Blended my first cigar with AJ

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.

roland_7707

beatnic

Pics with you and him are required. Totally cool Rip.

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.

danielzreyes

Stay thirsty Rip ....... stay thirsty

bbass2

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.

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.

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

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!

rzaman

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

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!

BigT06

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.

Bigshizza

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..

catfishbluezz

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.

ShotgunJohn

This is awesome!!!

big chunks

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?

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.

zeebra

KingoftheCove

danielruas

This is really cool can't wait to hear how it goes.

rzaman

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.

bearb

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!

roland_7707

Today is the day. Getting nervous man?

kuzi16

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.

reggie713

This is very cool!!

rzaman

roland_7707

Thats epic man. Really cool.

beatnic

awesome

ddubridge

Very cool Rip. Glad you had a great time.

Poker Slob

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.