What they smoked:

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1998 Partagas Charlotte

jimmyk26 score: 5.5
Brutus2600 score: 9.0

What a surprise... this is a box of cigars I hide from myself because they are SO FRIGGIN' AWESOME. I'm astonished that James disliked it as much as he did. Think of it this way, you don't have to be like everyone else who is searching for them like mad men...
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Ha, that's funny because I smoked a Charlotte last night that was gifted to me and liked it. I didn't love it though.

Thanks for such an amazing experience!
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Consider yourself lucky, then... :-)
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Huh, well I liked it, but it kind looks like James got a bad one *shrug*

Thanks again Dan :-) What an interesting journey and experience this has been...a very solid collection of cigars that we were able to try! :-)
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Glad you guys enjoyed it so much... I had a blast watching you go through them.

Anything specifically you feel you learned or gained throughout the experience, guys?
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First of all, I think I got a lot better at reviewing cigars. I am excited to continue reviewing and posting, I find it fun and satisfying.

With regards to the cigars themselves I am surprised at how often I have been going back and re-reading my reviews. I found that this is the first time that I stopped really noticing the strength of the cigars and really focused on the flavors and smoking experience.

Honestly I think that I'll be reaping the benefits of this experience for quite a while.
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I think I've learned and gained a few very useful things from this experience for sure.

First would be experience reviewing cigars. I specifically remember the first cigar or two that I sat down and reviewed. It was hard for me to pull out certain flavors and identify them. After getting to sit down and review 10 cigars blind with no other reviews telling me what to try to identify and taste, I was forced to learn to pick the flavors out. This has definitely bled over into my everyday cigar smoking experience and enhanced it more than I ever could've expected.

The second thing is experience with CC's. Previous to this I had not had the opportunity to try a Cuban cigar, so getting to smoke 10 of them while forced to identify flavors while I'm reviewing them was a unique experience. It allowed me get to experience the CC flavor profiles in a way I otherwise would not have gotten to and directly compare them to the NC's that I usually smoke. Cuban cigars are like a heavily advertised product on TV. We're told they're so awesome and all you want to do is try one, and when you finally get to, most people would respond "Man! that was an amazing Cuban cigar!" simply for the fact that it was a Cuban cigar. Tasting the cigars the way I did allowed me to know and understand WHY some Cuban cigars are great and WHAT makes them great instead of just liking them because they are from a specific country.

The third thing I learned is generosity. I know, what does generosity have to do with reviewing cigars? Well, Dan's blind taste package was the first "bomb" so to speak, I received from a CA member since I had joined the forum a couple months prior. What was this forum where people were gladly giving away cigars left and right? I'd read about the bombs being dropped before I got these cigars, but it's different when you're on the actual receiving end. Since then, I've come to realize what a generous and giving group of people this is, and have tried not only to PIF on this forum, but in other places of my life too, and that has been a more rewarding experience than being given and trying any number of cigars. I know this sounds cheesy, but it's 100% genuine and I'm definitely grateful to Dan and the rest of the forum for this :-)
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I was posting a reply elsewhere and realized just now, one of the biggest change in my smoking habits that this BTT has caused, is the RG of my cigar. Before I almost exclusively smoked 50+ RG cigars. Now, I'd say the majority of my cigars are less than 50RG, and anything 45+ feels big :-)
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Well... thread number 3 done.

Gotta debate whether I'll do another one. Updates to come at some point...
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Just posting another quick thank you for the awesomely incredible bombs both of these fine gentlemen pummeled me with.

Brutus2600:

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=36385

jimmyk26:

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showthread.php?t=36304

Thank you guys so much for dedicating your time and pictures into the third installment of this experiment. I, for one, think it was a smashing success!
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Great thread! Just read through it catching up on the last few I missed... There were some seriously good sticks in there- RASCCs and Mag 46s are some of my favs :-)

Thanx for another great installment Dan!!!

aj
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Wow....amazing thread. I read through it all. Too bad I am in a non-smoking hotel room. Dammit.
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Did ya check out the previous two as well? Good reading there, also... :-)

(links on the first post)
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Great reviews guys!

I love reading blind tasting reviews because I feel a more honest opinion because it is harder for the review to go in with preconceived notions.
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I just read through this one myself. Great threat. I didn't know there were previous ones. I'll have to check those out tonight.
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