Here it is. My first video review. In this episode I review the H. Upmann Lonsdale. This wonderful cigar was the first cigar I ever had when I started enjoying fine cigars over 10 years ago. Feel free to leave me any comments that you have.
H. Upmann Lonsdale
Nice to see another contributor to the SR!
I’d like to humbly offer a few thoughts on the video.
I think should gather ur thoughts and then record decent segments of dialog versus saying a few words in between every puff. The flow wasn’t very good and made the video too long with lots of down/puff time.
btw, I also wet the tip of my cigars before I clip too. Not quite as long as you do it, but it’s a good tip to pass along.
I think puff rhythm depends on the cigar, every cigar has it’s own rhythm. I heard that on the DWSC and I totally agree with it. Listen the cigar and find it’s rhythm. I agree that slower is usually better.
Once again, thanks for stepping up and helping SR grow. Looking forward to seeing your next video.
Hey Justin! Welcome to the family!
Good first review. I liked the part at the end where you recap the cigar you smoked.
Looking forward to your reviews…don’t be afraid to show your personality. One of the things that I think draw people to the site is getting to know you guys.
Good review. Once you get used to these I think you’ll do great. I’m looking forward to the first your quesrtions, my answers with Justin.
oh and could you guys let us know how long youve kept the cigars youre reviewing in your humidors?? it would be nice to know a good length to store cigars before smoking them
Not a bad first review. I dont think i would revisit the first cigar i smoked, most people’s tastes move on and grow, but hey, if you enjoyed your first cigar, then i guess there isnt a problem going back to it.
You need to get some ventilation in there too, can barely see you through the smoke! Oh, and i dont know if you know you are doing it, but you do something really annoying with your hand when you have the cigar in your mouth and puffing on it. Looks like you are playing the piano or somethin…hahah
I agree with Kirk, you should loosen up a bit and try to be a bit friendlier. One thing I love about SR and keeps me coming back for more, even for stuff I already know, is the fact that the guys here are very friendly, unpretentious, and modest.
all in all, it was a good video. looking forward to watching ur progression. i hope i’m not saying too much
Good Job, Justin.
It takes time to become comfortable doing anything. For a first-time review, I thought it was excellent.
Sean
Welcome aboard Justin.
I liked the banner you through in when describing the contents of the cigar. I thought that was a nice touch.
I’m looking forward to the Your Question My answer session. I think that will fit your style well.
On cigar reveiws, my preference is to keep the time as much as possible to a 10 min review along with a written review. I like to read the reviews sometimes at work when they frown on me sucking up video bandwidth heheh. I think if you pick a target time length for the review, you’ll define how you do the review off of that. Easier to do that then pick a format and see how long it takes. 10 min seems to allow some free discussion on off topics like cigar questions or history and allows a good review time for the cigar.
Those are my thoughts and long ashes,
Dave
I really appreciate all of the comments. The first one was hard. Not sure about what to say, how to say it, etc. I admit the video was a bit long and with some better planning I will get it to be shorter. I like the 10 minute idea. I will use all the comments posted as a guideline to improve my next video. Thank you for taking the time to view it as well as your comments.
till next time….
I want to welcome you to StogieReview.com! I’m glad to see another reviewer on board. I’d like to see the frequency of cigar reviews to increase.
I found your announcement that you should not smoke your cigar with a carbonated drink like a Pepsi quite interesting. I have to totally disagree with you. I smoke about 85% of my cigars with a Diet Coke. Most times that is the perfect combination for me.
I think that if you are seriously reviewing a cigar then Diet Coke might not be the way to go, and you would be right to have only water in that case.
I think that the right drink-cigar combination for any individual is whatever works for that person. My second favorite drink with a stogie is some black coffee.
I think you did a great job. I especially liked the fact that you gave some background on the brand. That was interesting for me.
I also liked the way you were “swimming” in smoke at times. I think that it sets a nice ambiance! 🙂 And, backs up your statements about the thick smoke and aroma, as well.
I also liked the way you kept track of the time it took to smoke the cigar.
Once again, I’m glad to see you on the StogieReview.com.
Cal
I don’t believe the video was too long. A ten min review is 10 to 15 puffs, 20 min is much better. You did seem to be nervous. Your playing with your ring between puffs was so annoying I had to watch the review twice to hear all I missed trying to figure out what you were doing. Commentary about brand history was interesting and informing; good job. The added work you did with editing, as well as written info on screen was very well done. As a first review, an Upmann was a little bland, no wow factor. I look forward to seeing further reviews and seeing what type of cigars you like. More discussions on flavor profile would be helpful, but maybe it’s just the cigar. All in all I think you did a good job, just relax. I love the site and always look forward to the next review. As a last thought DON’T CUT THE LENGTH OF THE VIDEO, ten min is a tease we want real discussion and info.
All in all I think this is a great start! It takes a bit to get use to having a conversation with a camera.
Length of your video is up to you. I normally try to keep mine under 15 minutes just because I know my own attention span. It all depends on what cigar you’re smoking but you will find the length that feels the most comfortable.
Episode 12 – Your Questions, My Answers will be blast. I think we have the whole crew set for this one.
Welcome to Stogie Review, Justin. Awesome first video review. Would, however, like to hear you describe in detail some of the flavors you taste as you smoke your cigar next time. I look forward to seeing more of your reviews. Hopefully the next time my wife and I visit Vegas (where we went for our honeymoon a couple of years ago) you and I can have a smoke at Casa Fuente while she shops.
Great review, especially for your first one! Take a look at Jerry and Walt’s first vids…haha… I liked the explanation of the cigar and how strong it is as well.
I think what we witnessed at the beginning of the review can only be described as cigar fellatio…..I’m strangely aroused, but mostly appalled…. lol, I’m JUST KIDDING! Sorry I had to goof off a bit.
Anyway, great effort on your first video review. I would take out the part where you say, “this is a Stogie Review video review, (in Will Ferrell’s Anchorman voice) I’m Justine (last name). I thought it was a bit cheesy. Just treat treat the video as a friendly conversation with the viewers. Work on tone and delivery, you didn’t come off as being warm and friendly what we all love about Jerry, Walt, and Brian.
I think you did alright! Like Watson pointed out, we all just laugh at Jerry and Walt’s first few videos. It takes time.
Once you have one episode of YQMA under your belt I think talking to the camera will be easier.
Welcome and great first review.
Everything I wanted to say pretty much has be said already….except for one thing….
You held up your Xikar Cutter and called it your Xikar Lighter. Shocked that nobody else caught that.
Keep up the good work!!
Good job. I think you do well picking apart the flavors of the smoke. The background info and tid bits were cool. Decet amount of data. Sure, you did seem a little nervous, but like Jerry said, it’s probably strange having a conversation with a camera.
I think you’ll improve in time. I’m glad I didn’t try to get your spot here as a reviewer, because I would have stumbled words much more then you did.
-Tom
Oh, in response to Shane… It does always disturb me a bit when someone really wets the cigar like that. But hey, to each his own. It’s all good 😉
hmmm, now that you mention the cigar wetting etc. I wonder if that’s what President Bill did with his Monica cigars???
Food for thought 🙂 errrr, maybe you all shouldn’t think about that too much bleh …… 😛
Dave
Very good first effort. I don’t think I could’ve done any better.
I’ve got a few of these in the humidor that I got with a library edition and I’m certainly going to have to light these up. I love all of the thick smoke – something I really enjoy with my smoking experiences.
Looking forward to seeing your next review since everyone says it’s a night-and-day difference.
So glad to have another reviewer (as I’m sure Jerry, Walt, and Brian are glad to have another reviewer). 🙂
i think h.upmanns are one of the most underrated cigar labels in the industry. their cigars are in constant rotation in my humidor. i look forward to trying the signature line. how about a review on those?