Weekend review; January 24 and 25, 2009

It was sort of a rainy, dreary day Saturday so I went over to the Maduro Room to hang around for a few hours. I met up with Jim and Mark Lewis. Always a nice time when I'm at the Maduro Room.

There are 3 cigars that I'm reviewing this weekend. The are:

• Padilla '48 Series robusto
• Torano 1916 Torpedo
• El Rey de los Habanos Torpedo

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

Padilla '48 Series robusto (5x52)

This is a very nice looking cigar. Very good construction. This cigar is suppose to be part of the Padilla/Don Pepin Garcia cigar production. They worked together at one time. Padilla's name was on the cigar but DPG blended and rolled them. This cigar was very interesting. It had a unique taste. There was a rather heavy leather flavor with a lot of spice and some pepper, along with citrus notes. It seems to have all the basic DPG flavors but in a balanced blend. No one aspect of the cigar seems to be dominant yet all are noted. The finish is fairly long with vanilla notes.

Score: 91

Torano 1916 Torpedo (6 1/2 x 54)

(pic a little fuzzy) A Cameroon cigar that has very good spice with hints of pepper. The main flavor is a creamy vanilla, something like a vanilla pudding. The finish is long with sweet notes of vanilla. The pepper intensified at the midpoint. Medium bodied.

Score: 92

Sunday, January 25, 2009

El Rey de los Habanos torpedo (6 1/8 x 52)

(Another Don Pepin Garcia cigar) Heavy almond flavor at light up. Intense spice and citrus notes with abundant pepper. The citrus/pepper finish is long. It's hard to pic the dominant feature of this cigar. It has a lot of spice, citrus, pepper, and almond notes; all intense! I cannot believe that Don Pepin Garcia classifies this cigar as mild! It's far from mild! To me, this is a medium to full bodied cigar.

Ok, after finishing the cigar I'd put the various tastes in this order of intensity:

1. Pepper

2. Spice

3. Citrus

4. Almond

This is a very good cigar!

Score: 92

Weekend review; January 17 and 18, 2009

Cold weekend in South Carolina! I made our first fire in the fireplace for the winter on Saturday. Made another one Sunday. We don't have many cold days so it was nice to sit by the fire. I also found several cigars to review this weekend. (big shock)

Here they are:

• Gato (from a cigar shop in Key West, FL)
• Camacho Corojo Gigante
• Torano Signature Churchill
• Ashton Torpedo
• Perdomo Reserve La Tradicion Maduro Series 'E'

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Gato (5x50)

This cigar was picked up in Key West in 2007 on our cruise. I have forgotten the name of the shop. It is named for Eduardo Hidalgo Gato and the influence of the cigar industry on Key West. The factory is gone now but this cigar is made in tribute to him.

This cigar is very mild with some spice, but not much. There were faint hints of vanilla. The cigar was very unremarkable and mild. WAY too mild for me. It may be a good cigar for a beginner. I can't remember what I paid for this cigar but I hope it wasn't much!

Score: 81

Camacho Corojo Gigante (6.5x54)

The cap was rough looking on this cigar but the rest of it had good construction. The initial draw was quite spicy and peppery. Vanilla notes are strong. This is a fat cigar with an effortless draw. Medium bodied. Very good corojo cigar. Camacho has, in my opinion, the best corojo cigars on the market.

Score: 91

Torano Signature churchill (7x48)

Very dark, well made cigar. Nice spice with pepper. The sweetness of maduro is noted. You can feel the pepper on the back of your tongue. The finish is long and sweet. Vanilla notes are mixed in with maduro sweetness. The pepper makes this a nice cigar. It may be better with a touch more maduro sweetness but it's a decent cigar the way it is.

Score: 89

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Ashton Soverign (torpedo) 6.75x55

Good spice with vanilla notes. There are touches of pepper. Very good draw. A quite mild cigar but it has a nice flavor. There were some caramel notes at midpoint. Very good, even burn. The spice stayed fairly strong at midpoint. This cigar is too mild for my tastes but it was an enjoyable cigar.

Score: 87

Perdomo Reserve La Tradicion Maduro Series 'E' (6x54)

Apparently Perdomo is revamping this cigar with new packaging, etc. I'm not sure if they are changing the blend or not. This cigar is from the original blend and packaging. Right from the first draws you get great spice, nice pepper, and maduro flavor and sweetness. The pepper is felt on the back of the throat. You also get a lot of pepper when you blow the smoke through your nose. Very nice pepper! (in case you didn't get that already) The finish is long and sweet with vanilla tones. Tight ash. Good draw. Medium to full bodied. I noticed a little decrease in the maduro sweetness at the end but this was still a very good cigar.

Score: 92

Weekend review; January 10, 2009

This review is a day late, sorry, but better late than never!


I'm only reviewing 2 cigars this weekend because I'm running out of cigars to review! I'll have to look around for some new ones. Anyway, here's this week's reviewed cigars:

• La Vieja Habana Cameroon Torpedo
• Camacho Liberty 2007

Saturday, January 10th, 2009


La Vieja Habana Cameroon Belicoso (6x54)



A rather rough looking cigar that was a gift from Jimbob of Social Cigar's board. I didn't know what wrapper this cigar had when I reviewed it but went to the Cigars International website this morning to find out it was actually a Cameroon. That explains allot and confirms my review.


The cigar started out with a lot of spice and nice pepper notes with vanilla flavor on the aftertaste. Actually a very tasty cigar. I did not expect much from this cigar. LVH's don't have a stellar reputation, or at least the old one's didn't. But this cigar was very enjoyable. The finish is quite long. Caramel notes appear. Medium bodied at best. One downside of this cigar is it was very soft. This became very apparent at the midpoint. Perhaps it was badly under filled. The spice stayed quite strong throughout and so did the heavy vanilla taste. I really liked that. The pepper was the perfect amount.


For flavor I give this cigar a 90 but the construction pulls it down a couple points.


Score: 88





Camacho Liberty 2007 (6x56)



This is the first Liberty I've ever seen, let alone smoked! These cigars are packaged in individual coffins. Since this is a special cigar I've decided to give a little more pictorial detail to the review.



A beautiful barber pole wrapped cigar. Fantastic construction.



Intense spice with lots of pepper. Very smooth, rich caramel flavor. The corojo sweetness comes through. The cigar looks nice in your hand.



At the midpoint the burn was a little uneven.



Not overly powerful buy very tasty. Medium to full bodied. The cigar picked up intensity in the second half. Very consistent cigar overall. I really enjoyed it and "nubbed tha sucka!"



For my first liberty it was a great cigar.




Score: 93

Weekend review; January 3 and 4, 2009

It sure has been rainy and foggy around Columbia, SC lately! I feel like I'm living in London! It'll be sunny soon...and not long after that it'll be 90 degrees! So, I'm glad for the cool weather for now.

This weekend I'm reviewing 5 cigars. They are:

• Cigars International Legends Series - Graycliff (purple label)
• Te Amo Anniversario Vintage '99 Pyramid
• CAO L'Anniversaire Cameroon Toro
• Cubao Lancero
• 5 Vegas A Apocalypse
  
  

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Cigars International Legends Series; Graycliff (5.75x54)

I started off with one of the Cigars International Legends Series. Today's choice: the Graycliff version, which has the purple label. I must be honest, I didn't expect much from this cigar. I mean, Graycliff is a high dollar cigar and I couldn't imagine them making a decent cigar that would retail around $4 or $5 bucks. Well, I was wrong! The cigar was heavy with toasted almond overtones and lots of spice. It had light pepper notes. Very thick wrapper; at least 1/16" above the ash as it burns! The burn was very even. The cigar stayed consistent in flavor. Pepper notes on back of throat is nice! The finish is fairly long. Medium bodied. The spice stayed very strong throughout. I was pleasantly surprised by this cigar!

Score: 88

Te Amo Anniversario Vintage '99 Pyramid (6x52)

Now, let me say this...I can't find this cigar online in a pyramid style but the one I had was definitely that shape! (as the pic shows).

The cigar has a dark brown wrapper. Slightly square pressed at foot. Tons of spice with leather overtones. Black pepper notes. Vanilla notes on finish. Very even burn. Leather notes decrease slightly around midpoint but spice remains strong. Not grassy like other Mexican cigars I've had before. Nice cigar.

Score: 88

Sunday, January 4, 2009

CAO L'Anniversaire Cameroon Toro (5 1/2x 55)

Very intense spice with fairly heavy pepper are my first impressions but...where is the Cameroon flavor and sweetness? Maybe it will kick in later. Midpoint: no Cameroon flavor or sweetness. Last quarter: no Cameroon flavor or sweetness. Was this a "bad cigar" or just a dud? A fluke? I don't know but this is NOT an example of a good Cameroon cigar. I was highly disappointed! I expected much more from CAO.

Score: 70 (basically this is the lowest score a handmade cigar will receive from me)

Cubao Lancero (7 1/2 x 38)

Very peppery spice with heavy citrus overtones initially. Full bodied. Long, peppery aftertaste. The pepper lingers on the back of your tongue. After about 2 inches the finish became sweet. This is a powerhouse cigar. Very even burn. It lost some of the citrus notes at the end. If you don't like peppery cigars leave this one alone. I thought it was a great cigar.

Score: 94

5 Vegas A Apocalypse (6x58)

Very dark, fat maduro cigar. Nice construction overall but the cap was a little rough. My second favorite 5 Vegas cigar, with the Miami series my favorite. The cigar had nice maduro sweetness and some pepper. Nice spice. Long finish. Very good flavor. Notes of rich vanilla noted. Good cigar. Good value. Good maduro. Enjoyed this cigar.

Score: 92

New Years 2009 report

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

2009 IS HERE!!!

Here's hoping 2009 will be better than 2008! I think we can all agree on that one!

I'm sure a lot of you celebrated hard on New Year's Eve, but this year Connie and I stayed home. As a matter of fact the New Year came in while I was asleep!

This New Year's Eve marks my 10 year anniversary enjoying cigars. It was December 31st, 1998 and I was in Cozumel, Mexico on a cruise. I decided to pop into a cigar shop on the waterfront and picked up a Cohiba Esplendido (or at least I think that's what I got; not sure if it was an LCDH or not). From that single cigar I emerged deeper and deeper into cigars and now have 7 humidors, one of which is a 1200 count end table model.Here is an actual pic of that first cigar experience. Remember, we're 10 years younger in this pic!





So, every year since I've had a Cuban cigar on New Year's Eve. This year was no different. I expanded it to include New Years Day too! Here'sa pic of the lineup I decided to go with this year:

(L-R) Partagas Series D no. 4, Bolivar Belicoso Fino, Montecriston Edmundo, Vegas Robaina Don Alejandro, Montecristo no. 2

As it turned out I did not have time for the Bolivar Belicoso Fino but that's ok. It will remain for another day! The order of the cigars I had, and their box code dates were:

New Years Eve:

Montecristo No. 2 (January 2006)




New Years Day:

Partagas Series D no. 4 (February 2006)

Vegas Robaina Don Alejandro (May, 2005)

Montecristo Edmundo (August 2005)

All very good cigars and very different. The Monte 2 and PSD4 were the most full bodied while the VR was smooth and tasty with good spice. The Edmundo was an absolutely outstanding cigar! It was almost like candy! The thick caramel aftertaste was fantastic!

Here's wishing everyone a Happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!!!!!