I'd like to summarize this experience for you...


After smoking all of these dog rockets labeled as such by Silound, I really have tasted something that is bad. I went into this with an honest opinion, I thought our friend would fake us out by putting some good sticks in here, so I gave each one a fair shot before reading what it was. I know there is power to the band. I've tested this myself with cremosa's.... The same people who have tried them when I brought them to various herfs who said they were nasty, when it was banded as a punch black prince cuban said it was good. I try to be non biased and let the flavor be the judge.

In the case of these cigars I found a few that to me might be worth smoking again. The majority wouldn't. Mostly it was the harshness and common flavor that left just a bad taste in your mouth. Most commonly a sour flavor that you would get from food products that are well past their prime. It was an experience I think everyone should have, maybe not to such the degree it was taken here, though it does help to give perspective. Hell I smoke backwoods and I admit it. Not all the time, but I have a pack in my truck just in case. It's not a great smoke but it's not terrible either. Anyways going back to these cigars.

When you smoke something that is bad, you are giving it an honest shot you will notice the foul flavor on your palette, it's just something that does not agree with you. The old saying "Smoke what you like" is totally true. Borndead had found a few cigars he enjoyed, some of those I thought were just as bad as most of these, and visa versa. Take away knowing that not all dog rockets are bad, the taste is in the mouth and nose of the beholder. Remember the nose exhale, it bring flavors to what would be a crap cigar otherwise. And try not to let others influence your decision if something is good or not. For you a 99 cent Garcia Vega might taste as good as a 99 dollar dunhill.


Silound I want that number 17 dog rocket you promised lol.
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My final thoughts/ramblings/emotional outbursts:


I know this sounds cheesy, but I think I have a truly refined palate. What I mean by that is when I smoke a cigar, I smoke THE CIGAR. Not the ratings, the band, the hype, the name, the price, etc.

If you offered me a La Floridita and a La Flor Dominicana, I would smoke the La Floridita because I like the flavor more than LFDs.

I love both CCs and NCs. I couldn't imagine smoking only 1 or the other.

When I finally got to smoke an Oliva V maduro I was disappointed.

I wouldn't buy Padron 80th even if they were $10 a stick.


With that in mind, the vast majority of Silound's..."cigars" were indeed what I would consider dog rockets. One odd thing though -- most of them were very well constructed. I found it strange. Like getting a $1,000 paint job on a Ford Pinto.

Many of the cigars had a flavor that I have come to recognize as poor quality tobacco. Some, like the Occidental Reserve, were just lousy blends. Makes me wonder why anyone would put so much time, effort, money into making so many BAD cigars. Yeah, yeah, taste is subjective, but in the case of some of these cigars an argument could be made against that idea. Whenever I smoke a truly nasty cigar, it makes me wonder:

Is there no Quality Control in these cigar factories?

How do the farmers/rollers/factory owners smoke these cigars and determine they are good enough for anything other than compost?

Are there infamous "dog rocket factories" that produce nothing but crap sticks like Cremosas, Thompson brands, etc.?

I dunno man...I dunno. Cigars never cease to amaze me.
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No one can tell me what is a good cigar--for me. I am the
only judge. People who claim to know say that I smoke the worst
cigars in the world. They bring their own cigars when they come
to my house. They betray an unmanly terror when I offer them
a cigar; they tell lies and hurry away to meet engagements
which they have not made when they are threatened with the
hospitalities of my box. Now then, observe what superstition,
assisted by a man's reputation, can do. I was to have twelve
personal friends to supper one night. One of them was as
notorious for costly and elegant cigars as I was for cheap and
devilish ones. I called at his house and when no one was looking
borrowed a double handful of his very choicest; cigars which cost
him forty cents apiece and bore red-and-gold labels in sign of
their nobility. I removed the labels and put the cigars into a
box with my favorite brand on it--a brand which those people all
knew, and which cowed them as men are cowed by an epidemic. They
took these cigars when offered at the end of the supper, and lit
them and sternly struggled with them--in dreary silence, for
hilarity died when the fell brand came into view and started
around--but their fortitude held for a short time only; then they
made excuses and filed out, treading on one another's heels with
indecent eagerness; and in the morning when I went out to observe
results the cigars lay all between the front door and the gate.
All except one--that one lay in the plate of the man from whom I
had cabbaged the lot. One or two whiffs was all he could stand.
He told me afterward that some day I would get shot for giving
people that kind of cigars to smoke.

Am I certain of my own standard? Perfectly; yes, absolutely
--unless somebody fools me by putting my brand on some other kind
of cigar; for no doubt I am like the rest, and know my cigar by
the brand instead of by the flavor.

~Mark Twain
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I do so enjoy Mark Twain!:-)

My favored quote "I fear him to be ECONOMICAL with the truth":-)
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A bump from the depths for a serious question...

Did the victims...errrrr...challengers ever get their "prize"? I'm curious to know what they got for their pain (and our enjoyment)...
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I never heard what kind of prize they wanted. My original idea was a box of Imperials I've had sitting for a long time.


Mark, Dan; either of you have a particular request? :-)

If I don't hear from you guys by the end of the month, I'm sending those Imperials.


Edit to add, I found out the Occidental Reserve is a Davidoff blend! Jeesh....
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poor occidental reserve..... ummmmmm no idea what an imperial is... I was happy just doing the reviews.
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I told you, sucka! The only thing that will make up for that torture is a Cuban Cohiba. :-)

It's cool though. It was fun writing the reviews. Smoking the cigars? Eh, not so much.
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Ok, I just got a few more in, so I'll tag that into your package.


Gonna try and get them shipped out asap, provided I can get some free time. :-)
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Is this finished?
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OK, sorry to raise the dead and what not....but did #17 ever arrive?
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Great thread...but do we ever get to hear what the 16 sticks were?
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I really don't know what all the unbanded ones were. If I knew what it was, I said so in my description :-)

I have been somewhat remiss about sending off some prizes. I'm just being a slowass about getting around to it, sorry guys :-) Matter of fact, I've been rather remiss about getting anything important done lately.


Ok, I'm like 4 months late getting some prizes together. Time to spend some time working on that tonight.


Adam
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Dang...A story with no ending...Just spend 30 minutes reading and now I don't know if they got their prize?!?

Did the prize ever come?! I need an ending to this great story!!!
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This was over a year ago too.. Probably time for Dog Rocket Challenge II. :-)

Too bad I recognized my thompson brands as trash and promptly pitched them into the trash can. I could have contributed. :-)
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