Codex Tenebrae 2011

Fuente Anejo #46	$12	Med	A+	Ultimate in savory maduro bliss
Camacho Triple Maduro	$13	Full	A+	Ultimate in peppery maduro bliss
Perdomo ESV 1991	$9	Full	A	Great blend and rich maduro flavor
Alec Bradley Black Market	$9	Solid Medium	A	Great maduro flavor, body, with good price
J. Fuego Delirium	$9	Med	A	Mmmmmaaaadurooohhh
Carlos Toraño Virtuoso	$9	Med+	A	Good smoke, attractive
Joya de Nicaragua Antaño 1970	$7	Full	A	Hold on to your pants.
Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve maduro	$9	Med	A-	Wow. A great follow-up from the original Perdomo Reserve series.
Carlos Toraño Signature	$6	Med	A-	Great smoke, score when possible
Graycliff 1666	$8	Med+	A-	Delicious
Savinelli Rico y Raro	$8	Full+	A-	Great tasting smoke, big nicotine hit. 2+ whole leaves of ligero per cigar.
Perdomo Habano	$6	Med	B+	Good smoke, great price.
Padron Anniversary 1964 maduro	$14	Med+	B+	Smooth earth, coffee, cocoa flavors, w/ a little spice. Expected more for the $$.
Panacea Green maduro	$6	Med	B+	Earth, leather and spide at the end, nice bang for the buck
San Cristobal	$9	Med	B+	Nice Pepin blend, but not big on maduro flavor
CAO Brazilia	$7	Med	B+	Spicy and well blended
Camacho SLR maduro	$7	Full	B+	Like getting hit in the mouth with a cedar 2x4 wrapped in leather and sprinkled in cocoa.
CAO Italia	$7	Med	B+	Spicy, but with a little tang to it
Oliva Serie O	$6	Med	B	Another good smoke with a great price
Avo #2 maduro	$8	Mild+	B	Nutty, creamy blend dusted with cocoa
Panacea Black Classic	$6	Med	B	Leathery, with some earth, but little spice.
Padron 3000	$6	Med	B	Muscular flavors, good maduro
Oliva Serie G	$5	Mild+	B	Nice smoke, always a pleasure
Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur Dark Knight	$5	Med	B	Solid, dependable smoke
Romeo y Julieta Reserve Maduro	$5	Med-	B	Nice blend, but a little on the mild side
Camacho Corojo	$7	Med	B	Corojo heat, maduro sweet
Carlos Toraño Exodus 1959	$6	Med	B	Good smoke
La Gloria Cubana Serie R	$7	Full	B	Good smoke, with kick
Alec Bradley Maxx	$5	Med-	B	Nice smoke, fat and cool
CAO MX2	$7	Med	B	Good maduro flavors, unusual blend
Macanudo 1968	$10	Med	B	Good smoke, but overpriced
Rocky Patel Edge Missile	$6	Med+	B	Good go-to stick
Perdomo Reserve Maduro	$5	Med	B	Great blend, rich maduro flavor
Savinelli Nicaraguan Reserve	$6	Med+	B	Unexpected, great smoke, spices, coffee, cocoa. Could be lovechild of Oliva O and Perdomo Reserve.
Perdomo Lot 23	$4	Mild+	B-	Nice smoke at reasonable price
Hoyo de Monterrey Dark Sumatra	$5	Med	B-	Nice blend, but faint maduro flavors
Gurkha Legend "8-year Aged"	$6	Med-	B-	Good smoke, but not much maduro flavor
Arturo Fuente Chateau	$5	Mild+	B-	Nice blend, but faint maduro flavors
Partagas Black	$6	Med	B-	Peppery blend, more coffee and cedar than cocoa
C&C LRMD Maduro	$6	Mild	B-	Mild earth and leather flavors; a rookie's maduro
CAO L'Anniversaire Maduro	$7.50	Med	B-	Nice maduro flavors, but overpriced
5 Vegas Series A	$3	Med-	B-	Great blend and smoke for the price
Cusano 18 Paired Maduro	$5	Mild+	C+	Mild blend with spunk, soft maduro flavor
Indian Tabac Cameroon Legend	$4	Med-	C+	Fat, cool smoke, mild maduro tone
Hoyo de Monterrey maduro	$4	Med-	C+	Nice smoke at reasonable price
Sancho Panza Double Maduro	$4	Mild+	C+	Nice maduro flavor
Flor de Oliva maduro	$2	Med-	C+	Budget smoke with a little maduro touch
La Vieja Habana Belicoso D	$3	Med-	C+	Nice budget maduro
Occidental Reserve Double Broadleaf	$3	Mild	C	Good starter maduro
Carlos Toraño Exodus 1959 Silver	$5	Med-	C	Nice blend, but tend to explode
Punch Maduro Maduro	$5	Med-	C	Solid smoke, decent maduro flavor
Gurkha Doble Maduro	$5	Med-	C	Starts off great, tasting like Partagas Black, but gets bland after the first third.
Don Pepin Garcia Series JJ	$7	Med	C	Nice blend, but little maduro flavor
Padron 2000	$5	Med	C	Good cigar for the price
Omar Ortez maduro	$5	Med	C	Decent smoke
Chateau Real maduro	$6	Mild+	C	Not bad, but you can get better for the $
Drew Estates Dirt	$5	Med-	C	Oddball flavor, sweetened cap
Sol Cubano maduro	$2	Med-	C	Nice value smoke
Alec Bradley Ovation	$3	Mild+	C	Not bad. Not great, but not bad.
Arganese Chairman	$5	Med-	C	Decent smoke, but mild maduro flavor
Helix 550 tubo	$4	Mild	C-	Airy, with little maduro flavor
Padilla Obsidian	$4	Med-	C-	Great taste, but very inconsistent construction
Muira maduro	$4	Med	C-	So-so, wrapper may be dyed
Angel 100	$3	Mild+	C-	Eh
Pirate's Gold maduro	$1	Mild+	D	The name is the only redeeming value
Cu-Avana maduro	$2	Mild	D	Like smoking wheat toast
Rio del Pinar "oscuro"	$3	Med-	D	Nothing oscuro about this yard 'gar
Rocky Patel R4	$4	Med-	D	Wrapper tasted super-salty/chemically
Victor Sinclair Reserve	$4	Med-	D	I smoked it out of kindness. Never again
Tierra del Sol maduro	$2	Mild+	D	Avoid. A. V. O. I. D.
Nestor Reserve 2004	$2	Mild+	F	Dyed wrapper covers crummy blend

Getting My Way: Panacea Cigars

Sometimes, it takes a bit of persuasion to get a shop owner to carry a cigar that is from a smaller, less renowned company. Not that you can blame them, they already have to cater to a number of whims, and inventory that just sits for a loooong time doesn't really help the shop owner. A guy has to be judicious with his humidor space.

After the Christmas cigar bomb I got from my mother, I started agitating at a local shop to pick up Panacea cigars (by Flatbed Cigar Co., out of eastern PA). None of the shops in town carried them, and I've started buying most of my cigars from local shops. So, if I wanted Panacea, I'd have to convince one of the local shops to pick them up. It took a lot of casual "did you call them yet," and "have you heard from them (I gave them your phone number and address)." I'm sure he got tired of hearing about it, every other visit I'd try and subtly nudge him along.

9 months after the first mention,the shop owner got a bunch of samples in from Flatbed, and had me assemble a puffin' posse to smoke and grade the different samples. I started an 'Event' on Facebook, and invited all my local cigar friends and acquaintances, and on the night of the event, we had 6 fairly experienced cigar enthusiasts gathered to have a go at the Panacea cigars.

The shop owner had printed out info from Flatbed's web site on all the different cigars, and so we each grabbed a cigar that was generally suited to our preferences and started firing them up. Two hours of smoky conversation and comparison ensued, talking about flavors, burn, draw, ash and the advantages of target shooting with a .223 over larger calibers. The whole gamut, you know. Good conversation with friends, and decent coffee, is always a great companion for a cigar.

I had previously smoked, and thoroughly enjoyed, the Red label Habano maduro and Black label maduro. So, I started with the Green label maduro, and PA Broadleaf wrapped cigar; YUMMM!!! Nicely earthy and dark flavors, but was lacking spice until you got to the last third of the cigar, when it finally sauntered in.

The Blue label Grande 6x60 got mixed reviews from the two folks smoking them, for uneven draw and unexpected flavors. The Red label Grande was liked by the folks smoking them, as were the Black label natural and maduro that another pair were enjoying. The lone person smoking the White label Corojo had some extreme wrapper failure going on, so that got panned in the evaluation [I smoked the other White label Corojo the week after, and it was perfect, so better luck next time].

After we were done with our casual evaluations, the shop owner ordered the top 3 lines we recommended. Eventually, should these start selling well, we'll be able to look at a couple lines that ended up a little farther down the list. I liked the White label Corojo, once I got a chance to smoke one. At the end of the day, I got this shop to get on board with a cigar I liked. So, win for me, and I hope it's a win for the shop in the long run as well.

Cigar Sniper

Okay, the Social Cigar thread got contentious, with lots of accusation, invective, and slights against the stereotypical behaviors of a certain race/religion. Let's discuss this on the likely facts, please.

First of all Famous Smoke is a business, and their goal is to make money. As a business, their job is to separate a man from his cash while providing that man with incentive to keep parting with that cash. That's their prerogative. So let's not start throwing the greed label around. Your local B&M is trying just as hard to get into your wallet.

The Cigar Sniper format may let one guy buy a box of cigars for $10 (plus the $20 in bids he used to snag it), but hooks in the other 4-5 guys that dropped $20 in bids to roll that into paying the fuller, more profitable price for the box of cigars. The guys that only put $2-5 in bids on the box will likely just leave that $$ on the table for Famous to collect (pure profit, cha-ching). All in all, a profitable venture.

Just not off me. The success of the Cigar Sniper format will depend on wealthy idiots and guys that can't do the math, and I am neither.

C&C Cigars

The C&C Cigars had finally hit the shelves here, so I bought a pair each of the Corojo and Maduro lines. My first impressions, after smoking one of each, are that these are nice, milder cigars, worth about the $5 shelf price.


The Corojo, as noted by many reviewers so far, is reminiscent of the Cusano Corojo 97' (or 96'). There's a sweet, woody flavor with a hint of the roast red pepper flavor I've come to associate with Corojo tobaccos. But only a hint.

There are Corojo wrapped blends from other makers with bolder flavors and sharper, more pronounced Corojo notes. But for a milder, Corojo-with-training-wheels cigar, the C&C Corojo isn't bad.

The C&C Maduro is fairly mild as well, with a light earthy and sweet flavor. Both bear decent construction, being a little on the light side, but with a decent draw despite the undense feeling.

The Dominican fillers are continuing the tradition from the Cusano venture, just recently acquired by Davidoff. The Chiusano brothers, one being sidelined by a non-compete clause, just can't stay away from the cigar biz. We should be glad.

I'll smoke a few more, and keep a few on hand for the occasional guest with milder cigar leanings.

Cigar Scene: Lincoln, Nebraska

For a small city, Lincoln has three respectably cigar shops in town, and all within 10 minutes of the Poor Bastard's Cigar Lounge (my garage).

Ted's Tobacco:
Biggest humidor in town, they carry all the standard Altadis and General Cigar fare, CAO, Drew Estates, Fuente, Ashton, a smattering of Camacho, Oliva, Perdomo, plus some boutique frontmarks like Illusione, and Tatuaje, Plus they have a respectable spread for pipe smokers as well. Despite the large humidor, it seems less than lovingly cared for (depending on who's working) the occasional empty box or empty spaces dot the shelves, despite plenty of stock available.
There's no lounge to speak of, but April through October, the regulars still gather out in front of the shop on Monday and Wednesday evenings for a sidewalk herf. BYOC&B (bring your own chair and beverage). Winter, you're on your own.

Jake's Cigars & Spirits:
A small, 8x8' walk-in humidor, stocked with standards from CAO, Rocky Patel, Fuente, Ashton, Oliva, Perdomo, Torano, and upstarts 262 Cigars and Esteban Carreras. The big attraction is the fact that this is Lincoln's only official Cigar Lounge, with indoor cigar smoke permitted 7/365. The bar is well stocked with craft beers and an impressive collection of single malt, blended scotch, Irish whiskies and bourbons and there's plenty of seating. My only beefs are that the booths force groups of 6 or less, and the music gets too loud @ 9PM. It's nestled in the buttcrack of the UNL campus, and so it's more of a college bar in tone.

Cliff's Smoke Shop:
Prime downtown real estate, Cliff's has a 18x6' walk-in humidor, jam packed with standards Ashton, Fuente, Drew Estates, Oliva, Perdomo, DPG, Patel, and boutique brands Los Blancos, Tatuaje, C&C, and several smaller label releases. The owners aren't shy about branching out, listening to regular customers, trying new cigars and giving them shelf space. The owners actually work in the shop, and frequently give a regular a discount on his sticks. There's a little space for lounging and lingering while smoking a cigar, and the atmosphere is relaxing. I just wish their hours were longer (9-5 M-F, 9-1 S, closed Sunday) and parking downtown were a little easier.

Toraño Single Region - Jalapa

I'm tickled that some new Toraño cigars have reached my little backwater. Unlike fab places like Chicago or Long Island, Lincoln, Nebraska, doesn't get the newer frontmarks very quickly. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find the new Single Region cigar in my B&M's humidor.

Jalapa, Jalapa, oh Eden of Nicaragua! Out of thy rich soils spring such smoky satisfaction!

I love Nicaraguan cigars, and as anyone who has bought any Cain cigars in the past year would know, Jalapa is one of those regions in Nicaragua where delicious tobacco is grown.

The Single Region Serie Jalapa sported a colorado-colored wrapper, and had the aroma of leather and cedar. While burning, the draw was okay, but I did need to relight the cigar a couple times. The ash was fairly dark from this cigar.

The initial blast of flavor was wood and leather, very strong in the retrohale, like someone had bashed me in the nose with a cedar 2x4. Not very peppery, per se, but very present, bright. There were hints of coffee, but the cigar didn't taste as "dark" as other Nicaraguan cigars tend to do.

Being a robusto, the flavors didn't change a whole lot, but were very present the length of the cigar. The flavor profile reminded me of the Tatuaje Havana VI, the bright, woodsy tone of the flavors. I liked it, and will be buying more.

Panacea Red Perfecto

My mother surprised me with a cigar bomb for Christmas. She's normally a tobacco agnostic, but she researched and picked out cigars she thought I'd like. The Panacea Red perfecto was one of those cigars, and I'd never seen them before.

The Panacea Red sports a Brazilian maduro wrapper, Dominican Habano binder, and mix of dominican and Nicaraguan fillers. The Brazilian wrapper on this cigar was not really spicy on the lips like Cao's Brazilia or MX2, but more muted, like on Nub's Maduro 460.

The wrapper's unlit aroma was of leather and potting soil, a dry, earthy smell. Very similar to Don Francisco's Custom Blend line. The draw through the cigar was outstanding, and the burn a little wobbly, but never had to reach for the torch after I initially lit up. The dove-gray ash held for a good inch and a half.

Closer to medium than mild-bodied, the cigar had pleasant flavors throughout; Leather, a dash of coffee, earth. The cigar wasn't noticeably spicy in an way. The flavors didn't vary much, but was a nice companion for an evening cup of coffee and a good book.

262 Paradigm Torpedo

Since I left the red-light district of cigar blogging, I've been busy with other projects, but quietly been enjoying some excellent cigars. Most recently, it has been the 262 Paradigm. These showed up in one of my local haunts, I bought a couple, then threw them in one of my coolers and forgot about them.

Well, I found them again a couple weeks ago, and the first one was pretty tasty. I smoked one again a couple days ago, and with burnt finger, was sad to find the cigar was finished. I set myself to smoking the third to review not because someone gave me cigars expecting me to fluff for them, but because it's a cigar that was well worth what I paid.

Start to finish, this cigar is delicious. What, you want me to blather more about it? If you insist...

On first light, there's a solid, mildly earthy leather flavor with light floral and spice notes. The first inch really echos the beginning, with added mild cocoa and coffee flavors combined with the predominant leather. The mild spice eases out during that first inch, but don't worry, it'll be back for the big finish.

The midsection of the cigar features a sweet leather flavor, with alternating harmonies of cocoa and coffee.

The prime spot on this cigar is the last 2 inches, where the leather flavor gets sweeter, the coffee tone gets bolder, and the spice comes back in for the grand finale. It is really hard to let this cigar go at the end, the flavors are that good.

De La Guardia Cigars

I love making connections with people, and my involvement with Social Cigar has allowed me many contacts. So, the marketing director for the new brand, De La Guardia Cigars, joined Social Cigar and got my attention, since they're just an hour away in Omaha. Omaha? Cigars? That's right.

So, I referred her to the guys that run two of my three local B&Ms, and a couple weeks later, received a nice promo/sample pack in the mail! Three cigars, a cutter, a package of mints (perfect for de-smoking the breath) and a kick-ash beer cozy!


Well, onto the important stuff; cigars. DLG offers two varieties of cigar in Natural(shade-grown Dominican wrapper and filler, Nicaraguan/Honduran Binder) and Maduro(Cubano Piloto (Dominican)Filler, Dominican Binder, Honduran Wrapper). They also offer to flavor the aforementioned cigars.

Natural

The DLG Natural gave an aroma of sweet, green hay from cap to foot, and the wrapper was fairly smooth and mildly toothy. Once cut, the cigar drew nicely and readily lit. The cigar was fairly mild, with the predominant flavor being the sweet hay noticed before lighting. The draw was good, and the cigar held about an inch of silvery ash.







Maduro

The DLG Maduro is just an earthier version of the Natural. The wrapper was a bit rougher, showing veins and lumps from veins or wrinkles in the binder underneath. The wrapper exuded the aroma of dirt and sweet hay. Another great draw was there, and the cigar held about an inch of ash while being smoked. The flavors were very similar to the Natural, with the predominant notes being hay and a little dirt, and not much spice at all.

Smoking either cigar, I felt that in a blind taste, I'd guess that these were blended by Rolando Reyes Sr., that they just have a flavor profile I associate with Puros Indios or Reyes. Flavoring these, as De La Guardia offers, is a great approach to these cigars.

First Impression: Rocky Patel 15th Anniversary

I unexpectedly stumbled into a Rocky Patel event at one of my local haunts this week, and bought a small handful of the new Fifteenth Anniversary robustos. Go me!

The Fifteeth has an aged Habano wrapper, which was nowhere near the black pepper spice of the Perdomo, Oliva, or Cain Habano wrappers. In fact, instead of the typical Habano tingle on my lips, I tasted a more earthy citrus, which screams Rocky Patel anyway.

The cigar lit readily, and burned straight, the draw was excellent on this box-pressed robusto. The flavors start with citrus and coffee, with only the mildest spice in the background. After the first inch the coffee notes became more pronounced. The spice as really mild through the whole cigar. I drank my morning coffee with this almost medium-bodied stick.

The smoke was creamy and plentiful.

The Fifteeth Anniversary is a signature Rocky Patel cigar, and though I may balk a bit at the cash register price of $11.

Writing Style?

There's a web site that analyzes your writing style, and this is the result I got after feeding the preceding cigar review into it:

I write like
Raymond Chandler

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Great, now I'll actually have to go out and READ some Raymond Chandler.

Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial

These are great days to be a cigar lover, as the variety of cigars right now are only matched by their quality, especially if you like Nicaraguan cigars. Oliva, Perdomo, Padron and, lately, Don Pepin Garcia have been rolling stellar cigars the past few years. The Jaime Garcia Reserva Especial is a blend from the son of Pepin. 'Son of Pepin' sounds like a horror film, right? But this cigar is dark and forebodes nothing but a great cigar experience..

Being an enthusiast of Nicaraguan cigars, and having had great luck with cigars associated with the Garcia family, my heart skipped a beat when these showed up at one of my local shops, and I bought a pair straight away.

The Reserva Especial sported a dark, oily, Connecticut Broadleaf maduro wrapper, with any veins being as low-profile as the seams on the wrapper leaf. And not only smooth, but giving an earthy aroma to the nose and a peppery spice to the lips. The draw through the cigar was free, but without feeling too loose.

Prominent flavors at the start were earth, cedar, and a nice spice. So far, very reminiscent of an Oliva Serie O maduro (one of my go-to cigars), with a touch more wood in the flavor profile, but very close. Gotta love Nicaraguan fillers. After the first inch, the intensity of the earthiness dialed back a notch.

By the middle of the cigar, the spice seemed to drop back a ways, yielding the stage to the earthy wood flavors. The Kona blend coffee I was drinking in tandem seemed to work well with the cigar, and I noticed some coffee flavors in the mix toward the mid-point of the cigar as well.

A bitter cocoa flavor also flirted with the palate after the mid-point, and the last third carried on with a solid medium-bodied presentation. Soft spice highlighted the earth and wood flavors to the end.

If I were given this cigar blind, I'd have said it was an Oliva at the beginning, but by the middle I would have been doubting the call. At $8 a pop for the toro, these cigars are fairly priced for the quality of the experience. Another hit from Nicaragua!

Cain Nub Maduro

In the history of the world, there have been several meetings of disparate elements that formed something amazing; Barley, hops, and yeast to make beer, tungsten and electricity to make light, and peanut butter and chocolate to make peanut butter cups. Well, Sam Leccia has done it again, this time combining the Nub Maduro with the Cain ligero blend to make the Cain Nub Maduro.


The wrapper on the Cain Nub Maduro was a rich brown color, with some minor veins. There's a nice spice left on the lips, maybe a little spicier than the habano version's wrapper. The first cigar I tried seemed a little over stuffed, giving a substantially firmer draw than others in the Nub line, even the new Cain Nub Habano. The second was freer, but still had a nicely resistive draw.

Upon lighting, the serious spice starts, along with bold flavors of earth, leather and coffee. This maduro version is still powerful, but a touch milder (or smoother, maybe) than the Habano; I was able to run the smoke through my sinuses with more comfort than the Habano version. The flavors stay pretty steady from the beginning to the end, only varying a little in intensity; Bold start, mellows a little into the mid-point, and then a little spicier into the nub.

The Cain Nub Maduro is another fine, fine cigar from Sam Leccia and Oliva.

Ashton Majesty

I'm basking in the afterglow of an excellent cigar tasting, courtesy of our local cigar bar, Jake's Cigars & Spirits. Tonight's featured guest was Ashton Cigars' Bill Rectenwald, with a great lineup of Ashton cigars and some great pairing options of cheeses, nuts, and vodka. My cigar for the evening was the Ashton Majesty, upon the urging of a great friend, MMK, earlier in the day.

Now, I know what you might be thinking; "Jimbob, you don't really like shade-grown Connecticut wrapped, Dominican cigars." Aye, I usually take a pass on the blondes, but both MMK and Bill thought the Majesty was a must-try, so I gave it an introduction to my torch. I can say that I didn't regret it for a moment.

From what I was told, the Majesty is the fillers from an Ashton VSG, but with a shade-grown Connecticut wrapper, rather than the sun-grown variety. The substantial body and smooth and steady spice definitely backed up that claim. While most mild blends that sport shade-grown wrappers leave me with little but the sweet, grassy flavor of the wrapper, the Majesty was a much better balanced cigar. The first couple inches were mainly toasty tobacco and spice flavors, with just a little of the sweet-grassy tone from the wrapper.

At the mid-point of the cigar, I noshed a handful of nuts, and went back to the cigar to taste the difference. It was a remarkably different flavor, mostly an earthy, dry leather set of flavors, with the spice muted in the background. After another inch, I tried a cube of medium Cheddar cheese, and the flavors underwent another twist. After the cheese, the spice was almost gone, and I could single out the sweet grassy flavor of the wrapper.

Pulling into the nub, the great tobacco and spice flavors carried the cigar until the end. It was an outstanding smoke, as one would expect from a $12 cigar. Hats off to Ashton and Jake's for putting on a great tasting. The Ashton rep tells me that the Aged Maduro #56 is the same fillers, but with a maduro wrapper. I'm definitely going to scout for a couple of these next.

Cain Nub Habano

Well, the Fourth of July weekend found me in possession of some powerful fireworks: Cain Nub, in both Habano and Maduro. Saturday night, while the citizens of my neighborhood were engrossed in some July 3rd premature ecrackulation, I was in the garage with the short powerhouse Cain Nub Habano.

The greyish brown wrapper had some demur veining, and lefts a little peppery tingle on the lips. Earth and leather dominated the pre-ignition aroma.

After clipping the cap, I noticed that the draw seemed fairly free, like most in the Nub series. A free draw might seem to be an invitation to suck this cigar down with all speed, but with a ligero-heavy blend, do this at your own peril.

So, I got this cigar lit and took a couple introductory puffs. Mmmm, earthy leather, nice spice. I took another puff, and went to jet it through my sinu..WHOAH! I felt like someone socked me in the nose. There's some spice in that smoke. In short, the Cain Nub starts off hitting you with both barrels.

After the first inch, it got easier to get the smoke through the sinuses, either because I got acclimatized to the amount of spice in the smoke, or that it mellowed out a bit. I think that it mellowed a little, but still kept up a bold flavor with a smooth spice riding shotgun.

I purposely paced myself slowly on this smoke, and enjoyed it immensely.

5 Vegas Cask Strength

Oh, three years ago, I caught a handful of 5 Vegas Cask Strength cigars, smoked one, and then so carefully set aside the rest that I didn't find them again until this past weekend. I was so impressed with the first, that I was sad to see the line disappear, and also a little miffed that I couldn't find the ones I had. Well, three years of unintentional aging later, here I am enjoying another of these fine cigars.

Sure, in the last couple years, I've really taken to Nicaraguan filler, maduro-wrapped cigars. So, this mostly Dominican, shade grown wrapped cigar was a change of pace from the recent affairs.

The Dominican wrapper was a bit darker than typical, shade-grown Connecticut seed, and a bit veined as well. A pass under the nose brought a soft aroma of hay and leather, with a little earth nearer the foot. Clipped, a respectably firm draw ensued.

The first inch of this toro was a complex weave of leather, earth, and a smooth and subtle spice. I was instantly reminded about how this cigar first thrilled me. Hints of vanilla and sweet leather were also in the silk-smooth finish. This had all the hallmarks of a premium, even for a catalog cigar.

After the second inch, the complexity of the flavors settled into a pleasant sweet hay and leather, with the mild spice continuing. Definitely a solid medium in flavor and strength to that point.

The final third of the cigar continued with the substantial flavor of leather, sweet hay, and the subtle spice to the very end. A glance at the clock confirmed that this slow-burning toro lasted me about 90 minutes.

Anyone fortunate enough to have a cache of these discontinued cigars should count themselves fortunate, and should break them out occasionally. They have aged well and still retain respectable body and power enough to validate the title 'Cask Strength'.

El Titan de Bronze - Redemption Maduro

Maybe I'm a sucker for theology, but the 'Redemption Maduro' practically jumped off the shelf and into my hands as I was browsing the local shop. A chocolate brown wrapper, with demure veining, is the hook for me. It turns out that the Redemption is using a San Andres, Mexican, wrapper to jacket a Nicaraguan binder and fillers. Hey, that combo sounds familiar... oh CAIN MADURO, and I love that stick!

Unlike the Cain, Redemption is not billing itself as a ligero bomb with a fratricidal reputation. However, the flavor profile is similar, minus a good deal of the spice; Predominantly earthy flavors, with hints of coffee and bitter, dark chocolate. There's a little spice in the finish, and gives the impression of being a medium-bodied cigar. After an inch or so, earth and leather flavors are the most noticeable.

All in all, the El Titan de Bronze 'Redemption Maduro' is a tasty, decently made cigar. It tasted better than the Petrus cigars (Felipe Gregorio) I had. But, I can't knock the Petrus; I know who holds the Keys to the Kingdom.

Apokalyptic Rating System

Okay, so I don't really give quantitative ratings to the cigars I smoke. I don't really believe in the numeric ratings system used by the big mags, but I guess I should give some sort of indication of how much I like a given cigar. So, I've developed my own system.

Four Horsemen Rating: An excellent cigar in Construction, Flavor, and Value.

3.5 Horsemen Rating: A great cigar in all areas.

3 Horsemen Rating: A good cigar, may have a drawback, but generally good.

2.5 Horsemen Rating: An alright cigar, may not be perfect, but satisfactory in most respects.

2 Horsemen Rating: Eh. So-so. I was hoping for better. you get the point.

1 Horseman Rating: I want my money back. What was I thinking. Never again.


So, I'll be gradually adding these to past reviews, as well as reviews going forward.

Esteban Carreras 10 Años robusto

Walking through the local cigar shop has become painful. I see the cigar prices on the shelves, and I wince as I continue walking towards the bundle cigar section. I love a good cigar, but the prices are getting unbearable.

So, when I plunked down more than $20 for a pair of the Esteban Carreras 10 Años, I had this queasy feeling that accompanies any lightening of the wallet. But, once I got one of these fugly, but tasty sticks lit, the flavors chased away that ill feeling:



Verdict:

Nice flavors, fairly consistent.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Esteban Carreras' rep for the entire middle of the country, Kris Booker. We had a smoke at a local shop, and I got some nice background into the company and the cigars.

Troya Clasico robusto

Ladies and gentlemen; sometimes, a recommendation can get you in trouble. My friend and colleague, Uncle Booga, had the good fortune to be a reviewer for the Winter '09 Cigar Magazine, and one of the cigars to smoke was the Troya Clasico. On his recommendation, and against my better judgment, I picked up a pair of them at the shop.

"Holy crap!"
" $9.60!?"
" Plus tax?!"
" EACH!?"
"For a ROBUSTO?!"

I paced the walk-in humidor. I held the pair of robustos, almost putting them back in the box. Damn, Booga said these were good. How good could they be? Hell, Pepin's got a new cigar out as often as I fart. How good could they be? The La Aroma de Cuba was pretty good, and that was $8, and I still felt it was overpriced.

So, I went ahead and bought the pair of Troya and headed home, wondering if I've just thrown away good money. How good could they be?

So here it was, a month later, and I fished one out of the cooler. (Heh, "Hogan! 30 days in the cooler for you!")

The Troya Clasico robusto has a nice, medium brown Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper sporting moderate veining on an otherwise smooth surface with light tooth. This 5x54 cigar felt hefty in the hand, like it was decently stuffed with Pepin's Nicaraguan fillers, and the draw had some moderate restraint to agree.

The cigar started off with Pepin's trademark white & black pepper blast. Okay, Holt's 'Old Henry' started off this way too, and it only costs half that of the Troya. Great. La Aroma de Cuba, all over again.

And then, after the "Pepin is in da Hizzouse" beginning, the cigar changed. Wow. The flavors were simple: Cedar and leather with a thick, creamy white pepper alfredo sauce. So creamy, that it really coated the palate with a smooth pepper spice. I'd say this cigar was medium to full-bodied, and I didn't notice any outrageous nicotine content.

It was delicious. All the way to the finger-burning nub.

The flavor didn't change much the rest of the cigar, but that was fine with me, as this was a lovely blend. I didn't really want to like it, as I hate falling in love with expensive cigars. But, despite my resistance, Pepin's reeled me in on this one. I hate when that happens.

Verdict:

If the price were a buck cheaper, this would be a solid 4 Horseman stick.