Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Black is back

Well it really never left, just cool to say I guess. The black I am referring to can be none other than the CAO Black and this particular one on review is the Gothic.

Now I have a double confession to make. I am not really into the CAO products (I know I can hear the boos and hisses from here) but I am a bit of a sucker for the whole “limited”, “only xxxx boxes made” type of marketing. So when a certain vendor offered these “limited”, “numbered box”, “can only get them from us” cigars from CAO I got sucked in and decided to take a shot and ordered my favorite size. Needless to say that was a good four years ago and I think that the numbers on the boxes have been recycled a few times. Not to say that anyone is being deceptive but they are just that good of a cigar.

So here we are, it is a beautiful February day, clear skies with a temp somewhere around seventy two degrees. Of course I have great company with me for this lunch time smoke. The saddest part of this event was that this was my last one from the original box. The cigar was toasted and the lit producing right from the onset huge volumes of smoke, something that always turns me on. She burned, not with a razors edge but still very even with no touchups needed. From beginning to end your taste buds are assaulted with woody cedar flavor mingled with undertones of creamy vanilla and other spices that seem to just dance out of reach and keep you wanting more. I will honestly say that I have not been this satisfied with a non-Cuban in a very long time and it was with deep regret that I laid the nub down so she could go out with dignity.

Please feel free to comment.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

This is cigar related to a degree because it is about my favorite cigar board web site. I posted it there and the only response I got was to make sure that I wasn't despondent, which is nice but I don't think anyone there made a connection.

I see you dying and don't know what to do.
I see you dying and want to save you.
I see you dying and it breaks my heart.
You have seen me through highs and lows.
You have taught me so much.
You have allowed me to teach.
So few now visit you anymore.
So few now take advantage of your lore.
So few now contribute to your knowledge store.
Do I mask my pain by pretending it is not true.
Do I mask my sorrow by not visiting today.
Do I mask my anger by putting on a happy face.
I need to fight to keep you alive.
I need to fight to preserve your dignity.
I need to fight to ensure you stay.
I see you dying and don't know what to do.
I see you dying and want to save you.
I see you dying and it breaks my heart.

As you can see it is very dark but hey life is dark sometimes, now lets go smoke a good cigar.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Where does Customer Service start and end?

I ordered some cigars that come in a glass humidor during one of the sales of the last few weeks and it arrived last Friday. When I opened it up there was a layer of mold across the top. Now you may be thinking that the cigars are toasted, but actually as long as the mold is just on the surface it can be wiped off without affect the cigar. On the other hand actually receiving product from a vendor that has mold on it is unacceptable.

So I sent the vendor’s customer service an email stating the problem and asking what could be done. The response I get was that they were sending me a pre-paid return UPS address label so I could return them and they would credit back my credit card since they were now out of stock, they also closed the “ticket”. Fine and dandy if I had wanted to just return them but I bought them with a specific purpose in mind and returning them for credit wasn’t an option I wanted to hear. Besides no one gave me any options, just here is what we are doing, live with it.

Well today I got on the phone with the vendor’s customer service and basically got the same response, not what I wanted to hear. The thing that burns me the most is that I wasn’t even contacted with a list of choices; even if those choices were to only keep the product in the condition I received it in or return it for a refund.

Customer service is there to interact with the customer, not to follow some flow chart and perform the end ritual.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Happy New Year 2009!

Just a quick post to say Happy New Year to everyone, I will be posting with more frequency this year (and that is not some lame resolution either)