Camacho 10th Anniversary Corojo 11/18

Special times call for special cigars, and my 10th wedding anniversary was no exception. Being gifted with a cornball sense of humor, I grabbed a Camacho 10th Anniversary Corojo that's been resting in the humidor for almost a year and a half.

Camacho is renowned for the power of their cigars, with Coyolar and SLR being very muscular blends, and the regular Corojo line having some kick to it as well. The 10th Anni is more about finesse than brute force, and the cigar has just become smoother with time:



Verdict:

Tasty cigar, I just wish they were $2 cheaper per stick.

Cain Habano torpedo

Woof. The Cain Maduro was quite the mouthful of nicely substantial flavors. I've really come to appreciate Nicaraguan tobaccos, and Oliva Cigar grows some of the best. Along with the great flavors, Oliva has made very reasonably priced cigars, with the Cain line running $7-8 on the B&M shelf. Great flavors + reasonable prices = lots of Oliva boxes in the Humidor of the Apokalypse.

Another great thing is that there's a hustlin' Oliva sales rep on the Great Plains, and we've been getting the new releases of Nub and Cain with really timely speed. It used to take some considerable time for new cigars to get to Nebraska, but not anymore. I just picked up a pair of the Cain maduro 550, and it's only been a week since IPCPR.

Cain is billed as "Straight Ligero", but is really about 82% ligero, but who's quibbling? The boxes have the ligero origins: 25% Esteli, 27% Condega, and 30% Jalapa ligeros. It's a powerful cigar, and they burn for a long time, like the cigar version of the Everlasting Gobstopper. But, with power comes great responsibility. So, after a couple sirloin steaks, I felt sufficiently forearmed to tangle with the Cain Habano.

Cain's habano wrapper was medium brown, with a couple moderate veins and slight oil sheen over its toothy surface. The cigar felt solid and substantial, like a 20MM AA cartridge. While smoking, the burn line was pretty straight until the final third, and the silver-white ash dropped after about 1.5 inches.

Right away earthy wood, with a pronounced peppery Habano tone. Even my wife, catching a whiff as I smoked on the deck, remarked that it smelled spicy. Definitely medium-full bodied. The Habano heat ducked into the background after the first half-inch, leaving the solid, earthy wood and leather flavors to dominate.

In the second inch, the flavors turned leathery, along with the mild spice in the background, but still kept up the full strength. This was not a hard cigar to enjoy at all. As the final inch burned away, the spice got a bit stronger and the burn line started wobbling a bit.

Overall, for all the power of the cigar, the flavors were fairly smooth, and with a subtle spice in the finish. What a cigar!

Verdict:

Good flavor, good price, I bet with some age, these will be sublime.

Perdomo ESV 1991 maduro regente

I can believe that I hadn't written about one of my favorite Nicaraguan cigars yet, the Perdomo ESV '91 maduro. I had first smoked these a couple years ago, got floored by the flavor, and then quickly snapped up a handful off an auction site. Since then, I've only smoked a couple, and the rest have been hiding in the cooler, apparently getting tastier with the time.

It's been at least 6 months since I've smoked one, so I decided to partake.

While not a particularly dark maduro, like the dark but blotchy Partagas Black, Perdomo's Nicaraguan maduro wrapper exudes a sweetness to the profile that's unmatched. The draw was perfectly balanced, and the cigar dropped ash every 1.5 inches or so.

The first flavors presented were a mildly earthy coffee and leather blend, with a mild cocoa note and no obvious spice. It's like a smooth, medium-bodied mocha profile. Paradise. And this flavor was pretty static through the first half.

In the second half, a very smooth spice entered, and I was reminded of a Padron Anniversary 1964 maduro. The flavors were very smooth and refined in that second half. Not bad for a $6 cigar.

The spice gradually built up towards the nub, finishing splendidly. This is definitely a cigar leaves you savoring the aftertaste after the cigar has been long gone.

I will be jealously guarding the remaining stash..

Verdict:

Good flavors, decent construction, and was priced pretty well. 'Tis a shame they're gone.

Joya Cubana 2009 Corojo

Another advance sample from my pal Roger at Joya Cubana, the Joya Cubana Corojo is just that, a Corojo-wrapped torpedo and is a sight to behold. The dark brown wrapper is fairly smooth, with a couple moderate veins and faint sheen of oil. The fillers are a blend of Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos.

The cigar had a free draw, without being completely loose. While smoking, the burn line wobbled a bit ahead of the dark gray ash.

First flavors of buttery cedar and leather, with Corojo's red pepper heat lurking in the background. The sinuses picked up the Corojo heat pretty good. Nice volume of smoke. The corojo is nicely balanced with the other flavors, adding a bit of heat without being overpowering. Occasional hints of coffee present themselves. After the first inch, body mellowed a bit, coming down a notch from a solid medium.

But, After a couple inches, it went out. I relit it and a little bit later, it went out again. The cigar kept self-extinguishing. I smoked three inches in all, then got tired of the game.

The following weekend, I broke out another:



I hate to dog on a cigar that I didn't pay for, but it seems that the rolling quality of the Joya Cubana Corojo isn't what it should be. Either that, or the cigars are still 'young' and need a couple months to age/chill/relax to burn better. I now need to re-smoke the Joya Cubana maduro, and see if I lucked out with a good stick the first time around.

UPDATE:

A rep from Joya Cubana suggests that the cigars may have been a little too humid still from the factory. True, and a couple days in a dry box won't really fix that. So I'm going to hang onto this last Corojo torpedo for a couple months and smoke it again to see what happens. Joya Cubana seems to have been a hit at IPCPR, which is great; they make a great-tasting cigar. I hope to see these in a shop humidor near me.

Cain Maduro torpedo

I've said that I'm lucky, but in all reality, I'm incredibly blessed. Loving wife, healthy children, sustaining employment, and an Oliva cigar sales rep that gives me a holler when he's coming to town. Cory's latest largesse was a pair of the new Cain torpedos, natural and maduro. I am most unworthy.

Cain's bold, earthy flavor profile is intimidating, but it's a smooth smoke that will take a couple hours to savor. The Mexican-wrapped, Nicaraguan cigar is just extraordinary:



Thanks again, Most Honorable Bringer of Premium Smoke. With friends like you, who needs Cigar Aficionado?

A hearty 'shank you' to Sony Music for nuking my first edition of the video. If you would rather Danzig languish in deepening obscurity, that's fine.

Joya Cubana Maduro 2009 torpedo

I'm a very lucky guy. Not only do I have a great hobby, in which the quality and variety have been unparalleled in decades, but I've made friends and acquaintances of the highest caliber as well. My friend Roger whalloped my mailbox with a handful of Joya Cubana's latest offerings, and the maduro torpedo rung my bell from the moment I unpacked the box.



Thanks, Roger and Joya Cubana, keep up the great work. The Joya Cubana Maduro is a great-tasting cigar.

Sapa Inca, by Dulce Vida Cigar

Sapa Inca is another blend by boutique cigar maker, Dulce Vida. Peruvian tobaccos are featured in many of Dulce Vida's offerings, and the Sapa Inca is no different. Well, okay, it's a lot different. This line has a much simpler flavor profile, and it's not as heavy and earthy as some of the La Bonita line.



Sapa Inca is another tasty cigar from Dulce Vida, and helps diversify their lineup. Keep at 'em Paula Pia!

Black Band Cigar 'A', aka Camacho Connecticut

Yes, it seemed like an eternity for some of us, but here they are:



I'm not crazy about shade-grown Connecticut wrappers. I'm just not entranced by the sweet hay flavor that I get from them most of the time. Also, many blends that sport a shade-grown wrapper tend to be fairly mild, and some downright bland.

On the other hand, I have grown to love most of Camacho's cigars. Never shy, and most often bold, the Eiroa blending philosophy has tended to suit my palate well. So, when I heard that Camacho was doing a Connecticut shade wrapped cigar, I was willing to entertain the notion. Camacho with a shade-grown wrapper? Some influence from the recent Davidoff acquisition?



The tawny, shade-grown Connecticut wrapper had a couple obvious veins and gave a mild hay aroma with peppery spice on the lips. After cutting the cap, the draw was fairly free. While smoking the cigar had a fairly sharp burn line and mildly flaky silver ash. It seemed like the cigar burned a bit faster than other Camacho offerings, and then dropped ash after an inch and a half.

The initial puffs brought leather and hay flavors, with a present spice for the sinuses. Started medium, but pulled back to mild after the first inch. Occasional puffs brought a medium-bodied hay/leather flavor, but mostly mild, and the spice tailed off as well. The hay flavor was occasionally grassy.

To compare, Camacho's Connecticut seems a little milder and less earthy than Oliva's recent Connecticut release. Connecticut is till not my preference, but the blend had flavor, for those who like the grassier flavor profile. I imagine that it suits Mr. Coffee and Scones just fine.