Cusano event/weekend review; March 21, 2009

It was a beautiful day for a cigar event, but then again isn't any day a good day for one? : )


Mark Lewis and Jim Massengale met me at my house around 2:30 pm and we made the trek over to Lite Um Up Cigars on Hardscrabble Road in Columbia for the Cusano cigar event. This is my first trip to a cigar event at Tom Burn's shop. I would also get a chance to meet Joe Chiusano (pronounced Cu-sa-no), owner of Cusano Cigars. Joe was also giving away a '97 robusto with every 3 Cusano cigars purchased. Cool!

(l-r; Mark Lewis, me, Jim Massengale, Joe, Tom)

While there I met up with an old friend, Sonny Arnold. Sonny and I spent a lot of time together during my bodybuilding competition days. Sonny won the Mr. South Carolina title a few years before I did and we were both working toward regional and national competitions. I learned a couple days before this event that Sonny was into cigars and hoped I would see him at the event. Here's a pic of Sonny and I with Joe and Tom:

(l-r; Tim, Sonny, Joe, Tom)

Tom's shop is the first in Columbia to also have a bar. He serves beer and wine. Here's a few pics of the sitting area:

Mark and Jim adjacent to the humidor window:

Leather chairs with tv above a fireplace:

Sonny Arnold with Henry Richardson:

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Tom's shop and having a chance to meet Joe Chiusano of Cusano Cigars. Joe has agreed to help us with some cigars for this year's South Carolina Sit Down event next month. Thank you Joe for your support!


Now, on to the review for this week. It seems quite appropriate to review a Cusano cigar and one of my favorites has always been the Corojo '97. This particular version is the robusto.



Cusano Corojo '97 robusto (5x50)


While visiting with Sonny I learned that this is also one of his favorites. He even compares it favorably to the Cuban Bolivar Belicoso Fino, saying the Cusano is about 90% the flavor of a BBF! I'll just say it's a very good cigar. It starts off very spicy with a touch of pepper on the palate. After an inch or so you get a nice citrus taste. The finish is fairly long with almond notes. The cigar stays pretty consistent throughout.

Score: 91