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Blended my first cigar with AJ

rzamanrzaman Posts: 2,650 ✭✭✭
in General Discussion
AJ is coming to my house Sunday afternoon. Please let me know if you have any question you would like me to ask him. It just happened randomly through a local friend. AJ invited me to visit his factory thorugh my friend and I also extended my invitation to him for a cigar to my place. He accepted it right away. What a nice guy.
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    roland_7707roland_7707 Posts: 2,833 ✭✭✭
    Remind me to slap you later. Thats really cool man.
    What is his favorite pastime other than cigars?
    One God, One Truth
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    beatnicbeatnic Posts: 4,133 ✭
    Pics with you and him are required. Totally cool Rip.
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    rzamanrzaman Posts: 2,650 ✭✭✭
    Lol...just like last time. I posted Pepin's pictures. I will post pictures of AJ and my house not with me...professional restriction sorry.
    beatnic:
    Pics with you and him are required. Totally cool Rip.
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    danielzreyesdanielzreyes Posts: 8,769 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Stay thirsty Rip ....... stay thirsty
    "It's plume, bro. Nothing to worry about. Got any Opus?" The suppose to be DZR
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    bbass2bbass2 Posts: 1,059 ✭✭
    I bet he drools over your collection just like the rest of us!

    One thing that really sets him apart to me is the use of PA Broadleaf. I'm interested in what got him started using that versus the more popular CT Broadleaf and why noone else has followed in his footsteps now he has had good success with it.
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    beatnicbeatnic Posts: 4,133 ✭
    rzaman:
    Lol...just like last time. I posted Pepin's pictures. I will post pictures of AJ and my house not with me...professional restriction sorry.
    beatnic:
    Pics with you and him are required. Totally cool Rip.
    Rip, the super secret, undercover spy, black Ops specialist with a penchant for cigars. Gotta love it.
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    rzamanrzaman Posts: 2,650 ✭✭✭
    None of them Rich. I am same as you - a true cigar lover my friend.
    beatnic:
    rzaman:
    Lol...just like last time. I posted Pepin's pictures. I will post pictures of AJ and my house not with me...professional restriction sorry.
    beatnic:
    Pics with you and him are required. Totally cool Rip.
    Rip, the super secret, undercover spy, black Ops specialist with a penchant for cigars. Gotta love it.
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    beatnicbeatnic Posts: 4,133 ✭
    rzaman:
    None of them Rich. I am same as you - a true cigar lover my friend.
    beatnic:
    rzaman:
    Lol...just like last time. I posted Pepin's pictures. I will post pictures of AJ and my house not with me...professional restriction sorry.
    beatnic:
    Pics with you and him are required. Totally cool Rip.
    Rip, the super secret, undercover spy, black Ops specialist with a penchant for cigars. Gotta love it.
    Just kidding. But you do have a cool job in a cool place and meet lots of cool people. LOL
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    BigT06BigT06 Posts: 3,899 ✭
    I would love to know what his favorite cigar, not blended by him, is. And obviously I would love to know what youguys chose to smoke. Very cool oopportunity, Rip. Enjoy!
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    rzamanrzaman Posts: 2,650 ✭✭✭
    Agree...I love my job! It's gives me the opportunity to meet all kinds of interesting people around the world. The best part is to serve my country and promote our global interests.
    beatnic:
    rzaman:
    None of them Rich. I am same as you - a true cigar lover my friend.
    beatnic:
    rzaman:
    Lol...just like last time. I posted Pepin's pictures. I will post pictures of AJ and my house not with me...professional restriction sorry.
    beatnic:
    Pics with you and him are required. Totally cool Rip.
    Rip, the super secret, undercover spy, black Ops specialist with a penchant for cigars. Gotta love it.
    Just kidding. But you do have a cool job in a cool place and meet lots of cool people. LOL
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    rzamanrzaman Posts: 2,650 ✭✭✭
    Thanks Todd. I will offer him anything from my collection except his blends. I am as curious as you to see what he chose. I will also ask him his favourite cigar outside his own blend. Don Pepin's answer was the Arturo Fuente outside his blends.
    BigT06:
    I would love to know what his favorite cigar, not blended by him, is. And obviously I would love to know what youguys chose to smoke. Very cool oopportunity, Rip. Enjoy!
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    BigT06BigT06 Posts: 3,899 ✭
    rzaman:
    Thanks Todd. I will offer him anything from my collection except his blends. I am as curious as you to see what he chose. I will also ask him his favourite cigar outside his own blend. Don Pepin's answer was the Arturo Fuente outside his blends.
    BigT06:
    I would love to know what his favorite cigar, not blended by him, is. And obviously I would love to know what youguys chose to smoke. Very cool oopportunity, Rip. Enjoy!
    Very cool. That's interesting about Pepin. Fuente cigars are so different from his... But I guess we all like several different types of cigars.
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    BigshizzaBigshizza Posts: 15,645 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Why don't you guys have a few cold ones and get to work on tweaking the forum blend..j/k... please find out how he approaches choosing a blend. Does he describe what he wants to someone or looks at available tobacco or asks for input from others..
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    catfishbluezzcatfishbluezz Posts: 7,000 ✭✭✭
    Ask him if he likes Por Llanga and small rg Partagas. I am specifically interested in which CC he likes to see where his blending lineage came from really.
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    ShotgunJohnShotgunJohn Posts: 1,545 ✭✭
    This is awesome!!!
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    big chunksbig chunks Posts: 1,607 ✭
    I would like to know about his growing up in Cuba and working with Cuban tobacco, if he ever makes personal blends with both Cuban and non cuban tobacco?
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    bearbbearb Posts: 1,128 ✭✭✭
    Raz Although we have not met before i know you will have a wonderful time with AJ. Inspite of his limited english, whenever we have met and 'talk', it has been mainly through his translator. AJ is very friendly and a genuinely nice guy.....easy to tell, as very few ppl can fake sincerity. He is also very good at remembering people, and you will forever have a connection. Enjoy your time together.
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    zeebrazeebra Posts: 3,174 ✭✭✭
    let me know when you need an assistant or retiring...i'll have my application ready!

    Enjoy Rip and as always, good stuff!!!
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    KingoftheCoveKingoftheCove Posts: 937 ✭✭✭
    rzaman:
    AJ is coming to my house Sunday afternoon. Please let me know if you have any question you would like me to ask him. It just happened randomly through a local friend. AJ invited me to visit his factory thorugh my friend and I also extended my invitation to him for a cigar to my place. He accepted it right away. What a nice guy.
    I'd like to know if he ever takes a "break" from cigars?
    If so, how often and for how long?
    Sounds like a great time - have fun!

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    danielruasdanielruas Posts: 778 ✭
    This is really cool can't wait to hear how it goes.
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    rzamanrzaman Posts: 2,650 ✭✭✭
    Hi Barry, I find Cubans from mainland are very sincere and genuin. This the reason why I went back to visit Cuba twice. My Spanish is not that great but I also asked my office assistant to join us so I can reduce the language gap. So many things can lost in translation so I wanted have a native speaker with me. I have so many questions to ask. The way AJ accpeted the invitation so quickly it gives me a sense about his sincere personality. So far I heard only good things about him. I am very excited to meet him. I am sure he also has some questions so I will be careful not to overwhelmed him with my questions only. Usually non-Americans are always curious to know about our foreign policy which is a delicate issue and need to be answered very diplomatically. As far as I know, AJ has a great interest on this subject. In real life, people to people connection is very different than political agenda. However, sometime we need to put our political differences aside to enjoy our common passion. It is always a fine act of balance in life. Unfortunetly majority people failed to do it. This is where things get screwed up in real life.
    bearb:
    Raz Although we have not met before i know you will have a wonderful time with AJ. Inspite of his limited english, whenever we have met and 'talk', it has been mainly through his translator. AJ is very friendly and a genuinely nice guy.....easy to tell, as very few ppl can fake sincerity. He is also very good at remembering people, and you will forever have a connection. Enjoy your time together.
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    bearbbearb Posts: 1,128 ✭✭✭
    Very true on all accounts. Obviously cigars are a common language, but too many questions directed at him can make it an unbalanced question period and not a conversation in which true connections can b made. I am sure that your personality, travel experiences and certainly your hospitality will easily overcome any of this though. In fact, i am sure he so willingly accepted your invitation because of just that. With such a varied collection of cigars and stories that you have, i am sure he will be 'conversating' back and forth and you will have a great time, over some quality cigars. Not sure when he is coming over, but enjoy the time. Life is short, enjoy life!
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    roland_7707roland_7707 Posts: 2,833 ✭✭✭
    Today is the day. Getting nervous man?
    One God, One Truth
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    kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    AJ was pretty awesome when i met him on the tour of his factory. you could see how easily distracted by good tobacco he got. he was very nice to my wife and myself ad i would love to meet him again.
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
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    reggie713reggie713 Posts: 2,517 ✭✭✭✭
    This is very cool!!
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    rzamanrzaman Posts: 2,650 ✭✭✭

    The meeting went above my expectation. I have met many cigar personalities but AJ is by far the best. He is super straight forward and I never learned so much in one session like yesterday’s afternoon and evening. In fact, we became friends. He was so surprised with my cigar interest that he offered to make a special cigar box for me with a special blend. He extended his invitation to his blending room and asked me to blend a cigar with his professional assistance. We talked about a new blend and he refined my idea here and there. This is going to be fun. We talked about all types of tobaccos and blending. AJ shared so many facts about cigar industry but with condition of trust and friendship. I always take trust very seriously. AJ also extended the invitation to introduce me with Nestor Placensia after hearing my interest about Organic tobacco. Our conversation ran beyond cigars- family, my travel experience in Cuba, politics and world affairs. He is a very smart, sincere and a family man. I am glad to have a friend like him. He also gifted me a box of his latest MAYIBLE. This blend is very close to his heart. I smoked one and liked it very much. It doesn’t have the as usual over spice and power. He also gave me three special cigars blended for the European market and two Maduro Vegas AAA cigars. I gave him a Behike 56, Partagas series D LE 2010 and Don Carlos Anniversary 2006. He smoked a Partagas series E no. 2 and a Man of War Ruination.

    I heard good thing about AJ and finally it was so much fun to meet him in person. Here is a picture of AJ in my Man Cave. He was searching for some information about a wrapper. His iphone is full of information and he showed me a lot of cool cigar related pictures. This is why I love cigar- it bring people together and build wonderful friendship.
    photo image_zps5e087eda.jpg
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    roland_7707roland_7707 Posts: 2,833 ✭✭✭
    Thats epic man. Really cool.
    One God, One Truth
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    beatnicbeatnic Posts: 4,133 ✭
    awesome
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    ddubridgeddubridge Posts: 3,978 ✭✭✭
    Very cool Rip. Glad you had a great time.
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    Poker_SlobPoker_Slob Posts: 1,269 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Rip, thank you very much for sharing with us. You truely are blessed with great friendships thoughout the industry as well as the world. Thanks again.
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