This post is long over do, and I sincerely apologize for not updating in a while. I have been going through a divorce, and it has consumed my life for the last few weeks. I never thought divorce was such a hard thing, it was always easier to talk to people going through it, and give advice freely. I now know, that it is not an easy thing to go through, and it most definitely is NOT like breaking up with a girlfriend…

On to better things, lets talk about cigars! In going through all of this, I have taken a lot of time to think about life. It most of my time alone, I have had cigars there, like an old friend, to listen to my thoughts. Pondering my direction in life, going through old memories in between puffs of fragrant tobacco, is somehow soothing to the soul. It slows down my racing mind, forcing me to take the time that I need to think. Many cigar friends have been generous in giving me good smokes through all of this to help me think and clear my mind. One of those cigars was a Viaje Skull and Bones. This is a rare smoke from Viaje, and I am not sure about availability. Andre from Viaje likes to shroud his cigars in a Vail of mystery, and finding out a lot of information is hard, and arduous. I did email the company and got a very timely response:
“Andre came up with the blend for those that were looking for something on the stronger side of the spectrum. Aged ligero is a large component which imparts strength without making your head spin. Skull & Bones is all Nicaraguan rolled at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras.”

The cigar I smokes was short and fat, maybe 5 x 60 or slightly fatter. It had a very dark and oily wrapper with a few veins visible. It has a mild sweetness and a scent of cinnamon mixed with a very mild barnyard aroma on the wrapper. Taking a draw before lighting I got hints of caramel and green tea.

1st Half:

The first thing I noticed was how creamy this cigar was.  The smoke covered my mouth like velvet chocolate cake.  It had a floral sweetness to it that made it extremely pleasant to sit in it’s presence.  Toasted almonds and caramel came through every other puff or so, along with a wasabi and cinnamon spice.  The cigar was very complex and ever evolving, with a black pepper spice building as I smoked my way through bliss.  The smoke continued to get even more creamy and chewy.

2nd Half:

As I got close to the half way point, I got an interesting flavor in the cigar.  I started tasting fruit punch.  It only lasted for two or three puffs, but it was there.  The taste still evolved.  I am not sure if you have ever made caramels, but the taste reminded me of when you boil sugar.  When the sugar is at just the right temperature, you add cream.  The smell of toasted sugar and cream fills the kitchen, and you can almost taste the caramel in the air.  That aroma was in this cigar.  Very complex.

Overall, I am not sure if anyone has the opportunity to smoke this one, but if you do, make sure to treat yourself.  This cigar is an amazing taste adventure, and just what I needed to ponder life.

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I was asked by a younger cigar smoker if I had ever smoked the Rocky Patel Vintage 1990.  He was in the shop, and wondered how anyone would pay over $15 for a cigar?  I said, “honestly, I haven’t smoked that one in a very long time.”  But I do know that it is one of Rocky’s oldest lines of cigars, thus, must be popular.  Rocky describes them as this:

The Vintage 1990 is a mild- to medium-body cigar with a nutty, caramel essence. This line is highlighted by a 12-year-old Honduran broadleaf wrapper that has softened in strength over the years yet gained in complexity and flavor. Renowned for its elegance and balance, the Vintage 1990 features the unrivaled accolades of a 92 rating and twice being named to the Top 25 Cigars of the Year in Cigar Aficionado.

Wrapper: Honduran Broadleaf
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Dominican & Nicaraguan

As my friend Brady Brown says, “It is a great dessert cigar, it is better than chocolate cake!”

Well my friend, I will agree with you there.  The wrapper is dark chocolate in color, and has a mild leather and chocolate aroma, the foot had a strong barn yard aroma, and was packed with manure.

I smoked the size called “The Sixty” which comes in at a hefty 6 x 60 beef stick.

First Half:

Right away, I got loads of chocolate with a hint of a vanilla sweetness that made me drool.  There is this zing on the finish, that I have come to identify as the “Nicaraguan Zing.”  It has a nice aged mellow tobacco flavor, with a lingering sweetness that stuck on my lips.  Okay Rocky, maybe it is caramel.  The smoke started out light, but as I smoked through it, it became more and more meaty and chewy.

Second Half:

As I smoked my way through this cigar, the flavors became more complex and deep.  Even though chocolate was the predominate flavor, I would get these hints of cinnamon, vanilla, bread or toast, and nutmeg.  Twice I got an odd and interesting aroma I have never gotten before.  It reminded me of walking past an olive bar at the grocery store.  Not unpleasant for me, I LOVE olives and pickles (it may be my other passion… ).  The retro hale tingles my nose with a cinnamon undertone, but over all very smooth.

Overall, this cigar is a winner in my book.  I love the deep flavors and chewy smoke.  It is hard for me to justify $15 for any cigar, but I would buy this one again as a treat!

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The word Maduro can mean a few different things to different people.  To some, it means a dark color, but the true meaning of Maduro eludes most.  When a cigar says Maduro it is referring to a fermentation process that differs from a “regular” fermentation process.  It is sometimes a longer process, that often times cigar companies use to justify higher prices.  Not so with Altadis USA’s Casa de Garcia blends.  In my quest for value cigars, the word maduro and value caught my eye.  I found this one tucked away at my local Brick and Mortar, BURN.

I will tell you the price at the end of this article, but for now, I will just say I have no idea how they are making money on this smoke.

I smoked the robusto size coming in at a 5 x 4 3/4″  With a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper and binder and a Dominican and Honduran filler, this cigar has to have some flavor!  I wasn’t completely disappointed…

The wrapper was slightly dark and oily.  It wasn’t extremely dark, but dark enough to let you know that it might be a maduro.  The wrapper had a mild barnyard scent to it, while the foot had a very nice chicken coup and slight black tea aroma.

First Half:

Honestly, this cigar didn’t have a ton of that maduro flavor, that you get from other maduro cigars.  I did notice a hint of zing, that reminded me of grapefruit.  The finish is very short, and leaves your mouth covered with a mild sweetness, much like a light maple syrup.  The burn line was fairly straight, but the ash was loose and flaky.  Getting closer the the half way point, a VERY slight white pepper spice started showing itself, but disappeared just as quickly as it came.

Second Half:

This cigar is one dimensional.  No flavor change what so ever.  That is not all that bad, as the mild to medium flavors we all good flavors, they just never changed.  Towards the end, I started getting a little chocolate and mint flavor coming through, but that sweetness was the main flavor through out.

Over all this cigar is not a bad smoke.  It has nice flavors, and burns and smokes well.  Ok, so here is the retail price: $2.70  Very affordable!  For that price, I would buy a few more.

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My quest continues to find you cigar smokers value cigars.  I put a cap on the amount I am willing to spend on a cigar, at $6 or less.  I realize that $6 may not be a “value” to some, but I would be extremely limited if I capped it at anything less.  I was at BURN, my local B&M looking on the floor of the humidor (why is it that cigar retailers tend to keep the lower priced stuff towards the bottom of the shelving?).  I ran across a CHEAP cigar called The Outdoorsman, for $3.50.  I thought, “now this could be a good value!”  I asked James, the owner, if he had smoked this cigar.  He replied with more than a yes, apparently this cigar has a little story.  I like stories!

A while back, Camacho put out a challenge to their sales staff.  The sales team was divided into teams of 4 people each (according to region).  Each group was given the task of creating a new cigar.  The cigar would be limited production and only available in the region that the sales team was in.  Then, after a certain amount of time, Camacho would look at the numbers, and the cigar that sold the best, would become a regular release for the Camacho brand.

The Outdoorsman, (being in MN), is the regional release from my sales team.  There is VERY little information about this cigar, and the only thing I know is that it has Honduran tobacco in it.

The Outdoorsman I smoked, came in at a 6×52 ring gauge, with a light milk chocolate wrapper.  The cigar is slightly squishy and slightly toothy.  The aroma of the wrapper is very light, with just a hint of cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little leather.  I clipped the head, and took a draw.  I will be honest, it was hard for me to get any “pre” flavor from this smoke.  The draw was loose, with maybe a hint of herbal tea, but it was hard to tell.

First Half:

The first taste I got was a mild tobacco flavor, with a tiny amount of cocoa dust tucked neatly in between.  There was an overall sweetness, that lingered on my lips.  The aroma has that same sweetness, with a slightly floral cedar scent.  The cigar smokes pretty fast, so I had to force myself to slow down.  The finish if very short, with an extremely mild spice like that you would get from cinnamon.

Second Half:

This cigar is not exactly complex, in fact, I find it somewhat one dimensional.  I found myself wishing that this cigar would change it’s flavor.  In the second half, I tasted a little more chocolate flavor, complimented with a drop of vanilla, but that is pretty much it. 

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the flavors that I was tasting, I just wanted more from the cigar.  At $3.50 a stick, this could be a good cigar for mowing the lawn or doing yard work, where you would like a cigar, but don’t have the time to devote all your attention to it.  If you like a milder cigar, give this a shot.  It did not lack on flavor, it was just light.  If you like that, go for it!

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Packed with flavor, and with a MSRP of around $4.35, the CAO La Traviata comes in with a great value that tastes like a cigar costing twice as much.  I smoked a few of these before sitting down to review this smoke, and so far, this is a stick I would buy by the bundle.

I smoked the Divino coming in at a 5 x 50, with a Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Cameroon binder, and Nicaraguan and Honduran filler tobaccos.

1st Half:

The wrapper looks like an oily piece of dark milk chocolate, with an aroma of chocolate, sweet black tea, and lightly tanned leather.  The foot has a mild chicken coupe and alfalfa aroma.  I clipped the head and took a draw.  The unlit cigar is packed with black tea flavor with just a hint of vanilla.

The first half of this cigar is smoking bliss.  The draw had a slight resistance and the burn line was fairly straight.  I only had to touch it up once.  The cigar has a mild spice, more like white pepper or milder, complimented with subtle hints of chocolate.  An interesting flavor I would get every few draws, was the flavor of crushed red pepper, but none of the heat.  As I got closer to the half way point, the spice sweetened itself to more of cinnamon and Chinese 5 spice tingle.

2nd Half:

Getting through the second half, the spice almost totally disappears, except through the retro hale.  The smoke was very smooth, and coats the whole mouth with smoky goodness.  Getting towards the end, I started getting a sweet grapefruit tang on the finish.  The aroma changes as well, and started reminding me of savory grilled meat, mixed with a slight floral aroma.

So far, this CAO La Traviata has been my favorite value cigar.  The flavors are very complex, yet well balanced.  To me, this cigar tastes like a $10 – $15 smoke, yet for less than half of that, you get all the flavor.  If you are a newbie, TRY THIS CIGAR!

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You don’t have to be a newbie to the cigar world to want to find a good deal.  With the economy the way it has been, we all are trying to find a better product for less money.  Budgets are tight, products are getting more expensive, so it is only natural that many of our cigar budgets have been cut or eliminated in order to make ends meet.  I have decided to do a series of reviews focusing on cigars that are MSRP $6 or less.  These will be shorter reviews, focusing on the cigar itself, and not the company history.  Let’s face it, sometimes we just want to know about the damn cigar!  If you would like to make a suggestion, please friend the blog on Facebook or comment on these posts.

The first cigar is a Cigar from Oliva.  The Serie O MSRP is $5.92 (plus your local tax).  I was given this smoke today from Josh Rushlo, my local rep here in MN.  I just happened to run into him at BURN Priemium Cigars, my local B&M here in Burnsville MN.  Josh describes this cigar as “When you think of a good medium bodied cigar, the Serie O is what you think of.”  A little broad of a response, but I suppose it IS a medium bodied cigar at that.

The wrapper is a oily milk chocolate color, and smells of light horse barn and sweet leather.  Smelling the foot, I get a very mild sweetness of alfalfa.  Clipping the head and taking a draw, I get very mild black tea and just a touch of sweetness.

1st Half:

Lighting the cigar and taking the first few draws, I got a very strong black pepper spice that almost made me tear up.  But the funny thing is, that was the last of the spice.  The only time I got that spice was in the first few draws.  The cigar mellows out into a very mellow leather and mild sweet tobacco taste.  I could detect just the slightest white pepper, but with each draw it faded away.  The smoke is very creamy, but not chewy.

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2nd Half:

The cigar only gets milder the more I smoke it.  That isn’t a bad thing, I just found the smoke to be milder than I expected.  The mild creamy leather persists, but the aroma got a little spicier.  Towards the end, I started getting light cocoa and light roasted coffee notes.

Over all, this cigar is on the milder side of medium bodied, if that.  Personally I would classify this as a lighter bodied cigar, maybe pushing medium.  I hate the saying, “for the money, the cigar is good.”  In my opinion, either the cigar is good, or it isn’t.  I would say that this is a good cigar, but probably more of a morning smoke, or one that will please the people that enjoy lighter smokes.  It wasn’t lacking in flavor by any means, just lighter.

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You probably see them every where.  Yet, 5 Vegas is not a brand I typically pick up.  I have no reason why I don’t, I just don’t.  I found a couple of 5 Vegas Limitada 2008 cigars in my humidor the other day, and to be honest, I can’t remember where the heck I got them!  Looking at them, they look oily and tasty, and they are my favorite size (a Belicoso).  “Why haven’t I smoked these,” I wondered…  Well, here it is!

5 Vegas seems to be secret…  Most of the searches I have done on the company, has lead me to Cigars International’s website, so I am guessing it is a brand they own.  I did run across some information on the Limitada from www.cigars5vegas.com.  Here is what they say:

“Each year, a choice blend of fine tobaccos marries to produce something very special. Produced in traditional small batch form due to the scarcity of tobaccos used, the Limitada showcases this ultimate creation.
Using over a century of tradition and experience, the Limitada is the crème de la crème of 5 Vegas. Only the finest aged tobaccos are used to generate an experience to last a lifetime.
Produced annually, each production yields a new blend worthy of becoming Limitada, the most luxurious of 5 Vegas cigars.”

Here are some specifics on the Limitada 2008:

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Limitada 2008:

Wrapper: Dominican Corojo (’02)

Binder:  Piloto Cubano

Filler:  Piloto Cubano, Criollo Ligero

Origin: Dominican Republic

Body:  Full

Looking at this cigar, the first thing I notice is the oils.  Very toothy, but minimal veins.  Lots of leather and horse barn aroma coming from the wrapper, but the foot smells of cocoa and hay.  I clipped the end and took a pre light draw.  Lots of cinnamon, and black tea flavors overwhelmed my palate.

1st Half:

This cigar is a pepper bomb!  When I say pepper, I mean PEPPER!  I smoked this cigar before lunch, so I am taking the overwhelming pepper with a grain of salt, as it was the first cigar I had that day, but I will say that the pepper persisted through out this whole cigar.  In fact, there was so much black pepper at the start, my mouth was getting dry.  Not that this was a bad thing.  I LOVE pepper in a cigar.  After the initial rush of pepper, my mouth got used to it, and I started tasting a rich, deep smoke that had notes of espresso, leather and cocoa.  This cigar has a ton of deep and rich flavors.  Although the flavors were rich, I didn’t find the smoke to be that heavy.  It danced in my mouth with a lightness and ease.  Very pleasurable!

2nd Half

Getting into the 2nd half, the cigar’s body mellowed out.  It went from a strong pepper to a smooth coffee sweetened with a little vanilla syrup.  Leather came forward on the finish, just to let you know that it was there.  The pepper died down to more of a white pepper and ginger spice.  This cigar proved to be very relaxing!

Overall, I think this cigar is a great one.  It is on the fuller side of things, as I got that nicotine buzz that I enjoy from a fuller cigar.  Although it did not make me green!  At a price point of around $7, this is a newbie friendly cigar.  But be prepared for the pepper though!

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Why do I keep smoking cigars by Illusione?  Dion Giolito is not a sponsor of this site, (although I wouldn’t mind if he wanted to put an ad up here), he is not sending me cigars, nor do I talk to him on any regular basis.  I keep smoking his cigars, because they are, in short, damn good!  I believe I have smoked everything out of his lines.  Apart from the random burn issue here and there, but that is just the human condition of smoking cigars.  It comes with the territory.  Honestly, if you as a cigar smokers get all hyped up because of one cigar with a burn issue, than maybe you are in the wrong hobby.  But that is neither here nor there.  Basically I like Dion’s taste.  He told me once in an interview that he blends cigars that he would enjoy smoking on a daily basis.  Well, our taste buds must have had the same mother, because I haven’t found an Illusione cigar I couldn’t smoke on a daily basis.

The cigar I smoked for this review is a robusto cigar called the Illusione 88.  The wrapper of this cigar is a smooth and almost veinless Nicaraguan Rosado Oscuro Corojo, with a Nicaraguan Corojo and Criollo filler/binder.  The best thing about this cigar is that it tastes like a dream, but doesn’t put a huge dent in your wallet.  At around $195 a box, it is affordable.

Pre light:

This cigar has a dark chocolate wrapper that makes my mouth water at the shear sight of it.  The slightly toothy and oily wrapper, just screams flavor.  Taking a nice whiff of the wrapper gives my nose a good work out with notes of leather, and horse barn.  The delicate aroma of cinnamon and some slight vanilla on the foot was present.  Clipping the head, and taking a draw I get lots of that herbal anise and cinnamon flavors coming through.

First Half:

Right away, this smoke is oily and coats my mouth with the creaminess of peanut butter.  There are so many flavors happening all at once, but seem to play with each other nicely.  Toasted nuts, vanilla, loads of pepper, and in the background was a light roasted coffee flavor that was just enough to let you know that it was there.   Although I wouldn’t consider this cigar to be a spice bomb, the spice reminded me of a white pepper spice, but retrohaling this cigar the spice was like a wasabi kick in the face!

2nd Half

As I smoked my way through this virtual playground of flavors, I noticed the spice was dying down a bit.  More of that creeping spice you get from a cinnamon stick was there.  This cigar is very herbal with an earthy overtone.  Towards the end, some of the flavors were reminding me of a good smokey and peaty Irish whisky.

Overall, this cigar is creamy, chewy with so many flavors combining together to give you a flavor that I just call “The 88 flavor.”  This cigar is on the high medium to full in strength.  Enough to make me feel good, but not dizzy by any means.  This would be a great cigar for the newbie to try, as long as you like the spicy Nicaraguan flavors.  If you tend to buy mild cigars, than this one would not be for you.  For me, it is one of my “go to” cigars.

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Ah, Xikar.  Not only are they my personal favorite cigar accessories company, but they are slowly but surely becoming my favorite cigar company as well.  It seems to me that anything Kurt Van Keppel does, turns to gold.  His line of cigars, the HC (Stands for Havana Collection) has attained very high awards from many different rating systems, and it is easy to tell why.  I have smoked every cigar he has put out, including one that hasn’t come out, and trying to pull information out of Kurt about this “secret cigar” is like pulling teeth from a rhino… it just can’t be done!  None the less, every cigar I have had by Xikar, has been complex, smooth, and leaving you grabbing for another one.

Kurt’s cigars are made from 5 different tobaccos, giving the cigar the complexity and blended for balance.  They are rolled at the Nestor Plasencia owned Tabacos de Oriente factory in Honduras and Segovia Cigars in Nicaragua.  The taste is masterfully blended by Jesus Fuego, who happens to be a 5th generation Cuban cigar maker and a star in the cigar industry.

The cigar I am smoking today is HC Series Habano Colorado, Belicoso size.  From the Xikar website.  ”Wrapped in a beautiful cocoa colored wrapper, the HabanoColorado is a smooth, rich tasting cigar withchocolate notes. The well aged tobacco makes for an interesting medium to full bodied cigar that is moderately strong with just a hint of sweetness.”

The wrapper is a Habano Colorado, the binder and filler is from Jalapa Valley, Esteli, Costa Rica, Jalapa, and Honduras.  The Belicoso measures a 6×54 ring gauge.

1st half:

Smelling the wrapper I get notes of sweet honey, with a deep leathery horse barn aroma.  The foot smells of sharp alfalfa and hay, with just a hint of vanilla.  Looking at the wrapper, it is very dark and chocolatey with almost no veins visible.   After lighting, right away I noticed the amount of smoke that was being produced.  Huge amounts of chewy smoke, with notes of white pepper and some of the leather coming through on the finish.  Smoking my way though this cigar, I can say that what they have achieved is harmony.  No flavor is extremely dominate.  I get lots of sweet black pepper spice with a slight citrus bite in the back of my mouth.  The finish is long with leather, and subtle dark roast coffee flavors dancing over your tongue like little fairies. 

2nd Half:

Pepper, being the predominate flavor in this cigar, gives your palette a little break getting into the second half.  The pepper spice dies down and mellows out to a white pepper that just tickles your tongue to remind you that it is still lurking in the shadows.  Getting down to the last third of the cigar, some extra sweetness starts coming though.  I get toasted caramel in between the pepper spice.  Retro haling this cigar gives me some cinnamon and anise flavors sneaking in to say hi.  As I get down to the nub, this smoke mellows and smoothes out to a very creamy sweet leather taste.  It is hard for me to put this cigar down, so I smoked it down to my fingertips.

Overall, this cigar would be a perfect cigar for any occasion.  The balance of flavors between black pepper, earthy leather and sweetness with copious amounts of smoke gives me the almost perfect smoking experience.  With the newbie in mind, the price point alone should not shy you away from this smoke as it is extremelyaffordable (around the $6-$8 range depending on taxes).  I have picked up boxes of these, because they are such a complex and affordable smoke.  If your budget allows, I urge you to do the same.  

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Jonathan Drew and Steve Saka should be proud of their new child.  Although the name sounds unappetizing, it capsulizes Drew Estate’s company personality, the Dirty Rat is anything but unappetizing.  I had the opportunity to acquire one of these very rare smokes from Jonathan Drew himself at the Texas Cigar Festival.   According to Steve, their goal in creating the Dirty Rat was to capture that distinct flavor of the Liga Privada #9, but instead of recreating that flavor, they created something new all together.   As tasty as this smoke is, it will unfortunately, most likely not be made into large production for release.  The corona size is extremely expensive to make and the blend provides it’s own challenges as it combines as many as 7 different tobaccos together to create it’s unique flavor profile.  From some searching on the Internet, I was able to find a little information about this cigar:

This cigar is of Nicaraguan origin, the wrapper being a stalk-cut sungrown Connecticut Valley Habano.  The binder is a Plantation Grown Brazilian Mata Fina, and the filler has 5 different tobaccos between Honduras & Nicaragua.  It is about 5×44 Corona size.

The Dirty Rat has a unique cap, with a little tale on the end.  The wrapper is a light chocolate color, and looks very silky smooth with minimal veins.

1st half:

Smelling the wrapper I get notes of cinnamon and sweet coffee.  The foot has a horse barn aroma that include a light leather note with a hint of nutmeg.  I cut the cap, and took a draw.  It seemed very mild, slightly loose with that sweet coffee note coming forward.  As with any cigar, you can’t solely decide what a cigar is going to taste like based on these aromas and tastes alone.  This cigar surprised me immensely.

After lighting the cigar, right away I got a load of spice slapping me in the face.  Tons of black pepper, cinnamon and a long tart sweet finish with a mild white pepper taste.  I find this cigar to change flavor profiles as quick as a coin toss.  Getting closer to the half way point, I started getting a dark chocolate mixed with cayenne pepper tickling my taste buds.  It reminded me of a Mexican candy I once had that  combined the sweetness of caramel with a spicy Mexican red pepper.  Retro-haling this cigar gave me a VERY spicy coffee scent and a underlying  unsweetened vanilla note.   This cigar produced a very creamy and rich smoke, and the ash held on almost up to the halfway point.

2nd half:

As I smoked my way through flavor town, the cigar tamed itself and more and more french roast coffee flavors started coming out.  Just as I thought this cigar was getting mild, it sucker punched me with more cayenne and black pepper flavors.  As I got to the nub stage, some more chocolate started showing it’s face and the spice changed to a tart, tanic white pepper with a bit of saltiness.

Through out this cigar, the burn was razor sharp, with impeccable construction.  Drew Estate’s Dirty Rat is something of a master piece, and I feel privileged to have smoked one.  If at any point you get a chance to smoke these, take up the opportunity.  With the newbie in mind, this cigar may be too spicy for your tongue.  The body and nicotine levels certainly are tolerable, but if your palette isn’t ready for a spice bomb, then stay clear!  For me, this cigar proved to be a wonderful end to an evening.

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