Weekend reviews/Dracula! - October 29-31, 2010

My mother in law, Diane, is a big supporter of the Columbia City Ballet. She always buys blocks of tickets to their events. This year was no different. She bought 12 tickets to the Dracula ballet and Connie and I were invited to attend. We have seen the Dracula ballet before but it was several years ago. I have heard that they change it somewhat from year to year so I was curious as to what this year's edition would look like. One thing that does not change is the hot women in the show! They dress seductively and there are a lot of them! Well, after attending I can say the girls were hot and the show was good. Not your typical ballet. Guys can easily see this show and like it; probably love it! After the show we came home but I wanted to get a few pics of us as we dressed up, somewhat, for the show. Connie wore a hot, red, flowing outfit which looked like the wife of the devil, so I took the easy route and decided to be the devil! Seemed appropriate. Here are pics of the way we looked at the show:

Most people think my horns are actually real and that I am the actual devil. As proof that they may be right here is a look at my horns as they are retracted:

That's what you get when you wear suction cup horns for 7 hours! Luckily, those marks are completely gone by the following morning with no bruising. Looks kinda cool though!



 Now, let's review some cigars. This weekend I am reviewing 5 cigars:

• Camacho SLR natural Rothschild
• Pedro Bella Habano torpedo
• Camacho Legendario maduro toro
• Padilla Miami toro
• Xikar HC Series Habano Colorado toro

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Camacho SLR natural Rothschild (4 1/2 x 50)

A beautiful, dark brown cigar that is well made. It is very dense feeling. The cigar started off with full bodied cinnamon and almond spice with signature Camacho pepper. Slight vanilla sweetness in the spice. The finish is fairly long with raw almonds and light sweet notes.  The cigar stays very consistent.

Score: 88



Pedro Bella Habano torpedo (6 1/4x54)

This is the second of the cigars that Alan Francis brought me from the Cuba Tobacco Cigar Company in Little Havana in Miami, Florida. This version has a habano wrapper. It has a light brown wrapper. It started off with lots of peppery, sweet citrus notes of vanilla and almonds. The finish is long and sweet with almond and vanilla notes and some lingering pepper. This does not taste like a habano wrapper; more like a natural or connecticut but it is a very good cigar. The sweet notes in the spice are very nice. The draw is very good but this cigar is a little soft, just like the barber pole version was.  There is quite a bit of almond in the citrus spice. This cigar is medium bodied. Of the two, I prefer the barber pole version but this cigar is quite good. I am impressed at what this little shop has produced. If I am ever in Little Havana I will be sure to visit them.

Score: 89



Camacho Legendario maduro toro (6x50)

A dark, dense cigar made by Camacho. These cigars are quite affordable. This cigar ran around $6 at my local shop. I picked up this cigar from the Tobacco Merchant at a Camacho event hosted by Zev Kaminetsky. The cigar appears to be larger than a 50 ring gage but it's not a 60 ring, which is the Big Bertha version. It looks more like a 54 ring to me. After cutting the cigar the test draw was very good. The cigar started with a ton of black pepper and sweet spice with a mixture of coffee, vanilla, and almonds. The finish is one of raw, sweet almonds. Camacho makes some great maduro cigars; the SLR maduro, corojo maduro, and now, this cigar. Medium to full bodied. There is nice sweetness in this cigar. After an inch or so there are some cinnamon notes in the spice. Just past the midpoint the cigar is still flavorful but had a touch of bitterness. At this point there are more black coffee notes. All in all, a good cigar for this price point. Maduro lovers will probably like this cigar.

Score: 86




Sunday, October 31, 2010

Padilla Miami toro (6x50)

This Padilla creation has a triple cap. A dark brown cigar, it feels dense and is visually well made. The cigar starts with a grapefruit spice with almond notes and nice pepper. This cigar reminds me a lot of the Padilla Habano which I reviewed last December. There are a lot of similarities. The finish is long with grapefruit and roasted almond notes. The draw was a bit firm. The cigar is medium bodied. This may surprise a lot of people but at the midpoint of this cigar I would actually prefer the Habano over the Miami. The cigar stayed consistent but I expected more out of it. I waited for some sweetness in the citrus but it never came. This cigar boils down to grapefruit citrus, almonds and some pepper. If that's your thing then you'll love this cigar.

Score: 86



Xikar HC Series Habano Colorado toro (6.5x52)

The final cigar in the Xikar series that that I have left to review. A dark maduro wrapper. The cigar starts off with black coffee and leather and quite a bit of black pepper. There is a touch of sweetness. After 3/4 inch there were notes of grapefruit citrus. The finish is lightly sweet raw almonds. The citrus notes move toward the front after about an inch and a half combined with coffee, almonds, light sweet notes and pepper. This cigar is not an overly sweet maduro; more coffee notes.

Score: 87