It's Superbowl time, so it's one of those night's where I get to smoke more than one Cigar to accompany me through three hours of American Football.

Being an Eagles fan I have nothing much to cheer for. I'd prefer to see the Patriots take it. All I'm expecting is an exciting game, however with the pressure of the occasion it may turn out to be a let down. Who knows? Hope I'm wrong.

Tonight I've got a few Cigars and Beer's planned. Nothing too fancy, but tasty enough all the same. First up is the Partagas Serie P No. 2. One of my favourite Cigar's from the Partagas brand and is always consistent.

Second up the Ramon Allones Specially Selected. I've had a box resting in my humidor for the last month or so. It's about time I broke one of them out of it's slumber and light it up!

Drink's wise I've got nothing out of the ordinary, just a bottle of Theakston's Old Peculiar and Ringwood Brewery Old Thumper. I have a bottle of Dark Star Imperial Stout too that I may open up at the end of the night. Looking forward to an exciting night's football.

I'm sitting here watching the first match of Wales' campaign in this year's Rugby Six Nations against Ireland. And I have a smile on my face because of three things - not only because Wales just scored a Try (nice one Jonathan) and that I'm about to light up a Montecristo Petit Edmundo, but I've had another good workout in the gym this afternoon.

I spent one hour and sixteen minutes on the treadmill, managing to run in total fourteen kilometres. I've been slowly building the length of time I have been running from forty five minutes to an hour and now a hour and fifteen minutes over the last four months or so. You may think I'm crazy running that length of time, but stick some of your favourite songs on your portable music player and just start running!

Although I don't drink or eat as much as one would think. I do like a good Beer however I'm far from being a session drinker. Give me three or four pints and it's goodnight Vienna. However, it's important that when you portray yourself as one who enjoys alcoholic drinks and Cigars that you look after yourself and ensure that you portray the industry your representing in it's best light. Remember, It's important that you look after yourself and not to push that stereotype as Beer drinkers with big bellies.

So I exercise as much as possible for a couple of reasons. Along with overall fitness, I can fit into good clothes and feel good about myself, it's important to ensure that you look after yourself generally.

Maybe this blog post has gone a little off track. It's twenty minutes into the Rugby match and I have yet to light up the Petit Edmundo. But sometimes it's nice to blow your own trumpet per se when it comes to your personal goals and targets.

Right, back to this Petit Edmundo and the Six Nations...

One of my favourite times to relax is in front of the television with a good Cigar and a beverage to pair it with. Sunday night's over the last three weeks have been excellent, because of the BBC Drama Sherlock was back for a second series.

I very rarely slouch in front of the television. Therefore when I do decide to watch something, it's a programme I really would like to view. Therefore, I find it important to make a small event out of the whole thing and make sure I grab a good Cigar and a nice beverage.

In this case tonight I decided to go for a Por Larranaga Petit Corona, paired with Black Sheep Brewery's Riggwelter.

I've always been a fan of the Por Larranaga Petit Corona. When I purchased my first cabinet of 50 of these back in 2006 I immediately fell in love with the flavour profile of light caramel, cream and woody notes. I would say that they're not as well constructed as the Bolivar Petit Corona, however in terms of flavour the Por Larranaga is such a lovely smoke.

There's always been debate on how long should you let the Por Larranaga age before you should start tucking into your cabinet of fifty. From my experience, anything with at least six months of age is smokeable, unless of course you're unlucky enough to have bought a batch going through the sick period. If you leave them to age for over a year or more, you should be rewarded greatly with greater complexity when it comes to sweetness and fading harshness.

What would I rate the Por Larranaga that I smoked last night? I've smoked around six now from the box I bought around a month ago, and I would say this was the best one yet. I solidly gave it 92 out of 100. A beautiful Cigar. Impressive. I can't wait for these to age during the forthcoming months. However, at this rate, I can't see them lasting much past Spring...

Sometimes you smoke a Cigar that you know is special however you try and keep the sense of anticipation and excitement down to a minimum because in the back of your head, you know that you're going to be a little disappointed.

We've all been there. A friend of yours has suggested this newest release, straight from the roller's table, that's meant to the best thing since the triple cap. However, when you get round to smoking it, it's never as wonderful as everyone else had made it out to be.

Well, was I surprised.

The other night I decided to bust out a Cigar I've been saving for a certain moment in time where I can just relax and leave all of the world's troubles just pass me by. Luckily, it was a long weekend over the New Year's period and I had no pre-arranged chores to carry out. So it was time to get the Cohiba 54 out of the Presentation Pack and smoke the damn thing.

With Thornbridge's Russian Imperial Stout and the Rush documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage as company, I began.

Almost two hours later, the Behike was finished. All I can say is, what a Cigar. I've heard so many things about the Behike range, how much people had rated all three sizes. I've smoked two of the Behike 52 in the past, One I scored 92 and the 90, however this Cigar was in a different league. You know that heavenly plane that you don't get often in your smoking life but you know it when you're experiencing it? It was like that when I was smoking the 52.

I scored the Behike 54 96 points. With a couple of years of ageing this Cigar will be complete package. The only two things that held it slightly was the burn was a little off at some points during smoking, but were easily corrected. The other was there a little bit of complexity lacking in the final third however when the Cigar mellows a little in the next few years the strength will quieten down slightly, with the more subtle flavours coming through.

I've still got the 52 and the 56 to smoke from the box. I'm looking forward to trying the 56 just to see where it fits in relation to the 52 and 54. The 54 is stronger than the 52, so will the 56 be stronger? Or will it be more suave? One thing for certain, I can't wait to try it out!

Every year, the Edición Regional (Regional Edition) series is released to fanfare amongst Cigar smokers. However, the programme is littered with issues, one being that it's 2012 and the UK 2011 Regional Editions have still not arrived! I look into why the Regional Editions for the United Kingdom have become a little bit of joke...

For those who are unaware of the Regional Edition series, every year the distributor of each country can request a special, one-off Cigar produced for them. This gives the distributor the chance to commission a Cigar, that fits the profile of the smokers in that country.

For 2011, Hunter's & Frankau, the distributors for all Cuban Cigars in the United Kingdom commissioned the following:

Here we are in January 2012, and as of yet, I have not heard one word regarding when the United Kingdom Regional Editions will be released. One Cigar Retailer that I asked a good few months ago mentioned that he hoped they would be here before the end of the year. Looks like that was wishful thinking.

This is not the first time that we have seen a late release of a United Kingdom Regional Release. The La Flor de Cano Petit Robusto, that was scheduled for release in 2010 finally was avilable to purchase a year later the summer of 2011. Hunters & Frankau, nor Habanos SA, have stated why the Cigar was delayed for so long. I heard that the green ink used for the boxes that these Cigars were housed in were delayed, but it's a Hell of a long time for a delivery of ink.

Another Cigar that was released behind schedule, funnily enough due to packaging, was the Romeo y Julieta Julieta. A Cigar that was announced in the Habanos Festival back in 2010, however, didn't find their way into Cigar retailers until the summer of 2011. So, it appears it is not a Cigar production problem, but a packaging problem?

So... what's the problem now? I don't understand why we haven't heard one thing regarding the Bolivar Britanicas or the Punch Medalla d'Oro. Why haven't they been released yet?.

Other distributors have had their allocation delivered to them. The Germany Regional Editions were released in October, while other Regional Editions; China, Canada, Russia and Asia Pacific have been made available in November and December. So we are seeing Regional Editions being released, just not ours.

So where are they?

Reading on the excellent Cuban Cigar Website, it notes that as of 2012, there will only be one Regional Edition Cigar per distributor. So what does that tell us? Well, it could be two possibilities:

Dying demand

Firstly, there's just not enough demand for these Regional Edition Cigars. Maybe two years ago, when these limited edition Cigars were something new and desirable collectors went out of their way to snap them up. Read any popular Cuban Cigar Forum on the Internet and you'd find at least a few people who would obtain Regional Editions of not only their country but other countries as well.

However, the glitz and glamour of these Cigars has died down since many of these releases have been poor in both flavour and smokeability. Too many of them being the same as each other and not representing their brand, I want a Bolivar to taste like a Bolivar.

Just not enough to go around

The second reason why is that Habanos SA have to scale back on the Regional Edition series is that they just don't have enough resources to produce more than one Cigar for each distributor.

All the special releases are being released in the last few months of the year. I can remember the Limited Editions being released in July and August, but now they seem to be released in October and November.

Cohiba 1966 - Limited Editions are released on time, but seem to be on sale later and later every year.

Does that point to the fact that Habanos SA are producing too many different ranges and are falling behind their 'orders'?

Hello everyone, welcome to 2012! I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas and New Year's festivities. I'm sure you all had managed to smoke one of two great Cigars over the last few weeks. Hopefully you managed to find somewhere sheltered and warm to enjoy the Cigar you were smoking to it's fullest.

The last week I have managed to purchase a few new boxes of Cigars to add to my humidor. I'm just going to briefly run through what I've purchased and the reason why I like them.

Alongside my written review, is my video review of the Sancho Panza Escuderos. Please feel free to post comments regarding my review. I always love hearing your thoughts about my review and the Cigar I'm reviewing!

One of two Regional Editions released for the German market in 2011, alongside the Juan Lopez Distinguidos, it's great to see the Sancho Panza brand in the Edicion Limiteda range.

So I would suggest that you head over to CigarInspector and watch / read my review of the Sancho Panza Escuderos now.

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So if you're Google+ inclined, then I'd suggest you get on there, sign up for an account, and start following Beer & Cigar related circles (including mine!).

Measuring in at 4 inches by 50 ring gauge, the La Flor de Cano Short Robusto looks to be a thirty to forty minute smoke, perfect if you want to knock back an Ale or two outside your local pub. I'm looking forward to finally video reviewing this Cigar. The initial impressions amongst the Cigar community is that they are a cracking smoke. However, I've heard from a few people that these are light in body, while others have mentioned that the Cigar leans towards being medium bodied. A perfect excuse to find out myself methinks!

Looking forward toward the review, I'm trying to think what would be the best drink pairing to compliment the Short Robusto? I've got a feeling a light, golden Ale might be the best bet. I'm hedging my bets, and sticking my neck out that this is going to be light in body, so the drink in question in itself will have to be delicate.

Just writing about this Cigar is starting to make me drool...

Friday was a pretty long day in work. Our major websites all were re-branded, that included a lot of checking and making sure we didn't miss anything. After getting out of the building at 7.30pm, off down into town I went.

Tonight's destination was the Gatekeeper in the middle of town, not far from the Millenium Stadium and opposite Clwb Ifor Bach. A JD Wetherspoons pub, there's always a good selection of Ale's available.

On tap tonight was Bullmastiff Brewery's Son of a Bitch. At 6% ABV, this is stronger than you're usual Ale's but not so much that it's a “one pint only" beer. Depending on the mood of the brewer I guess, but sometimes Son of a Bitch comes at 6.5% or 6.4%.

The last time I sampled Son of a Bitch was the Carmarthen Beer Festival, at the end of last September. A regular every year at the Beer Festival, I always remember Son of a Bitch for having a sulphur and yeast aroma with some fruit, and sedate hop notes.

Pairing Son of Bitch, tonight I smoked a Partagas Serie D No. 4. I'm starting to like these again. I smoked a few of these two years ago and they were poor compared to the ones I smoked when I started four or five years ago. It looks as if the quality of this vitola is starting to improve again.

This evening's Son of a Bitch tasted pretty much the same. With such a name, you'd expect quite a powerful concoction of flavours. Not so. There's not much bitterness, or a hop zing. What you get is quite a mellow, fruity flavour. The alcohol content, while higher than you're usual bitter, doesn't have that alcohol kick that you'd think you would have.

Rating Son of a Bitch, I would give it a 6.75/10. Pretty average. There's not much happening with the flavours. It will be interesting when I try this again in two months time at the Carmarthen Beer Festival how it compares. And whether the alcohol volume is the same or it has increased.