icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e9...ps7dodycmc.jpg

I'd been on the lookout for a particular clear Havana that my grandfather used to smoke back when he was still with us, La Prosa. Not an easy thing to find, as you might imagine.

Using the trusty CA search function, I discovered that icehog3 had smoked a La Prosa on New Year's Day 2012. That's a long time ago, but I reached out nonetheless. Well, he didn't have a La Prosa, but he said he'd send me a different clear Havana if I was interested.

As you can see from the pic, he didn't send one like he'd indicated, he didn't send two, Tom sent me THREE clear Havanas!

I was knocked speechless. I wanted to tell everybody that story. And I wanted to say thank you to Tom. That is all.

There will be HONEST reviews forthcoming. :tu

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Tom is good people.

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Great gesture from a fairly ok guy ;)

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

It's true. And there are many others on CA too. Perfect example, nutcracker just sent me a beautiful 10er of cigars complete with a chocolate bar. Really amazing smokes. They arrived yesterday. He refused payment. Told me to enjoy them and feel free to PIF. Neil, if you're reading this, thank you again. You too are a BOTL of the Highest Order. :salute:

:l

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

BOTL are very bad at arithmetic!!! :D nice hit!!!

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Nicely done Admiral, you big lug!

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Must be nice to be old enough to own such fine antique stogies. :r


Nice job there, Tom. :tu

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Way to go, Tom. :)

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Well done, Admiral!!! :tu

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Tom made me :)

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

:tu

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Nicely done Admiral!!! :salute:

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Nice job, Tom :) Things like this are what make this such a special community.

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Very cool, Tom!

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

He also sent your a quarter!! Isn't he the best :)

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Nice work, Tom.

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

What year is that quarter from!

Tom is great

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

That's why we call him "The Admiral" :tu

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

He shoots :ih

He scores

:l

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Great Job, Admiral!:D:banger:tu

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

:r :r

Great job Tom. It's great to see people really care about one another.

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

That made me laugh out loud.

When I was new in the cigar world, I got to try a couple clear Havanas thanks to some of the great BOTLs at Club Stogie. It's a tribute to them and an honor to be able to turn new guys on to them as well. I hope at least one of them smokes well for you, Dave. :)

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

May I ask stupid question.....what is a clear havana?

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

was thinking the same thing -

Nice hit as well.

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

A clear Havana is a cigar usually machine-made in the United States using varying amounts of Cuban tobacco prior to 1962. They're legal for Americans to buy, sell, trade, and smoke. But damned hard to come by.

"The cigars were called clear Havanas because customs officials used to sit in the factories and clear the tobacco used in them through customs as it was brought up from the warehouse basement." --Brooks Whittington of Halfwheel.

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

A clear Havana is a cigar made with Cuban tobacco, but is manufactured outside of Cuba. There used to be lots of companies in the US making cigars with Cuban tobacco, mostly pre-embargo, but some lasted on stocked cuban tobacco into the 70's.
There are also bonded clears, and iirc they were made under government inspection.
A government official would unlock the factory in the morning, make sure all the tobacco was certified from cuba, okay the smokes that were rolled, and lock up at night.
Someone else might help with that.

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Thanks for the explanations, Dave & Scott.

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Tom started me on the darkside. Good people, expensive people, but good people.

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Baller!

Re: icehog3: BOTL of the Highest Order
 

Awesome commraderie!