Categories
Cigar of the Week

Cigar of the Week: Alec Bradley Trilogy Native Cameroon Robusto

Alec Bradley Trilogy Native Cameroon cigar

Brand: Alec Bradley
Line: Trilogy Native Cameroon
Vitola: Robusto (5 x 50)
Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Nicaraguan, Italian
Body: Medium
Strength: Medium
Box Price: $72.00 (box of 20)

(This is the first of three reviews for Alec Bradley’s Trilogy line of cigars: the Native Cameroon, the Corojo and the Exotic Maduro.)

I don’t smoke too many sticks with Cameroon binders. The last one, I think, was the CAO Cameroon

So, to say the least, I was excited when I received the Alec Bradley Native Cameroon in the mail from Chris Manso over at A.B.

Not too much information is available on the Alec Bradley site, but the folks at Keepers of the Flame wrote in 2006 that the cigars in the Trilogy line used to be tri-pressed, and thus were shaped like triangles. Pretty cool, huh?

Anyway, the Native Cameroon has a good prelight draw, along with a leathery, woody taste and scent with hints of spice. It also has an attractive, fairly toothy wrapper.

About an inch into the cigar, I was hit with an earthy taste, and the spiciness dialed up a touch, enough for it to linger a bit on the finish, but this spice went away about an inch or so.

The stick had a good, even burn and produced solid, very light gray ash.

Verdict: Smooth and uncomplicated, but for a Cameroon, it’s not quite what I expected. Alec Bradley cigars are generally good bangs for the buck, and this Native Cameroon is decent, but to be honest, it’s not the best Cameroon I’ve smoked, and it won’t be the best one you’ll smoke either. I did enjoy it enough to think about buying a couple to let sit in my humidor. At $3 apiece, it’s a modest investment.

(Note: This review originally appeared on CigarJack.)

Categories
Media news

Tidbit of the Day: Quoted in Advertising Age

The piece, “Google, Yahoo Become Print’s Allies,” by Nat Ives, is about newspapers’ new media efforts. Nat asked me about the Chicago Tribune’s social media work.

Who else was mentioned? My good friend Colonel Tribune.

Who would’ve thought: Daniel B. Honigman, panelist, speaker, lecturer — and now quoted in a major industry publication?

My parents would be proud, I think. I just wish they were still around.

Categories
Cigar of the Week

Tidbit of the Day: Hanging out in Nat Sherman’s Johnson Club Room

Nat Sherman Johnson Club Room
Mollie hanging out in Nat Sherman’s Johnson Club Room

Earlier this year, I reviewed the Nat Sherman Host Selection, the Nat Sherman Metropolitan Selection, the Nat Sherman V.I.P. Selection and the Nat Sherman Omerta. I enjoy the company’s cigars, but I just hadn’t been to Nat’s new 42nd Street digs.

So I was in New York recently, and in between a Mets game and some family business, my girlfriend Mollie (pictured) and I had some time to kill. We were near the store, so we stopped by for a bit.

Nat Sherman is a cigar smoker’s urban oasis. My contact there, store manager Mike Holba, was there, and he showed us around the store’s retail area, the cave-like walk-in humidor, the private lockers and, of course, the Johnson Club Room.

Think of the club as a cross between the Harvard Club — not that I’ve ever been there — and a Tommy Bahama wet dream. Decadent, no?

Simply put, The JCR is the cigar smoker’s ultimate tax write-off; $1,600 a year gets you membership, a personal locker and a whole bunch of prestige. But if you do a lot of business in New York, and you enjoy a good cigar, membership is a must-have.

There are many creature comforts: There’s the room, which features a full bar, lots of dark wood, comfortable leather chairs and couches and some cool cigar stuff on display. The club also serves up appetizers, a free daily continental breakfast from 9-11am and, presumably, some good conversation. This is the home of the city’s cigar-puffing elite, which include New York icons like Rudy Giuliani and Joe Torre, who both have lockers at Nat’s.

Mollie and I hung out in the room for a little while. She had a Host, while I enjoyed one of the store’s exclusive Blender’s Vault cigars. (I’ll be reviewing some of these later on.)

If you’re in the Big Apple on a weekend, a visit to Nat’s is a must. Period. The sticks are good, the space is nice, and the ice tea’s pretty damn tasty.

But if you tell ’em I sent you, you probably won’t get a discount.

(Note: This originally appeared on CigarJack.)

Categories
Video of the Day

Video of the Day: Take On Me (literal version)

Absolutely hilarious.

Categories
Digital Strategy

Tidbit of the Day: How to write awesome headlines

For all of you SEO folks out there, I just have one thing to say to you:

Fooey. These are real headlines.

How To Write Awesome Headlines

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: barcamplondon5 socialmediacamp08)

Courtesy of Todd Andrlik.

Categories
Cigar of the Week

Cigar of the Week: Man O’ War toro

Man O' War toro cigar

Brand: Man O’ War
Line: Man O’ War
Vitola: Toro (6.5 x 52)
Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium-to-full
Strength: Medium
Box Price: $128 (Box of 22)

Several Web retailers have been giving the Man O’ War cigar a bit of a push lately. Perhaps it’s justified, as it’s made by A.J. Fernandez, an up-and-comer in the cigar biz and maker of the Sol Cubano Cuban Cabinet, ITC 10th Anniversary, Padilla Habano and Rocky Patel Fusion cigars.

We at CigarJack like to keep up with the latest trends, and after smoking the Man O’ War, it seems that Fernandez may have snatched the “hot cigar maker” mantle from Don “Pepin” Garcia. Just maybe.

Anyway, the Man O’ War cigar has a slightly oily, slightly veiny wrapper, along with firm construction and a prelight scent of mocha.

Once lit, I found that the cigar drew well and burned an even column of dark gray ash. In fact, the ash was so solid that it stayed on after I shook the stick violently — and I did this several times.

The Man O’ War started out spicy, and then progressed to have an earthy, leathery taste. All through the smoke — which lasted about 90 minutes — I caught hints of cocoa and coffee.

Verdict: A very smooth, very enjoyable, well-made smoke. I didn’t have to re-light this sucker once, even after shaking it around. (I was doing this on the street, mind you, so I must have looked like an idiot.)

Similar cigars: A more complex version of the Sol Cubano Cuban Classic.

(Note: This review originally appeared on CigarJack.)

Categories
Sports Video of the Day

Video of the Day: 1986 World Series, Game Six, re-enacted in RBI Baseball

This is for my fellow Mets fans who need a bit of cheering up. Thanks, Eric, for pointing this out to me!

It’s almost as good as last year’s Mr. Met videos, which are here and here.

Categories
Housekeeping

Tidbit of the Day: Thoughts about BlogWorld 2008, and some people to meet

BlogWorld 2008 was an absolute blast. I met some of the greatest social media minds around, but I was able to chat up folks of all ages, all backgrounds and with all different levels of new and social media experience.

Anyway, Gary Vaynerchuk summed up my biggest takeaway in one sentence: “Content is king, but marketing is queen, and the queen runs the household.”

It doesn’t matter how good your content is; if you don’t market it, it won’t make a difference. Good bloggers have a great sense of who their audience is. They keep track of their friends, fans and followers in lists, social networks — any way they possibly can.

At the end of the day, people buy who you are, not who you sell.

Question: What was your big takeaway?

Anyway, my panel with Jason Falls and Jeremy Pepper went quite well — thanks for the support on Twitter, guys! — met OJ Simpson and I just had a great time, so I plan to attend next year’s BlogWorld Expo.

(ADDENDUM: My panel was featured in WebProNews, and yours truly was quoted. Awesome!)

Here are some of the awesome people I met:

Ricardo Bueno, Scott Duehlmeier, Tris Hussey, Lynn Terry, Marc Baumann, Jon Ostrower, Shannon Lane, Beth Blair, Ellen Marden, Jeremy Pepper, Eve Lopez, Deborah Micek, Chris Brogan, Gary Vaynerchuk, Samer Forzley, Richard Lee, Becky McCray, Ezra Butler, Michelle Evans, Lee LeFever, Steve Pavlina, Annie Lynsen, Lionel Menchaca, Andrew Israel, Scott Lockhart, David Hinz, Rob Lloyd, Michael Paige, Kathy Jacobs, Wendy Piersall, Byron Go, Lorelle VanFossen, Jason Yan, Adam Ostrow, Paul Kim, Steve Radick, Doyle Albee, Barbara Rozgonyi, David Almacy, Dave Taylor, Rob Vaules…

…and so on. (Sorry if I missed you.)

___

On a personal note, I have two bits of advice:

1. If you’re going to Vegas, pack some chapstick and some good lotion. My lips are cracked and my elbows are all dry from the heat.

2. Don’t try to walk from one hotel to another. Just cab it. While Vegas is small and the buildings are large, it seems that if you try walking from place to place, you’ll never get there. Period.

Categories
Video of the Day

Video of the Day: Kathy Jacobs, AllVoices.com at BlogWorld Expo 2008

OK, folks, so here’s the first video interview I’ve done for DanielHonigman.com.

Kathy Jacobs is the community guru for AllVoices, an open-source citizen journalism site. AllVoices is cool, but Kathy is a great person who really gets social media, citizen journalism and the whole bit.

Anyway, enjoy!

Categories
Chicago

Tidbit of the Day: Co-hosting the Feast for Smart Marketers #20

You heard it here.

I’ll be co-hosting GasPedal’s 20th Feast for Smart Marketers later this month, along with folks like Rick Murray, president of Edelman Digital, Dick Costolo from Feedburner/Google, John Seebeck from Crate & Barrel, Liz Strauss, David Armano and others.

There’s sure to be some good talk about emerging media, and, of course, some great conversation. Register here, if you’d like, and I hope to see you there!