anyone smoke one of these yet? supposed to be pete johnsons 2010 release.
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YUP!!! :-)
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thoughts?? haha
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The "La Verite" is the uber-premium release, on par in price and (supposedly) quality with the Padron 40/80/45th.

The "L'Espirit de Verite" is a cheaper version of the stick using tobacco from the same crop (I think the cheapest one will still be like $12, though).

Pete's idea with these is that they will be a true vintage cigar (like wine)--meaning each year cigars will be released from the tobacco cultivated that previous year (same farm). So each version/year of the Verite will be a bit different, in theory (just like wine). Since the tobacco is so young, they should improve a lot with age as well.
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I tried it.. twice.. and liked it.... a lot.
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pete gave me a "l'espirit" that i smoked about 8 months ago. a little ammoniated in its youth but still awesome. i think this cigar is meant for mid-term aging.
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just have one of the l'esprit from nhc, looks so delicious but i dont plan on smoking it any time soon

stearns
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is that the one with "2008" on the label?
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yessir

stearns
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Pete handed me one several weeks ago, which I smoked a couple days later. He stated that it was pre-production and the tobacco for it was pulled about 2 months before it finished fermenting and had a "green tobacco" flavor.

Near-perfect construction, draw and burn. It had a sweet flavor (maple syrup) to it that I don't normally associate with cigars. Reminded me of a wine they stop fermentation on to leave a little bit of residual sugar in it. I must say, I really enjoyed that unique flavor, but ultimately the cigar came across as simple. It kept trying to change flavors throughout the cigar gaining some wood here, a touch of earth there, a nice bit of leather, but quickly returned to that sweet flavor over everything else. I thought the final third was going to go into the full-bodied range, but that was short-lived too. It shows some nice potential, but I don't think the proto-type will improve with age. Worth trying if you can get one, but wait for the final version for any serious aging.
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Smoked about 7 of them now from May 09 till now. They have gotten progressively better each time I tried one. They are a very unique and special cigar.
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7? jeez, hook me up with your source :-):-)

stearns
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The man behind them, haha.
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IMHO, these are really good and should be interesting to see the scramble when Pete actually releases them. The few I have had the pleasure to smoke have been quite good and very pleasurable. I believe he stated that they are already rolled and in wheels of 50, resting for when they are ready for release. Not wanting to spoil and just inhale the smoke, all have taken me more than 90 minutes to smoke and each were nubbed till the very end. Clean tasting, very complex and full of flavors. I believe they each changed profiles at least 4 times.
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They are stored in wheels as well as master cases. Pics were floating around awhile ago. Ill see if I can find them.
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you've got the "ins"!
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are you equating ammonia with residual sugar?
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