Nestor Reserve Maduro

Nestor Reserve maduro box-pressed torpedo
$8/5 pk., Size:6.5", Ring: 54
Honduran wrapper, Cameroon binder, Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers.

Have you ever smoked a cigar, then realized that writing about it would be twice the waste of time as smoking the cigar in the first place? Yeah, this cigar was that good. However, I shall press on with this review as a public service.

This cigar is darker in person than it seems on a computer screen. It's a shade of brown that only espresso beans aspire to. It may also leave a brown stain on your lips and/or fingers. Still the wrapper was veiny and glossy, as one would expect from a $1.50 cigar.

The cigar seemed awfully light, and the middle parts soft, and the fairly loose draw gave rise to the suspicion that there wasn't much tobacco in there. Once lit, the burn line was all over the place. Still, I didn't want to waste any more torch fuel on it, so I let it meander about. It never canoed, or ran more than an inch, so I let it be. Funny thing about the burn line, for a quarter inch ahead of it, the wrapper swelled like the blistered skin of a hot dog.

As for the flavor; at one point there was one. In smelling the wrapper, and again in the cold draw, I was getting a bitter, dark chocolate taste. Once lit, the flavors were really subdued, almost imperceptible, or maybe so blended that I couldn't pick out anything definite. Somewhere near the middle, a faint pepper flavor emerged for an inch, then disappeared again. That's all I can say for that topic. It was nowhere near the description ".. rich and robust taste with a wonderful aroma and exquisite construction".

The Nestor Reserve is not an H.P. Lovecraft horror story. It just struck me as a somewhat bland cigar. Which is a shame, because a mild cigar doesn't have to be bland. Still, most of the time, you get what you pay for.

Miura Directo de Fabrica Maduro

Miura Directo de Fabrica maduro
$2.50, Size: 5", Ring: 50
Tastes like Nicaraguan tobacco, with maybe some Honduran blended in with the Nicaraguan filler.

I was at one of my favorite cigar shops, and saw a couple crates of unbanded cigars, of various vitolas and colors, with a bull emblem and the name 'Miura'. Judging from the colors, bottle-blonde connecticut, impossibly cherry red, and an apparently dyed maduro, I bought a couple robustos of each maduros and blondes, and decided to give it a go. Smoke first, research later.

The wrapper on the maduro was a shade of bluish-brown that I hadn't seen yet on a cigar. There were a fair amount of veins, but still the wrapper felt smooth, with a glossy sheen to it. Nosing along the wrapper, I got a whiff of musty earth. Pre-light draw was similarly musty tasting, and was mildly restrained.

Burning was fairly straight, with an oddly colored ash holding on for almost two inches. The ash was a bluish-grey, slate color and speckled with small white granules, like sugar.

Now, to the flavors while smoking: toasty earth and hay, followed by some spice, which both scream 'Nicaragua' to me. After the first third, a naugahyde flavor comes as well. Naugahyde, you say? You know, almost like leather, but with an obviously chemical aftertaste. The spice flexes a bit during the last third, and then finishes mildly. Over all, the cigar had an almost medium-bodied taste, with a good amount of smoke. Not super thick, but not thin either.

Now, it's time to track down the maker and the specifics of the cigar. First, we hit Google....

Ahh, Miura has a web site, and according to the front page, they're based in Esteli, Nicaragua.

Looking at the product info, the cigar I smoked, a 'Directo de Fabrica', had a Brazilian maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and Nicaraguan and Panamanian fillers.

Okay, so what we have here is another cheap Nicaraguan cigar, which I'd put even with Tierra Del Sol, and a notch under Flor de Oliva. Some could consider Miura cigars to be good yard gars, or even regard it so highly as to be daily smokers. But, since I don't smoke every day, I'm not usually entranced by an everyday smoke.

Angel 100 'La Meca'

Angel 100 'La Meca' bellicoso
$3.00, Size:6.5", Ring: 52,
Ecuadorian maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, Nicaraguan and Peruvian fillers.

Though 'Oliva' appears on the band, Oliva Cigar Family may not have had much to do with the Angel 100. Pity, that. Instead, this cigar was made by Oliva Tobacco Co., a farm in Nicaragua that supplies tobacco to the Oliva Cigar Family. Clear?

For starters, this wrapper was fugly: mottled brown, very veiny, tobacco wrinkly, splashes of adhesive. And for the two-point conversion, the wrapper smelled a bit musty, and that taste carried into the cold draw. Quick, fetch the beer goggles....

Once lit, the taste was relatively smooth and medium-bodied, with woody flavors. After a couple inches, a peppery aftertaste would sporadically appear. That's all.

The Angel 100's burn needed divine intervention on several occasions, and seemed to be high-maintenance, requiring frequent puffs to keep it going. An indecisive white and grey ash followed the loopy burn line, dropping after an inch or so. The draw started out medium, but was closing off near the finish of the smokeable portion of the cigar.

While smoking the Angel 100 wasn't a trip into the Abyss, it didn't get me anywhere near Seventh Heaven either.

Reo

Reo robusto
$7/ 5pk., Size: 5", Ring: 52 box-pressed
Costa Rican Sumatra wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, Honduran and Nicaraguan mixed fillers

Rolled in Danli, Hounduras, the Reo is an EO Brands/United Tobacco cigar blended to their spec and made by Rocky Patel. I got a 5-pack from CBid, let the cigars hang out for a week, then smoked the first.

Reo's wrapper is a nice, medium-dark maduro, glossy, and sporting some moderate veins. The cigar was fairly firm, but the draw loose, and I had to keep puffing on it to keep it lit. Even still, I needed to relight twice, and do a bit of touch-up on the wrapper in between. The crumbly grey ash dropped after an inch.

The first 3/4 inch tasted like an unfiltered Marlboro; Harsh tobacco flavor with no pleasant attributes. After an inch a roasted nut flavor came in, but it was harsh and edgy. Mid-cigar, it mellowed to an earthy cedar, tasting like a Tierra Del Sol, and there it stayed for the duration. The finish on my palate was reminiscent of varnish or shellac.

For a cigar from a well-esteemed blender, I was a bit let down. Reviews from just a year prior to my purchase hailed the Reo as a good cigar, so I expected a little more from it. After letting the cigars rest for a couple more months:


Stogie Review smoked the Reo robusto back in Nov. '06.

Java by Drew Estate Maduro

Java by Drew Estate maduro corona
$5 (single B&M), Size: 5", Ring: 42
Nicaraguan wrapper, binder, and fillers

I was in a local cigar shop, out of sympathy (and a little guilt for getting most of my smokes from C-Bid), and saw that he had some of the Java cigars. Ok, I thought, I don't take myself so seriously that I won't smoke a novelty cigar. So, I bought a couple, and hit the road.

Java, a fragrant and boxy cigar, is a collaboration between Drew Estate and Rocky Patel (the squareness gives it away, eh?), rolled in Esteli, Nicaragua. I love coffee, and I like to drink coffee while smoking a maduro cigar, so why not try a blend of the two?

The Java is a classy-looking cigar, with simple and elegant bands near the cap and at the foot (another Rocky Patel cue). Out of the cellophane, the cigar looks like a long, squarish coffee bean. A coffee bean with veins, that is, and the aroma confirms the Java name.

The cigar was surprisingly lightweight, and spongy, and once the cap was punched, had a draw that was much too fast. While smoking, I had to sip at the cigar to keep it from burning too fast and too harshly. The sweetened cap was also a bit flaky.

The first half inch was a clash of harsh burning tobacco and the cloying sweet taste of the cap. After that the flavor mellowed to taste like a sweetened version of another Esteli native; Perdomo's bundle cigar, Tierra Del Sol. Ok, so we have a Tierra Del Sol with a Starbucks mocha. While the cognoscenti may have issues with either, or both, the two belong together like Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson.

Tierra Del Sol Maduro

Tierra Del Sol maduro robusto
$6/ 5 pk., Size: 5", Ring: 50 Box Pressed
Nicaraguan maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers.

Tierra Del Sol is a bundle cigar from Perdomo, made at Tabacalera Perdomo in Esteli, Nicaragua.

Light, milk chocolate coloring, dry raspy to the touch, with pronounced veins. After burning, these veins were visible in the ash as black veins in a flaky white ash. The draw was moderate, and though the cigar did not burn particularly straight, it never got terribly out of line. Kind of like a drunk staggering home; wobbles left, teeters right, but he eventually gets to the front door.

Before lighting, I ran it over the moustache to receive the slightly earthy wood smell.

First inch was harsh, with a flavor that varied between cedar and sawgrass. After that, the flavor mellowed to a medium cedar, with an edgy aftertaste appearing after the middle of the cigar. Not spicy, not bitter, just edgy. Pair this cigar with the right drink, and the taste might just disappear. Which, depending on your tastes, might be a good thing for a Tierra Del Sol.

Primos Maduro

Primos maduro toro
$2.40, Size: 6", Ring: 52
Made in Nicaragua with Nicaraguan Habano Criollo Maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan binders, and Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Peruvian fillers.

Primos is made by Los Blancos in Nicaragua using a 3-year aged Habano Criollo wrapper. The wrapper was mottled with varying shades of chocolate, and had pronounced veins. Still, the wrapper felt sturdy and not at all dry. The cap was a little ragged, but my punch made a neat hole which stayed intact through the smoke. The draw was easy, but not too loose.

This cigar burns crooked like Clinton campaign fundraising. I had to do touch up torching four or five times.

Right out of the cellophane, the Primos smelled somewhere between woody and leathery. The first inch was smooth, but tasted a bit green. The taste oscillated between woody and grassy for the rest of the cigar, with a mildly spicy finish starting mid-cigar. At times the taste was reminiscent of the Indian Tabac maduro I smoked recently, but too frequently, the flavor was like the Sherpa I had yesterday. I don't know if I'm going to buy this one again.

The Velvet Cigar reviewed the Primos rosado cigar.

National Brand

National Brand toro
$2.35, Size: 6", Ring:50
Honduran wrapper, binder, and fillers

The National Brand cigar is a long-filler Honduran cigar at a short-filler price. The stick has a triple cap, and a mildly veined wrapper, which is pretty brittle. The cigar burns fairly straight, with a dove-gray ash, and medium draw. The cap area is sweetened, somehow, and so really tries to mask the fairly mild and non-descript Honduran filler. The sweetness makes me think that the makers are trying to hide a skanky blend, or make the smoker think that this is a long, fat Swisher. Which isn't bad for a poker game. Overall, this is an unexceptional cigar, but the sweetened cap may put some off.