Weekend review; July 27th, 2008

Typical summertime weekend...HOT! (and humid!)

I'm reviewing 2 cigars this weekend;

• Rocky Patel Fusion churchill


• Padilla '68 Robusto

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Rocky Patel Fusion churchill (7x50)

This is suppose to be a combination of the Vintage 1990 and 1992 series. Whatever it is, it's good! Very spicey. Slight notes of pepper. Long finish and great aftertaste. Very nice spice but that's really about it with this cigar; not much else. Still, I love spice so I'd buy it again.

Score: 90

Padilla Series '68 Robusto (5x50)

Smoky, leathery, spice initially. Intense leathery spice consistently through midpoint. Almond notes from time to time. Finish is a little short which was disappointing. Still, a very good blend.

Score: 93

Weekend review; July 19th and 20th, 2008

Hot weekend! Summer is definitely here! I'm reviewing 3 cigars this weekend:

• Avalon Juke Series Black Churchill


• Pontillo Paragon Serie Colorado Maduro Robusto


• 601 Blue Torpedo

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Avalon Juke Series Black Churchill (7x52)

I received this cigar in a box pass from Nick on Social Cigar. I've had it in my humidor for several months and decided to try it today! Well, it's spicy with leather undertones. Pepper noted. Very easy draw. Finish is long with slight bitterness. Spice still strong at mid-point. More caramel undertones after mid-point and less leather. Medium bodied.

Score: 88

Pontillo Paragon Serie Colorado Maduro Robusto (5.5x54)

This is a new blend by Pontillo. He moved his operations from Nicaragua to the Dominican Republic and this is the first cigar I've had from that new production. This maduro is not nearly as dark as his original maduro. This is a reddish brown. The initial flavor has roasted almonds and spice. Swet aftertaste with a long finish. Very nice. Good draw and very even burn. The original Paragon was a powerhouse. This cigar has hints of ligero but does not appear to be as powerful as the original. I am not sure if his blends are completely different now. Apparently they are at least somewhat different. Very good cigar. Great aftertaste. Medium to full bodied.

Score: 92

601 Blue Torpedo (6 1/8 x 52)

Square pressed cigar. Very dark. My impression of this cigar is summed up with this. Take the flavor of the 601 red and put a maduro wrapper on it and you'll have the basic taste of this cigar. Now, I'm sure may people will say it's much more than that, but the flavors suggest that it's some combination of the red and maduro wrappers. The sweetness of the maduro really comes through along with a ton of spice. Finish is fairly long with a sweet aftertaste. Pretty much full bodied. Burn got way off at 1/3 point (canoed) but I touched it up and it was fine after that. Pepper really noticed from that point on. Really nice cigar!

Score: 93

Weekend review; July 13th, 2008

It was such a nice weekend, and I had so many cigars while in the yard. All of them have been previously reviewed so I won't re-review them. However, on Sunday I had 2 that have not been reviewed. One is brand new to me and one is a long time favorite.

Sunday, July 13th, 2008

Graycliff 1666 Robusto (5"x50)

A very dark cigar. It's obvious that it's a maduro. Very leathery with lots of spice initially. Strong black coffee notes, also. Sweetness of maduro noted. Hints of black pepper. A very "busy cigar"! The finish is long and "dark", kinda like dark sweet chocolate. A very even burn. At midpoint the spice is still strong. Stayed fairly consisten to the end. The spice remained strong but the leather notes decreased somewhat. The finish is fantastic on this cigar. A huge plus!

Score: 91

Cigars Internation Legend Series; Pepin version (5.7"x54)

Triple capped, just like the other Pepin cigars. Initially there are toasted almond overtones with plenty of spice. Pepper tones noted. Unmistakable Pepin-esque flavor. Compared to another Pepin cigar, this one is a notch or so below the 601 red in strength, but not too far! This is a very tasty cigar that I have almost daily. Very affordable for a Pepin too. Cigars International sells them for $70 a box but I usually bid and win them on Cigarbid.com for around $55. This is another cigar with a long finish with a very good aftertaste!

Score: 93

July 4th weekend review and travels

Hope everyone had a fantastic July 4th holiday! We went to Jim and Ginger's to hang out at the pool and grill steaks. Her sister and husband were there also. Of course, plenty of good cigars were enjoyed.

Saturday Connie and I traveled to my son's house to quickly tend to his pet ferrets, then we stopped by the new cigar shop, Lite Um Up Cigars, on Hard Scrabble Road. This time I had my camera in hand and got some good shots to let you see a what the place is like.

As you walk in the front door the bar is immediately on your right:

Looking straight ahead you see the humidor and bar tables to the left:

Humidor entrance door:
(Hi Connie!)

The humidor is well stocked:

Etched glass window of humidor:

The bar as seen looking back toward front door:

Wine table/bar:

Leather chair sitting area with TV over fireplace:

Group pic: (l-r) Tony (owner and active military), Connie, me, Tom (owner, retired military)

Thanks for allowing the pics, guys! I'm sure cigar lovers across Columbia will be by to visit your shop and lounge soon!

Now, on to a few reviews.

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

While I was in Lite Um Up on Saturday, a fellow patron in the bar (Bill) passed me a cigar to try. It was a:

La Aurora 100 Anos Belicoso! (6.5x52)

These cigars come with a serial number:

Hard to find these cigars. Bill had just returned from the Dominican Republic where he visited the La Aurora factory and purchased a box of these cigars along with several other boxes. This was a very generous gift! These cigars go for $400 for a box of 25!

The cigar started with a nice, sweet initial draw. It was apparent that this was a good cameroon cigar right from the start. Spice was noted. Fantastic flavor. After 1 1/2" the sweet cameroon flavor is great! The spice is very nice. Finish is long. Slight pepper noted at 1/2 way point. Very good cigar. Thanks Bill for allowing me to try one!

Score: 92

Cusano Corojo '97 toro (6x50)

This cigar was purchased from Lite Um Up a week ago.

Leather notes initially. Nice spice noted. Several flavors are noted after 1/2 inch, among them caramel, vanilla and leather. Hints of pepper noted. More pepper noted after an inch. Very nice caramel and spice combo. Ash is rather loose. Burn is a little uneven. Spice and caramel overtones continue strong from mid-point on. Finish is long. Very enjoyable cigar.

Score: 93

Sunday, July 6th, 2008

Romeo y Julietta Habana Reserve churchill (7x54)

Nice amount of spice with pepper notes. Finish is long and very enjoyable. This is the best RyJ non-Cuban I've smoked in a long time; maybe ever! Slight leather notes. After an inch the cigar settles into a very nice spice/leather combo. The pepper notes are slight but quite welcome. Very affordable cigar. This churchill was around $5.75 at a local shop. Cigar remained consistent. Very nice.

Score: 91

Oliva Special S Belicoso (5x52)

Explosion of spice right away! Hints of leather. This cigar is LOADED with spice. The leather untertones remain throughout. The finish is long and sweet! Fantastic finish! Very tight ash. At halfway point finish has strong almond notes. Great little spice bomb with a fantastic finish!!!

Score: 94