Review ~ Drew Estate Tabak Especial Red Eye (8/10)

    Country of origin: Nicaragua    
    Size: 4.5"x54
    Shape: Robusto
    Strength: Meduim
    Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
    Binder: Nicaraguan
    Filler: Nicaraguan

I usually have a piece of chocolate with my cigar, but in this case, it would be redundant, as the cigar is plenty sweet and chocolatey all on its own.

The write-ups promise such things as: 

"savory espresso notes and a touch of milk chocolate, all perfectly balanced by a sweet, velvety aftertaste."

And make note of:

"three times the ligero typically used to produce a cigar this size."

A guarantee of the full punch that goes long with that much ligero is more than implied.

Those assurances seemed overstated at first, but proved true enough, and it was definitely a most enjoyable cigar, as was the case the first time I smoked one a year or so ago.  

So, lets get right into it. 

Appearance:  Lovely, velvety dark brown, a little rougher veined than some, which, along with the shag foot and pigtail cap, gave it an old world, kind of rustic appeal.

Construction: Well built, medium solid pack, which is to say it has a bit more give than some of my regular go-to smokes, but no soft or "saggy spots or anything like that. It's built well.

Aroma: Sweet and chocolaty, evoking childhood memories of See's Candy in the mall, and the promise of free samples of normally forbidden treats. In a word, delicious.

Cold Draw: A "cool" (kinda like ice cream), creamy, undefined sweet flavour.

Cut: No cut needed - just bit off the pigtail and all was great.  

Light:  Very easy and even light, in large part due to the shag foot.

Draw:  The draw was perfect from the start, which is not nearly as common as it ought to be.

First Third: Immediately after lighting, I'm tasting the same kind of "undefined" sweetness as I noted in the cold draw, but that quickly morphed into a very sweet cream flavour, with just the slightest touches of coffee noticeable on the retrohale. Getting into the latter half of the first third, the sweetness has a more distinct chocolate flavour, and more of the coffee starting to come through toward end.

Second Third: Some of the ligero and espresso notes began to vie for centre stage, along with a touch of caramel (what!), and some  delightful, buttery nuance making an appearance. Into the second half, it's tasting more like a latte and the flavours are blending very nicely in the finish. It's still pretty mild, but I'm not complaining. The mouth feel is sweetly buttery, leaving a very light coating on the roof of the mouth.

Last Third: If they made sweet espresso cotton candy, and it translated well, it would taste like this! The strength is finally evident and the promised punch is delivering deliciously, with a dark espresso and burnt sugar finish. The cream has pretty much completely disappeared halfway through this last third, and there is definite pepper lingering on the tongue. There is quite a bit more of the ligero and espresso on the retrohale in the final stretch, and it keeps making me sneeze (weird), so maybe it's more spicy than seems, but again, no complaints.

Burn: Pretty even burn throughout, with only a couple touch ups, and those may have been cause of the fans running and forgetting to rotate.

Smoke: Lots of billows of creamy, white smoke, with a texture all its own. 

Ash: Very light grey - almost white, and flaky. This isn't the stick for your local herf's long ash contests. It only held about an inch at a time, and I ended up with ash down my front a few times. At least, being as loose and flaky as it was, it wasn't hot! And really, I don't care that much anymore about what anyone is going to think when I make an ash of myself. (OK, OK, I know. That was horrid. I can't help it!)  Not for smoking over your in-laws' expensive carpet, and if you are self conscious about ash on your shirt, maybe save these for at home smokes.

Bottom Line: The Red Eye may not start out of the gate a clear winner, but stick with it, and its definitely a smoke that risks burning the lips as you smoke it as far down as you dare. I give it a solid 8/10. 

Review ~ La Herencia Cubana CORE (5/10)

 

 I didn't plan it this way, but it turned out to be an A.J. Fernandez day.

According to the write-up:

"The La Herencia Cubana line started as an experiment by AJ Fernandez to capture a new audience in the boutique market by showcasing an affordable premium cigar. In Spanish, La Herencia Cubana translates to “Cuban Heritage,” which pays homage to AJ’s focus on creating premium handmades that are similar in complexity and flavor to those from Cuba’s glory days."

I had one or two of these out of the 5 that were in a sampler ages ago, and wasn't super fond of them, so I figured I'd let them age a while, and then promptly forgot about them for a couple years. 

Ageing did improve them, but they're still not really my cup of tea, hence my rating.

That said, it is not a bad cigar at all - just not one I particularly like, so if you like this sort of flavour profile and experience, you may well love them.

Appearance: Sleek, dark, lightly veined wrapper with a nice, satiny sheen. A very nice looking stick.

Construction: well built, solid, with just the right amount of "give" with a gentle squeeze. No imperfections noted.

Pre-light: Smell was rich and earthy, in a dry, crisp sort of way, taste was less crisp and gave a hint of the supple leather notes, with definite pepper evident on the lips.

Light & Cut: As usual, I did a light and cut. It lit quite easily and evenly, and immediately started producing quite a bit of white, creamy looking smoke, which, with the promises of  smoke that is "creamy on the palate" seemed to bode well. I did a V cut, and there was no unravelling or tobacco getting in my mouth, so another plus there for construction.

First Third: The main flavour was very earthy, with the slightest trace of grass, with warm notes of well oiled leather coming into play about halfway through. Toward the end of the first third, the pepper started becoming more apparent, though it was more a sensation than actual flavour, giving it a bit of heat and that spice on the lips and tongue tingle.

Second Third: Lots more pepper, coalescing into more obvious black pepper flavour, rather than the earlier "generic pepper/spicy" feeling. The ligero piquancy really started coming through here as well, amping up to meet the full bodied rating in the description. The retrohale proved even stronger - almost harsh, rather than the "smooth through the nose" in the advertising, and with very slight hints of toast only showing up in the exhale.

 Last Third: Even stronger than the previous, and finally, some of the claimed creamy notes crept in. My "creamy" experience was nothing like I expected, based on the advertised description, and didn't have any of the chewy traits I usually expect with the more full bodied smokes either. Unfortunately, it started tasting more burnt than strong just over halfway through the last third, so I didn't even get to enjoy the best bit for long. 

All in all, rather a disappointment to me based on expectation and hype, but it was still worth finishing, which is why it gets a 5/10 from me, rather than something lower. 

I'll probably trade or give away the remaining ones, cause I think someone with a different flavour profile preference will appreciate them more, which I suspect they actually DO deserve. As stated right up front. I don't care for it, but I think it is a good cigar within that profile.

(̅_̅{K}_̅_̅_̅_̅()ڪے

Review ~ Final Blend Robusto Maduro 5″ x 50 (8/10)

 

These were a limited run, Famous Smoke exclusive in 2010.
Here is the official description:

Final Blend cigars are the result of a marathon cigar sampling session held in Nicaragua, and as so often happens, the very last blend is what earned these uber-flavorful, medium-bodied cigars their name. The 'final blend' is...a core of Dominican, Colombian and Indonesian tobaccos rolled in dark, oily Brazilian Mata Fina Oscuro wrappers. Earthy, sweet, and spicy flavors weave in and out as notes of cocoa and coffee bean surface for a deliciously complex, MUST-TRY cigar.

At some point that year I ended up with one in one of their samplers, but it wasn't really on my radar at the time. Since then, it's been hanging around in my humidors, getting shifted from one to the other in my various re-organising as my collection has expanded, and I never got round to smoking it, as I never really read or heard much of anything about them and it wasn't high on my list to try.

Well, today, it just sorta jumped out at me, and I picked it up. Initially, I thought maybe my hygrometer was out of whack, because the thing was rock hard, and pretty lightweight, so I thought it was too dry, but all other sticks in that humi were as expected, and, on closer inspection, it didn't look dried out, cracked, or in any other way compromised. It was smooth, dark, with a nice sheen, lightly veined, and almost velvety to the touch and on the lips. Smelled wonderfully rich and just a little sweet, giving me hope that it would be a worthwhile smoke.

It was!! Alas, it may well be the only one I ever get to enjoy. About halfway through, I looked it up, knowing I wanted to find more of them, only to find the sad news of the aforementioned limited run.

As always, I employed the "light and cut" method, though, in this case, it was light and punch. It took a little while to light all the way to the centre, as the thing is really incredibly packed, but it was easy to light evenly, and the pre-smoke aroma was pleasantly earthy and dark.
The first couple puffs gave a hit of "crisp" (not sure how else to describe it), dry leather, moving quickly to a rich, deep, oily leather with thick, dense, chewy smoke that totally coated my mouth. Midway through second third, hints of espresso started creeping in, with slight chocolate in the aftertaste.
Strong espresso on the retrohale, and increasingly more creamy chocolate notes adding to leather and coffee toward end of second third.
Into the last third, it had morphed into a warm, mocha latte, with a slight, mellow, almost nutty nuance, though the leather notes were still peeking through on the back of the tongue.
Perfect draw throughout, very slightly uneven burn, but nothing a couple touch-ups couldn't fix, white/grey semi-solid, slightly flaky ash.

All in all a very nice, medium strength smoke, and I'll be on the lookout should they ever return! I give it a solid 8/10.

 

Review ~ SOSA Belicoso (6/10)

  So, it turns out the few of these sticks I have left from the bundle I bought ages ago are now a bit of a rarity.

Originally, they were made by the Fuente family in the Dominican Republic, but in December of 2016, A.J. Fernanzez announced that he would be buying the entire Sosa family line, and would be producing them, using the same blends and wrappers, but he would be growing the tobacco himself, and using his own, distinct manufacture and curing methods, as of January 2017, so I imagine the ones put out after that would have been a similar, but not the same cigar.

I got these around 2015, so they would have been the ones made at the A. Fuente Factory, apparently by Juan Sosa, himself! (Pretty cool factoid there, IMO).

They have since been completely discontinued. I'm not clear on just when that happened, but they are not available anywhere that I can find. Just as well they aren't a new favourite or I'd be hosed! ;)

Anyhow, on the the review part!

The construction was good and solid. It felt firm, with just the right give, and it looked nice - chocolate milk brown, and a smooth sheen to the wrapper. 
The scent was fairly straightforward tobacco, with a bit of coffee and spicy chocolate. 
It lit up nicely, using the light and cut method. 

Despite the light and cut, the cigar started out pretty harsh, (the first time that has happened since I learned that technique!) and I was wondering if it would end up in the ashtray in short order, but at about an inch or so in, the harsh beginning gave way to some actual flavour, albeit difficult to define. It was almost acrid, like a very, very dry white wine, but not in an unpleasant way. 

I have to admit, I was a little confused by the seeming disparity between the unlit smell and the taste of the smoke, but it isn't the first time I've encountered this. I may have even noticed it when I smoked the rest of them, several years ago, and then forgotten, or, perhaps, the time in the humidor has changed their profile more significantly than it does most.

The flavour continued to improve, as well as mellow, and by almost 1/3rd of the way down, I started detecting notes of cedar, and something almost, but not quite like leather, along with a tobacco... "crispness", is the best way to describe it. Definitely not bad at all.

It was about that time that the uneven burn became clear as well, but I'm willing to speculate that the breeze and not keeping it rotating could be at least partially to blame. It was simply a matter of having to periodically torch one side a bit.

The emergence of black pepper on the tip of my tongue, joined (finally!) by a nice black coffee/espresso flavour, and followed closely by hints of unsweetened cocoa was a nice turn of events.

At about the halfway point, I was confronted by a nasty "burnt cigar butt" taste, and was afraid the cigar was done, just when it had started to get pretty good. Luckily, just blowing it out well and letting it burn for a couple seconds banished the burn, and it was back to the slightly spicy, rich, dark, chocolate espresso profile for the duration which turned out to be right down the last inch and a half or so!

Most of the cigars I smoke with cocoa and/or coffee notes also tend to have creamy or sweet notes as well, and, curiously, this one didn't. At all. Like, there wasn't so much as a hint of either. Different from the usual, but not at all a criticism.

They are meant to be medium to full bodied, but I found it pretty mild after the initial few, dubious puffs. 

The ash held firm to a little past an inch and a half on average, and was a dusky, blue-grey.  The volume of smoke wasn't terribly impressive, but, while those thick billows of velvet clouds are usually a plus for me, as there is more to play with and taste and get a good mouth feel, it's not the end of the world. 

All in all, it was a decent smoke, and I do look forward to enjoying the rest of them over time. It gets a solid 6/10, which is pretty good from me, for something I didn't flat out love.

Review - Perdomo Slow-Aged No. 826 Glorioso Maduro - toro (2/10)

According to the Cigars International page, 

"This complex blend results in a deliciously smooth, robust and vivacious flavor with creaminess and coffee-like notes".

They usually don't steer me wrong, but this time, unfortunately, they did in a big way.

The smoke DID light well - Nice and even, and burned and ashed nicely too, but that's about all the good stuff I can say about it.

It started out almost straight pepper! Now, I like strong and spicy cigars, but too many cigar manufacturers seem to think that "ton of pepper, all by itself" = "spicy". Not so, people!!  There are more spices on the rack; Or, at least, there ought to be.

As I had hoped, the full on pepper soon toned down several notches. Sadly, that's all that happened. It just became a decent, but pretty bland, strong cigar, and only that until a little over halfway through, when it just started to taste bad and I had to abandon it.

 No complexities, none of the promised flavours, no creaminess. I guess it was smooth, if, by "smooth", we mean blah. It wasn't harsh after the first 5 minutes or so, at least. 

All in all, rather a disappointment and I won't be buying more of these! Luckily, it was in a sampler, so there was only one of them. I really expected more from Perdomo!

2/10, I'm afraid.

Oh well. That's what samplers are for... To sample. I'll hope for better luck next time.

Review - Cuban Stock Classic - Robusto - 2011.01.17 (5/10)

I've been meaning to try these out for a couple years now, but never could find them in a sampler or a five pack, and didn't want to buy an entire box, so I was pleased when they were one of the featured smokes at the most recent Tulalip Cigar Meetup this past Monday.

As has been my habit of late, when I remember, I used the "light and cut" method.

A pretty mild smoke to start out with. Nice, even, moderately easy light.

No flavours really stood out, but still a nice enough tasting cigar. Got a bit bolder as I smoked it, with more hints of spice toward the end.

Not a very solid ash - only about 1 inch max.

It did stay lit well, and the flavour was good all the way down to about the last 1.5 inches.

I was a bit disappointed in the filler, as I was constantly ending up having to spit out little pieces of tobacco throughout, and for that I took off a point.

All in all, a decent... Even good smoke, but I probably won't ever be buying a whole box, and will reserve these for a "breakfast cigar".

5/10

Review - Oliva Serie V, Ligero Especial - 27.March.2010 (10/10!!)

Perfect construction!
Very rich and full bodied from the very start.
Creamy, smooth, strong and velvety taste and abundant white, lovely smelling smoke.
Firm, light grey ash.
This stick got progressively stronger as I smoked, without ever becoming harsh.
Deeper, more complex coffee, chocolate and sweet undertones became more apparent about midway through and continued to finish.

Will DEFINITELY buy again!

10/10

Martinez 85

Smokey greetings,
Well, I finally got to smoke that Martinez 85 that Steph sent me. WOW! I wasn't sure if it would be any good, because I was afraid they may be marketing them more as a novelty item, but I was very pleasantly surprised! It was a nice, smooth smoke, not very complex, but nice tasting nontheless, with a slightly woody flavor and more spicy as I smoked it down more. I did have a little bit of an issue for part of it with getting an even burn, but not really a surprise with such a large ring gauge. It seemed to smoke a lot faster than I expected, but maybe that was my imagination, because there are a LOT more pictures than any other cigar. Maybe the time just went fast. And speaking of pictures, after I deleted the ones that I didn't think were good enough, (and I swear I didn't plan this at all!! LOL) I couted and there are exactly 85. I think that's a cool coincidence. About 1/2 of them will be in the adult section. the photos are definitely more graphic than any of the previous ones! Being photographed really does that to me! There are also 2 videos, one that is rated R, but will be in the regular section is a little over 4 minutes, and the other, over 5 minutes long, is for members only.