Carlos Toraño Signature Collection

Carlos Toraño Signature Collection robusto
$5.50 single, Size: 5", Ring: 52
Brazilian maduro wrapper, USA Connecticut binder, Dominican and Nicaraguan ligero fillers

Once in a while, you just fall into good fortune, despite your best efforts. I fell into this fine cigar on Christmas Eve, and thought I'd save it for my New Years Eve smoke. Hat's off to my generous colleague, Uncle Booga.

Toraño's Signature Collection has a sun-grown Brazilian wrapper, and Dominican and Nicaraguan ligero fillers wrapped in a broadleaf binder. With the Toraño band and a cedar sleeve, this cigar looks and feels classy.

The Brazilian wrapper's a lovely chocolate brown and looks a bit rough, showing some sharp veins and a toothy feel. After punching, the smooth draw confirms the look and feel that this cigar is well-stuffed with tobacco. A solid, white ash held for two inches before the initial drop, and over an inch afterwards. This robusto took a bit over an hour to smoke.

After toasting the foot, I was greeted with rich plumes of smoke with a mild, sweet cedar and leather flavors. Once the first inch was past, the flavor became a little stronger, nearer medium-bodied, and stayed there for the rest of the smoke. Halfway, a light spice appears on the palate for a medium finish. I had the impression that this cigar had been aged well, with nicely rounded flavors that belie the ligero tobaccos used in the filler.

The Signature Collection robusto is a nicely balanced, mild to medium cigar that should entertain all but the fussiest cigar enthusiasts.


Cigar Jack smoked a Signature Collection Perfecto in May 2007.

Resolutions 2008

One of the resolutions that I'm gracefully accepting is a limit on the cigar smoking. So, I've formatted a schedule of cigar smoking and reviews that's pretty much a Friday night/Saturday night endeavor. It's hard to argue for a more frequent allowance when you've got colleagues diagnosed with various cancers left and right.

I'll also be giving some of the cigars, the ones that do poorly, a second chance before flogging them. I figure that a three month reprieve period is fair, don't you? Then, we'll see how the offending cigar fares after three months in the Humidor, aging and hob-nobbing with its betters. Hear that, Sherpa?

This coming semester at the university is bringing analytical geometry and calculus to my plate. Between that, and training a new engineer at work, I'll be fairly busy. I'll also be wishing I could smoke more cigars, but ç'est la guerre.

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.

So Far #2

Well, since my lament about cheap Nicaraguan cigars, I've had a few better ones, and of varying strengths. I enjoyed the Oliva Serie G maduro, as a nice mild-medium cigar, and enjoyed the Perdomo Lot 23 maduro, a more medium skewed cigar. The Joya De Nicaragua Antaño 1970 knocked my socks off with bold and robust flavors. Like sparring with a kung-fu master, it was a good experience, but I wouldn't want one every day.

I'm also starting to taste familiar themes in different cigars and from different manufacturers, and cross-referencing them.

I've had some other thoughts about the disastrous end of the Gurkha Grand Age perfecto, smoked the other day. The Grand Age's maduro Cameroon wrapper, while lending a great taste to the cigar, was far too thin. The Indian Tabac Cameroon Legend's maduro wrapper was thick and leathery, while the Grand Age's wrapper flaked away like the skin of a peanut or dry onion.

It may have been a bad wrap job, or just a bum leaf or two. Over humidification may have also been the culprit, but I've been keeping the humidity to 66%-68%. I'm stumped. But, the cigar was tasty enough to warrant another foray into that model and vitola.

I've been gravitating more toward the $4-$5 cigars, and so need to get back down to the cheaper $2.50-$3.50 cigars. To that end, I picked up a couple more Primos, a couple G.R. Specials, some Flor De Oliva, and Nestor Reserve cigars. Once they've had some time to unwind a bit in the Humidor, watch out.

By the by, one of my local B&Ms has a brand of bundle cigars, unbanded, in a box with the name 'Miura' on it. Anyone know anything about them? I also saw some Gran Habano #3 that looked in the right price range.

Oliva Serie G Maduro

Oliva Serie G maduro bellicoso
$3.50 (B&M), Size: 5", Ring: 52
Cameroon wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and fillers

I got together with some colleagues for a "city limits" mini-herf, gathering at a pub just beyond the reach of the city's smoking ban. I brought a couple goodies, including this Oliva Serie G and a Gurkha Grand Age (below). I had yet to smoke anything by Oliva, so the Serie G seemed a good place to start.

The Serie G's maduro Cameroon wrapper was dark, smooth, glossy, and had an aroma of cocoa and nut. Box pressed into a squarish presentation, the wrapper seemed supple enough to stand a little pressure, and felt nicely packed.

After nipping the cap, a cold draw found flavors of cocoa and leather. The draw was mildly restrained, but not terribly tight, so the rollers seemed to have done a good job. The silvery white ash, dropping after an inch, and fairly straight burn also attested to the decent construction.

Once the foot started glowing, the smoke had a mild body, with toast and nut flavors to start. Father in, hints of sweet cedar, still mild, appeared. Near the mid point, a leathery flavor established itself. Cedar and leather flavors strengthened to become almost medium-bodied in last third. I didn't notice any pronounced sharp or spicy flavors, just mellow, rounded ones.

Oliva's Serie G maduro is a pleasant mild-medium cigar. I'm going to scrounge a few more for safe keeping.

Gurkha Grand Age

Gurkha Grand Age perfecto
$3 (CBid), Size: 6", Ring: 60
Cameroon wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, Nicaraguan and Peruvian fillers

The Grand Age is proclaimed as Gurkha's first cigar with a Cameroon wrapper, and this wrapper's a beauty: Dark, glossy, and some veins, with an aroma of wood and coffee. While smoking, the burn needed fixing a couple times, but the ash was solid and silvery, dropping after 2 inches. The smoke was thick and lush.

The cigar sprang to life immediately, with warm and spicy wood flavors at the start, similar to a Cusano CC. After the first inch, a leathery undertone arrived and stayed for the rest of the smoke. Hints of roast red peppers came in mid-cigar, then mellowed again to the basic wood-leather flavor (similar to an Indian Tabac Cameroon Legend). The last third brought a spicy ligero flavor to the fore. This was a tasty cigar.

Alas, there were some problems from the outset, mainly dealing with the aforementioned Cameroon wrapper. My cigar was split near the cap before cutting, and the problems got worse. After cutting, a section of wrapper, near the cap, split off, leaving the binder showing. I was able to position my lips enough while drawing on the cigar to alleviate some of the problems.

Then, one-third into the cigar, the wrapper started splitting and flaking in other areas. I tried to moisten the wrapper more around those areas to keep the wrapper from completely flaking off. As the smoke went on, the cigar's wrapper gradually deteriorated, splitting and cracking, until, in the final third, I had sizable fissures in the cigar, enough to kill the draw and end the smoke. I had to give it up almost an inch earlier than I would have liked.

Sometimes, bad things happen to good cigars. It's doubly hard when it happens to an expensive cigar, even if you get it cheap. It may have been comical to watch me struggle to keep this cigar together long enough to smoke it, but the flavors were well worth the effort. I'd love to try this one again, if it will have me.

Update, 1/13/08 : The next Grand Age I smoked was fine, construction-wise. I believe the difference was dry-boxing it for a couple days prior to smoking. And it was still delicious!

Velvet Cigar smoked a Grand Age in May 2007.

Joya De Nicaragua Antaño 1970

Joya De Nicaragua Antaño 1970 machito
$3.50, Size: 4.5", Ring: 42
Nicaraguan wrapper, binder, and filler

I went to see a colleague of mine, to get a couple surplus goldfish for my kids, and also to trade some stogies. In true Christmas spirit, he hooked me up with some beauties, including this Joya De Nicaragua Antaño 1970. He's a connaisseur of all things smokey and whisky, and he's a fan of good Nicaraguan cigars (and single malt scotch whisky). And so, wanting to find a good Nicaraguan cigar myself, this was the first thing I set to toasting.

The Antaño 1970 wrapper is a velvety chocolate color, and looks a little rough, sporting a couple pronounced veins. An aroma of hearty leather and cocoa greet the nose from the wrapper. The draw was nicely balanced, and stayed steady throught the smoke. A solid, white ash formed past the straight burn line, and dropped off after an inch and a half.

Right from the start, the flavors are smooth and strong, of spicy leather and earth. After the first third, the earth and leather lets up enough to allow a flavor of roasted nut to join in, but the spice remains fairly present. The smoke is thick and creamy, which is surprising from this diminutive powerhouse, and there's a fair nicotine kick to it as well.

The Antaño 1970 Machito is the Bruce Lee of cigars: It may not be tall, and it may not be muscular, but it's got punch, it's got kick, and it's got "Whaaaaaaahhhhhhhh".



The Keepers of the Flame reviewed the Antaño 1970 robusto grande earlier this year.