Cigar Review: Why You'll Fall In Love With The Mi Amor By La Aroma DeCuba

How do I love you, let me count the ways, and the Mi Amor from La Aroma De Cuba will have you counting! This divine little cigar treats you like a good lover should! Easy on the eyes in its near ebony perfection, it starts gentle and then gets a little rough.

This beauty features a Mexican wrapper, not known for fantastic leaf, which is an unusual selection for such an important portion of the cigar. Rumor around the blogosphere is that this increase in Mexican tobacco popularity is isolated to the San Andreas tobacco. However, Ashton and Pepin remain hush on the topic revealing only that it is a Mexican Cuban seed Maduro.

Things you should concern yourself with:

• Mexican Cuban seed Maduro wrapper
• Nicaraguan binder
• Nicaraguan filler
• 5X50 Robusto
• Gentle box press design

Looking at this cigar before cutting and lighting is enough to bring awe to the smoker. The Cuban seed Mexican Maduro leaf is a gorgeous chocolatey exterior, with one of La Aroma de Cuba's ever detailed and exquisite labels, that wraps this cigars overall package. Its just a little bit soft which indicates to me it's healthy and should be a good draw which is confirmed after cutting and doing a pre-light draw. Before lighting I also get the flavor of cocoa coming from the cigar.

Once lit, I was greeted with a full on cocoa flavor with a cedar undertone. The smoke gained complexity later by adding the most subtle hints of earth and leather. However, for me, the best part comes from the beginning of the second third. As repeated in the multiple sticks I have had the Mi Amore, once you hit the second third the strength of the cigar increases exponentially! With this also come caramel and bit of spice clinging onto the chocolate flavor's coat-tails! Finally coming to the final third, the chocolate is still present but begins to take a backseat to the wood and the now present gentle pepper. It isn't until the cigar has burned long enough to get into finger toasting range that it gives your tongue that bite.

All throughout this smoke it produced a very nice, slightly layered light grey ash that could cling for close to two inches before dropping. The cigar also burned impressively straight which is a good feat for a box pressed cigar. With a good price ranging around the $6.50-$7.00 mark, a well dressed exterior, and a complex flavor, the Mi Amor by La Aroma de Cuba will have you feeling a little flutter in your heart too!

Cigar Review: Curivari Reserva Limitada, Salty Peanuts It Is Not.

Thanks to the encouragement of the Edwards staff, I have recently become focused on Curivari’s line of cigars, in part because of their open enjoyment of these cigars, but also because of an odd criticism as well. Whether it was a genuine reaction or a comment made in spite, Pete Johnson’s tweet about the Curivari Reserva Limitada tasting like “salty peanuts” while smoking, intrigued the crap out of me, especially since I was getting great reviews from Randy and Armando of Edwards Pipe and Cigar! So, I gave one a chance last night to see if I would get the ballpark experience from this cigar.

I figured a great time to try this Nicaraguan puro cigar from Esteli was right after work; my brain was still fired up from doing a million things at once, but was really primed for some great downtime. Wasting no time when I get home, I attack my humidor--and my fridge for a Shocktop Wheat--and step right outside to my smoking chair! The weather was on the cusp of getting really bad, which is when I tend to enjoy it the most, and threatened to kill the pleasure of my cigar. Thankfully, it held off long enough for me to enjoy this puppy, and enjoy it I did.

So after cutting this pristine looking medium brown Colorado wrapped cigar, I test the draw pre-light and find it airy and inviting, but not annoyingly so. I get the scent of something that does remind me a bit of peanut butter: Hmmm… There is, however, another scent coming through that is very woody, but only subtly so. I toast the foot, bring it to my lips and I am pleasantly surprised by a brief rush of spice, not overwhelming, but most certainly there. It quickly subsides, and it takes me a minute to realize that, Randy wasn’t bs’ing me, it tasted like plain popcorn. Not buttered or salted, kettle or caramelized, just… popcorn. Truth be told, it was actually really unique and refreshing! There were also some woody undertones that I could detect periodically keeping the cigar from becoming too redundant. But overall, this cigar was relatively non-complex, light, and enjoyable and not the salty peanuts that Johnson had claimed, in my esteemed estimate. The only thing I would strongly recommend is to not enjoy this cigar with a Shocktop Wheat. For such a surprisingly light flavor, this cigar demands a darker ale or porter. It turned the flavor of the Shocktop Wheat almost soapy and was not too much fun to drink. Swing by tomorrow when I discuss another of the Curivari line, the Café! And why you WANT a cup of coffee with it!

Cigar Review: Does Leccia's Cain Live Up To It's Legendary Name?

Everyone knows the tale of Cain and Abel, that Cain was the first son of Adam and Eve and eventually murdered his brother Abel, so I was expecting something very dark, rich, and, well honestly, evil from Oliva's Cain Habano double toro straight ligero cigar.

The irony of my smoking this cigar, with such heavy mythical implications, was not lost on me as I was enjoying this cigar at Edwards Pipe and Cigar while watching news coverage of the Dark Knight Rises shooting victims vigil. A truly evil act in contemporary times.

The background of Sam Leccia's Cain cigar came out of Leccia's want to create a truly straight ligero cigar that was also flavorful. This name, however, is a bit of a misnomer, as no cigar could be truly comprised of all ligero leaf, the top part of the leaf which receives the most nutrients and sun, as it would have inherent combustion problems according to Leccia. Therefore the Cain incorporates a little bit of other leaf making this not a 100% ligero, but, and 82% ligero. The ligero used is a blend of leaf that is grown in the Estelí, Condega, and Jalapa regions of Nicaragua.

Before lighting this cigar I notice that it provides me with truly stunning notes of milk chocolate and spice! I toast my cigar, and then once lit, I am immediately greeted with heavy spice and oak flavors with the slightest hint of an undefined sugary sweetness and leather. This flavor holds for most of the first third to half of the cigar.

Once I get a little passed the second third mark, I notice that the spice has diminished a bit and the sweetness has become more defined and the closest I could describe it would be almost raisin-like. While the dried fruit sweetness takes the stage for a bit, the leather stays relatively low key and the oak dries out a bit maintaining the flavor of the spice without the punch. I've also noticed by this point that the strength of this cigar is not at all what I had anticipated. It's still very much a full-bodied cigar, but I'd honestly say that the La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero has more of a strength punch, or even the La Aroma de Cuba Mi Amor!

Toward the end of this cigar the pepper picks back up and the sweetness is reinforced by the leathers and oak flavors! Overall this cigar was a fantastic smoke, full-bodied but not overpowering, thanks to Leccia's triple fermentation process to take some of the ligero's edge off, while still providing the complex flavors this blend provides! I highly recommend smokers who want a nice full-bodied cigar with an interesting flavor pallet to give the Cain Habano a try!

Cigar Event: The Ashton and Odell's Brewery Cigar Pairing Pt. 1

So over the weekend, I got the invited to partake in a fantastic cigar and beer pairing event, Ashton cigars and Odell Brewery beer. This event, hosted by Edwards Pipe & Cigar, included four cigars from Ashton, four beers from Odell Brewery, and four meals prepared by d'Vine Bistro. In today's post, I will be discussing the first pairing of cigar, beer, and food. I arrived at d'Vine's patio with the beautiful Tiffany, the newest edition to The Cigar Bar family, and I'm instantly greeted by Armando, the owner of Edwards Pipe & Cigar. I'm immediately handed the first cigar, a San Cristobal Elegancia Imperial, the 6X52 size, which is a Nicaraguan handmade my the Garda family.

I begin smoking this blond beauty, as I have started a little behind everyone else, and begin to appreciate this golden Connecticut-seed wrapped Nicaraguan. I notice it is a medium-bodied cigar with strong cedar flavors with a little bit of pepper. As I'm smoking away, finely dressed waiters and waitresses are moving about serving Odell's Easy Street Wheat, an American style wheat beer, while the chef introduces us to his green chili, potato, and cheddar soup cooked with Odell's famous 90 Shilling Ale. Nico, of Odell Brewery, tells us next a little history behind Easy Street Wheat and how the subtle sweetness and hints of toasted flavor works well against both the San Cristobal and the green chili soup.



Taking a few puffs off the San Cristobal Elegancia provides a slightly peppered, woody taste that, when followed by a sip of the Easy Street, is accented by the toasted hops flavor in the beer. Taking a bite of the green chili soup brings an amazing peppered chili flavor that plays well against the cheddar and when followed by another sip of the Easy Street soothes the pepper of the soup, but ties it so well with the cigars peppery flavor! And all of this carried by the Easy Street's creaminess and the cheddar and potato of the soup! The only thing that could make this evening better was to have great company, which was found by the regulars of Edwards all laughing, trading stories, or notes on what flavors they were getting. The first pairing was phenomenal, however, the best was yet to come! Find out what pairing was my absolute favorite of the evening tomorrow in part two of this four part blog!

Cigar Review: Why CAO's La Triviata Maduro Is An Opera For Your Mouth

The stage is dark, you're sitting in your seat waiting in anticipation for the show to start, just as you would have the playbill clutched in your hands, CAO's La Triviata Maduro cigar is clutched in mine. Like the orchestra warming up, I begin to get the subtle hints of a gently spiced leather from this divine, chocolate wrapped, cigar. The lights begin to rise and a very large and well-dressed man, accompanied by a women of equal stature, comes to the center of the stage the same way the match begins to toast my well-dressed cigar. Then, the man center stage, clears his throat as I bring my lips to the cigar. Taking my first few puffs, you could almost hear the orchestra playing its first few harmonies as the man's voice first sings a dulcet tune, then, once lit, both tunes become a bellowing, booming duet of oak and leather with just the ever so slightest hint of spice and cocoa, like the orchestras gentle and playful tune.

CAO's La Triviata Maduro cigar, I chose the 5.5X52 torpedo, is constructed well with a sleek and oily Ecuadorean Habano wrapper, a Cameroon binder, and long filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. It's draw is as effortless as the rapture of the music it plays on your tongue. While smoking, the ash of this cigar, which is off-white and striped with grey and dark grey streaks, clings like the woman's crescendo voice which seems to last for minutes!


Moving into the second act, the oak and leather duet sing beautifully with one another, while the spice becomes mellow and softer. As the ash drops for the first time, the flavor profile changes and drops into a musical melancholy for several minutes, before picking you back up onto its harmonies and carrying you triumphantly into the third act. The cigar's third act produces a floral hint, that can also be found in the cigars aroma, as though the cigar is preparing the flowers to be thrown at the end while our Prima Divo and Prima Donna reach the final chorus. When that time comes, that fat lady does indeed arrive with bellicose bluster, and with another clinging crescendo, holds you till you can no longer hold the cigar. By the end, you're left wanting to jump out of your seat and applaud CAO's La Triviata Maduro, not for the cigars complexity, but for it's simplistic beauty.

Cigar Review: Why Thompson’s Don Lugos is the Perfect Party Cigar

So you have a bunch of people coming over for drinks and they all dabble in cigars but they are certainly no aficionados. How do you allow them to enjoy cigars with their rums, scotches, and Disaronnos without them stomping out your Ashtons, lighting your Opus X’s wrong , or cutting your Diamond Crowns too much? Simple: Thompson Cigar Co.’s Don Lugo. Coming in around $1.50 a stick, you don’t need to worry about spending a fortune for guests who don’t fully understand or appreciate the etiquette of smoking a cigar but still want to feel the privilege of smoking a premium hand rolled cigar.


•This cigar is made with a mix of short filler and Dominican Olor, a Pilato Cubano binder, and an Indonesian wrapper

•The wrapper has a little bit of vein but not enough to affect its burn which, for the most part, burns consistently even.

•The ash is light grey and dark grey striped and is dense and clings for a good couple of inches before dropping.


Your guests will enjoy the straightforward flavor coming from this cigar in the cedar flavors with very little spice and a hint of creamy cherry—which coincidentally is also the aroma the cigar produces—throughout the majority of the party. Toward the end of the cigar, when drinks are running low and the playlist is mellowing, the spice picks up just a little bit as the cherry mellows. The only poor note is that this cigars wrapper is prone to cracking and when you remove the label, the glue used often takes a small part of the wrapper with it. But again, this is for your guests who like the prestige of smoking the cigar rather than discussing the flavors and following “proper” etiquette. At the end of the party you are left with the knowledge that you were able to supply your guests with a fine cigar that was cheap enough to fill your humidor but not cringe when they stomp the cigar out with their foot…and cleaning your home.

Cigar Review: The Kingfish Lauren Torpedo--A Panamanian Puro!

So, back in mid-2009 I had made contact with a new cigar company out of Panama named Kingfish Cigars who had wanted to get the word out about their cigars. Kingfish Cigars is hoping to help build an industry reputation in Panama for puro cigars. I received a total of five cigar betas from Kingfish Cigars owner Ray Whitlow III to sample and review. At the time I had received the cigars, they had only been aged one year. Of the five cigars I had received, one was too damaged to smoke, but the other four cigars had survived just fine. I smoked these incrementally to see how aging these longer in my humidor would affect them. I smoked the last of the four cigars last night and that final one had aged nearly four years and I am pleased to find has a name now: The Kingfish Lauren, named in honor of the owners eldest daughter. I'm going to review how fantastic this new cigar is going to be, especially once released!

These torpedo cigars are a good healthy size coming in around a 7X54. The construction on these cigars is well done. The natural Panamanian wrapper is wrapped tight with no soft spots and feels firm across the whole cigar. After cutting, I test the draw before lighting and find that this cigar has damn near the most perfect draw of any cigar that I've had, which was consistent with all the other Kingfish Cigars prior, it was light but not airy and drawing a puff was effortless after lighting! The feature that struck me the most about the construction and quality of the cigar came with the ash. This cigars ash was a solid white that was almost unparallelled in all cigars I've smoked yet and it hung on like a professional climber on a rock wall! The ash only dropped twice while smoking and one of those times, I wouldn't even blame it on the cigar, as, I was in a busy location.



Again, since Panama is not known for quality puro cigars--most involve Cuban seed fillers--I wasn't too sure what to expect for flavor from this cigar. But during my pre-light draw test, I was greeting with spiced woody flavors and the wrapper left a pleasant spiced feeling on my lips. Upon lighting I get a distinct black pepper-cedar flavor that flashes spicy at the beginning and mellows out after a few puffs. The first third of this cigar is the spiced cedar with just a hint of almost a creamy flavor under it all. By the time I get to the second third of the cigar, the cream has disappeared and the cedar really stood up on its own with the black pepper accenting it quite nicely and maybe just the hint of a grassy flavor. The final third of this cigar is where the cedar receded and the grassier flavor became a little more pronounced but what really stood out was the spice!



Overall, this cigar surprised me a great deal. Especially since I have smoked all of the others before maturing as much as this final one had. The construction and flavor were amazing and the only real note I'd have negative is that toward the end of the last third the flavor had a hint of a sour flavor. However, these puppies aren't going to be released until January of 2013 which by that time will be almost 5 years of aging which should remove any remaining sourness. This cigar would go fantastically with an Islay scotch with a lot of salty peat like I did last night while playing cards!

Cigar Review: AVO 86th Anniversary La Trompeta

So last week I asked you, my readers, what cigars you had wanted to see reviewed and the one that was voted upon the most was the AVO 86th Anniversary La Trompeta! AVO released this cigar for its 86th birthday and this cigar is also a tip of the hat to Avo Uvezian's skill at being an acclaimed musician. We've seen an abundance of cleverly designed cigars lately and the La Trompeta is no exception. This cigar has three cigar leaf cutouts to represent the keys of a trumpet. But, how does this cigar smoke?



This cigar was 6 1/2X56 with an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper, a Dominican Piloto binder and the long filler is comprised of Dominican and Peruvian leaf, and cost me close to $18. The construction felt tight and left me concerned that this cigar was going to have a tough draw; however, after cutting the cigar, I tested the draw and found it was a little firmer than I would have preferred, but not enough to distract from smoking. The wrapper of the cigar looked near immaculate and had almost no veining. The dense ash was almost white with small flecks of black and would cling for almost two inches each time before dropping.

Having had a bad day, I decided to take this cigar out to my front porch with my dog Odin and just enjoy it by myself with a Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout. Similar to the Illusione MJ12, immediately upon lighting I knew this would be a good, flavorful, cigar. I'm greeted with the bouquet of scents you would find in a greenhouse as the predominate flavor, a kind of mixture of flowers and grasses. Under this is a leathery pepper that subtly plays with the grass. About halfway through the draw opened up and with that came an almost woody flavor that flowed with a bit of the floral bouquet. However, toward the end, the grassy flavor of the greenhouse became more hay-like of the barn and I became less interested in its flavor.

This cigar, on a peaceful, warm, Colorado evening, was not too bad, but perhaps the choice of beer with this was not the best as they sometimes struggled with one another after swigs from the bottle. I also felt that the price tag for this cigar was a bit much for me, granted, I bought this off a private seller because the only place in town that carried them had sold out. This cigar took me close to three hours to smoke to the nub which, when just wanting to shut the world out and focus on the smoke swirling in the breeze, it did it's job pretty damn well.

Cigar Review: Illusione MJ12

Yesterday I had the pleasure of smoking a fantastic cigar with a good friend whom I haven't seen in some time. We met up at our local tobacconists, Edwards Pipe and Tobacco, to engage in a good conversation, a fantastic drink, and an amazing cigar: the Illusione MJ12. I had already picked my cigar, Illusione MJ12 in the Toro size, Jordan, showing up a little later, selected the Illusione MJ12 Robusto.



Taking advantage of the time before Jordan shows up I inspect my cigar. The first thing I notice is that the cigar is wrapped in a paper foil which makes this cigar stand out on the shelves. However, this wrapper also has an intriguing effect of making the cigar larger than what it appeared in the wrapper. What looked relatively decent in size turned out to be fairly larger coming in at 6X54 sized cigar and cost of the MJ12 was around $12 retail. However, once this cigar was out of its packaging, the wrapper of the cigar itself struck me. It was a dark reddish maduro, not to the level of oscuro, but flirting with it. It was not too oily but the wrapper leaf had two larger streaks of vein on opposite sides from one another. It was packed firm, but the draw was fantastic and there were no soft spots to speak of. Through smoking it created a light grey ash that clung for about two inches before dropping. Only real construction complaint is that both Jordan and I's cigar needed frequent touch ups to correct uneven burns and toward the end it struggled a bit to stay lit.

Jordan and I both really loved the flavor of this cigar though. Upon first lighting this cigar it proved it was going to be a great smoke. Immediately we were greeted by a chocolaty, almost, tea like flavor with a hint of leather. Coming to about the second third of the cigar came an almost sweet nutty flavor over the leather as the chocolate mellowed some. By the end the flavor continued being nutty with a hint of what I can only describe as peppered coffee.

This cigar went perfectly with our 12 Year Old Highland Park Scotch that we indulged in at the lunge while catching up, talking about his film career and other business endeavors. This cigar smoked long enough to enjoy Edwards smoking lounge for at least two and a half hours. So if you're looking for a great cigar and are alright with it being a little high maintenance that will last you long enough on the golf course or over business drinks, take a look at the Illusione MJ12!

Cigar Review Showdown: FDW vs. JFR pt.2

Hi guys! Cigar Czar here and today, we are going to have the second half of our Arganese FDW (First Draw Wrapper) and Tobcalaera Tropical JFR cigar showdown. Yesterday I discussed the FDW from Arganese and talked about what makes these cigars distinctive. A quick recap; both of these cigars have the wrapper overlap the lighting end so that when you first light the cigar and get that first draw, all you are smoking is the wrapper, before it starts to burn the long filler so all the flavor in the beginning is from the wrapper.
Today we have the Tobcalaera Tropical JFR Natural Pyramid cigar which I was able to pick up easily at Edward’s Pipe & Cigar, my local tobacconist, for $6-$7. I took this to the local strip club to help my friend, who works there, stay sane. To smoke I had to stay out front due to lame Colorado smoking ban laws, and keep the girls company while they smoked. Between noticing how gorgeous these girls were and having my friend talking I noticed this cigar had a nice scent and looked well built, with an even light brown and the leaf did not show a lot of vein. Now, I know I talk a lot, especially with these beautiful girls around me, but this was a troublesome cigar to smoke because it kept going out and needed relighting and also had a pretty firm draw. The cigar did burn fairly even and the ash clung pretty well and remained fairly white with a few black pocks along it.
The flavor for me was a bit mingled, mostly because I was also inhaling cigarette smoke from the girls, but I was definitely getting a spiced nutty kind of flavor. Getting a mix of thumps and notes from the music coming through the doors played along nicely with the mix of nut, spice and chocolate coming from the cigar. Overall this was a good cigar, it tasted good, I had fun, but ultimately weighing in all factors including; construction, ash, flavor and overall enjoyment, the winner goes to Arganese with their FDW Pyramid Maduro!

Cigar Review Showdown: FDW vs. JFR pt.1

Hey all, Cigar Czar here, and I’m just trying to get back into the rhythm of things. Today we are beginning a show down between the Arganese FDW (First Draw Wrapper), and the Tobcalaera Tropical JFR Maduro Pyramid cigars. Both of these cigars are distinctive for having the wrapper fold over where you light, so, literally, the first draw on the cigar is all wrapper. Today we focus on the Arganese FDW. This was a cigar that was originally told to me by a reader and fan of my Facebook page. So doing a little research into it, I was told by Tyler at Edward’s Pipe & Cigar, that the FDW was made to compete with the JFR, neither were cigars that I had had. So I thought what better way to review these, than to actually have a showdown!
Now, I had been waiting patiently for the FDW’s to come in to Edward’s and, finally, they hosted a cigar event with Arganese. And low and behold, they brought several boxes of FDW’s. So I got one as part of their offer for the day and started puffing! I was enjoying this cigar while hanging out at the event smoking with the Arganese rep, Edward’s staff and owner and a few regular patrons. Looking at this beauty, it was a nice, dark and rich brown, wrapped very nicely. It was a bit difficult to light at first and get it burning evenly, but once it was going this cigar was beautiful. Between jokes on politics, sex or at one of the patron’s expense, I noticed that this cigar burned very even and with a good draw. While spinning the wheel for my door prize, which I had won an Arganese guillotine cutter, the ash had kept nice, white, and clung very well to the cigar, even with the spinning.
The flavor upon lighting this cigar was amazing! A very wooded, vanilla flavor that once the long filler started to light, melded with a robust nutty flavor. I enjoyed this cigar with many laughs and stories of Armando, Edward’s owner, with a couple of guys and the Arganese cigar rep staying in the Dominican Republic, or their recent trip to Mardi Gras. I shared this cigar with an IBC Root Beer which was a fantastic match. I like using IBC Root Beer as a palette cleanser between pulls on my cigar reviews, but the flavors of vanilla in the cigar, matched wonderfully with the spices in the root beer. Smoking this cigar was an incredible pleasure and I had a lot of fun while smoking it. I would highly recommend at least giving it a try. At a retail of around $5-$6, it’s not too expensive of an investment in a great evening! Tomorrow we will see what kind of rebuttal Tobcalaera Tropical’s JFR has for the FDW.

Cigar Review: Montecristo Petit Tubos

Hey all, the Cigar Czar here. It’s been a week I tell you what. So, this review is gonna be done a little differently. There will still be flavor and construction notes as before, but there’s going to be a little more of what was being done while smoking the cigar. I’m also gonna reveal a little more about myself throughout these. For starters my lack of reviews for this week is mostly due to things I’m trying to get situated for my personal and professional life.

Today’s review is the Montecristo Petit Tubos. This was a cigar I’ve held onto for a little over three years. It was given to me by a, now ex, girlfriend. There were questions whether or not this was genuine since it was purchased in Mexico. Although verifying with my Habano Reference ‘Cigar Dave’ over at the Valencia Cigar Lounge (ValenciaCigarLounge.com), and cross referencing with Cigar Aficionado’s Counterfeit Gallery (cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Gallery/0,3390,,00.html), it seemed to come to consensus that it was the real deal. I had been saving it for the right occasion, that occasion was Sunday night.

I had joined my neighbors in a nice night of food, wine, music and of course smoking. Now, not all people involved enjoyed cigars, so I made a hookah for them, my buddy Mike though, he opted for the Partagas Black Label, and I enjoyed my Habano.

This cigar is exactly as the Montecristo #4, but instead of being a box press cigar, it’s typically sold in 3 or 5 cigar packs in tubes, hence the Tubos. It is not as dark as the typical Habano, with a natural wrapper that was very well done and showed little vein. Seeing as how this was a triple cap Habano, it was not cut, but bit off, and came clean off perfectly without damaging the cigar. The draw was impeccable and the cigar burned dead even. The only thing I would say was that the ash did not cling for very long.

Smoking this cigar was even more fun! It was enjoyed while occasionally taking a pull from the hookah and drinking a nice Pinot Noir. While listening to acoustic versions of Damien Rice and lighting the cigar, I noticed it also had a spicy punch, but became creamy smooth towards the end. It had a fantastic aroma that was very sweet and clung in a discrete, yet tasty way. Notes of Vanilla, Coffee, Nut and a hint of Chocolate wafted amongst the notes strummed from the acoustic guitar being passed around.

Overall this was a fantastic cigar that went very well with the surroundings, didn’t smoke for a terribly long time, but I got a good 45 minutes out of this, perfect for the wine, burgers and music, but most importantly, the company. I would definitely recommend investing in getting some of these cigars. Until next time!

Reader Request Cigar Review: The Perdomo Lot 23

Hi guys, Cigar Czar here today with the Perdomo Lot 23 Belicoso. This was requested for review from reader Chris McCoy. This cigar was created initially as an experiment from Perdomo, they started a new crop, which they entitled Lot 23, which was grown specifically to be fermented longer. When the crop was harvested, however, they discovered that the leaf did not blend well with foreign wrappers, instead they found that it worked much better with leaf that came from the same plot of land. This became the puro Nicaraguan cigar, Perdomo Lot 23.

Looking at this cigar is what you’d expect from a cigar. The outer wrapper was a standard, even brown with not much vein save for one or two big veins. It was well wrapped, nice and even, after punching with my Cigar Spike™, I found it had a nice draw, not too hard, not too light. Lighting was pretty easy and the burn remained fairly consistent and even. The ash was unremarkable, a mottled light gray, although it did cling for almost half the cigar.

Flavor on the other hand, started out almost as a spiced apple flavor with a hint of cedar and anise. This was the only flavor that remained throughout almost the entire cigar, until about the 2/3 mark, where the flavor became a little more complex with the cedar becoming a bit more pronounced, otherwise not offering much else in flavor.

Overall this was an enjoyable cigar, good construction notes with a good consistent flavor. The only thing I would say about this cigar is that it needed more complexity or maturity in the flavor. What flavor was the there was thoroughly tasty. Thanks to Chris McCoy for recommending this cigar for review!

Cigar Review: Arganese ML3 Robusto

Hi all, Cigar Czar here. Last night I had the pleasures of smoking the Arganese ML3 Robusto and that's what we'll be talking about today! I met up with my buddy last night and brought him coffee as he was having a really bad day at work. We enjoyed good cups of Guatemalan coffee and I relaxed and puffed on this beauty, while surrounded by several other beauties whose company I enjoyed immensely.

Now this cigar is real unique, similar to the soon-to-be-released Cain cigar from NUb, this cigar is an all Ligero cigar, which is the top part of the leaf which receives the most sunlight, also making this the strongest part of the leaf, hence the name ML3, Maduro Ligero "times three". The wrapper is Brazilian Maduro Ligero and the binder and long filler are all Domincan Ligero. Looking at this cigar was a real treat by itself. It had a very mottled dark, chocolate brown color, looking oily in some parts, and more like suede in others. The wrap was even and nice, although the cap was a bit on the sloppy side, but it cut clean with my cutter. you could see quite a bit of vein in the wrapper as well. The draw on this was a bit hard, but not enough to really make it not enjoyable. As it burned the ash was a very light gray with little areas of black and clung quite impressively. And though it burned pretty even there was a moment or two where touch-ups wouldn't have been a bad thing.

Pre-light flavor was a real robust, spiced nutty flavor. After it met flame, the nutty flavor subdued a little bit to the spicy, and a little bit of chocolate came through. At the 1/3 mark the chocolate subdued and became a bit more smoked wood flavor. This flavor was something I found remained throughout the rest of the cigar. But about halfway through the cigar, there came a bitter spiced pepper, with some earth in there as well. This also prompted some of the girls around me to inform, the cigar stopped smelling good, one even described it as smelling like cat litter. Crossing into the 2/3 mark and beyond this smoke turned incredibly bitter, lots of earth and the wood flavor was still evident.

Overall an enjoyable cigar, but the end kind of took some of the luster out. This is a medium to full cigar, so I recommend that you have some food in your stomach before smoking as this will give you a little bit of a buzz.

Cigar Review: A. Fuente Hemingway Best Seller

Hi all, Cigar Czar, today is a review I did a few days back on the Arturo Fuente Hemingway Best Seller. I actually smoked this the same night as the H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon, but decided I was not done enjoying myself at the lounge, and grabbed another cigar. The reason I grabbed this little puppy, is because it was little. It was late in the night and I didn't really want to dedicate myself to another hour and a half, especially since Edwards was closing soon.

The most interesting part about this cigar is without a doubt its shape. Its a perfecto which is a rare type of cigar due to its incredibly difficult wrap. According to Carlos Fuente Jr., on their Cigar Family site, "These cigars are extremely difficult to make so our production is very small. We accumulate the limited production of these cigars in the aging rooms and usually release them around the holidays, something special for our fellow cigar smokers to enjoy." And I must say, looking at them, I can see why. A very smooth wrap for something with so many curves in it, a small nipple at the end that rounds out to a wide curve and then going into a longer, taper towards the label. I'm sure if I were to attempt something like this, it would look more like something Jay and Silent Bob would roll.
The wrapper on this is a beautiful Cameroon leaf that was very smooth with little vein and had a nutty brown color, wrapped over a Dominican binder and long filler. I used my guillotine cutter which had no problem and there was little to no debris. The burn in the beginning was very interesting as the perfecto did not burn right, there was a large gap missing tobacco so it needed constant attention, if I stopped smoking even for a little bit, it would go out. Once past that gap however, she burned true to her name, perfect. The ash, which was a light gray color, had clung for a good length of the cigar.

The cigars pre-light flavor was a bit spicy, with just a hint of cedar. Upon lighting there was a distinct flavor of either a robust nut, possibly coffee laced with the aforementioned cedar. Because of the design, your mostly smoking the Cameroon wrapper at first which is where I think that lovely spiced wood was coming from. As the cigar widened up, you get more of the Dominican long filler which had a flavor of nut and a hint of cashew, mixed with the now easing cedar. Towards the end, as it tapers back, the flavors become a little more developed and the coffee more complex.

Overall the design of this cigar is a brilliant way to contrast different portions of the leaf against one another while smoking. The way the flavors mature and gain and lose character is really fun. I can see why Carlos Fuente Jr. was eager to bring this near dead form of rolling back from oblivion.

Cigar Review: NUb Habano 460

Hey all, the Cigar Czar here to talk about the NUb Habano 460. I recently learned about this company and a little history behind them. Sam Leccia started his career originally as an alcohol entrepreneur, working with big names as Jack Daniels and Bacardi, even being a partner in a successful, award winning vodka. He had been a long time cigar smoker and after a trip to Honduras and touring a cigar factory, he was amazed at the dedication and manpower needed to produce some of our favorite relaxing cigars. He decided it was something he wanted to be involved in. Working for the Oliva family as a sales rep, he was able to prove his new product idea was worth investing and the Oliva Family was on board. The idea was to create the complex and matured flavors of cigar, without the wait of smoking halfway through the stick. The end result was the larger ring gauge, shorter cigar dubbed the NUb. NUbs come with four wrappers being Habano, Connecticut, Cameroon and their newly released Maduro.

I picked the NUb Habano 460. Construction of this cigar was very nice. The wrapper is a Cuban seed leaf that is an even brown that only shows the occasional deep vein, otherwise providing an even and smooth wrap. The larger ring gauge was almost tricky for my guillotine cutter, but managed to cut with no incident and no debris. The draw was fantastic and the roll was packed just the right amount! As it burned it would start even, and as it hit the deeper veins in the wrapper would smoke really uneven, almost as far as an inch and a half, which on this cigar is a lot of real estate, but would almost immediately correct itself within a few puffs. I also noticed that this cigar when burning idly, would produce a blue smoke very similar to a cigarettes smoke. Living up to the hype on their website nubcigar.com, the ash on this is amazing. Even with a negligent bump causing some ash to come lose after smoking, this ash clung like a bad hangnail all the way to the nub! Although as it burned the ash would start out very white, but about an inch later would turn a tannish color. Both the blue smoke and the tanned ash led me to wonder if their was any chemical enhancement to the tobacco, which was not alleviated by their website. The only thing I was able to find was the wrappers. I had to find the binder and filler through a fellow reviewer, The Smoking Hot Cigar Chick at smokinghotcigarchick.com, the binder and long filler are Nicaraguan.

The flavor the was something that really intrigued me. Upon lighting I found that it was very chocolaty and then deepened through the first inch as a very dark chocolate flavor which combined with a bit of cedar and nut, puffing into the halfway mark the flavor started to become salty, and somewhat peaty like that of good aged Scotch, and as I smoked, removing the label as to smoke into the nub, the salty and peaty flavor become almost creamy, to the point that it almost seemed creamy on your tongue. I found this to be fantastic and really quite enjoyable! Were I to pair this with a beverage I would definitely recommend something of the Scotch variety, I am usually a fan of the 15 Year French Oak from Glenlivet, or a 12 year Double Wood from Belvenie.

Cigar Review: H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon Belicoso

Hey everyone, the Cigar Czar here, today we will be discussing the H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon Belicoso. As we all know, H. Upmann is one of my favorite cigar brands and so this, for me, was to be a real treat! The Vintage Cameroon has a rare African wrapper from Cameroon over a Dominican binder and a Peruvian/Nicaraguan long filler blend. This puppy comes packaged quite elegantly in a Spanish ceder sheath bearing the 'Vintage Cameroon' title. Slip this off and you are welcomed to a wonderful and spicy bouquet.

The construction of this cigar was a bit tricky. I actually had to go through two of these, because having smoked about an 1/8 of an inch, the wrapper on the first one split from the lit end, quite extensively, to about halfway up the cigar. Grabbing the second one, it remained intact after lighting, but still had a very hard draw, indicating this batch was probably rolled a bit too tight. The draw did not become easier and more enjoyable until probably around the 2/3 mark. However, upon visual inspection the Cameroon wrapper had a beautiful even blond/brown color and was very smooth, nor did it reveal too much vein within its leaf. The ash on this cigar was a near perfect even white that clung for dear life, almost going halfway up this stick and the burn was unwaveringly even! Although not a big producer on smoke in the beginning, as the draw eased up the smoke became much more robust and aromatic.

Upon lighting, to be quite honest, it was really hard to discern much flavor in the beginning due to its very hard draw, if anything it had a pleasant charred wood flavor. Once about halfway through, I started pulling mild flavors of nut and earth. As it progressed to the 2/3 mark where the draw really eased up and I could get a good pull, a wonderful nutty flavor with a hint of anise came through and just a bit of earth in there as well. After removing the label and smoking more of this into the nub, the nutty flavor was joined by a bit of coffee with anise still stirred in and a sprinkling of pepper.

Overall the H. Upmann Vintage Cameroon Belicoso was good even after dealing with the split stick and the hard draw of the second one. The flavors were amazingly complex and fun and this cigar also lasted for close to an hour and a half. As far as the poor construction notes on draw and the split of the first cigar, I would not put too much stock in those issues as I have smoked these before without incident.

Cigar Review: Tatuaje Serie P2

Hello all, well yesterday was a bit of a stressful day so after a hard days work, I headed down to Edwards Pipe and Tobacco in wonderful Fort Collins, and after a long decision making period, hard to do with only a $5 bill and a bunch of change to total $6.40, options are kinda small on a good, de-stressing smoke. So, I finally decided on a Tatuaje Serie P2 cigar, they were out of P3's, the toro being my favorite size.

Now, I know my previous blog regarding the Tatuaje Red Label Havana VI, was not sterling, but I figured since now the "hub-bub" regarding Tatuaje seems to be escalating, I figure I'd investigate a little more. Boy was I glad I did! The construction on this cigar was flawless! Beautiful lines, wonderful reddish-brown color, with a hint of vein in a wrapper that held the wonders inside! It was the perfect amount of tension of wrapper and binder over the filler creating a very nice draw. Not too firm and not too airy. Cutter cut clean with no debris and the wrapper stayed quite nicely. As the cigar burned it started to go a bit 'wonky', but then evened out just before the first 1/4 mark. The ash however was an unremarkable color and would not cling long, the longest I was able to get the ash to cling was just about one inch. The only bad note I'd have to say regarding construction was within the last inch and a half, the wrapper began to unravel and the stub became very squishy to hold.

Now, the real treat came when lighting it. As soon as flame met cigar my tongue was inundated with a wonderful sweet, spiced peppers flavor! I mean this was fantastic! This flavor remained almost throughout the whole cigar. About halfway through the spice bit a little more and the sweetness mellowed out and a third flavor gave character, but I could not say with certainty what it was. I want to say almost like a chocolaty coffee, but not quite. Towards the end the spice picked up a touch more and became a bit bitter, but that may have to do with the previous sweetness of the cigar not being as strong now. After all was said and done, this did not leave a foul flavor in my mouth and my overall experience with this cigar, has shown me why Tatuaje was just ranked the most popular and sought after brand by Cigar Aficionado.

Cigar Review: Sancho Panza Valiente Natural

Hi all, so we had First Friday here the other day in beautiful Downtown Fort Collins, when I felt that something was missing, so I popped into Al's News and grabbed a Sancho Panza Valiente Natural from their small humidor. Sancho Panza for me has been a long time favorite simply because they are a cheap, reliable cigar. I typically keep a box or so of the Double Maduro in my humidor and use as my staple cigar, so my expectations were higher than with a blind critique. Sancho Panza, owned and made by El Rey del Mundo, was to have started from German business man Emilio Ohmstedt in 1848. In 1882, Spanish business man Antonio Allones took over the company, which translated into English means King of the World, and brought it to its world-wide prestige. El Rey del Mundo and Sancho Panza, were once regarded as the most expensive and highly prestigious cigars until tastes started turning towards more stronger cigars. Today they are still enjoyed for their lighter, complex flavors.

A few notes on construction, the cigar itself looked very smooth, with an even brown wrapper with a hint of red, and the leaf only showed a little bit of its vein. It had a firm feel without being too hard, while still feeling supple to the fingertips. The cap came off very easy during cutting and not a lot of debris afterward. It had a fairly nice draw, a bit hard, but not hard enough to really have a negative effect on the smoking experience. Through its burn it had a nice zebra striped ash that was able to cling for almost half the stick, and remained a fairly even burn most of the way through the smoke, only once it got past the halfway mark did it really need a touch up light to even it back out.

Starting on the flavor, upon lighting the cigar it had a bit of a bite, just enough to tease the back of my tongue. It started with a distinct coffee flavor, a hint of wood and a bit of cashew and pepper as well. Getting to the midway point of the cigar was enjoyable, the coffee flavor got sweetened a bit and creamier, almost as if it started black, then someone had added cream and sugar. The wood had gone away and the cashew was JUST noticeable. The last third of the cigar, the coffee started to go away and was replaced with more of a peppered, nutty flavor. The smoke throughout this was nice, billowed and smooth. Overall this cigar lived up to my expectations that I have come to appreciate from those folks at Sancho Panza. I paired this up with an organic, fair trade coffee I had discovered that same night in a store called Ten Thousand Villages.