. They smell like you buried them in a barn for a few days. A wonderful aroma of dirt and sweet manure, which tells me the flavor has a very good chance of being great. I told her I will let them sit in the humidor for a week or so and let them acclimate and tell her what they're like. I'll tell her they're good not matter what because it was very thoughtful, but I'm expecting they'll taste good.

Anyway, has anyone had anything like these when travelling abroad? If so, what were they like?

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/a...psevl19liy.jpg

Well, Paul...

Maybe your luck will be better than mine, but I was on one of those 1-week church mission trips in the 90s in Honduras and picked up a bundle of "locally made" cigars that were dirt cheap and looked not altogether different from those in your pic. Smoked one and it tasted like $#!T and gave me a splitting all-day headache. A couple days later I thought maybe the headache was from something else and tried another one. The headache started coming back, so I pitched it along with the rest of the bundle.

Long story short, smoke with caution!

Well damn......

We shall see I guess. :stogie:

Regardless of how they are, a very thoughtful gesture from your boss! Let us know what you think.

nice gesture, hope they're good to ya!

I had a customer bring a few back to me last year that looked exactly like that. They were pretty straightforward in flavor, just natural tobacco from start to finish. None had a true wrapper, just what looked to me to be a binder-quality leaf used as a wrapper with some long leaf and chopped cuts inside.

I wouldn't fly down there just for them, but the experience was definitely pretty cool.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AndyCAYP

None had a true wrapper, just what looked to me to be a binder-quality leaf used as a wrapper with some long leaf and chopped cuts inside.

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That's what I thought as well.

You are definitely going to have to let us know if they were better than the knick knack you would have otherwise gotten.
Really cool though and thoughtful of her to make the effort.

LOL

I will definitely report back in a week or two when I smoke one of them and let you know how it goes.

Hopefully it doesn't induce a migraine like it did with Bruce.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cool Breeze

LOL

I will definitely report back in a week or two when I smoke one of them and let you know how it goes.

Hopefully it doesn't induce a migraine like it did with Bruce.

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Just wait for them with an open mind. Focusing on Bruce's bad experience might subconsciously ruin yours. Remember that there are hundreds of cigar vendors in Honduras, all with different products with varying quality. So if the cigar smells good to you, look forward to it! Either way it will still be an interesting experience & is another reason to love your boss.

Best wishes for a pleasant schmoke :thumb:

Well, I smoked the smaller one this evening.

It was similar to what @AndyCAYP described. Pretty straightforward tobacco flavor and a little on the spicy side, not in flavor but a nice tingle on the lips and tongue.
It didn't blow me away by any means but wasn't terrible and luckily didn't seem to induce a headache. :stogie:

Anyway for 3 for a quarter, I'd keep a few in the humidor.

Good to hear you avoided the headache