Oliva Master Blends III Double Robusto

Oliva Master Blends III Double Robusto

Shoulda been a perfect smoke...warm Sunday afternoon in January, great cigar...nice cold Boddington beer...but I started the smoke riled up and pissed off (why, I don't even remember)...I remember thinking when I lit up "Should I even try to relax and enjoy this cigar? Will this bad boy temper my foul spirits or will my bad mood ruin the stogie"?




Turns out that the stogie conquered...and really improved my mood and day. However, I am certain that I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been upset when I started.

The stogie has a very colorful band-looks like a picture of a tobacco farm with lots of color. You can't tell from looking at it, but it is sort of an "almost box press", squished a little from the top in order to make the stogie "thinner" on the vertical axis and thicker on the horizontal. I really like this type of press-makes the cigar feel heartier.

From the Oliva website, it says that the binder and filler are Nicaraguan and that the wrapper is Conn Broadleaf. It also says that it is super fancy, super sexy, and that only cool guys should smoke it (or at least that's the way I read their marketing).



The prelight aroma on this stick is good-smells like a maduro. Upon lighting, the draw was perfect and the smell was very aromatic. Plumage was solid (though nothing compared to the Alcazar Ry was smoking-he was shooting smoke out faster than Anne-Marie can belt out the words to "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" which is saying something.




There's Ry, enjoying his Alcazar before work.



Here I am, enjoying the Master Blend III while experimenting with a new form of mustache. Yeah...I shaved it this morning!

As for the stogie...this is a really good stogie. Constructions, plummage, aroma, and flavor are all top knotch. The flavor was a rich maduro with some hazelnut nuances. I kept remarking to myself how rich and buttery it was. The "wide press" effect is really nice and I wish more stogies were like this (wider horizontally and thinner vertically). The only complaints I'd offer is that it is pricey ($12 at one store in KC where I saw it) and that the stogie doesn't change much. I found myself kinda hoping for a transition during this cigar and I didn't experience it-what you get it very good but it stays the same throughout the smoke.


RTR Quick Review: 9.3

Sol Cubano Artisan

Here's a review done by Ryan (Jr!) on a "barber pole" cigar that I had given him for Xmas.

It’s 2:41 p.m. on January 8, 2009. The day is beautiful, very little wind and it’s about 60 degrees. I woke up about 1:00 grabbed some oatmeal for breakfast and thought what do I want to do before I have to go to work at four. Yes, I could’ve done some work around the house, ran some errands or even went to see my girlfriend who’s in town for a little while, but it would seem the Sol Cubano Artisan Blend was my destiny today.

I’d been telling my dad for awhile now that I wanted to try out the barber pole designed cigars and on Christmas he gifted me with a box of five Sol Cubanos. I’m about half way into this cigar and it’s been great ride so far and only seems to be getting better. It’s a mild cigar; mild of course should not to be confused with boring. This cigar has been a good since I lit it up, but now as I’m in the middle of it the taste just kicked up as it does with most cigars. The interesting thing about the Barber pole design is that as you hit the different wrappers the taste of the cigar changes. I think everyone should try this cigar.

Ratings:

Taste: 9.5 (excellent taste)
Aroma: 9.5 (smelled amazing)
Wrapper: 7 (cracked in a few places, didn’t make it so I couldn’t smoke it though)
Draw and smoke output: 8.5 (just a little tight and a medium amount of smoke)
Band: 9.5 (masterfully done)

Review by:
The DC Fumador

Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion (torpedo)

Joya de Nicaragua Celebracion (torpedo)

Warning: This review may not be suitable for all viewers. This cigar met a tragic and violent end.

Here's the setup...home brew, warm New Year's Day (50 degrees F), and the sole survivor of the ill-fated La Joya Endeavor. Let me explain...




It was late in 2008 when my bargain hunting eye discovered what I believed to be a good deal on La Joya Nicaragua Celebracion cigars. My research had indicated that the cigars would be one that my brother Eric and I would enjoy and thus I created a perfect plan-We would split a box of these stogies and both be better for it.

But like many brilliant plans, the Devil is always in the Details...

The cigars arrived from Cigarbid at Eric's Kansas City location dry and broken. He gave me half of these sad sticks. I examined them and I had to toss all but one of the units-they had been savaged by low humidity, rough shipping...who knows? The one I saved had a tiny crack but I hoped that it would still prove to be a decent smoke...and since it was the New Year, I thought I'd embrace hope and go for it! After all, the stick had been loving cared for for over a month in my humidor-now was the time to see what it was made of!


This is how the stick started.


But almost immediately after lighting, this crack developed and worsened. I was worried but the nice peppery flavor kept me going at it.

Towards the end, this is one of the many horrors I endured while trying to brave this doomed cigar. Numerous lickings did not save it. I spent much of the hour long smoke plugging holes with my fingers and trying (to no avail) to keep this p.o.s. together.


As for the review...it tasted peppery and was consistant (if not dynamic) all the way through. It was medium body and medium strength. My review...this stogie would have been decent and possibly an enjoyable $2 smoke-had it not arrived to us in shitty shape (with cigar leprosy). I cannot give it a numeric rating given the circumstances but I do not think I'll tempt fate and try another. One thing that I did like was the shape-a tapered tip for the lips and a big ring gauge on the rest. Great form factor.

I will say that I had a Joya de Nicaragua Antonio the other day and it was very, very strong and very good. I think I'll stick with that line in the future.

Here's my boy, taking a break from playing with his little sister and buddy George.

Oliva V (natural) Lancero

Oliva V (natural) Lancero
"Snap into a slim jim!"

I've had WAY too many great cigars this holiday...so far, it's been one superb smoke after another. This one is the latest and I figured I'd drop a review down.

There she is, below-in all her glory. Granted, I tend to like my stogies thick...but I've been reading that the "cigar pros" think that the lancero format is the best one to truly appreciate a stogie...something about the "fact" that there is a higher wrapper to filler ratio so the nuances of the wrapper really come to the fore.

And here is a close up of the band.

This is a really great stogie, amigos. Get one. You will not regret it. I think I paid $6 for it at a shop.

The stogie had a rich brown coloration, not quite maduro, but very smooth and attractive. I don't normally get all gushy about the appearance but this stogie was elegant and smooth. It started out with a bit of tartness and black pepper and then gradually added some mocha and buttery creaminess. It changed several times and at the end it got fairly potent-but still in the "Medium" range on flavor and on strength. I paired this dude with a medium McDonald's coffee and both of them were gone in about an hour and fifteen minutes.

I had tried one other Oliva V Natural (in KC with Rico and Ry) and it was also outstanding but this one was...better. The flavors were "sharper"-possibly due to the thin form factor.

Was I embarrassed to smoke this girly thing? Sure.
Will I smoke another? As soon as I make room in my humidors, I'm buying a box of these dudes!

The plummage was great, the construction flawless, and the flavor was outstanding. I'd rate this as a 9.6 or maybe higher when you figure that this bad boy is (relatively) affordable.


Here I am enjoying this lancero...finishing it off in fact!

Ry and I don't always see eye to eye but this is one thing that brings the Family together! He likes'em too. Oliva is making some great smokes...I've enjoyed the V, the G (maduro), the O (maduro), and the Master Blends III, and all (especially the V and MMIII) are outstanding!

Here is a photo of the Fam (minus Ry and I), at the Garden City zoo. Anne-Marie wanted to see the new baby giraffe there and we headed West on Sunday afternoon.

Gurkha "Doble Maduro"

Mom and Dad gave me the groovy new Xikar lighter for Christmas. Some friends gave me the cool cutter. I purchased a Gurkha sampler pack for myself. Providence provided a perfect 65 degree afternoon here in Kansas City the day after Christmas. 65 degrees in December? Freakin' strange. I wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by.

I wasn't disappointed.


The Doble Maduro comes wrapped in a cedar sheath that I figured was purely cosmetic; hardly. The scent had penetrated the cigar and the flavor was greatly enhanced by it. This smoke was earthy and rich and stunningly smooth and even.


My Dad also gave me this jacket. It's a hand-me-down and perfect for smoking in tricky weather. I didn't really need it that day but who can resist donning the Marlboro Man image?

It was a perfect medium-bodied smoke. Flavorful (did I mention the cedar? Wow) but not overpowering and it came with a bit of a buzz. Lots of leather and wood.

The burn was even, the plumage good but not amazing, and it was well-built. I only used my lighter three times so it stayed lit (I've had trouble with that in the past).

There are few cigars that I've smoked to the nub; this is one of them. The other was a Perdomo Reserve Cameroon.



This one is better than the Nepalese Warrior I reviewed on this blog earlier. Considerably better. 9.0? 9.5 perhaps.

Cheers!

Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic Robusto 1979

Don Pepin Garcia Cuban Classic Robusto 1979

I thought it might be fun to freeze my butt off today...and, at the same time, to revisit a cigar I had reviewed in the past. I grabbed a this "Pepin Black" in the robusto size (5 x 50), my trusty wool poncho (it's reversible too!) and headed for the outside.

Here's the label...








Here's the stogie...





I'll keep this brief...typing is tough because I still can't feel my damn fingers. The stogie was very, very good. It had been aging for a year and I think the "pepper blast" that usually hits me on the first few puffs had diminished. However, I picked up some good mocha flavors, along with some pepper, and overall I think that the aging improved the cigar.

This cigar doesn't change much (and lately I've really enjoyed those that do) but the burn was spot on, it had lots of plummage, and had a really pleasant "twangy" aroma.

The construction on this was pretty good too-again, I think that aging helped. These cigars DO NOT LIKE the cold and I've had some weird experiences with them when I smoke them outside in the winter. This one held up until the last inch or so, when the wrapper started peeling off.

I bought this for around $4 and it was a good deal (8.8 on my quickie review scale).





Here's a guest. She came outside to sit with me while I froze my butt off. Now THAT'S a loyal wife!

...ANd hear I am smoking in my gloves!


Happy Holidays!

La Flor Dominicana Coronado (Toro)

La Flor Dominicana Coronado (Toro)


First up, sorry for the poor pictures. It was colder than hell and I was smoking in the Honda...didn't have enough light for my "macro shots"!

Wow. This stick was very, very nice. The reddish-brown wrapper was leathery and had an oily sheen to it. Very few imperfections. It was a good size for me-6 x 50. The prelight had a very odd smell...I SWEAR it had some "food spice" odor to it like paprika or whatever the dominant spice is that is in worcestershire sauce. Whatever it was, it was very tasty and unique.

I lit it up and realized I had a major smoke on my hand. Flavors poured out of this smoke-I detected cinnamon, mocha, pepper, and other stuff that I couldn't identify. All of them were good. It was very complex and kept my attention on it.

About a third into it the cornucopia of flavors kind of died off and left me with a simpler cigar but it was still tasty. It left an aftertaste after each draw that lingered that reminded me of dry red wine.

The stogie was potent too. I hadn't eaten Lunch so I went and grabbed a small soda to get something sweet in my system...was afraid it would kick my butt if I didn't get something in my belly!




The band on this thing is...kind of gawdawfull. I think has some kind of stylized tiger or something on it. Seems cheesy for a cigar this fine.


Here's a close up of this cigar.


And here's me smoking it!

Summary
This was one of the best cigars I've had in a long time. Recently I've been smoking mostly Don Pepin Garcia smokes but when I've stepped away for something different, I keep reaching for Oliva or La Flor Dominicana cigars. So far I've had three of the L.F.D. cigars and two of them (this and the double ligero maduro chisel) were top notch.

Even with only one of these under my belt, I would easily put this cigar as one of my top 25 faves.

The LFD Coronado is a full smoke, full of flavor, with perfect construction. The aroma is potent and the smoke ample. These things retail for about $6 I think. I'm going to try one more the next time I hit a cigar store...if it's as good as this is, I'll save up for a box.

RTR Rough Rating: 9.5