Cigar:            Eladio's Choice

Size:             43 x 5.5"

Country:          DR

Wrapper           CT

Binder:           DR

Filler:           DR

Flavor Strength: Mild

NicotineStength:  Mild

Date Received:    2004-05-16

Suspected Age:    6 months

Vendor/Price:     F.K.Kirsten's

Beverage(s):      Water

Smoke time:       0:10

Date:             2004-12-18

Posted to ASC:    2004-12-19

Overall score:    0.5/5.0

Overall:    Note the smoke time.  Ghastly cigar.  Very green (grassy) flavor.  After an inch the greeness was replaced by a bitterness in both the smoke and finish.  Yuck!  Tossed in and stomped it into oblivion to prevent any innocent casualities. 

Ambience:   Took advantage of the one day of nice weather.  Once the fog began to clear I hightailed it up to Harvey Field (S43).  Takeoff was about 12:30 PM and the plan was to make a quick hop to Ellensburg (ELN), smoke a cigar, and come back.  Did one loop around the pattern on 14 for a very nice landing, then took off again and started the climb to 7500.  As I passed through 5500 feet I made my first call to Seattle Approach.  The controller directed me to a different frequency.  Switched to the new frequency and listened for a few minutes, then asked for flight following.  After stating my destination the controller directed me to another frequency.  By this time I was at 7500, close to the foothills and could see 100 miles across Snoqualmie pass into eastern Washington.  The Cle Elum and Ellensburg valleys were a sea of low fog punctuated with hill tops.  So, I'm not going to Ellenburg.  Turned south toward Mt. Rainier and noticed that Mt. Saint Helens was steaming.  Decided to visit  the steam plume and get some pictures.  Carefully skirting the SEA class B put me on the lap of Mt. Rainier, and after passing a bit south of Mt. Rainier, I could see another sea of fog engulfing the valleys and base of Mt. Saint Helens.  Pulled a steep 180 and decided to head up to Bayview/Skagit (BVS).  On the way back to the north practiced some dutch rolls - an aileron/rudder coordination drill.  Made myself nauseous.  Once north of Arlington (AWO), descending, and on course for the refinery, I can see that behind me the low clouds and ground fog seem to be getting thicker.  It would be at least an hour before I could make it back to Harvey from Skagit.  Ground fog can form in minutes if the air temperature and dew point meet, so I turned around and headed back to Harvey Field where I did 2 poor landings and ended with a greaser.  I refueled and put the plane away, then set out a folding chair in the sun and lit up the Eladio's Choice.

Construction:     Not bad.  No band.  Medium veining.  Triple cap was a little rough.  Some tooth, particularly near the foot.  No hard/soft spots. 

Cut & Prelight:   Nice mild aroma.  Cut well, tight draw, and a very mild draw flavor - almost tasteless.

First third:      First few puffs were very green - maybe this is grassy.  Good smoke volume and the draw opened.  After an inch the green grassiness was replaced by a disagreeable bitterness in both the smoke and finish.  Yuck!  At 1.5" I tossed it.

Second third:    

Third third: