Weekend reviews; January 22 and 23, 2011

Notice anything different? See those little ad's at the top left of the page? How about those a little further down just under the page heading? They are not there by accident. Tiny Tim's Cigar World has gone commercial. I have added advertising. You can click on any of the ads to be taken to their site. They are legitimate companies. So, have fun; shop a little while visiting my site! The ad's should be cigar related.

Well, the new carpet was installed and Connie absolutely loves it! That's a good thing. Actually, I love it too. The padding is amazing. Very cushiony. (is that a word?) And, the new tv looks amazing! It's a 37" HDTV LCD tv w/ 1080p and 120 hz. Amazing picture. BTW, it's an Insignia, made by LG for Best Buy. Basically, it's their house brand. Comes with a 2 year warranty too!

The receiver is also by Insignia. It's a 5.1 channel surround sound w/ 670 watts output! Our old system was a 25+ year old Techniques stereo system. It is fantastic how this new system sounds!

Front speaker and subwoofer

Surround sound speaker

My audio/visual components are up do date. It feels good to be in the 21st century!

So, that should take care of our home improvements for awhile! These were very much due!

Now, on to the reviews...

This weekend I am reviewing:

• Vegas de Santiago Don Luis Gordo
• Graycliff Crystal Edicion Limitada churchill

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Vegas de Santiago Don Luis Gordo (6x60)

This is a large ring cigar. Some people don't cigars this fat but I have found that it gives cigars a different flavor, having so much filler. This version of the Don Luis utilizes the H2000 wrapper. The cigar had a very good draw. It had a combination of semi-sweet pink grapefruit citrus, cinnamon, and roasted almond spice with nice black pepper. The finish was long with vanilla and raw almond notes. I have actually been a fan of the Don Luis for awhile but this is my first try at this ring gauge. It's fat! But the effortless draw makes it very smokeable. At the 1/3 point I could taste more of the roasted almonds in the spice but the citrus was still strong. The finish was more of an almond flavor also. The pepper lingers on the finish somewhat; always a good thing.

It should be noted at this point that the Don Luis also comes in a Connecticut wrapper and I have reviewed that version previously. It scored high marks. I can highly recommend it.

Just past the 1/2 way point the cinnamon took the flavor lead. It was very intense and tasty.

I might point out that Vegas de Santiago has also been a faithful contributor to the South Carolina Sit Down for many years! I just learned today that they have committed to help again this year! Mark your calendars, this year's SC Sit Down is Saturday, April 16th! That's the weekend AFTER The Masters golf championship, so there's no excuses not to be here!

The final 1/3 had nice subtle vanilla notes. The spice is very nice and intense. The black pepper is perfectly balanced, never overpowering. Also, at this point the cigar's spice flavors appear to be balanced. I can detect cinnamon, pink grapefruit citrus, vanilla, and almond in equal amounts. The mix makes for a very flavorful cigar. The burn was also nearly perfect. That's worth pointing out because of the cigar's large ring gauge. The cigar is medium to full bodied.

With only about 2 inches of the cigar left I removed the band and discovered they had to add an extension to the original band so that it would fit this massive cigar!

The cigar stayed very flavorful to the very end. VdS makes some great cigars. I also have a salomone version of the Don Luis resting in the humidor. I can't wait to smoke it! Of course, there will be a full review on it also. Although this size (gordo) is not shown on the Vegas de Santiago website I'm sure they are available. Email them for prices on these and also the salomones.

Score: 92



Graycliff Crystal Edicion Limitada (7.5x50)

These cigars are made for Cigars International. Only 50,000 cigars were made. Their website describes them as:

The Edicion Limitada series from Graycliff is a rare, one-time production using tiny allotments of vintage, hand-selected tobaccos carefully blended to produce an elegant display of superior craftsmanship. Two unique blends have been created in exceedingly limited quantities, each delivering a deep level of flavor not found in standard Graycliff offerings.

Graycliff Crystal Edicion Limitada is a rare breed, using a milk chocolate brown Connecticut maduro wrapper fermented to perfection and boasting a seamless, silky-smooth appearance. Beneath this beautiful leaf, a genuine Cameroon binder from Africa secures a patiently aged and carefully blended recipe of choice Nicaraguan long-fillers. Upon first light, your palate is filled with heavy, velvety-smooth smoke, dusting each taste bud with deep notes of leather and coffee. A hint of nuts is present on the exhale, just before a slightly spicy sweetness completes each puff. Each flavors builds throughout the burn, completing a bold yet elegant series of aromas and medium-bodied taste sensations worth of the Graycliff name.

A nice looking, well made box pressed cigar.

When I was at the Graycliff factory in December they were making Crystal cigars but I do not know if any of them were the Edicion Limitada's. At that time the entire factory was making the Crystals. That being said, the entire factory was about 12 people.

The cigar started with grapefruit spice, leather and almond notes and faint vanilla notes, along with pepper. The finish is fairly long with raw almond and vanilla notes. The grapefruit spice is the leader in the flavor category, by far. The others play lesser roles but they are very noticeable.

At the midpoint the cigar is still consistent. No changes. The cigar's citrus notes remained strong until the end. I found this to be an enjoyable cigar that was a tick better than the regular Crystal.

Score: 88