Cigar Magazine rating, no. 4

Today's cigar to be rated was the Por Larranaga Cuban Grade Toro (6"x50)

I found this cigar to be quite nice looking. I have not tried this cigar before. It had a nice spicy, leathery taste and the finish was quite long. There were points where it had hints of caramel but for the most part it was leathery. It left a very good taste in my mouth. I would put this cigar at a medium body. The taste stayed consistent thoughout the smoke. I enjoyed this cigar quite a bit.

Cigar Magazine scores:

Appearance: 92

Taste: 91

Construction: 90

Strength: 87

My score: 91

Weekend review; March 29th and 30th, 2008/Cigar Magazine rating #3

Cigars reviewed this weekend:

• Avo #2 Maduro



• Rocky Patel Sungrown Toro



• Camacho Coyolar Rothschild



• Perdomo Reserve Ltd. Golf Double Eagle



• Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Madrid



• Rocky Patel Vintage 90 Churchill

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Avo #2 Maduro (6x50)

A very dark cigar which is well made. Quite a spicy cigar initially with leather undertones. Sweet notes from the maduro are also noted. The spiciness continues through the mid-point. The cigar burns very evenly. The finish is long and sweet; nice! Can't say enough about the amount of spice this cigar has. The rich maduro gives the cigar some hints of strong coffee. I would like a little more from this cigar than spice but since I'm a big spice fan I enjoyed it.

Score: 92

Rocky Patel Sungrown Toro (6.5x52)

Nice, shiny, oily wrapper. Spice, caramel, and a nice amount of pepper noted initially. Wonderful flavor. A great blend of spice and caramel with just a hint of pepper. This is one of Rocky Patel's best cigars! Nice burn. Good draw.

Score:93

Camacho Coyolar Rothschild (4.5x50)

Peppery caramel from start to finish! Full bodied. Smoke this one too fast and you'll get dizzy! A powerhouse of a cigar! Not an everyday smoke but a nice treat!

Score: 91

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Perdomo Reserve Ltd. Golf Double Eagle (7x54)

Average Cameroon-like flavor with some spice. Has some bitter points in the cigar but these aren't "deal breakers". Finish is short. Hints of toasted almonds noted. Not a bad cigar. Good deals on these can be found at cigarbid.com.

Score: 88

Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Madrid (6.25x54)

Cigar Magazine rating no. 3

Square pressed. Initially leather and spice noted. Caramel notes appear after 3/4 inch. Spice really picked up after an inch or so. Finish is long. Medium bodied. Hints of pepper noted. Fairly balanced cigar. Very nice cigar.

Cigar Magazine scores:

Appearance: 93

Taste: 92

Construction: 92

Strength: 87

My Score: 92

Rocky Patel Vintage '90 Churchill (7x48)

Sweet flavor initially. Spice also noted. The sweetness of the maduro and the spiciness make this a nice combination. Firm ash. Hints of caramel noted at midpoint.

Score: 91

Cigar Magazine rating, no. 2

Today I had the second of the ten cigars that I'm rating. This afternoon I chose the Bolivar Cofradia No. 554 (5.0"x54).




The cigar had very good construction. It looked very nice. It's a nice, fat cigar. I first noticed spice with caramel undertones. There was no pepper to speak of. The spice intensified as the cigar smoked. Eventhough this is suppose to be a maduro cigar it had no typical maduro characteristics. I enjoyed it very much.



My score: 89



Cigar Magazine scores:

Appearance: 92

Taste: 88

Construction: 93

Strength: 88

Cigar Magazine rating, no. 1

The first cigar I chose to rate was the Jose Marti Robusto Extra (6.5"x52)





Cigar Magazine requested the ratings be between 50 and 100 in 4 categories; Appearance, Taste, Construction, and Strength, with a space for comments if necessary.



The cigar had some notes of pepper, some spice beginning at the halfway point of the cigar, and some sweetness. The burn was off, but that may be due to the cigars just arriving. Most cigar shippers have their cigars over humidified for shipping. The cigar was not bad at all.


My Score: 87



Cigar Magazine scores:

Appearance: 86

Taste: 87

Construction: 84

Strength: 87

Cigar Magazine cigar ratings

A few weeks ago Cigar Magazine was looking for people to sample cigars and report back on them. I submitted a request to rate them and today I received the cigars to rate. The are all maduro's. Over the next couple weeks I'll be smoking the cigars and making notes. I will also be posting those reviews here. The list of cigars to be rated are:

• La Finca Joya, 6x50
• Macanudo Maduro Hyde Park, 5.5x49
• Partagas No. 8 Maduro, 6.25x47
• Por Larranaga Cuban Grade Toro, 6x50
• Sancho Panza Extra Fuerte Madrid, 6.25x54
• Belinda Black Exquisito, 6x50
• Bolivar Cofradia No. 554, 5x54
• Cuesta-Rey Centenario #60, 6x50
• El Rey del Mundo Robusto, 5x54
• Jose' Marti Robusto Extra 6.5x52

They sent 2 of each cigar just in case the first was not smokable. I had the first one this afternoon and will be reporting on it shortly. They appear to be in need of a little humidor time but they want all reports submitted by May 1, 2008! Since I'm a big maduro fan this should be fun!

Weekend review; March 22nd and 23rd, 2008

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! I did; great weather all weekend.

Cigars reviewed this weekend:

• Oliva Special S Diadema


• Rocky Patel Edge Maduro toro


• Montecristo Edmundo (Cuban)


• 601 Black Connecticut Torpedo


• Rocky Patel Vintage '92 Toro

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Oliva Special S Diadema (7x48)

This was my first experience with this cigar. Evidently the "S" stands for spice, because this cigar had it! Spice was noted immediately. Finish was long; nice. Draw was a bit firm. Faint hints of almonds were noted. The spice actually increased at the 1/3 point. The burn was very even. Spice stayed consistently high. Medium bodied cigar.

Score: 92

Rocky Patel Edge Maduro toro (6x52)

This cigar had a very shiny, oily wrapper! Very spicey with some pepper. There was a slight sweetness due to the maduro wrapper. Full bodied. Ash very tight. Very good draw. This cigar never disappoints.

Score: 91

Montecristo Edmundo (Cuban) (5.3x52)

I usually try to have at least one Cuban cigar on special holidays. This was today's selection. There were some hints of caramel and coffee, along with some spice in this cigar. Fairly consistent throughout. Nice draw. Nice burn. Didn't have great flavor.

Score: 88

601 Black Connecticut Torpedo (6.5x52)

Very nice spice in this cigar. Medium-full bodied. Some pepper. The Connecticut wrapper keeps the cigar medium bodied for the most part. It transitions to full bodied after 1/2 way point. Very consistent. Another of Pepin's gems.

Score: 92

Rocky Patel Vintage '92 Toro (6.5x50)

A very creamy and spicey cigar! From the very first it has a very pleasing taste! Caramel hints. I love the spice in this cigar. It prouced tons of smoke, too! I'd call this a medium bodied cigar. It has a great flavor. I highly recommend it!

Score: 93

Weekend review; March 15th and 16th, 2008

Scary weather Saturday! Tornado's hit several South Carolina towns! Luckily, all we got was wind and some rain. Sunday was very nice with high's around 70.

This weekend I had some very nice cigars. The one's I'm reviewing are:

• Ashton VSG Robusto


• Omar Ortez Originals Belicoso


• Oliva V Double Robusto


• Alec Bradley Maxx, The Freak
  

Saturday, March 15th, 2008

Ashton VSG Robusto (5 1/2x50)

Beautiful wrapper, well made cigar. Medium amount of spice at first few draws. Floral aftertaste. Finish is long and somewhat sweet. The flavor has toasted almonds undertones early on. The sungrown wrapper gives this cigar a unique flavor. Spice really picks up at the 1/3 point! The burn is nearly perfect. An extremely consistent cigar. Great flavor, spice, and burn.

Score: 94

Omar Ortez Originals, Belicoso (6.2"x52)

Dark, reddish colored cigar. Nice spice, some pepper. Caramel overtones. Finish is long. This cigar is right up my alley! At 2/3 point the cigar was still consistent. Very affordable cigar, at about $5 at the local shop. I love the spice of this cigar! Great burn!

Score: 94

Sunday, March 16th, 2008

Oliva V Double Robusto (5x54)

Leathery and spicey initially. Lots of smoke. Transitions to a more caramel taste in less than an inch. Very nice spice in this cigar! Consistent. The combination of caramel and spice makes this a great cigar, IMHO.

Score: 93

Alec Bradley Max, The Freak (6.3"x60)

Huge maduro cigar! Somewhat spicey initially. Caramel undertones. Hints of ligero, yet medium bodied. Tons of smoke. Light leather undertones. Slight amount of pepper hits after a few puffs. The spice grows as the cigar burns. The maduro wrapper gives the cigar a hint of sweetness. This was a very enjoyable cigar.

Score: 91

Weekend review; March 8th and 9th, 2008

What a windy day Saturday was! I sure didn't want to be outside so I went straight to the Maduro Room to hang out! Met up with a bunch of guys who were doing the same as me; staying out of the wind!

Sunday was better but cool.

Cigars reviewed this weekend:

• Camacho Corojo Maduro Gigante
• San Cristobal Monumento
• Camacho SLR Rothschild
• CAO Italia Gondola
• Vegueros Especiales #1 (Cuban)

Saturday, March 8th, 2008

Camacho Corojo Corojo Maduro Gigante (6x54)

I picked this up from the Maduro Room. I started smoking it when I left the shop, so that's why it's mostly GONE in the above pic! I really liked the robusto size of this cigar and decided to try the bigger size. This is a very beautiful cigar. Well made. It did not disappoint either. Great mix of corojo, spice and pepper. There was a hint of sweetness due to the maduro. It started out medium bodied but changed to a more full bodied cigar. An experienced cigar smokers dream! I really like this cigar!

Score: 93

San Cristobal Monumento (7.2x49)

Great draw! This is a beautiful, reddish cigar. The cigar had a blast of leathery spice and pepper initially. Perfect burn. The spice is foremost with this cigar. The leather overtones changed to more of a toasted caramel flavor. The pepper sits nicely beside the spice withouth being overwealming. The cigar is amazingly consitent. I have said before that I love Pepin cigars and this one does not disappoint. At halfway point the burn is nearly perfect. The finish is long. Pepper and spice combination is amazing! An absolutely fantastic cigar.

Score: 94

Camacho SLR Rothschild (4 1/2x50)

Nice looking cigar. Very good caramel overtones with some spice. Consistent. Short smoke; an hour or so. Great flavor. Medium bodied.

Score: 92

CAO Italia Gondola (6.25x54)

Quote leathery initially. After 1/2 inch some spice kicked in. AT 1/2 way point the spice is still decent but the cigar lacks significant flavor. Leathery undertones remain. This is my second try at this cigar. I had one about a year ago and just did not care for it. This one, unfortunately, was the same result. I'm not a fan of leathery cigars. It lacked enough spice and it had no pepper. It just wan't my "cup of tea".

Score: 82

Vegueros Especiales #1 (7 1/2x38) Cuban

Wow! This was my first experience with these cigars, but again...WOW! A blast of spice and caramel with some hints of roasted nut undertones. There is a ton of flavor and spice with this cigar. Very tastey! Here is what the Cuban websites say about this cigar...

"Vegueros is a cigar totally made in Vuelta Abajo, the land of the best tobacco of the world. The solid building where this high-quality trade mark is manufactured was built in 1868. At the beginning this building had the function of a hospital of the Spanish colony, since 1870 as a prison and later in 1959 the School of Arts was established there. In 1961 it became into the Cigarettes Factory "Francisco Donatien". Today, history and a good taste offer a new jewel to the most demanding and experts persons. Vegueros, from the very Pinar del Rio."

I feel this is a fairly full bodied Cuban cigar. I love the extreme amount of spice it has! The finish is long! Very pleasing! Eventhough this was a small ring cigar I really loved it!

Score: 94

Weekend review; March 1st and 2nd, 2008

What a fantastic weekend! Temps in the low 70's and sunny! Great weather!

Cigars reviewed this weekend:

• 601 Blue Label maduro torpedo


• La Aroma de Cuba Churchill


• Oliva O Maduro Grand Torpedo


• 601 Habana (red) churchill


• CAO Criollo torpedo

Saturday, March 1, 2008

601 Blue Label maduro torpedo (6.12x52)

Square pressed. Beautiful cigar. Initially, licorice overtones were noticed. Sweet aftertaste. Spice present after 1/2 inch. Grape undertones appear at 1" point. (yeah, I know grape is a weird descriptive word for cigars, but that's what it was!) The cigar melds into a very pleasing flavor. The finish is short and spicey. Fairly full bodied cigar.
Score: 90


La Aroma de Cuba Churchill (6 3/4x48)

Light caramel tones initially. Nice spice at 1/2" point. Even burn. Firm draw, not too tight. Spice increases at 1" point; very nice! Very consistent at 1/2 way point. (A couple years ago I heard some people "dod" these cigars, but I find them to be extremely satisfying.) Hints of pepper. Great spice; that's the best point of this cigar. Loved it!
Score: 93


Oliva O Maduro Grand Torpedo (7x54)

Beautiful cigar. Cap cracked when I cut this cigar; I repaired it best I could with fruit pectin. Took 3/4" for the spice to kick in. Great maduro flavor quickly followed. Very even burn. Smooth. I've had better Oliva O's before but this cigar was still good.
Score: 89


Sunday, March 2, 2008

601 Habana (Red label) churchill (7x48)

Another beautiful cigar! Reddish color. Effortless draw. Spice noted immediately. Caramel noted next but spice prominent. Peppery. Very consistent. Fantastic cigar! Finish is fairly long. To sum it up; spicey with a good splash of pepper. Medium-full bodied.
Score: 93


CAO Croillo Torpedo (6 1/8x52)

Nice construction. Caramel; pure caramel! Spice! Caramel and spice! I love it! Great burn. Firm draw. Love this cigar. Consistent! Oh, did I mention the caramel and spice? This is a winner!
Score: 94