Go Back   Cigar Weekly Community Forums and Discussion Groups > Smoking Post > Cigar Reviews

Cigar Reviews This room is for organized blind reviews, individual reviews by CW Members and reviews entered into the database that the Editors feel are particularly well done.

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 03-06-2002, 08:08 PM   #1
JinE
Member
 
JinE's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: War Eagle Country, Alabama
Posts: 302
The Cigar: Double Happiness Unknown Vitola
The Grade: C-

<No Picture provided>

The Philippines were ceded by Spain to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. They attained their independence in 1946 after being occupied by the Japanese in World War II. The 21-year rule of Ferdinand MARCOS ended in 1986 when a widespread popular rebellion forced him into exile. In 1992, the US closed down its last military bases on the islands. The Philippines has had two electoral presidential transitions since Marcos' removal by "people power." In January 2001, the Supreme Court declared Joseph ESTRADA unable to rule in view of mass resignations from his government and administered the oath of office to Vice President Gloria MACAPAGAL-ARROYO as his constitutional successor. The government continues to struggle with ongoing Muslim insurgencies in the south. What the hell did that have to do with anything? Well, not much really. BUT, the Philippine cigar industry has graced us with such memorable smokes as FIGHTING COCK, Calixto Lopez, Flor De Manila, and last but certainly not least, Double Happiness. For the record, I enjoy saying “Fighting Cock” out loud when I am by myself. My dog, Stinky Pete, actually responds to that name. Won’t my girlfriend be surprised when I start calling him “Fighting Cock”?

I was first introduced to the brand Double Happiness on the recent JR Warehouse tour. Hanging on the rack of $5-10 cigar polo shirts were several queer polos carrying the “Double Happiness” logo. “This must be a mistake” I thought, some inbred miscreant of the junk store must have wandered into the cigar shop with these off brand junk shirts by accident, and threw them down in a screaming dash to the cigar lounge exit when confronted with the idle banter of Jim the Newbie, PAN, and Roybusto. Couldn’t be a cigar shirt could it? The name was more befit of an exotic pipe weed blend, such as skunk sphincter, blue frog’ snatch, beaver holler, and the flying queer dutchmen.

One day out of the blue I received an e-mail from a fellow JRbbs’r by the name of Stringfoot. He decided to send me a nice box of Mantequilla X for no reason, and was kind enough to throw in a few real ROCKETS in there for me to try out. Hidden between the Andy Warhol and the box of Mante’s lay none other then the infamous Double Happiness! I eyed the DH with mixed emotions; was this the best of times, or was this the worst of times? Only time, and a gentle application of flame to the foot of this cigar will reveal the answer.

Appearance and construction of the DH would best be described as unobjectionable. There was a slight bit of unevenness to the cigar, and the cigar felt a bit “squishy”. With no bits of human or animal matter to be found on the cigar I felt there was no reason for me not put the cigar into my mouth, or at the very lest smell of it. I sniffed the cigar and found no objectionable odors, though there was a hint of “balsa” to the aroma. With my best homo-erotic Mike Tyson lisp, I threatened to eat the cigar’s children, punched the head of the cigar with my first, and bit the head off with my teeth. Only the best for a Philopino cigar!

Pre-light draw was surprisingly good, and did not reveal a vile taste like I thought it would. The toasted foot emitted aromas of Windex soaked leaves, this puppy definitely smelled young! The initial draws were pleasant enough. The cigar was quite mild, but I would not classify the taste as unobjectionable. The cigar was quite grassy and woody, with a slightly floral undertones. Smoke volume could have been better, and the burn was never quite right. The cigar left a “film” or residue in my mouth (and no it had nothing to do with any lubricants). The Hawaian Punch fruit juice did a hell of a job washing the "film" away. The smell of ammonia did it’s best to detract from the smoking experience of the Double Happiness. Every now and then I would yell out “Fighting Cock!” and bite the mangled end of the cigar. This made me smile, and also left me with a gross soggy stump of a cigar by the time I was through.

When it was all said and done, I came away with a bit more respect for the Double Happiness. I came in expecting Double Crappiness, but instead I came away with a Double dose of “That cigar could have been better”. The band was really cool, and looks nice on the wall of fame. My only regret was that my camera batteries were dead and that I could not get a pic of myself calling the DH a Fighting Cock.

-Jin “Conscientious Objecting Cock” E
JinE is offline   Reply With Quote
 

Bookmarks
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -8. The time now is 02:04 AM.