Weekend review; December 13th and 14th, 2008

Looks like Christmas everywhere you look! Only a little over a week away! I hope Santa brings everyone what they want this year!

Good group of cigars rated this weekend. They are:

• Casa Magna Colorado Belicoso
• Don Pepin Gacia Vegas Cubanas Generosos
• Rocky Patel 10th Anniversary robusto
• Oliva O Double Toro

Saturday, December 13, 2008

One of these days the trees will stop dropping leaves! My gosh, they're still falling! And I keep getting out there every Saturday to get them up! I'd rather be talking about cigars, so, here goes. I started the day with a...

Casa Magna Colorado Belicoso (6 1/4x54)


I got this cigar from The Tobacco Merchant on Bower Parkway in Columbia, SC. I had never heard of them before so I looked on the internet for info. Here's what I found:

The Casa Magna cigar is a collaboration between Fonseca's Manuel Quesada and good friend Nestor Plascencia. Made with all Nicaraguan tobacco in Nestor's factory, the medium-to-full body Casa Magna puro has a clean sweetness and toasty aroma with amazing depth and complexity, all wrapped in a special Ligero Cuban seed Colorado wrapper that is beautiful and oily.

Now, here's my opinion: It is a nice looking cigar with a nice band. The cigar is dense feeling; very heavy in the hand. After cutting, the draw was a bit firm but not too bad. It has a very nice looking, oily wrapper. Initially after lighting the cigar had a spicy taste with cinnamon overtones. Very subtle pepper noted. Finish is fairly long with sweet notes. It is medium bodied. The ash is tight. Price point is around $6 each. There were some caramel notes in the final third. An enjoyable cigar.

Score: 88



Don Pepin Garcia Cubanas Generosos (6x50)


This is one of DPG's earlier cigars. I have never tried one before and am excited to try it. One think I notice is it feels "lighter" than other DPG cigars I've had. Initial lightup was quite spicy with pepper. The classic Pepin tangerine flavor is noted but in a lesser amount. nice finish; somewhat floral and sweet. Leather noted. It's like someone took a 601 red and diluted it by 50%. If this were the first DPG cigar I ever had I'd really be impressed with it, however since my first DPG was the Blue series I'm not terribly impressed with this one. It is, however, a decent cigar; it just needs more of the Pepin-pop that I've gotten use to. This cigar is fairly mild. It would be great for someone who likes milder cigars. The flavors stay very consistent. I'm scoring this cigar with a good mark because it does have good flavor but if you look back at some of my other Pepin ratings you'll see that this cigar is rated much lower.

Score: 89



Sunday, December 14th, 2008

Rocky Patel 10th Anniversary robusto (5x50)

First time having this cigar for me. Quite spicy with nice pepper initially. The pepper notes are fairly light. There are also some caramel notes. The draw is very good. The finish is long. There is nothing spectacular about this cigar. It reminds me of many other so-so cigars. Good cigar but not great.

Score: 88



Oliva O Double Toro (6x60)


Big boy! Very dense cigar. Lots of tobacco in this cigar. Look at the pic of the foot:


Great spice initially with black pepper! Very nice! Caramel undertones. There are even some orange notes. The ash is very tight for such a large ring cigar. The burn was good too. The cigar is consistent throughout. This is a very enjoyable cigar with a nice balance of spice, pepper, and caramel/orange notes.

Score: 91