A Week With Omar - The Boys, No. 50 and No. 4

Okay, before we get in to a confrontation I want to say sorry.

A week with Omar should really be every week rather then every now and then, I am absolutely, 100% going to endeavour to keep this up.

If I can think aloud, I think one of the issues I seem to face is - in all honesty - sometimes I have weeks where I haven't really done anything terribly interesting.

Work is work, and life seems to trundle by amongst the administrative minutia of emails, meetings and phone calls. Regardless, it's important to remind myself that this is a space not only for interesting stuff but also thought provoking ideas.

I don’t know if I have ever admitted this publicly but im not a huge marvel fan. By proclaiming this am I now next in line, behind Andrew Tate, to be cancelled?

I hope not! But, on that note, what do you think of the synchronised cancellation of Andrew Tate? Please keep it civil in the comments peeps.

Anyway, back on track.

It's not that I don’t think the movies aren't great, quite the opposite, Marvel - and super hero movies in general - have clearly rocketed innovation in terms of CGI technology and production value. In fact, I have extremely fond memories growing up around the infancy of MCU. The original Iron Man movie was perhaps the coolest representation of a super hero I had seen. As a teenager, seeing this next generation of hero movie filled me with an awe and amazement that I hadn’t experienced before.

However, as Marvel mania swept over the world, propelled by the introduction of Avengers, I found the hysteria to be quite off putting.

As a young film enthusiast I started to grow slightly concerned that every movie being screened at my local cinema was some sort of super hero movie. I would go so far as to sa that I felt saddened that great movies like The Lighthouse were being over looked for the latest Avengers, so being the rebel I am, I decided to boycott movies of that genre. Was this extreme and superfluous? Absolutely, but I can be a bit dramatic sometimes.

My super hero celibacy was recently broken but not in the way you might think. The Boys. Holy shit. This is what I'm talking about, a super hero production that shows the reality, the gritty under belly of what it would actually be like to have super heroes! This amazon prime t series asks the question, would super heroes be super heroes or super assholes?

For those of you who have been blessed with the ability of watching this for the first time please allow me to introduce you.

The series follows the story of a talent management firm called Vought that manages super heroes. Vought have super heroes in every state across America but have a crown jewel team called The Seven.

This team is akin to a Justice League or Avengers.

We learn about the individual stories of these heroes and the reality of how, at heart, they are human, and every human has their dark side. I don’t want to go too in depth but I would highly recommend this show, it's probably one of the best ones I have seen as of late. However, I must warn you, if you are not someone who enjoys graphic violence, gore and very visual sexual scenes, then perhaps pass on this. Once enough of you have watched it I will probably post an in-depth analysis of what I thought the series presents.

With regards to my cigar journey, I was lucky enough to check out two absolutely cracking cigars. I'd like to start with the Montecristo No 4. First and foremost, I was quite flabbergasted as to why it has taken me this long to smoke the best selling cigar in the UK, a question I will probably never have the answer to.

None the less, better late than never I like to say.

“Is this a great first smoke?” is what many people have asked me.

Maybe.

The No. 4, in terms of the vitola (size and shape) does make for an extremely accessible smoke, lasting maybe 30 to 45 minutes. But, I must say, it has a surprising amount of strength and flavour. I would label this as a brilliant second or third cigar. In terms of flavour, this is up there for me, it doesn’t have the finesse and elegance that something like the Trinidad Reyes has but it still have this delicious earthy, woody flavour that gets stronger as you smoke through. I did notice in the first half it was balanced beautifully with this fresh tangy flavour. In my opinion, this is a crowd pleaser and a must have for any humidor! I would go so far as to say that this might be the most quintessentially cuban tasting cigar I have had on my journey.

The second cigar that really surprised me was the Quai d’Orsay No. 50.

For those who don’t know, Quai d’Orsay has a rather interesting story, from what I understand, they were only available for the French market for many years. In fact, the flavour profile or blend was made to pair perfectly with Champagne and French foods like duck.

The No. 50 - for anyone looking to stock up - is smoking extremely well right now, the vitola is beautifully elegant and works perfectly for an afternoon smoke. The one I had was perfectly constructed, a beautiful white ash that held together well past the mid way point.

But the truly standout aspect of this cigar was the flavour profile. Sweet, creamy and floral were the primary notes I got, I have to admit this really reminded me of the Trinidad Media Luna with slightly less punch but heaps and heaps of complex, nuanced flavours. This is one of those cigars where you just want to hang on to the smoke in your mouth just a few seconds longer to get the full spectrum of flavours on offer.