I’m not saying this episode dissolved in to us making repeated fart noises but I’m also not saying that it didn’t…
It’s officially summertime and school is out suckas! So tonight your favorite crew of lovable numbnuts are going to experience Senior Week the way it was intended… by talking about the 80’s flick Senior Week and drinking a bunch of beer. And, yes, believe it or not we all graduated from high school. Eventually.
THE CIGAR – LA GLORIA CUBANA SPIRIT OF THE LADY by THE FORGED CIGAR COMPANY
Size: 6 x 50 (box-pressed toro)
Wrapper: a seven-year-aged wrapper from the Olancho San Agustín region of Honduras
Binder: Cameroon
Filler: Mexican, Nicaraguan, and Dominican
Price: $12.99 (and please remember when purchasing some fine La Gloria Cubana cigars or other brands from FamousSmokeShop.com to use your new favorite promo code TNCC20 at checkout where it will knock $20 off your purchase of $100 or more!)
This Limited Edition cigar is a five-country blend that honors the masterful artisans at the El Credito Cigar Factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic. It comes to us courtesy of the newly formed Forged Cigar Company, owned by Scandinavian Tobacco Group (parent company of General Cigar). Here’s what Steve Abbot, the senior brand manager for La Gloria Cubana, had to say about tonight’s cigar:
“The artisans of El Credito are passionately committed to their craft, and it shows in every single cigar they make. Through their unwavering commitment to creating exquisite cigars, this dedicated team embodies the assured spirit of Lady La Gloria, the brand’s iconic marque. It is truly a pleasure to celebrate these talented men and women, and to honor their artistry through this special offering.”
Man, this is a beautiful box-pressed presentation and the art deco band is eye-catching for sure. The Spirit Of The Lady’s well aged Honduran wrapper is super duper sweet when the cap is introduced to your lips. Tut thought some sweetening of the cap was involved, while Yak Boy and myself felt the sweetness was all natural but, nonetheless, it’s very overpowering and raised at least one TNCC member’s suspicious eyebrow.
Upon ignition, there’s an immediate blast of jalapeño spicy pepper through the nose and that sensation never fucking wavers throughout the duration of the entire cigar. It’s eye-watering strong and awesome. That’s rare, ladies and germs, and we appreciated that full-throttle, take-no-prisoners, strength-forward approach to the blend (and the hyphen button on my laptop just broke off). The downside to that constant retrohale is the spiciness overpowered every single thing that the draw delivered from start to finish. There was a pleasant earthiness on the draw but it didn’t stand a chance against that prominent spice element.
While Tut got a slight cinnamon note on the retrohale to go along with the spice, Yak Boy and I never picked up on it. This cigar is just pure spice all day and all night. Don’t even bother trying to pick up flavors through the draw because it’s a fruitless endeavor. THIS CIGAR LIVES THROUGH THE NOSE. Tut remained steadfast in that he was detecting that initial sweetness from the cold draw throughout the smoking experience BUT he was drinking basically a chocolate peanut butter milkshake so please take that in to consideration. Construction wise, the ash was extremely flakey and weak and the cigar required several relightings. If you dig a strong-as-shit retrohale that makes your toes curl and little else flavor wise, THIS might be the cigar for you. But at $13 is that enough to justify the price? Y’all smoke one and tell us what you think!
TNCC FINAL SCORE: 85
THE BEERS
Once again folks, usually (before this mini apocalypse was thrust upon all of us) we would carefully – some of you have said “expertly” – pair our evening’s beer with the cigar and movie and we’d all drink that same beer and compare notes. But since this whole COVID-19 shitshow has happened, each member of the TNCC is now solely responsible for risking their lives out in the wild and acquiring their own beers for each episode…
TUT’S BEER – PEANUT BUTTER MILK STOUT by BELCHING BEAVER BREWERY
At 5.3% ABV and 30 IBUs, this milk stout features a combination of rolled oats and lactose that Tut found highly enjoyable. The peanut butter element was only hinted at while chocolate was the primary flavor tonight. On a personal note, I think Belching Beaver might be my all-time favorite brewery name, so there’s that. As far as why this beer pairs with tonight’s T&A beach movie, well I’ll let you detectives at home figure out how a Belching BEAVER selection was appropriate for this evening’s subject matter…
TUT’S PAIRING GRADE: C+
THE DOCTOR’S BEER – BOMBSHELL BLONDE by SOUTHERN STAR BREWING
This nice and easy sipping 5.25% 20 IBU blonde is delicious and, while Doc can’t join us currently in lighting up a fine premium stogie, he felt that it would be a suitable pairing partner for most cigars both mild and on the stronger side.
THE DOCTOR’S PAIRING GRADE: B-
CADE’S 1st BEER – TEENY HOPPER JUICY SOUR SESSION IPA by WHITE OWL BREWING
So I’ll admit it, when I selected this Teeny Hopper to accompany our teeny bopper movie discussion, I failed to see the word GRAPEFRUIT in all fucking caps right there on the front of the can. But, surprisingly, the grapefruit influence in this 4.4% 26 IBU weirdo beer is actually mild and I found myself digging it a lot. Rather than the usual bitter hop bite you’ll find with most IPAs, this sucker has a nice sour, acidic bite that replaces it to successful results. And that grapefruit turned out to be just what was needed to combat and eventually balance out the overwhelming spice in tonight’s cigar!
CADE’S 2nd BEER – FULL CONTACT HAZY IPA by ELYSIAN BREWING COMPANY
This 8.8% beer is so super sweet with notes of honeydew and tangerines, then you add in a blast of “memories of vanilla cream soda”… yikes! While I am a vocal lover of Elysian’s Space Dust IPA, this puppy tonight was way too sweet for me regardless of what I’m smoking. But the main nerd in tonight’s film indeed got FULL CONTACT with a cute chick so my pairing grade is awesome as always.
CADE’S COLLECTIVE PAIRING GRADE: A+
YAK BOY’S BEER – BIG BUBBLY BLONDE by BARROW BREWING COMPANY
At 5% and only a few insignificant IBUs, this very approachable beer from my hometown brewer is so damn tasty and, in fact, it’s one of my dear mom’s favorite beers. Of course I’m not saying that to imply Yaks drank a girl beer tonight… I would never do that. He’s drinking it because it’s good and there’s nothing about the Bubbly Blonde’s flavor profile that would interfere with any cigar whatsoever. While crisp on the front end, there’s a unique maltiness on the swallow that both Yak Boy and my mom appreciate compared to many other blondes. Well done Yaks!
YAK BOY’S PAIRING GRADE: A
THE FILM – SENIOR WEEK (1987)
None of the people featured on this poster actually appear in the movie… that tracks.
Without spoiling anything, which I pledge to never do here on these episode pages, the TNCC crew had some very mixed reactions to tonight’s film. What we do not have ANY mixed reactions to whatsoever is this trailer for The Firm: Total Body – Complete Aerobic Weight Training starring the lovely Jayne Poteet who portrays “Girl From The Magazine” in Senior Week. You can watch what might be the greatest trailer for anything ever made right HERE. Go check it out right now!
So, was I right? Dear Lord that trailer is fantastic. Your next assignment is to click the links below to watch or listen to the show, crack open a cold one, and let’s party! CLASS DISMISSED!!!
THE NUB
Please leave us comments on the YouTube episode page and subscribe while you’re there, provide us with a review on iTunes, or be a real stud and do both! All these seemingly small gestures would be greatly appreciated as they let us know exactly what you’re thinking about this sweat-soaked tidal wave of hardbodied insanity we like to call The Tuesday Night Cigar Club.
Sayonara motherfuckers!!!
Below is tonight’s full episode for both your viewing and listening pleasure. Thank you for checking out The Tuesday Night Cigar Club and we’ll see you next time when we review another cigar, adult beverage, and film. May the wings of liberty never lose a feather…
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