The room was dark and I found myself staring blankly at the ceiling. I had been awake for a few minutes and resisted the urge to roll over and look at the clock. It had to be close to 4:00am. Waking up like this, shortly before my alarm sounded, was becoming an all too common occurrence.

I don’t know how long I laid there but the alarm sounded soon enough. I pulled myself out of bed, headed to the bathroom to clean myself, then headed out the door to put in some time at the gym. I stepped out of the gym some time around 6:00am and climbed into my car. I felt good. I was keeping on track with living a healthier lifestyle and I also happened to take the lead in the FitBit Work Week Hustle Challenge.

I was tempted to light up a cigar, right then as I sat in the parking lot, but I was a sweaty mess. My EP Carrillo New Wave would have to wait until I could get a quick shower. After a much needed shower, some breakfast, and a handful of other odds and ends, I found myself easing into a chair at the Sir Stogies Private Lounge.

I had my laptop in front of me and plenty of work to do, so I got down to business. The EP Carrillo New Wave tasted amazing paired with a steaming hot cup of coffee. After about a half hour of working, the owner came through the lounge and we talked for a bit.

Before getting on with his day, Tim asked if I was going to be around for a while. He had Consuelo Gomez coming in from Puros de Santiago to pitch him her line. It just so happened that my wife didn’t have work later that morning due to my daughter’s pre-school graduation. For a change, I had nothing going on and was more than happy to sit until 1:00pm.

When Consuelo arrived, she came through the door with a new rep for the area and an established rep from another territory. All three individuals were pleasant and the arrangement of cigars they had set out was impressive.

Consuelo asked what type of cigar I liked to smoke. I told her that Medium to Full was what I enjoyed most frequently. She dug around in her bag and began to hand me a cigar. She pulled back and said “Would you like to try the fish?” Who am I to argue over a free cigar so I happily agreed.

The cigar she handed me looked remarkably like a fish. The stick was short and had a hard taper. It went from roughly a fifty ring gauge at the head down to zero at the foot. The foot had a decorative fold in it that looked like little fins. On the head of the cigar were two candela eyes.

I later found out that the Fish that I was smoking was actually called the Amos de Santiago Carnada. I didn’t waste any time lighting it up. At first it was problematic. The teeny-tiny foot made the draw very stiff. It took some clever torch work and persistence to get the cigar going but, once it was going strong, it kept going without issue.

The flavor of the Amos de Santiago Carnada was impressive. The little cigar was deceiving and packed more punch than I anticipated. The profile consisted on mostly leather, nuts, and wood but there was one odd flavor that I just couldn’t put my finger on. It wasn’t a bad flavor, just different. It kind of reminded me of the metallic zinc taste that you get from a Cold-Eeze lozenge.

The Fish comes packaged in boxes of five cigars and carries an MSRP of $45 per box. Given the unique shape, $9 per stick doesn’t seem out of line. I’m not one to buy into odd-shapes but given that they come five in a box, I’m tempted to order one.

I didn’t get the opportunity to sample any of the other offerings that Consuelo brought along but I’m hoping to try them in the near future. Sir Stogies will be bringing in some of the lineup, one of which I’m sure will be the Carnada.