Weekend review; August 14 and 15, 2010

Nice weekend for a change. Highs in the low 90's. That's MUCH cooler than it's been lately. This weekend I reviewed two new cigars (to me, anyway). Here's the weekend reviews:

• Carrillo Short Run robusto
• Avo Signature robusto 

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Carrillo Short Run Populares (robusto) (4 7/8x50)

 Nice looking medium brown cigar. Appears to be very well made. Feels solid in the hand. First draws were heavy leather spice with black pepper and raw almond undertones. Notes of sweetness in the leather spice. Roasted almond finish and fairly long. Light notes of sweetness on the finish also. As the cigar burned into the first inch the sweetness was much more intense; more on par with a with a molasses sweetness. After an inch or so the cigar changed to a cinnamon spice with the same very pleasing sweetness. Nice change! Medium to full bodied. The black pepper stays in the background but it's always noticeable. I found this to be a very enjoyable cigar.

Score: 91

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Avo Signature robusto (5x52)

Reddish brown cigar. Nice looking cigar. Started off with leather and roasted almonds with light pepper. Light vanilla notes on the spice. Quite full bodied for an Avo, but I would put this cigar overall at a medium to slightly full. The cigar produced a lot of smoke and the draw was effortless. Light citrus notes. Very even burn. Light gray ash. The predominant flavor is roasted almonds after 3/4 inch. At the one inch point there are some raw almond notes.The finish is long with semi-sweet raw almonds. The pepper actually lingers somewhat on the finish which is very nice. At the midpoint the finish is sweeter. The pepper is also better on the finish at this point. Just past halfway cinnamon notes appeared. Quite a complex and wonderful cigar. This cigar is priced on the high side, at excess of $10 each, but it is very good! Perhaps would make a good celebratory cigar.

The final third had notes of cinnamon, raw almonds, citrus, and vanilla with nice pepper. As cigar go this one had numerous changes and a very good flavor with almost flawless burn. Very good cigar. Although expensive it is a must try!

Score: 92